Rangers Should Have 'Busy Winter' When It Comes To Filling Pitching Staff

The Texas Rangers' front office will be busy this winter.

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The Texas Rangers haven't officially been eliminated from postseason contention, but they almost assuredly are going to miss the playoffs for the second year in a row.

In 2024, it was understandable. The team was ravaged by injuries and could never get things going as a result of that. But entering this season, there was hope they would bounce back following a busy winter where president of baseball operations Chris Young upgraded the roster.

Unfortunately, the once-vaunted offense laid an egg all year, squandering a really good performance by the pitching staff throughout the majority of the season until the wheels have fallen of a bit coming down the final stretch of the campaign.

The Rangers will have plenty of questions to answer this offseason when it comes to how they can get back to competing for World Series championships. But one thing is clear: they will need to address their pitching staff.

Rangers Facing Multiple Departures in Rotation and Bullpen

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Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report took a look at what Texas is facing this upcoming offseason when it comes to their pitching staff, and if the team is going to maintain a strong unit like they had this year, then the front office will have their hands full.

"That means there is at least one, probably two vacancies to be filled in this rotation for 2026 ... Combine that with the fact that the Rangers also have six relievers headed for free agency, including recently crowned closer Shawn Armstrong, and it's going to be a busy winter in Arlington," he wrote.

Merrill Kelly and Tyler Mahle are two starters who are set to become free agents. Deadline additions Danny Coulombe and Phil Maton will also hit the open market. As will Hoby Milner, Chris Martin, Patrick Corbin and the aforementioned Shawn Armstrong.

That is a lot of arms to replace if they aren't able to bring back some of them, and that's not even considering the additional insurance options they should have on deck in case Jacob deGrom or Nathan Eovaldi get injured again.

Young is going to have his hands full considering the Rangers have the best ERA in Major League Baseball at 3.45 entering play on Monday, with their rotation also owning the best ERA (3.41) and their bullpen owning the fifth-lowest ERA (3.57).

How aggressive Texas is going to be will become a major storyline to monitor. The only reason why they were in the playoff race so deep into the season was because of the performance put together by this pitching staff. So if they lose many of those contributors, that does not bode well for 2026.

The Rangers do have some top pitching prospects on the cusp of being ready for the big leagues, so they could opt to go with more of a youth approach and address the major offensive issues that were on display this year.

But that's also a risk. And with the championship window looking closed with this current iteration of the team, the front office will need to be busy to when it comes to putting together a staff that can get this franchise back into the playoffs.