Five Thoughts After Rangers Maddening Season Leads to Missing Playoffs

Here are five thoughts on the Texas Rangers’ 2025 season, which ended with an 81-81 record and missing the playoffs for the second straight year.

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (5) reacts after fouling a ball off of his leg during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers thought they put together a club that could slug and pitch with the best in baseball. Turns out they were half right.

The Rangers finished the season a maddening 81-81. They were a frustrating team to watch all season. With two weeks left in the season they were a half-game out of the final American League wild card berth. A week later they were basically out of the playoff race entirely. Every surge came with a slump and consistency, especially at the plate, was elusive.

How did all of this happen? Here are five thoughts on the 2025 season.

A franchise-best pitching staff?

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One could argue the Rangers’ starting rotation was the best in franchise history and that the staff overall was one of the best.

The starting rotation had one of the best ERAs in the Majors. The staff had a 3.47 ERA, which was the best in baseball. Jacob deGrom was an All-Star, Nathan Eovaldi could have been, and Jack Leiter emerged as a potential ace. Patrick Corbin was a lifesaver for less than $2 million.

The Rangers rebuilt its bullpen and most of the pieces worked. Shawn Armstrong could be their closer next season — if they can keep him. Journeymen like Hoby Milner, Robert Garcia, Jacob Latz and Chris Martin provided quality work but were overworked by season’s end.

Texas deserves credit for the staff it created, both this offseason and the past few seasons, in the case of deGrom and Eovaldi.

The Worst Offense Ever?

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The Rangers made moves this offseason to improve their slugging and power against right-handed pitching and it didn’t work. The team’s slash — .234/.302/.381 with a .683 OPS — was fifth-worst in baseball by batting average. It was not what president of baseball operations Chris Young envisioned in the offseason.

Just about everyone in the everyday lineup batted below their career averages. Wyatt Langford led the Rangers with 22 home runs. Corey Seager only played in 102 games due to injuries. Marcus Semien continued his early-season struggles. Joc Pederson was mired in an incredible slump and only played 96 games due to an injury.

In some ways, the ineptitude rivaled the franchise’s first season in Texas, 1972, long considered the worst offensive season in team history. That team slashed .223/.298/.299 with a .597 OPS. Only one player hit more than 10 home runs.

The Little Rascals

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The Rangers’ late-season surge was credited, in part, to the emergence of players like outfielder Michael Helman, infielder Cody Freeman, infielder Dylan Moore and outfielder Alejandro Osuna.

Freeman and Osuna have futures in Texas. It’s unclear if Helman and Moore do, as the pair are older and the latter has enough service time to be a free agent. But they fulfilled one of manager Bruce Bochy’s tenets of a winning season — you need unexpected players to step up. This quartet was unexpected, and they stepped up. But it wasn’t enough.

The Closer Question

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Among the things the Rangers didn’t do in the offseason was sign a legitimate closer. They opted for a bullpen by committee. The bullpen was solid, but the closer role came and went, from Luke Jackson to Robert Garcia to Shawn Amstrong. Garcia appears to be the Rangers’ preferred choice long-term, but he lost the job due to a bout of ineffectiveness.

Armstrong was the only one that latched onto the job and didn’t lose it. In fact, he put together one of the best seasons of his career. But, as a bullpen, the Rangers blew 29 saves, one of the worst conversion rates in baseball. Texas only needed seven of those blown saves to make the playoffs. Texas’ lack of a legit closer did cost it, just not as much as its awful offense.

The Early Offseason To-Dos

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The Rangers are starting the offseason soon than they wanted and there are some early to-dos. The first is replacing Bruce Bochy. He and the franchise mutually agreed to part ways on Monday, but he was also no longer under contract. So, now the Rangers must find a new manager. Senior advisor Skip Schumaker, the former Miami Marlins manager, will be a prime candidate.

A new manager search would delay potential coaching staff changes. Given the offense’s struggles, a turnover of the hitting room is entirely possible, including hitting coach Bret Boone, who was hired in May. A new manager could lead to a significant staff turnover in time for free agency.