Rangers’ Free-Agent Wish List Gets Complicated By Playoff Letdown

The Rangers are apparently eyeing a target who looked the part on paper but did not exactly cash the check in the playoffs. That matters, because the postseason has a way of turning tidy free-agent plans into uncomfortable reality checks for GMs. New York wants impact, but it also has to decide whether it is buying upside, reputation, or the player who actually showed up when the games tightened. Around this league, one rough spring can change a summer market in a hurry.