How Tyler Soderstrom’s Extension Gives Rangers Map for Wyatt Langford Deal

The Texas Rangers have a rising star in Wyatt Langford, and another rising star gives the franchise a way to deal with Langford’s rising cost.

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The time is coming for the Texas Rangers to figure out how to deal with Wyatt Langford long-term.

After two seasons, Langford has positioned himself as the franchise’s future star. Last season he slashed 241/.344/.431 with 22 home runs and 62 RBI. He was a finalist for American League Gold Glove in left field. He’s on the cusp of his first All-Star Game appearance and, after 2026, he’ll be eligible for salary arbitration for the first time.

That’s the time when most teams determine if they want to extend a player like Langford through his arbitration years or not. He is the one player the Rangers should consider extending to control costs. The question is always how to do it?

Recently, the Athletics extended AL rookie of the year Tyler Soderstrom. Now that the details of the deal have emerged, they offer a template for the Rangers to use with Langford.

How Tyler Soderstrom’s Deal Impacts a Langford Extension

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The New York Post’s Jon Heyman posted the details of Soderstrom’s extension to X (formerly Twitter). The seven-year, $86 million deal comes after he slashed .276/.346/.474 with 25 home runs and 93 RBI. Soderstrom isn’t yet eligible for arbitration. But the deal gets him through his final four years of team control, plus four years of free agency.

Soderstrom will get a $3 million signing bonus and will make just $1 million in base salary for 2026, the latter of which is just above the league minimum. After that, his numbers rise to $6 million in 2027, $10 million in 2028 and $12 million in 2029.

The numbers rise higher after that, accounting for the kind of money that he might have made in free agency. He’ll make $16 million in 2030, $17 million in 2031 and $19 million in 2032. The deal comes with a club option of $27 million for 2033 or a $2 million buyout.

Langford is only scheduled to make the league minimum for a pre-arbitration player in 2026, which is under $1 million. When he heads into the arbitration process before the 2027 season, it will be up to his performance and the arbitration formula to determine what he might make.

The Rangers may not want to take the chance, depending upon what they project Langford to be beyond 2026. Texas is trying to control costs right now, paring salary where it can. The Rangers have spent little in free agency this offseason and non-tendered four players in November, including Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim.

How the Rangers approach Langford’s deal will be interesting to watch this season. He could be the future of the organization and, if he develops the way Texas hopes, he would be worth getting into a long-term, team-friendly deal.