Chris Young’s message after the Rangers’ third straight season without playoff baseball in Arlington was hard to miss: the club wants to get younger, more athletic, and far less tied to veterans who don’t offer enough flexibility for the money they make.
That outlook makes the roster split pretty easy to sketch. There are a few younger pieces who look like they belong in the Rangers’ plans, and there are also some expensive veterans in their thirties who may be running out of runway.
Cody Freeman fits the first group. The 25-year-old has pushed his way into the organization’s long-term thinking with his versatility, his upward climb, and the kind of hard-nosed game that plays.
He’s a natural second baseman who can also handle the left side of the infield in a pinch, and his bat has shown some real adaptability. When he gets behind in the count, he’ll shorten up, put the ball in play, and make the defense work or move runners into scoring position.
There’s power in there too. Freeman hit 19 homers in 2025 at Round Rock, and his approach is built around doing damage early in counts before adjusting as the at-bat develops and the situation changes. That kind of all-around profile is exactly the sort of thing a club wants more of.
Justin Foscue has finally forced his way into the conversation as well. At 27, he put the annoying “4-A” label behind him in 2026 and made a strong case that he’s a real major league regular.
The biggest reason was his work against left-handed pitching, where he slashed .324/.395/.586 with 8 jacks and 27 RBIs in 145 at-bats. Over the second half, he was the Rangers’ most reliable bat against southpaws.
He still has work to do versus right-handers, so the profile right now looks more like a platoon utility type than a finished product. Even so, he’s shown he can hit righties in the minors, and the edge he brings is part of the appeal. That competitive bite could be useful in a clubhouse that, by the source’s own read, may have needed more of it.
Wyatt Langford is trickier, but he still lands in the group of players the Rangers should be thinking about keeping around. The 24-year-old outfielder, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 draft, has already shown flashes of what he can become when everything clicks. At his best, he looks like one of the better power hitters in the sport.
The problem is that the long slumps have been too costly, including down the stretch in 2026. The team and player have both shown some interest in a long-term partnership, but nothing has been nailed down.
Langford needs to dig into why those dry spells keep happening, and the Rangers may also have to ask whether hitting coach Justin Viele is part of the answer. If keeping Langford requires a serious investment, Viele is more likely to be the one shown the door.
On the other side of the ledger, Joc Pederson looks like the kind of veteran Young’s comments were aimed at. Pederson bounced back nicely in 2026 after a rough 2025, and he did help the Rangers by setting the tone as a power leadoff hitter who could jump-start games with an early 1-0 lead. But he’ll be 35 next season, he’s basically a full-time DH with only occasional first base duty, and that lack of versatility makes him a tough fit for what the Rangers say they want to be.
Cost only sharpens the issue. Pederson is expected to be expensive to keep at close to $19 million for 2027, and even with a strong clubhouse reputation, that number is a problem for a team trying to reshape itself.
Corey Seager may be the hardest name on the list, but he also feels like the most obvious candidate to move if the Rangers are serious about changing course. He turns 33 during the 2027 season and sits midway through a 10-year, $325 million deal. The Rangers still owe him roughly $155 million, and his production has slipped enough that the challenge isn’t just moving him - it’s finding a team willing to absorb part of that contract.
The source is blunt about where this has gone. Seager’s availability has been a problem, his body language when he does play has frustrated the fanbase, and the Rangers can’t keep carrying that kind of payroll burden if they want to remain a contender. The 2023 championship still matters, but the relationship has gone stale fast.
Jacob deGrom rounds out the list of veterans who may be on borrowed time. The Rangers tried to move him at the trade deadline, only for his no-trade clause to shut down a deal with the Atlanta Braves. He has come back from a second catastrophic arm injury and delivered two solid seasons, but at 38, the signs this year suggested the old dominant version may be fading.
deGrom is also one of the three highest-paid players on the roster, alongside Seager and Nathan Eovaldi, who could have been in this spot too. None of them answered the bell when the postseason was still in reach over the final weeks of the season. Even so, deGrom’s name still carries value around the league, and there are clubs willing to part with younger talent to take one more shot at what he can still provide.
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Ranked as the No. 17 prospect in the organization, Johnson is part of a Rangers contingent getting valuable extra innings this fall, alongside top prospect Sebastian Walcott and outfielder Paxton Kling. For a system that continues to look deeper on the mound, Johnsons early AFL showing offered a promising glimpse of why the club remains interested in his rise. [Read more 🡒]