The Texas Rangers endured yet another disappointing season in 2025; they missed out on the postseason once more, finishing with an 81-81 record to put them six games behind the eventual third AL Wild Card entrant, the Detroit Tigers. Their World Series triumph in 2023 continues to look more and more like a fluke with each passing year, and manager Bruce Bochy, the team's shot-caller during their championship year, will not be returning to manage the team after the two decided to part ways after his contract expired.
Bochy tried his best with the talent the Rangers had at their disposal, but they simply could not overcome underperformances from those who played a huge part in their World Series-winning roster. Nonetheless, the Rangers brass believe that they have the talent to compete for another championship and that another voice in the locker room was needed to get the best out of this team from here on out.
And it looks like the Rangers already have a replacement for Bochy in mind. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, former MLB player Skip Schumaker, who served as senior adviser for the Rangers starting this season, is the “heavy, heavy favorite” to be the next manager for the 2023 World Series champion.
Schumaker has some managerial experience in the past, most notably winning the 2023 NL Manager of the Year award for helping the Miami Marlins win 84 games and clinch a playoff spot. The Marlins, however, came crashing back to earth in 2024, going just 62-100, and Schumaker decided not to return amid a family emergency as well as growing differences between him and the team's front office.
Considering how healthy Schumaker and the Rangers' working relationship appears to be, perhaps he would be ready to take up the managerial mantle once more.
Rangers look to bounce back in 2026
The decline in some of the Rangers' key players has been very difficult to ignore. Jonah Heim has become a negative WAR player after a 4.0 fWAR season in 2023, Adolis Garcia has become a black hole in the lineup, and Josh Jung has failed to become anything more than a fringe starting-caliber player.
Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter provide plenty of hope for their position player core, while the Rangers' rotation was better than expected in 2025 thanks to a good season from Jacob deGrom and a surprising bounce-back year from Patrick Corbin. Corey Seager is still one of the best players in MLB when healthy. But an addition or two would go a long way towards helping the Rangers at least become a playoff-caliber team yet again.
