ARLINGTON -- If there’s one thing that Travis Jankowski realized this offseason, it’s that you can’t put a price on happiness and being comfortable in your environment.
So as he entered free agency this offseason, he made it known to his agent that he wanted to reunite with the Rangers. That should be the priority over the other teams. And despite the fact that the speedy outfielder had multiyear deal offers from other teams, he opted to take a one-year, $1.7 million deal to return to Texas for the 2024 season.
Jankowski figures to enter 2024 in the same role he ended ‘23 in: a versatile fourth outfielder.
“Obviously you want to play every day, right? It's your ambition to play every day,” he said. “But to me, winning is more important. I believe in this team, I believe in what this team is about, and if that's being a fourth or fifth outfielder on a winning team, I'll take that 100% of the time. Last year, it was a joy to come to the field every day. I've been on teams where it's not like that. You can't put a price on that.
“You can’t put playing time on that. I will go out and I will make it my best effort to be the best fourth or fifth outfielder in this game. That's my goal. There's things that you just value a little bit more than maybe playing time or future paychecks. It's a really, really good group to be around and I'm excited to be here.”