Texas Rangers are the working example of ‘You get what you pay for’
The Texas Rangers are nine games away from concluding what may turn out to be their most difficult stretch of the entire season, and they are meeting expectations.
The Rangers aren’t bad. The Rangers aren’t good, either. The Rangers are just there.
On Wednesday afternoon at Globe Life Mall, the Rangers completed their three-game series with the American East-leading New York Yankees, and the home team avoided being swept with a 3-0 win behind starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi’s beautiful performance (7 innings, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts).
The Rangers are 15-16. Did you think something else was going to happen?
The Rangers’ team payroll of $205 million ranks 15th in Major League Baseball, and they are so far a right-down-the-middle-club.
With the first month of the season nearly over, the Rangers are no different than many other clubs whose main point of celebration is to scream, “Hey — at least we aren’t the Mets!”
The Mets have the second-highest payroll in baseball ($381.5 million), and are in last place in the NL East. The Rangers are at least sitting in third in the AL West.
“We can matchup with anybody,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said.
The obstacles for the Rangers today aren’t that much different than they were late in the 2025 season, and it has nothing to do with a stadium.
The lame excuse that is Globe Life Park
When the 2025 season ended, Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young made it a priority to address the “park effect,” and it has now morphed into something well beyond just another stat.
The Rangers’ offense, one of the worst in baseball in 2025, was especially bad at Globe Life Mall. Somehow the Rangers’ new home stadium became the modern day version of the Polo Grounds in New York City, the famed now-demolished park of the New York Yankees that was renowned for its Grand Canyon-esque hitting dimensions.
The Rangers’ seven home runs and their OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) at home rank second-to-last in baseball. The only thing keeping them from the bottom is the Boston Red Sox, who still play at a stadium not known to be kind to pitchers, Fenway Park.
“Obviously our park plays a little bit bigger than others, but I think we can play that to our advantage,” infielder Josh Smith said, “knowing that if you hit a ball to center field here it’s most likely an out.
“I wouldn’t say I look too much into it. I say that, ‘If you don’t like it, play better. Or hit it harder.’ I would not really use it an excuse.”
If a team needs to spend more than 10 minutes researching the “park effect” on their hitters, something is wrong with the hitter, not the stadium.
In 2023, the Rangers ranked second in all of Major League Baseball with 143 home runs, and second in OPS. No one mentioned “park effect” then.
And it’s worth noting that since that season, the Rangers did not move their home outfield fence 35 feet farther away from home plate. They didn’t raise the height of the outfield fence from 8 feet to 85 feet.
What may save the Rangers’ offense
Coming out of spring training, Young said he was encouraged by the development and progress of the team’s hitting; the first month has not rewarded his optimism. The offense ranks 26th in runs scored, and is only marginally better from last season’s unit that allowed the best pitching staff in baseball to miss the playoffs.
The trade of second baseman Marcus Semien to the Mets for Brandon Nimmo has been a win; Nimmo is a good pro, and potential All-Star at the top of the batting order. Third baseman Josh Jung is off to the type of start that could extend his career with the Rangers in a season that had a make-or-break vibe.
The overall production is also not there, as outfielder Evan Carter and DH Joc Pederson aren’t contributing at desired, or needed, levels. Schumaker mentioned it after the win on Wednesday; the team needs more production up and down the lineup, and to not be top heavy.
Young’s offense needs another bat to complement a pitching staff that is good enough to win.
Even if Rangers owner Ray Davis sticks to the offseason plan of “improving from within” and does not approve the acquisition of an expensive bat, the team may still be “in it” because it plays in the worst division in baseball. The American League West is a Buc-ees-sized truck stop of blah, and an 81-win team could win it.
The Astros’ run is over; the Angels’ owner doesn’t care; the Athletics can’t be taken seriously until they move to Las Vegas; the Mariners should be the favorites to win this division by 6 1/2 games.
It leaves the Rangers in position to contend for the division even though they are playing to the level that was expected.
