Rangers mailbag: Walcott in the OF? Seager at DH full-time?

ARLINGTON -- The MLB postseason has come to an end, baseball has crowned a new champion and the offseason is officially underway.

With a week until the GM Meetings in Las Vegas, this felt like a perfect time to field some questions online. Here are some answers:

Are there any plans for Sebastian Walcott to play an outfield position in a game during the AFL season? -- @ksvulcan on X

Walcott, the Rangers’ top prospect per MLB Pipeline, has been setting the Arizona Fall League on fire as he continues to get infield work in. An internal brace surgery in February limited him to DH duties after his return to Double-A Frisco, and his time out in Arizona has allowed him to continue his buildup before his offseason truly begins.

But a recent development has been Walcott getting pregame reps in the outfield. A shortstop by trade, Walcott is blocked on the left side of the infield by Corey Seager and Josh Jung at the big league level. The ability to play outfield could fast track his big league debut in 2027.

Walcott is expected to get some in-game outfield reps with the Saguaros this coming week as the Rangers continue to evaluate where he best fits into the club’s plans for 2027 and beyond.

Are there any legitimate conversations about transitioning Seager from SS to 1B/DH? -- @mrwilson29 on X

As of now, Seager is the Rangers’ shortstop. I wouldn’t expect him to be playing first base in 2027 and he definitely won’t be a full-time designated hitter. I get the question, especially with Seager’s injuries this past season. It’ll be far from the last time this comes up, I’m sure. Especially because manager Skip Schumaker and president of baseball operations Chris Young have both emphasized the need for the Rangers to get younger and more athletic across the field.

But right now, Seager is the shortstop.

It is worth noting, though, that with Joc Pederson declining his half of a mutual option, the Rangers do not have a full-time DH going into 2027. And that is probably for the best. Without a full-time DH, Seager -- and other players who have dealt with injuries -- will be able to rotate through that DH spot to get them off their feet. I would expect to see Seager at DH more this season than we have in the past.

Do you expect the team to non-tender any of their arbitration eligible players? I believe they have 10 of them. --@NoMoreMisteaks on X

The Rangers’ arbitration-eligible players are: MacKenzie Gore, Jake Burger, Ezequiel Duran, Josh Jung, Logan O’Hoppe, Cody Bradford, Robert Garcia, Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter and Jacob Latz.

None of the players in that group are expected to earn more than $9 million in arbitration, so you’re right that it’s not a wildly expensive group. That said, I’m sure there will always be discussions on a few of those guys, due to perceived price or underperformance of late. Even somebody like O’Hoppe, who did not catch any games at the big league level after coming to Texas along with Chase Silseth from the Angels at the Trade Deadline, could be in consideration.

Will [hitting coach Justin] Viele be back? -- @RobinBlueWater on X

“I think we're going to be talking about that the next couple days,” Schumaker said of the coaching staff at the end-of-year press conference. “I’m proud of all the work they put in, very grateful for them, but I think that's the discussion that we're going to have the next couple days.”

A month later, and there have still been no announced changes to the coaching staff, though that doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t happen.

Let’s look at some numbers with Viele specifically, since that’s who your question was about.

In 2025, the Rangers ranked 25th in wRC+ (92), 26th in slugging (.381), 26th in batting average (.234), T-26th in on-base percentage (.302), 22nd in runs (684) and 23rd in walk rate (8%). That was under Viele and offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker, who was dismissed on May 5 of that season.

In 2026 -- under Viele and new assistant hitting coach Alex Cintron -- the Rangers ranked T-8th in wRC+ (102), T-21st in slugging (.396), T-18th in batting average (.242), T-14th in on-base percentage (.317), 25th in runs (673) and T-16th in walk rate (8.7%). They didn’t get worse. But it definitely wasn’t the kind of sweeping improvement that the Rangers wanted and nowhere close to the 2023 offense that is getting further and further away in the rearview mirror.