SURPRISE, Ariz. — The Texas Rangers keep talking about Wyatt Langford like he’s the eventual face of the franchise.
They put a profile shot of him, staring steely-eyed at the plate on the cover of their media guide, along with the already-established faces: Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. In contrast, a year ago, Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia and Josh Jung were featured along with Seager and Eovaldi. The subliminal message between the two cover shots didn’t go unnoticed. Langford has replaced Josh Jung as face-in-waiting.
Before he even put on his baseball pants for his first workout with the Rangers, new manager Skip Schumaker, who watched Matt Holliday as a teammate for most of a decade, said he believed Langford would win an MVP one day. He’s only doubled down on his belief as camp has progressed. On Tuesday, he’s expected to get to see Langford in his lineup for the first time this spring. He’s already had almost 10 days of seeing Langford emerge as one of the leaders.
“I think he’s going to be part of our core for a long time,” Schumaker said Monday. “He’s a really good player who has leadership qualities; he’s learning a lot from [Seager]. And I think he can grow into whatever you want him to grow into.”
Rangers
They are talking the talk.
All that’s left to do: Act like he’s the face, too.
Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins at Globe Life Field on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
Which means diving into the deep end of the contract pool and putting together the kind of splashy contract offer that will keep him a Ranger for most, if not all, of his career. It’s also something the Rangers haven’t done for a young, homegrown player since they watched Rougned Odor TKO Jose Bautista and decided to offer up a six-year, $49.5 million deal that famously included a couple of quarter horses as a bonus. And how did that one work out for them?
That was in 2017. It may be time to try again. A lot has changed since, mostly costs. Not saying Langford wouldn’t love some horses, but he might be willing to talk about some deer leases. You know, but only as an extra enticement. After, of course, the bulk of a $200 million deal — give or take a few million — is finalized. That’s the approximate going rate for young franchise stars. But only if they act now.
To be clear, the Rangers and Langford haven’t talked contract since a brief dalliance after his first season. The Rangers approached him; it didn’t really go anywhere. Ever since, the Rangers have been getting more frugal when it comes to contract terms for free agents. But it may be time to circle back and see how willing Langford is to talk.
Not that Langford, 24, seems worried about any of this. When asked about his relative openness to a deal, he said all the right things. But a tone also came across that he’s more than happy to bet on himself.
“I like being in Texas,” he said. “Amazing stadium, facilities, people and leadership here. So there’s really a lot to like about it. I definitely would be open to it. There’s no rush to do anything. That’s my kind of view on it. No matter what, I’m going to be here for four more seasons, unless I get traded or something.”
Can hear that nervous laughter you just let out all the way out here in Arizona.
Let’s not go there … yet. But the point still stands: If the Rangers don’t or can’t sign him to an extension, the time is ticking on Langford’s exit. His free agency status may say he’s under team control through 2029, but you know how the business works. It could be sooner than that if the Rangers don’t compete and there’s no progress on a contract. It could also be sooner rather than later, depending on where the painful next round of collective bargaining talks go. It’s certainly conceivable that if owners truly want to get a salary cap, they might offer free agency after five years as a tradeoff to the players. On the other hand, owners might also want to cap length of years for contracts, which could work against Langford.
Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young is always very complimentary of Langford and a big proponent of him taking more control in the clubhouse and on the field. But when the subject is contracts, he’s not one to say too much, period. And given the possibility that the team may very well end up in negotiations with Langford soon, he opted to sit out talking about the possibility. Besides, a contract of this nature is going to require owner Ray Davis’ involvement and approval. It was, after all, Davis who negotiated the horses into Odor’s deal.
Texas Rangers players Corey Seager (from left), Wyatt Langford, Jack Leiter and Nathan Eovaldi laugh in the dugout during the second inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Arlington.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Here is the quandary the Rangers now find themselves in. The going price for an extension was nine years and $135 million ($15 million per year) last year when Jackson Merrill, in the exact same service class as Langford, signed his deal with San Diego. Which was up about $1.4 million per year in AAV from the previous deal that Corbin Carroll signed with Arizona after one season in 2023. Langford very much fits in with this group. They all were among the eight outfielders younger than 25 to post both 1,000 plate appearances and an OPS of better than .750 for the past two seasons. Five of those players have signed long-term deals.
The problem with using those guys as comps is that now Langford has more service time than either had when they signed their deal, so a deal would include more lucrative free agent years. Also: You could make a case, based on at least one significant metric, that Langford has outperformed both Merrill and Carroll over the last two years. According to Baseball-Reference, the only outfielder younger than 25 with a higher WAR over the last two years than Langford is Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez. He, too, has a long-term deal. It’s for $209 million over 12 years. Signed that before his first full season was done.
Disclaimer: Since Fangraphs uses a different WAR formula, it’s only fair to point out that Carroll, Rodriguez and Merrill rank 1-2-3 in their calculations. Langford is fifth.
What is clear is this: The Rangers opened a new chapter when they hired Schumaker as manager and traded Semien. Corey Seager is the best player on the team, but has no interest in being the face of the franchise or the culture. Langford figures prominently in the future of both.
Unless, of course, he’s traded. That was just to elicit nervous laughter. But if the Rangers don’t get busy towards a deal here, it’s going to become a real possibility somewhere on the horizon.
Twitter/X: @Evan_P_Grant
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