The Texas Rangers are still in the race, and that alone says plenty about how strange this American League season has become.
With four AL teams owning winning records and three of them sitting in the AL East, the Rangers have climbed back into a tie for first in what can only be described as the American League Horrendous. Not a single team in the AL West is above .500.
That means the division leader could finish with a losing record, which would be a first in MLB history. That is, as the source put it, “110 percent awesome, and worthy of its own banner.”
The Rangers did their part Sunday afternoon with a 5-3 win over the California Angels of Anaheim at Globe Life Mall, a result that moved them to one game under .500 and into a tie for the division lead. Their biggest cheer of the day didn’t even come on a big hit or a strikeout. It came before the bottom of the sixth inning, when Blue won the Dot Race.
This is where the Rangers are right now: hanging around, trying to matter, and hoping the rest of the division keeps stumbling.
They opened this stretch two games under .500 and in second place. Since Aug. 3, they’ve had a run of six straight series against teams with losing records, the kind of window that was supposed to help them push well over .500 and separate themselves in the AL West. Instead, they’ve merely kept themselves in it.
That’s not exactly the profile of a powerhouse. The numbers say as much.
The Rangers rank 29th in MLB in runs scored, 20th in team ERA, and their run differential sits at minus-46. They are, as described here, an average club.
Professional, yes. Dangerous, not really.
Manager Skip Schumaker didn’t dress it up after Sunday’s win.
“I feel like it’s going to come down to the last week or 10 days. That’s for sure,” Schumaker said Sunday after the game.
“That’s the feeling. I think everybody probably would agree with that just the way how this thing is shaking out.”
The Rangers still have 31 games left, including five series against teams with winning records and five against teams without them. Asked how many games over .500 they need to be in this stretch to take the division, Schumaker wouldn’t answer.
The larger picture is even more blunt. The Rangers are on pace for a losing season, which would be their eighth in the last 10 years.
They finished .500 in 2025. Their one winning season in that span produced a World Series title.
The new stadium hasn’t changed the team’s fortunes, and it hasn’t dramatically changed the crowds, either. On Sunday, the temperature outside Globe Life Mall hit 107 degrees, while it was a comfortable 72 inside. That comfort was one reason the Rangers pushed Arlington to move into a food court after the 2019 season.
Even with that setup, attendance has mostly been middle-of-the-pack. Since the start of the 2015 season, the Rangers have finished in the top 10 in MLB attendance only twice: 10th in 2016 and fifth in 2021.
That 2021 finish came during Texas’ lax COVID policies, which allowed the club to sell more tickets. The 2016 team was good enough to win the AL West with a 95-67 record.
In the five seasons they’ve played at GLM with no COVID restrictions, their average attendance ranking has been 15th. In 2024, coming off the World Series title, they finished 12th.
And with the threat of a lockout beginning at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Dec. 1, the Rangers may not make any meaningful moves until after a new collective bargaining agreement is in place.
The last time that possibility loomed, in 2021, they spent aggressively in free agency, signing Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and others. That was before the team’s media rights revenue changed dramatically, which had an impact on the club this year.
Since the title run, the results haven’t matched the promise. The minor league system hasn’t produced the young players they need.
Former first-round picks Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker have disappointed as starting pitchers. The outfield remains a concern, and the offense has been described here as pathetic.
Whatever momentum came from that championship has faded. Right now, the Rangers look less like a team building on October glory and more like the version that existed before that magical fall of 2023.
In Other News...
Logan OHoppes First Rangers Comments Say Plenty About This Fresh Start
Logan OHoppes first day in a Rangers uniform brought the kind of small but meaningful reset that often comes with a deadline trade. Texas acquired the catcher from the Angels, along with reliever Chase Silseth, in exchange for infield prospect Angel Arredondo, and OHoppe wasted no time getting into the action. He made his debut against his former club and went 1-for-2 at the plate in a win, a tidy little reminder that a change of scenery can arrive with both a new jersey and a new opportunity.
OHoppes comments after the game said plenty about why the move mattered to him. He described his four years in Los Angeles as difficult and made it clear he is looking at Texas as a fresh start, the kind of chance players often talk about but rarely get in such a clean form. For the Rangers, it is another layer of catching depth and a player who already has reasons to be motivated every time he steps in against the Angels or anyone else wearing a target on their back. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers May Need A Bold Sebastian Walcott Decision Very Soon
Sebastian Walcott is back in the mix at Double-A Frisco after recovering from a right elbow UCL internal brace procedure, and the Rangers are already weighing how quickly they want to push one of their top prospects. For now he is working as a designated hitter, but the larger picture is obvious: Texas is in a tight playoff race and looking for any offensive spark it can find, even if that means accelerating the timeline on a player who has barely resumed game action.
The wrinkle is roster construction. Walcott is not on the Rangers 40-man roster, which makes any big-league move more complicated at a time when every decision carries extra weight. General manager Ross Fenstermaker has sounded optimistic that Walcott will get back on the field before the season ends, and how the club handles that next step could say plenty about how aggressively it wants to chase help down the stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Shakeup Just Raised The Stakes For The Rangers Down Stretch
The Rangers push down the stretch got a little more complicated with Houstons front office suddenly in flux. The Astros and general manager Dana Brown have mutually agreed to part ways, and owner Jim Crane is stepping in to oversee baseball operations as the club tries to steady itself after a disappointing season and a year without a playoff berth.
For Texas, the timing matters because a division rival with that kind of urgency can become more unpredictable in the final weeks. Browns duties will be spread among assistant general managers Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey and Connor Huff, along with senior advisor Jeff Bagwell, leaving Houston to sort out its direction while the standings are still in motion. The bigger question for the Rangers is how much a changing Astros decision-making structure alters the race before the season is over. [Read more 🡒]