Two years after the Rangers ‘ended’ the Astros, Houston remains Texas’ best team | Opinion
Of the many developments since the Texas Rangers won their World Series, one that is both impressive and confounding is the state of the Silver Star Boot series.
The best baseball team in Texas should be the one in Arlington, and yet that tag remains property of the Houston Astros.
While the Rangers win some of the battles — they’ve won six of 10 games against the Astros this season — Houston keeps Astroing its way to relevance, and division titles.
When the Rangers came back to defeat the Astros in Game 7 of their fun 2023 American League Championship Series, it should have been the final scene to Houston’s successful, and controversial, dynasty.
Whatever you think of the Astros, give them this: They won’t die. MLB took away their cameras, garbage cans and high-tech toys, and the Astros still win.
The Astros may not win their third World Series title since 2017, but their dynasty era, however muddy and camera-aided it may be, continues. As long as they are “around it,” and have a shot at a World Series, it’s not over.
On Sunday after Globe Life Mall, the Rangers won the latest fight, 4-2, in the rubber game of their three-game series.
The Rangers are now 74-70, and just 1 1/2 games out of the wild card spot, and four behind Houston for first place.
Beginning Aug. 24, the Rangers had 30 games remaining. They needed to win 20 to reach 86 victories, which should put them in the playoffs. Despite a depleted lineup, they are now 8-4 in these games to remain close enough to think they might just get in.
The Astros are still on top in AL West
It’s September 2025, and the Astros are still in first place, leaving the Rangers to look up at the team they thought they had knocked down the AL West ladder.
It’s September 2025, and the Astros are on track to earn a postseason spot for the ninth straight season. Meanwhile, the Rangers are trying to avoid their eighth losing record in that span while they cling to the hope of squeezing into the wild card spot.
It’s September 2025, and Houston second baseman Jose Altuve is still in the middle of the Astros order. He may be there in September 2055.
On Sunday, Houston started pitcher Framber Valdez, the same pitcher who took two losses in the 2023 ALCS.
Speaking of the 2023 playoffs, the Rangers active 28-man roster features only three players who were also on their ‘23 postseason roster. Catcher Jonah Heim, infielder Josh Smith and Josh Jung are the last standing trio.
On Sunday before the Rangers game, manager Bruce Bochy announced that the man who threw the final pitch of that 2023 World Series-winning Game 5, reliever Josh Sborz, has been shut down for the season with an injured shoulder.
“We’re outta’ time,” Bochy said of Sborz.
Since the start of the ‘24 season, the Astros have spent 184 days in first place in the American League West. The Rangers have spent 75 days atop the division; the last time they were in first this season was April 26. In ‘24, their last time in first was May 11.
The reasons are aplenty. The Rangers have had their share of injuries that range from the standard bad luck to the, “Seriously?” All-Star shortstop Corey Seager remains out after he needed an emergency appendectomy on Aug. 28.
They’ve used 52 players this season, which these days is not too far from the standard rate for a big league club.
One person’s reason is another person’s excuse. The Astros have used 58 players this season.
The Astros are a first place team in September again for a few reasons. They spent money; their team payroll of $220 million ranks seventh in MLB, a few dollars behind that of the Rangers.
The Astros’ high-end talent, like Jeremy Pena and Altuve, are still productive. Few clubs are better at replacing production with production.
The Astros are going to the playoffs for a ninth straight year not just because of cash, but they develop new players as well as any team.
Texas Rangers cling to AL postseason hopes
The Rangers’ World Series title increasingly feels like a one off. Not a strike of lightning from Heaven, but rather the perfect alignment of multiple moons, stars and galaxies.
The team that won that title has not come close to lining it all up again for stretches beyond that of week at a time.
The lineup that started on Sunday is one of the weakest you could name. Other than leadoff man Wyatt Langford and third baseman Josh Jung, there wasn’t a bat in the order that you could trust to hit big league pitching.
This is the same lineup, full of younger and mostly unproven players, that has kept the Rangers on the fringe of the wild card spot, a point of irritation among fans.
“The effort hasn’t changed,” Bochy said before Sunday’s game of the difference of the lineup with an influx of younger players.
“The personnel has, and it’s up to us to adapt to the personnel,” Bochy said. “With what they are doing, I couldn’t be prouder of these guys, how they’ve handled, and carried themselves in these important games that we’re playing. You do love the enthusiasm and how hard they are playing. I do think that has brought some energy to everybody.”
If he had said the effort had changed, it would have been an indictment on guys like Seager and second baseman Marcus Semien. Bochy is too smart to remotely suggest something like that.
The Rangers should be ahead of where they are, which is still in it — but firmly behind the Astros.
This story was originally published September 7, 2025 at 5:03 PM.
