2026 Texas Rangers Season Prediction Thread

[saddles]

2026 Texas Rangers Season Predictions

Below is a series of questions that you can feel free to copy and paste and then include your answers. It is always fun to guess what will happen. You can answer all of the questions or just some of them. The more who participate in this, the better.

Record:
Place:
Postseason -- Yes or No?
Team ROY:
Team MVP

Team Leaders

Batting (Name + Number)
HR:
RBI:
BA:
OPS:
SB:

Pitching (Name + Number)
W:
ERA(minimum 15 starts):
K:
Saves:


Miscellaneous Questions


Will the Rangers return to the World Series this year?


How many games will Jake deGrom start this season?


Which of our starting pitchers will have 25 or more starts this year?


Which of our starting pitchers will have more than 15 starts this year?


Will Cody Bradford come back healthy and stay mostly healthy until the end of the season?

How many games will Evan Carter start this season?

How many plate appearances will Evan Carter get vs. lefties this year?

Will the Rangers be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline.

Will the Rangers trade for a closer at the deadline?

How many games will Andrew McCutchen start in the OF this season?


Which player, who is on the roster to begin the season, has the best chance to be traded this year?

Will Josh Smith hit .280 or better this season?

Will Joc Pederson still be on the team on May 16, 2026? If not, when do you expect him to lose his roster spot? What will his final batting average be?

Will Chris Martin get hurt so many times that the Rangers DFA him?


Will the Rangers make a blockbuster trade at the deadline(Blockbuster defined as one of our top five prospects and one top ten prospect being included)?

Which pitching prospect will get the most starts for the Rangers this season?

Who will be the Rangers saves leader this year?

Which player starting the year in the minors will have the biggest impact on the team?

Which two players will be the most pleasant surprises this season?

Which player will be the most disappointing surprise this season?

Which 2 to 4 minor leaguers, will do the most this season to put themselves into the conversation as being significant contributors for the Rangers in 2026?

Which prospect, who starts off in the minors, will get the most time in the big leagues this year?

Will the Rangers pick Vahn Lackey in the draft if he is still available?

What other miscellaneous thoughts do you have about what you are expecting this season?

 

[saddles]

Record: 85-77
Place: third
Postseason -- Yes or No? No
Team ROY: Carter Baumler
Team MVP Wyatt Langford

Team Leaders

Batting (Name + Number)
HR: Langford 33
RBI: Langford 92
BA: Smith. 285
OPS: Langford .855
SB: Carter 23

Pitching (Name + Number)
W: Eovaldi 17
ERA(minimum 15 starts): Eovaldi 2.35
K: Leiter 170
Saves: Winn 18


Miscellaneous Questions


Will the Rangers return to the World Series this year? No


How many games will Jake deGrom start this season? 26


Which of our starting pitchers will have 25 or more starts this year? Leiter, Eovaldi, Gore, deGrom


Which of our starting pitchers will have more than 15 starts this year?
Leiter, Eovaldi, Gore, deGrom, Rocker, Bradford

Will Cody Bradford come back healthy and stay mostly healthy until the end of the season? Yes

How many games will Evan Carter start this season? 123

How many plate appearances will Evan Carter get vs. lefties this year? 520

Will the Rangers be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. Buyers

Will the Rangers trade for a closer at the deadline? Yes

How many games will Andrew McCutchen start in the OF this season? 12


Which player, who is on the roster to begin the season, has the best chance to be traded this year? Kumar Rocker

Will Josh Smith hit .280 or better this season? Yes

Will Joc Pederson still be on the team on May 16, 2026? If not, when do you expect him to lose his roster spot? What will his final batting average be? Yes, .210

Will Chris Martin get hurt so many times that the Rangers DFA him? I think he goes on the DL to stay in July


Will the Rangers make a blockbuster trade at the deadline(Blockbuster defined as one of our top five prospects and one top ten prospect being included)? Yes

Which pitching prospect will get the most starts for the Rangers this season? Jose Corniell

Who will be the Rangers saves leader this year? Winn

Which player starting the year in the minors will have the biggest impact on the team? Luis Curvelo

Which two players will be the most pleasant surprises this season? Jake Burger and Carter Baumler

Which player will be the most disappointing surprise this season? Pederson would be a surprise so I am going with Tyler Alexander.

Which 2 to 4 minor leaguers, will do the most this season to put themselves into the conversation as being significant contributors for the Rangers in 2026? Jose Corniell, Alejandro Osuna, Gavin Collyer, David Davalillo

Which prospect, who starts off in the minors, will get the most time in the big leagues this year? Luis Curvello

Will the Rangers pick Vahn Lackey in the draft if he is still available? No -- unfortunately

What other miscellaneous thoughts do you have about what you are expecting this season?

I think CY will once again make the mistake of being a buyer at the deadline. I think we will lose 3 of our top 12 prospects or young players at the deadline. One olayer who could be traded is Kumar Rocker.

I think Rocker will be up and down between AAA and the big leagues this year. He will be replaced in the rotation by Bradford about May 17, but between deGrom and Eovaldi missing 12 to 15 starts combined, both him and Corniell will get some starts.

 

[jta4437]

520 PAs versus LHPs for Carter? impressive jump

 

[Kelleyman]

520 PAs versus LHPs for Carter? impressive jump

lol sure that is a typo. I think Carter gets about half of the starts against LHP

 

[Kelleyman]

we take the division

Team Leaders

Batting (Name + Number)
HR: burger 36
RBI:Burger 99
BA: Nimmo 280
OPS: Langford .855
SB: Carter 30

ROY. Carter B
Osuna gets significantl mLB time
Jose C gets some spot starte
can C gets added to roster in case of injury
Wyatt silver slugger and gold glove A 30 30 guy
Latz gets 2 6 out saves
Danube moore starts than Higgy
Skip manager of the year
Gavin C gets more than one save in August
No one on SportsHoopla cares one way or another re City Connect jersey
Cutch gets CNH against Phil’s

 

[saddles]

520 PAs versus LHPs for Carter? impressive jump

Lol.

Not sure how I added that "0".

 

[saddles]

Keith Law predicts the Rangers to finish 81-81. He had this to say:

I give the Rangers credit for their ambition this winter, trading a whole mess of prospects for MacKenzie Gore — who I think will be better just from the change of scenery — and swapping Marcus Semien to pick up Brandon Nimmo, but they otherwise stood pat with a below-average offense that had only two regulars last year with wRC+ over 100.

 

[Kelleyman]

Keith Law predicts the Rangers to finish 81-81. He had this to say:

I give the Rangers credit for their ambition this winter, trading a whole mess of prospects for MacKenzie Gore — who I think will be better just from the change of scenery — and swapping Marcus Semien to pick up Brandon Nimmo, but they otherwise stood pat with a below-average offense that had only two regulars last year with wRC+ over 100.

If you believe in value of mgt and new approach, they did not stand pat. They did stand pat with Joc in the meanwhile but something will change.

 

[jta4437]

lol sure that is a typo. I think Carter gets about half of the starts against LHP

oh for sure, just was funny given how little Carter was allowed to play against LHPs under Bochy

 

[WastinSomeTime]

If you believe in value of mgt and new approach, they did not stand pat. They did stand pat with Joc in the meanwhile but something will change.

Agree. Subtracting Garcia and Semien on offense is an addition. We won't be as strong defensively at 2nd but hoping having guys who want to put the ball will make up in that minimal shortfall. And I do agree that the change in managers will be a plus. If Joc continues to kill this offense then management will need to put their big boy pants on and cut him loose and that needs to be decided by June 1st.

 

[saddles]

If you believe in value of mgt and new approach, they did not stand pat. They did stand pat with Joc in the meanwhile but something will change.

Well, we all wanted another bat or two, as well as a closer amd set up man.

 

[Duane1952]

84-78

 

[Senator_fan]

86-76

 

[WastinSomeTime]

89-73

 

[fanman8825]

I am going 94-68. I probably like this team better than most.
This record has stuck out in my mind since 1977 when the last time the team won 94 games.

 

[jta4437]

I have the same issue with this team i had last year, lack of bullpen, specifically closer

 

[saddles]

I am going 94-68. I probably like this team better than most.
This record has stuck out in my mind since 1977 when the last time the team won 94 games.

That was one of my favorite years as a young Rangers fan. The Eddie Stanky hire fiasco. The great job of managing by Billy Hunter.

I remember having a hard time keeping up with the managerial news by just reading the newspaper. That caused me to discover sports talk radio and the great Brad Sham on KRLD. Those are great memories.

 

[saddles]

we take the division

Team Leaders

Batting (Name + Number)
HR: burger 36
RBI:Burger 99
BA: Nimmo 280
OPS: Langford .855
SB: Carter 30

ROY. Carter B
Osuna gets significantl mLB time
Jose C gets some spot starte
can C gets added to roster in case of injury
Wyatt silver slugger and gold glove A 30 30 guy
Latz gets 2 6 out saves
Danube moore starts than Higgy
Skip manager of the year
Gavin C gets more than one save in August
No one on SportsHoopla cares one way or another re City Connect jersey
Cutch gets CNH against Phil’s

How many wins?

 

[Senator_fan]

I am going 94-68. I probably like this team better than most.
This record has stuck out in my mind since 1977 when the last time the team won 94 games.

Very optimistic. I like it! Hoping the young players will flourish under Skip.

 

[fanman8825]

That was one of my favorite years as a young Rangers fan. The Eddie Stanky hire fiasco. The great job of managing by Billy Hunter.

I remember having a hard time keeping up with the managerial news by just reading the newspaper. That caused me to discover sports talk radio and the great Brad Sham on KRLD. Those are great memories.

That was crazy that year. Remember in June our Rangers were below 500 and then they went on that run. Think we won like 60 out of 90 games.
I always had my radio with me getting score updates if I was out playing ball or with my parents.
Fortunaely living up in NE PA I was able to see all the Ranger games against the Yankees and Orioles. We got the two stations that carried those two teams.