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Español2025 Season in Review: Justin Foscue
With the 2025 Texas Rangers season having come to an end, we shall be, over the course of the offseason, taking a look at every player who appeared in a major league game for the Texas Rangers in 2025.
Today we are looking at infielder Justin Foscue.
Not a great 2025 season for Justin Foscue.
In a year in which the Texas Rangers saw numerous position players go down — particularly in the final two months of the season — it seemed like there should have been opportunities for Justin Foscue to get a decent amount of major league playing time.
Instead, Foscue appeared in four major league games — two in June, two in July — going 1 for 9.
His one hit was a double, though. So that’s something.
And yet it was still an improvement over his time in the majors in 2024, when he had that ridiculous hitless streak and ended the year 2 for 42 with two walks. His 2025 OPS of 333 more than doubled his 2024 OPS of 162.
In case you are curious, Justin Foscue is currently sporting a career .059/.094/.098 major league slash line in 53 plate appearances.
What had to be particularly disappointing was that Foscue went backwards in AAA. Foscue has now spent three seasons with Round Rock, and after putting up an 862 OPS in 2023 and an 897 OPS in 2024, he dropped to 814 for the Express in 2025.
That’s a problem, particularly for a guy who is supposed to be a bat-first guy without a firm defensive position.
And so the clock is ticking for Justin Foscue. He is entering 2026 with one option year remaining. He needs to show that he can stay healthy — something he’s consistently failed to do as a pro — and that he can hit well enough to deserve a major league roster spot despite his defensive limitations.
It is worth noting that Foscue performed well against lefthanders in 2025, slashing .288/.367/.629 against them in 150 plate appearances. He slashing .265/.390/.500 against them in 2024, and .282/.415/.504 in 2023.
For a Texas Rangers team that needs a righthanded bench bat, someone who can platoon with Joc Pederson at DH, there’s an opportunity for Foscue this year to try to carve out a role as a righty bench bat. Of course, taking advantage of that opportunity requires him to stay healthy, and Foscue has already been sidelined this spring due to a hamstring strain.
The 2020 first round has been not terribly productive thusfar. Spencer Torklelson went first overall, and despite being a college bat who got an $8M plus bonus and was supposed to be close to major league ready, 2025 was his first decent season. The eight players selected immediately after him — Heston Kjerstad, Max Meyer, Asa Lacy, Austin Martin, Emerson Hancock, Nick Gonzales, Robert Hassell III, and Zac Veen — have all disappointed. Garrett Crochet and Pete Crow-Armstrong are easily the standouts of the 2020 first round, with Jordan Westburg, Reid Detmers, Patrick Bailey, Garrett Mitchell and Tyler Soderstrom also providing some value.
Interestingly, three of the top nine players taken in the first round that year are catchers — Bailey, Soderstrom, and Austin Wells.
There was a pandemic going on in the world that year, and so it shouldn’t exactly be surprising that that draft shook out kind of weird.
Previously:
Syracuse Olympic Sports update:
We’re back today to get you caught up on the latest from Syracuse’s Olympic Sports as winter sports hit championship season.
Ice Hockey (14-16-4, 10-11-3):
Syracuse’s season came to an end with a 2-0 series loss to #3 Penn State. The Nittany Lions dominated game 1 with a 7-1 rout, but the Orange pushed them in game 2 before falling by a 2-1 score. Jackson Kinsler scored the lone Syracuse goal while Ava Drabyk made 28 saves in game 2- limiting the powerful Penn State offense to just two goals.
The Orange have a solid piece to build around in Drabyk, who had an outstanding first season. Can they find more scoring and improve the special teams? Syracuse averaged under 2 goals per game this season and their power play was 6th in the AHA while the penalty kill was last. Without a billionaire funding the program, the Orange need to find ways to win in the margins and improving the special teams will be key.
Softball (10-6):
Syracuse went 3-1 at the Terrapin Classic with wins over Fairfield, UMBC and Providence. This triple from Gabby Lantier helped the Orange close out the weekend on a winning note over the Friars.
The Orange head back to Maryland next weekend to compete in the UMBC Tournament in Baltimore.
Track and Field:
Jamir Brown’s 2nd place finish in the 60m hurdles in a time of 7.56 seconds was the top Syracuse performance at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The other scorer for the men was Drew Zundell, who placed 8th in the mile in a time of 4:06.
For the Orange women, Talea Buxton (8.29) took 4th in the 60m hurdles while Tia Outlaw was 8th in a time of 8.50. Both teams finished in 16th place in the team competition, which were won by the Florida State men and Clemson women.
Tennis (5-5, 1-2):
Syracuse got their 1st ACC win with a 5-0 sweep over Boston College. Anastasia Sysoeva and Nelly Knezkova were able to secure the doubles point and then the Orange swept the singles matches.
The Orange will be back home next Sunday to take on SMU with an 11:00 am start at Drumlins
Check out The Feed for this week’s schedule of Syracuse games. We’ll have more updates next week.
Matt Patricia’s return is a continuity boost for Ohio State
It’s safe to say not everyone was sold on Ryan Day’s hire of Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator when Jim Knowles took the Penn State job. Our own site listed the uncertainty of the choice as one of the Buckeyes’ biggest concerns last summer.
While things hadn’t gone so well for Patricia as an NFL head coach in Detroit — lack of success by no means being uncommon for Lions coaches from a historical standpoint — or in some of his positions since, his NFL experience is something Day covets.
Patricia got the job, and the reaction from Ohio State writers and fans was mixed, at best.
Those concerns were quickly put to rest. Despite having to completely rebuild a defense that lost a ton of departing talent to the NFL after the 2024 national championship season, Patricia’s unit was not only Ohio State’s best in 2025, but it was the top defense in college football.
The Buckeyes finished first in scoring defense, allowing fewer than double-digit points per game (9.3), and led the nation in total defense, allowing just an average of 219 yards per game. With an entirely new defensive line, Ohio State held opponents to less than 90 yards rushing per game, finishing seventh nationally in run defense, while leading the country in pass defense, giving up a stingy 129.7 yards per game through the air.
There is no room for criticism for the numbers in the above paragraph. It’s ludicrous to expect that kind of performance, let alone any improvement on it.
Leading the country in three of the four major defensive categories makes the 2025 defense historically good (and it’s even better when you consider the Buckeyes led the country in red zone defense and were No. 10 nationally in third-down defense), and the architect of that defense putting to rest any doubts about his return can be seen as nothing but a positive for Ohio State football in 2026.
A side effect of being one of the top programs in the country is that other schools are always coming for your coaches. At Ohio State, it isn’t just college programs coming for them; the NFL also comes calling. With the ridiculous season Patricia’s defense just had, there were no doubt suitors for his services from both college and NFL teams.
Although Patricia’s initial deal was through 2027, there was never any guarantee of his return after turning the OSU defense into a buzzsaw that improved a national championship-caliber defense.
Now that Patricia has committed to being in Columbus for another year, he has the unenviable task of replacing several key parts of his own elite defense.
The good news is there is plenty of talent returning and several new arrivals via the transfer portal that will help. The bad news is that it is a big ask to replace Kayden McDonald’s explosive play on the defensive line and “unicorn” players like Caleb Downs and Arvell Reese, along with an elite linebacker talent in Sonny Styles and top cornerback Davison Igbinosun.
Despite the losses of Downs, Reese, and Styles in particular, the job of rebuilding the defense seems less daunting now than it did a year ago.
Ohio State’s returning starters and depth players have been in Patricia’s system for a year. They should be better pepared in their second year, even if some of them will become first-time starters. New arrivals will help mitigate some of the losses.
Again, it’s ludicrous to expect a repeat of what Patricia’s defense did in 2025 in the season ahead, especially with a tougher schedule to play, but Ohio State’s second-year defensive coordinator has done enough to at least silence last year’s critics and build trust that the Silver Bullets will be back in 2026.
I(O)U: Cignetti’s Revised Indiana Deal to Pay Over $100M Guaranteed
The market has spoken for Curt Cignetti.
The University of Indiana has committed to pay its national championship-winning head football coach $105.6 million over the next eight seasons, according to a letter signed by athletic director Scott Dolson and released Monday.
Cignetti’s existing employment agreement called for a “good-faith market review” if IU reached the College Football Playoff semifinal—which it did in January on the way to winning its first national title in school history.
Under the revised deal, Cignetti will earn $13.025 million in guaranteed compensation this coming season, with annual raises of $50,000 through Nov. 30, 2033. Before incentives, that would make him the second-highest-paid coach in college football this year, behind Georgia’s Kirby Smart and just ahead of LSU’s Lane Kiffin.
Cignetti’s raise represents a roughly 54% increase from the $8.5 million guaranteed salary the coach was set to earn this year under the contract he signed back in November 2024. All other terms remain in effect.
As such, if Cignetti is fired without cause, Indiana must pay the full remaining guaranteed tab, based on a provision triggered once his team appeared in the Big Ten championship or College Football Playoff.
Should the Hoosiers replicate last season’s success, Cignetti would easily clear $15 million.
And if that’s not enough to get him through the week, the contract also includes a $25,000 annual courtesy car allowance, free meals at the athletic dining facility and unlimited family use of the Pfau Golf Course and driving range in Bloomingdale, Ind., “including green fees, cart fees and range balls.”
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Tyler Linderbaum to receive offers that make him NFL's highest paid center
The Ravens have said all the right things about their commitment to Tyler Linderbaum, and GM Eric DeCosta added some intrigue to the negotiations. Linderbaum had his fifth-year option denied and will test free agency. There has been some talk that Baltimore may not step up to the plate with a lucrative offer. DeCosta dismissed those reports, telling the media at the NFL Scouting Combine that the team has made a "market-setting" offer to the Pro Bowl center.
DeCosta's comments about an offer come days before the new league year, and according to ESPN's Dan Graziano, that offer still may not be enough.
According to reports, Linderbaum is expected to receive offers that exceed $20 million per season, easily making him the highest-paid center in NFL history.
Meanwhile, the Ravens hope they can keep free agent center Tyler Linderbaum. But plenty of people in Indy believe he will get offers that exceed $20 million per year, and that Baltimore won't want to go that high. The highest-paid center in the league is Kansas City's Creed Humphrey at $18 million per year, and while GM Eric DeCosta told reporters at the combine that the Ravens had made a "market-setting offer" for Linderbaum, that might not turn out to be enough. Baltimore is already looking out for upgrades at guard (it would not be a surprise to see it address that position in the first round of the draft) and now could need a new center.
Linderbaum, the team's top pending free agent, said he "absolutely" wants to return. The Ravens did not pick up his fifth-year option last offseason, but he still could return on a deal that puts him in the top five highest-paid centers.
A 2022 first-round pick out of Iowa (25th overall), Lnderbaum has been named to the Pro Bowl three times, and how he views the Ravens will be something to watch with March 9 approaching. In 2025, Linderbaum remained one of the best run-blocking centers in the NFL. His 83.1 PFF run-blocking grade ranked fourth at the position.
This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: NFL Free Agency: Tyler Linderbaum could exceed $20 million per year