In second place in the American League West and in the lead for the final wild-card entry to the playoffs, the Texas Rangers are a contender. Hovering around .500, they just don’t look like it.
ARLINGTON — No matter what happened Tuesday night, win or lose, the Texas Rangers would finish the opener against the Angels in second place in the American League West and in soul possession of the third and final AL wild-card berth into the postseason.
Sometimes a ticket into the tournament, as the Rangers proved as a wild-card team in 2023, is all a team needs to fulfill its championship aspiriations. However, things are easier in the playoffs as a division winner.
With more than half of the 2026 season gone, both paths are possible for the Rangers.
As crazy as it might sound, judging by how the season has progressed, the Rangers are contenders. They just aren’t the traditional kind of contender.
The Rangers entered Tuesday at 45-45, not 50-40 or 48-42 as other traditional contenders might be. They have many blemishes, literally and figuratively between a bevy of injuries and a consistently inconsistent offense.
They aren’t unlike the AL, which had only 5 of 15 teams above .500. It’s because of that mediocrity that the Rangers could be trade-deadline buyers rather than standing pat or orchestrating a selloff as they might in a different season or a differently league.
For instance, their 45-45 record would have them in last place in the National League East and Central. They would be in second place in the NL West, but 14 games behind the Dodgers.
Then again, a .500 record is three games better than the Rangers were at the 2024 trade deadline, when they made two minor trades to bolster the roster for a potential wild-card push. They were 3 1/2 games behind then, not 1 1/2 games ahead as they were Tuesday.
President of baseball operations Chris Young would need to see an utter calamity the rest of the month to not buy at the trade deadline. Including Tuesday, 13 of their next 16 games are at Globe Life Field. Their schedule the rest of the season is one of the easiest in baseball, though their first three series after the All-Star break are against teams above .500.
Wyatt Langford (hamstring) could return from the injured list this week. Corey Seager (back) is more likely to return after the All-Star break. They’ve played only 25 games together this season, leaving the Rangers to wonder what their offense would look like with both healthy for extended stretches.
That seems like a big if, but the Rangers have managed to survive so far despite all of their injuries. The Rangers have 12 players on the injured list and have had six others on the IL at one point or another.
Their current active roster has three players on it who weren’t even in the organization to start the season. Two of them were in the starting lineup Tuesday. The Rangers have had six players make their MLB debuts this season, and their closer, Jacob Latz, was trying to be a starter in spring training.
He was just named to the All-Star team. As the Rangers’ .500 record might suggest, Latz is their only All-Star selection.
Again, that isn’t the traditional profile of a playoff team and perhaps not a team that is worth a heavy investment at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Young, ever the competitor, might not buy much, but at this point, it seems like he will buy something.
The Rangers are contenders, even if just about everything other than the standings says they aren’t.
Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com
