The Texas Rangers have been shutout of free agent signings, and trades this offseason, but don't expect that to last.
Losing former American League MVP Josh Hamilton to division rival Los Angeles may spur the Rangers to make a series of moves in the near future.
For fans of the Boston Red Sox this has been an interesting, eventful offseason.
General manager Ben Cherington has already added:
Shane Victorino, David Ross, Jonny Gomes, Koji Uehara, Ryan Dempster and maybe Mike Napoli.
The list isn't exactly a who's who of future Hall of Fame candidates. Will the new players bring about the changes the Red Sox and their fans hope for? That's the worry in Boston.
Compared to the worries for Texas Rangers fans, that's nothing.
Imagine being a Texas Rangers fan.
The Rangers have had an eventful offseason, too, but not a good eventful. Texas has lost players, not added them.
Uehara, Dempster and Napoli (maybe) all left Texas for Boston. Thursday the Rangers learned that their best all-around player, 2010 American League MVP Josh Hamilton, is heading to divisional rival Los Angeles after agreeing to a reported five-year, $125-million contract.
The Rangers never were able to be a part of a multi-team trade that involved starting pitcher James Shields, and they failed to land free agent starters Zack Greinke and Anibal Sanchez.
What now?
Texas might not elicit the same type of intense vitriol that the New York Yankees do, but the Rangers have been to the World Series in two of the last three years and have made the playoffs for three straight seasons.
Now, they suddenly find themselves with a lot more question marks than they've become accustomed to.
Hamilton's bat will be missed, as will Napoli's. The starting rotation, which lost Cliff Lee to free agency two years ago and C.J. Wilson one year ago, finally showed signs of wear-and-tear in the second half of the 2012 season.
Now that rotation has lost Dempster, who wasn't as critical as Lee or Wilson but could have provided critical depth.
The Rangers are going to make some moves. Friday morning Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal tweeted that signs point toward the New York Mets eventually trading reigning National League Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey.
Texas would be a natural landing spot for him. He spent five seasons as a member of the Rangers before he eventually landed in New York and blossomed into a star.
Could Texas attempt to recoup the lost offense by simply signing all the remaining top bats on the market? Rosenthal also tweeted that a rival general manager suggested that the Rangers could afford to sign Nick Swisher, Adam LaRoche and A.J. Pierzynski.
Yes, major league baseball has seen a flurry of activity in the last month. It is still very early though. On Dec. 14, 2011 Josh Reddick was still on the Red Sox, Cody Ross and Prince Fielder were still free agents, Jesus Montero was still a top prospect in the Yankee organization and Andy Pettitte was retired.
A lot can still happen this offseason. Expect the Rangers to be a big part of it.