Ranking the Texas Rangers Top 5 Offseason Priorities

For Texas Rangers fans, there's certainly a segment that would love nothing more than for president of baseball operations Chris Young to tear the thing down.

Three years of frustration after winning the 2023 World Series has fans clamoring for more change than Young may be able to arrange this offseason. Texas has several players on high money contracts and a potential labor stoppage in December is going to halt the game and its traditional hot stove offseason in its tracks.

Still, young and his manager, Skip Schumaker, know what they want to try and accomplish this offseason. They laid out some of that vision in their end of season press conference. Some of that is obvious to those who watched the team all season.

Based on the Rangers failure to make the postseason for a third straight year, along with context from young and Schumaker, her are the top five areas that the Rangers will look to prioritize this offseason.

Building Quality Competition on the Roster

Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker watches a game from the dugout. — Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker. Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Both Young and Schumaker made it clear they weren't happy with how things evolved in 2026 and that part of the blame was on them for not creating more of a culture of competition.

Young said the seeds for that were planted in spring training. The Rangers had a baked in starting lineup and the only true competition was at second base to replace Marcus Semien. The minor league free agents with MLB experience weren’t talented enough to crack the roster. Barring injuries, most Rangers observers knew who would be in the starting lineup opening day.

Schumacher said during the season that lack of competition created a lack of options once players got hurt. Young and his staff did good work in signing free agents like Elias Diaz and Nicky Lopez, but that's not what the Rangers want in 2027.

Priority one is creating a culture of competition across the roster. There are several positions where Rangers shouldn't be promised jobs. They should have to compete for them. That means the Rangers must acquire players that cannot only play but can displace the starters.

Doing so will create that culture of competition that they’re prioritizing after will prove whether the players on the current roster are the right players for the future.

Center Field

There is no denying Evan Carter's ability as a defender. But his bat is turning into a vacuum in the lineup, and the Rangers must address it.

Barring a miracle, there will be a work stoppage in December, and the Rangers won't have the ability to continue working with Carter. They'll be counting on him to work on his own to not only stay in shape but to improve his overall approach at the plate. The complaint has always been health and an inability to hit lefties. This season he was healthy. But he couldn’t hit much of anything.

He slashed .194/.288/.315 with nine home runs and 40 RBI in 141 games. Texas is desperate for him to be a non-platoon center fielder. That may not be his future.

Texas didn’t have competition at center field in spring training. It was Carter’s job unless he lost it. He didn’t, but he didn’t do enough in the regular season to show he was the future. The Rangers must pursue a center field with a track record, one that can compete with Carter, push him and — if necessary — displace him from the starting lineup. It may end up that Carter’s best role for now is as a fourth outfielder. But the Rangers know without pushing him. At minimum, there must be competition.

Fourth and Fifth Starter

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter throws a baseball. — Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter. Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Barring some major trade, the Rangers figured to have Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and MacKenzie Gore as their top three starters in 2027. It is the last season all three are under contract. But that's a problem for another time.

The Rangers’ bigger issue going into 2027 is the rest of the rotation. Last season was supposed to be a season where Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker took steps forward and neither did.

Leiter aggravated an extraneous bone in his ankle in April and finish the last three months of the season on the injured list after ankle surgery. How much did the injury impact his numbers, as he finished 3-7 with a 5.09 ERA? The Rangers won't know until next season, but it’s concerning.

As for Rocker, he pitched the entire campaign and was never consistent. He finished the season 6-11 with a 4.38 ERA. He was less effective than those numbers suggest. Rocker seemed to do his best work at home and with an opener in front of him. That's not a good recipe long-term.

Texas is at a crossroads with both pitchers but perhaps more so with rocker, who has incredible stuff but has shown an inability to consistently harness it. This is where a lack of competition hurt the Rangers when Leiter got hurt. They were fortunate to have Cal Quantrill on standby but he's a free agent.

The Rangers need veteran competition for Leiter and Rocker and can’t be worried about signing pitchers that could displace the pair, who could move into the bullpen or have minor league options. Texas must find ways to add quality veteran starting pitching this offseason.

The Bullpen

Texas Rangers pitcher Peyton Gray (75) is visited on the mound by teammates. — Texas Rangers pitcher Peyton Gray (75) is visited on the mound by Texas Rangers pitching coach Jordan Tiegs (83) and catcher Elias Díaz. Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

I mean that's a constant with the Rangers, right? The bullpen wasn't bad in 2026. But it was not the high-quality outfit that it was in 2025. The best pieces of the bullpen were the left-handers. Jacob Latz emerged as an All Star closer, and Tyler Alexander proved indispensable as both an opener and a middle reliever.

Texas didn't get what it hoped out of free agent closer Alexis Diaz, who never made it back to the Majors. The Rangers ran through several rookie relievers, including Peyton Gray, Robbie Ahlstrom and Gavin Collyer. Gray was the most effective.

Texas landed a solid free agent in Jakob Junis but lost their quality left-handed free agent Jalen Beeks at midseason to an elbow injury.

The good news for Texas is that Latz and the rookies remain under team control. The bad news is that Alexander, Diaz and Junis can all become free agents. The Rangers had not shown a propensity for re-signing veteran relievers so look for Young and his staff to troll the free agent market again for cheap arms with track records they like.

Texas would be smart to trigger the mutual option on Junis’ contract, and he would be smart to trigger his option, especially with the labor struggles coming up. But look for solid turnover in the bullpen once again. It's the Rangers way.

First Base

Assuming the Rangers don't try to shed payroll, first base is probably the infield position they’ll consider improving. Josh Jung should be at third base. Corey Seager will be at shortstop, and Ezequiel Duran should be the favorite to play second base.

Jake Burger had a much better 2026 at the plate and hit a team-leading 28 home runs and drove in a team-leading 90 RBI. But he only batted .228, had a career-worst 167 strikeouts and only had a .302 on-base percentage. The upside is he did set a career-high in walks with 56. But is that enough from that position?

Texas’ new offensive philosophy is players that do multiple things at the plate and get on base often. Burger is a bit limited in both regards. The Rangers traded for him when they emphasized slugging and home runs. The good news is he's relatively cheap. He has two more years of team control and he's not going to break the bank in arbitration.

But the Rangers shouldn't be so committed to him that they're not willing to bring in competition to try to push him to get better. That competition could be internal. Justin Foscue can play the position and has the sort of makeup they're looking for at the plate. Or the Rangers could go the free agent route and bring in a veteran first baseman.

Burger was a good, but not great, hitter for Texas. The Rangers should look to take a shot to bring in at least one player that can push him in 2027, especially if it yields more on base and fewer strikeouts period

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