Texas Rangers Offseason Recap and What Still Needs Work

Back-to-back seasons with the Texas Rangers missing the playoffs have sent the team back to the drawing board this offseason. In fact, the Rangers front office has been extremely busy.

First, there was the managerial change, going from future Hall of Famer Bruce Bochy to2023 NL Manager of the Year Skip Schumaker. Then came the non-tendering of Adolis Garcia, Jonah Heim, Josh Sborz, and Jacob Webb.

Those moves were big and signified a clear change in direction for the Rangers. And in sticking with the theme of change, the Rangers traded Marcus Semien to the New York Mets for outfielder Brandon Nimmo.

One of the biggest needs this offseason was at catcher. They just recently addressed that by signing Danny Jansen to a two-year, $14.5M contract. He will be paired with Kyle Higashioka to make up the big league backstop tandem.

There have also been several bounce-back and lower-level bullpen signings. Texas even added a Rule 5 bullpen arm when they traded for Carter Baumler, who the Pirates selected with the fifth choice out of Baltimore.

Isn’t This What the Rangers Did Last Offseason?

Last offseason, the club was in a similar situation. They needed to boost the offense, build a bullpen, and do both while reducing salary.

POBO Chris Young made some moves that, on paper, should have been plenty to get the team back to the postseason. However, even the best-laid plans sometimes don’t pan out. The game is played on the field, and for whatever reason, the Rangers didn’t live up to their lofty expectations.

Piecing together a competitive team while moving backwards in spending is not easy. It is also not something that can’t be done either.

There will need to be some hits on some young players, as well as some fringy veterans, along the way. But perhaps the most important aspect of the Rangers’ 2026 season is going to be making sure that the players who are still here from 2025 as a whole elevate their game.

Namely, Joc Pederson, Josh Jung, and Jake Burger will all need to perform at a higher level. None of the trio had an OPS over .700, and Burger led the group with only 16 home runs.

These three everyday players will need to step up their offensive production for the results in 2026 to differ from this past year. Perhaps a new voice in manager Skip Schumaker is just what the doctor ordered.

Nimmo for Semien Deal Was a Game Changer

The biggest move in MLB to start the offseason was the trade that the Rangers made with the Mets. Getting rid of a Gold Glove-winning former All-Star can be hard. But in this case, it was the right move for the Rangers.

Much love and respect for Semien. He was the first big free agent signing that the Rangers had after the 2021 season. His coming to Arlington opened the door for both Corey Seager and Jacob deGrom to join the ranks.

He also played a key role in securing the franchises first ever World Series title. Semien will forever be a part of Rangers lore.

But baseball is a what have you done for me lately kind of sport. And lately, it’s been tough for Semien.

The bottom line is that Semien’s offensive production had dropped off significantly over the last two seasons. And going into his age-35 season with three years remaining on his contract, now was as good a time as any to make a move.

His defense is still stellar, and in fact, he took home the Gold Glove this year. That is something that the Mets were looking for.

And with Nimmo, the Rangers get a corner outfielder to help replace Garcia. His contract isn’t the best, with five years remaining. But it still saves the team some much needed salary room if only a few million.

For a team that is cutting salaries by perhaps as much as 20% or so, that is a significant savings. The biggest addition, though, is Nimmo’s bat. The Wyoming native has a career 126 wRC+ and slugged 25 home runs last season.

Nimmo is a lefty bat that hits well against both lefties and righties. He will be an everyday player and one that the Rangers will lean on to jumpstart an offense that has been dismal the past two seasons.

Still Need Starters

Last season, the Rangers’ starting pitchers led MLB in ERA for the first time in club history. The pair of aces in deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi will be back. Breakout rookie Jack Leiter will be back, along with Kumar Rocker, who had an inconsistent 2025 campaign.

But Tyler Mahle, Patrick Corbin, Merrill Kelly, who combined to start 56 games for the Rangers last season, are now free agents. In Kelly’s case, he has returned to the Arizona Diamondbacks. There is a chance that the Rangers could re-sign Corbin, but maybe they should aim higher.

Jacob Latz should be able to compete for a spot in the rotation. Also, Cody Bradford will be coming back at some point during the season and will provide some depth.

Depth is exactly what this organization needs at starting pitching. There isn’t a ton of talent in the farm system that could step into a starter’s role this season. The team will need to add depth both at the major league level as well as the Triple-A level in case the injury bug strikes too hard.

The good news is that Texas isn’t trying to sign an ace; they already have two. Instead, they will need to add more of a middle- or even back-of-the-rotation type guy that can add depth and eat innings.

Zac Gallen’s name has been floated around in relation to the Rangers. This seems a bit unlikely, as he would no doubt carry a high price tag despite a rough 2025 season that saw his ERA balloon to 4.83 over 33 starts and 192 innings.

Nothing is ever out of the question, but this seems unlikely. But if it did happen, it would be a great signing.

Bullpen Remake

With a trio of signings over the past week, the Rangers’ initial bullpen is getting close to completion. Texas recently announced the signing of Tyler Alexander, Alexis Diaz, and the re-signing of Chris Martin.

A majority of the clubs ‘pen from last year were under one-year contracts and thus became free agents at the completion of the 2025 season. This forced the team to rebuild the bullpen from the ground up yet again.

Robert Garcia, Cole Winn, and Luis Curvelo will be back from last year’s squad. So will Latz, but he is likely to have a real opportunity to snag a rotation spot during spring training.

It is unclear as to exactly how much money the team will have to spend on constructing their roster. There is a possibility that the Rangers won’t add much more to the big league pen, or perhaps they still have a move left in them.

With the current state of the minor league system, the more depth pieces that can be added to Round Rock, the better. These moves are likely to continue throughout the offseason and even into the spring and the first part of the regular season.

Rangers fans have pushed for a true closer for the last several years. This year, it doesn’t seem to be in the cards again.

But with that said, Diaz does have a history of closing and doing it well. Last year was disastrous for him, but he will be looking to bounce back, and maybe he can slot himself into that role early and often.

It will be a wide-open race with him as one of the odds-on favorites.

The Rangers’ bullpen is being assembled more on a beer budget than a champagne one. That has worked out decently for the team the last few years, and maybe they will hit things right yet again.

Right-Handed Bat Would Be Nice

Young had a press conference on Tuesday where he formally introduced both Jansen and Alexander. In that Zoom call, he also indicated that the club is open to signing a right-handed bat.

Some have indicated that they feel like this bat could be a second baseman. With the vacancy at the position with the Semien trade, someone will need to take over.

With several internal candidates to play second, like Josh Smith, Cody Freeman, Ezequiel Duran, and even Justin Foscue, signing another second baseman seems unlikely. There has been much chatter about Schumaker reuniting with free agent Luis Arraez.

Arraez would seem to fit the more contact-first approach that the Rangers are at least talking about this offseason. But he is a left-handed bat, and unless there are some additional moves, he would push an already lefty-heavy lineup even further in that direction.

One possibility is that the Rangers will trade for or sign a right-handed corner outfielder. Evan Carter has had numerous health issues despite only being 23 years old, so its anyone’s guess what to expect from him moving forward.

Another corner outfielder would allow the team to shift Wyatt Langford to center and have Nimmo in the other corner. Carter could be used as a solid fourth outfielder and would hopefully be more durable in that capacity.

It remains to be seen what additional moves the Rangers will make. The business of baseball and filling out a roster is not an easy endeavor. There are sure to be many twists and turns as the offseason continues and spring training approaches.