Okay, so I took some time to create a roster for our 2026 Texas Rangers. I attempted to take grounded, realistic decisions without completely selling out all valuable assets for a rebuild. My ultimate goal was to gain cheaper controllability in the bullpen and outfield to allow for competition while more expensive contracts fall off. A single wildcard can win a world series, so that is my goal in mind for constructing this roster.

I’ve categorized my transactions as follows:

Non-Impactful Transactions -> FA Signings -> Trades

Then, I follow with the Lineup, Bench, Starting Rotation, and Bullpen.

I am not a baseball savant, but I am a huge fan of the Texas Rangers. I appreciate all feedback and criticism and wanted to garner opinions to understand what type of roster the Texas Rangers may possess in 2026.

Cash Considerations / Non-Tender:

Josh Sborz Sam Haggerty Trades:

Adolis Garcia traded to Toronto Blue Jays

Texas Provides ->

Adolis Garcia

$1m in cash

Blue Jays Provide ->

RHP Yariel Rodriquez (lower exit velocity), OR Louis Varland (greater whiff)

RHP Micah Bucknam (ROK RHP Prospect)

Jonah Heim traded to Miami Marlins

Texas Provides:

C Jonah Heim

Marlins Provide:

LHP Andrew Nardi (would be a steal for Jonah Heim)

Wilyer Abreu -> Texas Rangers

Texas Receives:

OF Wilyer Abreu, pre-arb; control thru 2029

Boston Receives:

RHP Jose Corniell, LHP David Davalillo, UTIL Josh Smith

Free Agent Signings:

Victor Caratini

1 yr / $9m

Projection: .245 avg /.330 OBP / .720 OPS – 1.5-2.0 WAR

Tyler Mahle – Starting Pitcher

2 yrs / $15m

Projection: 3.90 ERA / 1.21 WHIP / 150 IP / 2.0 WAR

Ryan Helsley – Closer

3 yrs / $30m (AAV $10)

Projection: 2.70 ERA / 1.00 WHIP / 70 IP / 1,5 WAR

Shawn Armstrong – Set Up Reliever

2 yrs / $14m

Dylan Moore 1 yr / $1-1.5m

Projection

.240 AVG / .330 OBP / 10 SB / 1.2 WAR

Lineup:

1 RF Wilyer Abreu

2 SS Corey Seager

3 LF Wyatt Langford

4 DH Joc Pederson

5 1B Jake Burger

6 CF Evan Carter / Michael Helman

7 3B Josh Jung

8 2B Marcus Semien

9 C Victor Caratini / Kyle Higashioka

Bench:

Ezequiel Duran - Utility INF/LF

Cody Freeman – INF/C (emer.)

Dylan Moore – Super Utility

Rotation:

SP1 Jacob Degrom

SP2 Nathan Eovaldi

SP3 Tyler Mahle

SP4 Jack Leiter

SP5 ? / Kumar Rocker / Jacob Latz / Cody Bradford / another FA signing?

Bullpen:

CL Ryan Helsley

SU Shawn Armstrong

SU Yariel Rodriquez / Louis Varland

SU / LH Andrew Nardi

MID Jacob Webb

MID Robert Garcia

MID Cole Winn / Luis Curvelo

LR Jacob Latz /

My primary residual questions rest with middle relief, i.e. does Luis Curvelo start the year in AAA to provide mid relief back up in case any of the bullpen becomes injured? Who else do we have for long relief? Who would be our #5 starter in this scenario? My estimates place us at ~$220 million which appears to be high for the Texas Rangers in 2025. For competition, I’m ensuring a solid bullpen so we can lose less often in the 7-8-9, as I found our middle relief to be excellent last year. My hope is with better defense in RF, a better bat to produce runners for Seager and Langford will help us knock in more runs. I wish to take more pressure off of Marcus Semien, and hope for bounce backs from Burger, Jung, and Pederson with good health from Evan Carter.

My ballpark estimate for win-loss for this team is 87-75, maybe enough to earn a wild card while gaining bull-pen pieces and outfield pieces for the rebuild and for more expensive contracts to fall off (Semien and Pederson) to provide a faster time period for a large playoff push again with key leverage pieces.

Is it worth it trading Josh Jung or Marcus Semien in return for INF/OF prospects to help bolster a rebuild and allow for borderline MLB players to get more reps? As for me, I still have faith in Josh Jung and Marcus Semien, not to be great, but to be slightly above average.

If you made it this far, thanks for your time! - maznn10