How the Texas Rangers went from the worst team in the MLB to World Series champions

The Texas Rangers secured their first MLB World Series last week, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 in the final series of the season.

The Rangers beat the Diamondbacks 5-0 in the title-deciding game, becoming the first team in postseason history to win 11 games without defeat on the road.

Texas was one of six teams to not win a World Series, but now there are five, with the Colorado Rockies, Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, and Milwaukee Brewers failing to win one.

For the champion Rangers, it's not been an easy road to success, with failing to qualify for the playoffs looking a real possibility in September.

Through to June 23rd, Texas was cruising, winning 47, losing 28, and topping the American League West. However, between June and September, the wheels fell off.

Between June 23rd and September 5th, the Rangers had lost 15 of their next 19 games, dropping to third in the conference. However, they did string a few wins together to clinch a Wildcard.

The Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Oriels, Houston Astros, and finally the Diamondbacks.

In 2021, Texas Rangers fans couldn't dream of the postseason, never mind a World Series title, losing 102 games in that year.

They came back in 2022 and finished with 68 wins and 94 losses, the worst record in MLB history for a team that won the World Series the season after.

Texas became the third team to win the World Series within two years of a 100-game losing season, a feat only matched by the Atlanta Braves in 1914 and the New York Mets in 1969.

The first thing to establish when building a successful team is having a successful leader and Bruce Bochy is the perfect example, coming out of retirement to become the new manager in October 2022.

Bochy is one of eleven MLB managers to win over 2000 games and is now the sixth coach to win four or more MLB World Series titles, one of which came against the Texas Rangers in 2012.

The second most important factor is bringing in players that can win you ball games, and Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and pitcher Jon Gray coming in helped that.

The Rangers committed to winning in December 2021, signing these players and their coach for more than half a billion combined. Big spending doesn't always mean success, but in this case, it does.

This season, Semien led the MLB in plate appearances (753) while batting .276/.348/.478 with a league-leading 122 runs. Corey Seager was the 2023 World Series MVP, becoming the fourth player to win two or more MVP awards in MLB history.

The Texas Rangers have the ingredients to continue being successful in the future, but can they do it? Or will they drop off the face of the earth like they did after two World Series appearances in 2011 and 2012?