While you were sleeping on Sunday night, the Rangers continued overhauling their lineup by signing OF/DH Joc Pederson to a two-year, $37 million contract, first reported by the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
Joc Pederson’s deal with the Texas Rangers: 2 years, $37 million, with an opt-out after the first year. A perfect fit for their lineup.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 23, 2024
While Pederson has been around for over a decade, his defensive limitations and struggles against left-handed pitching have given him inconsistent fantasy value. However, he’s made some changes in recent years to offset that, and he could be a perfect fit for the Texas lineup and ballpark, so what does moving to Texas mean for Pederson and the rest of the Rangers’ lineup?
What kind of season did Pederson have in 2024?
The 32-year-old had a great season for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024, hitting .275/.393/.515 with 23 home runs and a career-high .908 OPS. Pederson has become increasingly selective over the last two seasons, reducing his overall swing rate and chase rate in both seasons, while producing at least a 12% walk rate in 2023 and 2024. While he still has a similar whiff rate, he’s swinging and missing less overall because of the new approach. He’s also more impactful when he does swing because he’s hunting pitches that he can hit and trying to do damage. That’s why his pull rate has gone over 50% in each of the last two seasons, and he had a HR/FB rate over 21% for the first time in a full MLB season since 2019 and just the third time in his career.
However, his great 2024 season was also impacted by the fact that the Diamondbacks gave him only 32 total at-bats against left-handed pitching, which was the fewest he’s ever had in a full MLB season. Since Pederson has historically dominated right-handed pitching, it makes sense that the Rangers would continue to keep him in the game only when a righty is on the mound.
How does Joc Pederson fit with the Rangers?
After the Rangers traded for Jake Burger earlier in the off-season and then traded Nathaniel Lowe to the Nationals on Sunday, Pederson will seamlessly fit in as Texas’ everyday DH against right-handed pitching. With Burger at first base, they don’t need to worry about Pederson’s defensive limitations, and he will more than replace the offensive production they were getting from Nathaniel Lowe. Last season, Lowe hit .265/.361/.401 with 16 home runs, 62 runs, and 69 RBI which are all numbers that Pederson should…