SURPRISE, Ariz. — The groundwork for Joc Pederson becoming a Texas Ranger was laid last September, when Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young sat with Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen. The two men were discussing the divergent paths taken by their teams.
Part of the difference, Young recognized, was Arizona’s young players had improved while Texas’ group had stagnated. Hazen kept referencing the influence of Pederson, one of the eldest players on the roster, a part-time designated hitter with an outsized influence on less experienced players such as Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy and Pavin Smith. A lightbulb flickered for Young.
Three months later, after Pederson inked a two-year, $37 million deal with Texas, Young received a message from Hazen: “He’s going to transform your offense.”
Pederson was the biggest addition for a franchise with an estimated $223 million payroll, a front office geared toward aggression and a roster with championship aspirations led by manager Bruce Bochy.
On the field, Pederson does mostly one thing, using his left-handed swing to crush right-handed pitchers. Not many were better at that than he was in 2024, when he slugged .531 with 22 homers and a .923 OPS against righties. His 151 wRC+ ranked 10th in the sport among hitters with at least 400 plate appearances. It is away from the diamond, though, where Rangers officials hope Pederson can be transformative.
At 32, Pederson acts as a baseball-centric combination of the Pied Piper and the Cheshire Cat, a font of wisdom and a source of insouciance for those trailing in his wake.
People just gravitate to him, said San Diego Padres senior advisor Logan White, who drafted Pederson for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010.
Seven topsy-turvy seasons in Los Angeles provided the foundation for Pederson’s perspective. His fashion sense led to middle-aged men wearing pearl necklaces during Atlanta’s 2021 World Series run. He gifted the San Francisco Giants’ support staff with customized black and orange Air Jordan 1s. When Carroll was floundering last summer, Pederson set him up with his personal hitting coach.
As the winter unfolded, Rangers officials chatted with Corey Seager, who had teamed with Pederson for six seasons in Los Angeles. Seager, the $325 million shortstop, is an insular presence who dislikes rah-rah speeches and can usually be found before games silently sharpening his swing in the batting cage. Marcus Semien, the team’s other nine-figure infielder, has a similar fixation on his craft; he has played in at least 159 games in every full season since 2018. How many players can truly relate to being Marcus and Corey? Young said Pederson could fill that void.
Every team needs that kind of guy, who can keep you light, keep you flowing. He doesn’t get down.
The down times outnumbered the good for Texas in 2024. The ferocious offense from 2023 turned feeble. Postseason hero Adolis García slumped all year. Third baseman Josh Jung broke his wrist in April. Evan Carter, who starred as a 21-year-old call-up the year prior, suffered a season-wrecking stress reaction in his back. The group finished the season ranked 23rd in slugging percentage, 23rd in OPS and 23rd in weighted on-base average.
I’ve played with so many people who are like, ‘I need to be playing. I need to be playing over this guy,’ Pederson said. Where they’re just haters, and the word gets around. Like, ‘Oh man, you should hear what f—ing so-and-so’s saying on the bench, he’s just hating on [his teammate] because he’s not in there.’
On a trip to St. Louis last April, Hazen was chatting with Arizona manager Torey Lovullo about the trajectory of Jake McCarthy, a first-round pick in 2018 who had yet to establish himself. Lovullo offered a reason to feel encouraged. The manager had noticed how McCarthy was leaning on Pederson.
When Arizona signed Pederson to a $12.5 million deal for 2024, team officials were uncertain about his potential role in their clubhouse. Pederson had posted an .821 OPS during his previous two seasons in San Francisco, but the team struggled during those years, and his pregame predilection for the Filipino card game Pusoy as the 2023 season collapsed had aggravated some within the Giants orbit, as The Athletic reported.
As McCarthy started to stabilize, Hazen recognized Pederson might have more to offer than 400 useful at-bats. Hazen began referring to him as “our assistant G.M.” Pederson was invited to pregame meetings with Hazen, Lovullo and the two actual assistant general managers, Mike Fitzgerald and Amiel Sawdaye.
He knows everything about baseball, like the whole league. So he has an opinion on all the players. He knows everybody. It was valuable insights.
Pederson could relate to players clambering for a foothold. You talk to him and there’s no ego, he talks to you as an equal.
Source link
