How the first-place Rangers can stay put in the second half

ARLINGTON -- Good or bad, the strength -- or lack thereof -- of the American League West is going to influence the Rangers’ plans.

Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young hasn’t typically been one to sit still or admit defeat. So the division and the league lends itself perfectly to how the Rangers' front office has operated since Young took over in August 2022.

“I would say less specific to the Deadline and more specific to our team, I love the way our team is playing,” Young said a week before the All-Star break. “I love the fight, the determination, the grit, the camaraderie. You can feel the energy this group is playing with, the way I like, the Texas Rangers brand of baseball, in my opinion. I love seeing that. If they keep playing like that, I really believe that this team is capable of being a playoff team. That's my expectation, and that's what we're focused on right now.”

• Record at the break: 49-47 (1st in AL West)
• Record at the break last year: 48-49 (Third in AL West, 8.5 games back, 3.5 games back of Wild Card)
• Playoff odds: 61.8%
• Remaining Strength of Schedule: .491 (22nd in MLB)

Biggest need: Another high-leverage arm

Sure, you can never have too much starting pitching. But the Rangers hopefully have rotation reinforcements incoming with Jordan Montgomery nearing a return and Cody Bradford not far behind. Jack Leiter will even return before the end of the season if all goes well. But as for the bullpen, while Jacob Latz has stepped up big in the closer role -- even earning his first career All-Star bid -- and Jakob Junis has been just as good in a setup role, another high-leverage arm could take them far down the stretch, preferably right-handed.

Biggest chip: They don’t really have many left

This is assuming the Rangers don’t sell and big dogs like Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi remain in Texas (though it would take a certifiable collapse for them to be on the trade block anyway). But dating back to the 2025 Trade Deadline, the Rangers have parted ways with a total of 11 prospects for Merrill Kelly, Danny Coulombe, Phil Maton and MacKenzie Gore. The farm system ranks in the bottom five, according to MLB Pipeline.

The Rangers have a pair of Top 100 guys in Sebastian Walcott (No. 10) and Caden Scarborough (No. 63), but the depth of the farm system likely won’t net them any major names like it did in 2023 when they acquired Aroldis Chapman, Max Scherzer and Montgomery.

Key players for second half: Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford

The Rangers’ two best hitters in Seager (back, concussion) and Langford (right forearm, left hamstring) have only played 26 games together this season. That’s not exactly a recipe for success. The Rangers have treaded water well without them and have kept themselves in the thick of the AL West race, but if they want to make a true push, they need the superstars to be superstars.

“The guys that you dreamed of in Spring Training, like what it could look like altogether, we just haven't had it,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “Corey and Wyatt, together, I don't know what the percentage of games they’ve played together, but it can't be that many. That's been challenging for sure. It’s a lot of credit to the other guys that have filled in. We've been doing a really good job of just surviving -- more than survive, quite honestly -- until they get back. I think we've done an exceptional job of that.”

Determining factor: Will the important cast of characters ever be healthy enough to truly evaluate the full squad needs? How will that factor into the AL West race?

A frequent refrain regarding the identity of this team has been: “We really don’t know.” And that’s fair, it’s hard to know when the core hasn’t been healthy at the same time all year long. The weakness of the division and league -- as well as a number of players stepping up -- has kept the Rangers afloat. It would take an implosion over the next three weeks to keep them out of contention in the AL West. As for what Schumaker wants?

“My wish is to have our guys get off the IL,” he said simply.