The Texas Rangers have now missed the playoffs in each of the last two years since achieve a franchise high in winning their first World Series.
The franchise got a pass in 2024. That won’t be the case after 2025. Manager Bruce Bochy opted not to come back as the Rangers try to get younger and cheaper. Skip Schumaker will be the new skipper. President of baseball operations Chris Young must balance mandates about payroll while keeping the team competitive. It won’t be easy.
For Texas to reach the playoffs in 2026, here are three goals they must achieve this offseason.
Set the Offense up for Success
Two years ago, the Rangers slashed .263/.337/.452 with a .790 OPS with 233 home runs and 845 RBI. This season the Rangers slashed .234/.302/.381 with a .684 OPS, including 175 home runs and 658 RBI. It’s a precipitous drop that nearly the entire lineup shares in the blame.
Texas made changes in the season to try and boost the offense, firing offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker and hiring Bret Boone to be the hitting coach. The changes only brought marginal improvement.
It seems clear the Rangers will make changes to the hitting room. Young wants a staff that will work with players to help them hit in multiple ways at the plate. He made that clear at his end-of-year press conference.
But it will be more than a philosophy change. Young may choose to trade some of his veterans for younger talent. They may be hoping Joc Pederson doesn’t trigger his player option to give the more freedom. Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim may be potential trade pieces.
The hard work will be getting the core of the team to do things differently in 2026, especially if it can lead to better results. These will be the most important decisions of the offseason.
Get a Closer
The Rangers erred in not signing a legitimate closer before the 2025 season. Texas had one of the worst save conversion rates in baseball, blowing 29 saves (37 saves in 66 chances). Had Texas converted seven of those chances it would have made the playoffs.
Texas will likely try to bring back Shawn Armstrong, who was their closer to end the season. But his nine saves this season was a career high. He may not be the right closer long-term. If the Rangers are going to spend money anywhere, it should be on the few legitimate options there are on the free-agent market, starting with Robert Suarez.
Boost Rocker
The Rangers have Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Leiter all back for 2026. They form the core of the rotation. They need Kumar Rocker to be that fourth starter.
The 2022 first-round pick went 4-5 with a 5.74 ERA in 14 starts, with 56 strikeouts, 23 walks and 1.46 WHIP. He was electric in the few starts he made late in 2024. But perhaps he just wasn’t ready for a full-time rotation spot. He was back in the minors by August, and the Rangers were trying to tweak his delivery.
His emergence is paramount to boosting Texas’ rotation. His stuff has the potential to be elite, and he can be a dominant starter in the Majors. He needs to be in the lab with the pitching coaches as much as possible this offseason.