Texas Rangers Facing Critical Stakes Entering Another New Season

The Texas Rangers feel to be in a spot where they need to make the playoffs this season or blow things up more.

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (5) bats. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers have surely made a big swing this offseason in competing in the American League as a whole, but more specifically in the AL West division. With the Seattle Mariners not looking like a team taking a step back and the Houston Astros still a threat, the Rangers need to lock in.

Texas hasn't been to the playoffs or had a winning season since 2023, the year they won the whole shabang for the first time in franchise history. However, when looking at the payroll for the Rangers going into 2026, the money invested would suggest that the franchise should be a contender this season.

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With the movement of Marcus Semien to the New York Mets for Brandon Nimmo and the acquisition of Mackenzie Gore from the Washington Nationals, on top of several additions of bullpen help, the Rangers' winning window feels as if it will close this season if they don't make a run.

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Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) delivers to the plate. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

MLB.com's Will Leitch listed the Rangers as the AL West's representative of a team that needs something to change quickly before it's too late. With ace Jacob deGrom aging and set to make $38 million this season, as well as All-Star shortstop Corey Seager having been unable to play in 150 games since his first season in Texas, it's clear this season is make-or-break.

The Rangers seemingly played the same level of baseball throughout the 2025 campaign, finishing one game below .500 at the All-Star break and one game above .500 following the All-Star break, leading them to an 81-81 record while possessing a Top 10 payroll in the MLB at $244,380,966.

What happens if another losing season occurs in Texas? Leitch suggests that the Rangers are going to have to reconsider things moving forward.

"If they have another year of diminishing returns, they’re really going to have to wonder whether this plan, outside that glorious October in 2023, is ever going to fully pay off," Leitch wrote.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) is visited on the mound by pitching coach Mike Maddux. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

The initial moves of signing players like Semien, deGrom, Seager and Eovaldi felt as if this team would be the team to beat in the AL for several years to come, but it quickly has turned into a franchise with the identity of players who can't stay healthy for a full season.

But that doesn't mean there isn't a way to salvage this. The best way to do it is to show the world that the all-in moves you made this offseason were what was missing for the franchise's success and that you're serious in contending for a championship and haven't become complacent since 2023.

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