ARLINGTON
Maybe it’s am ominous sign that on the final home game of the regular season, the Texas Rangers ushers at the doors of Globe Life Field ran out of the “No. 1” foam finger promotional giveaways for the half-capacity crowd that came to watch a team that could win a division title.
In 2026, this feels all very fitting.
The Rangers are still in the race to win the American League West much in the same way I am still in the conversation to be named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive this year. Neither feels right, but you can’t rule out either scenario.
On Thursday afternoon inside Globe Life Mall, the Rangers put down their home schedule with a 3-1 win against the last-place New York Mets to avoid being swept.
Thanks to equally inept play from the rival Houston Astros, the A.L. Worst remains undecided as this race between two crippled snails continues towards a conclusion that the Grim Reaper would call “Cruel and unusual.”
As of 6 p.m. Central Time on Sept. 24, 2026, the Rangers are in first place with a 79-80 record and can win a division title and play in the playoffs. Keep checking your phone every hour on the hour for updates, as this race feels like it could change even when the two teams aren’t playing.
There are various combinations of wins and losses, but basically the Rangers need to win out to stay ahead of Houston, which has the tie-breaker. The Astros finish with four games against the Oakland/Sacramento/Las Vegas A’s in California.
On Thursday night in Sacramento, the Astros defeated the A’s to re-take the division lead.
Think of the A.L. Worst division race as rewatching the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl between TCU and California, a football game so bad that it was memorable, and entertaining. There is a good chance that for the first time in MLB history a division winner will be either .500 or worse.
“It’s been a crazy season, and we’re in the fight,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said after the game. “I’m excited that we’re in it.”
Houston’s collapse and walk-off loss to Seattle on Wednesday night gave the Rangers a stay of execution they did not expect.
“I followed it but didn’t watch it,” Rangers shortstop Corey Seager said after the game, proving that he does indeed follow baseball. “It keeps you in it.”
The Rangers start their season-ending three-game series against the Twins in Minnesota on Friday night needing a sweep to ensure a winning record; Schumaker said Jacob deGrom will be the starting pitcher on Friday.
The Rangers are 10 games under .500 on the road, and the last time they swept a series away from Arlington was late June in Toronto.
This is all window dressing on an ugly face that needs a bag over its head just to go to the grocery store.
The Rangers of 2026 are not the Rangers of 2023
A misguided but popular comparison thrown around the Rangers is the similarities between this season and their World Series season.
In 2023, the Rangers and Astros were in a competitive sprint to the finish for a playoff berth. The Rangers clinched a playoff spot on the second-to-last day of the regular season, but lost the division title on the final day when the Astros won the A.L. West.
The comparisons end there. Those were both quality, 90-win teams in a loaded American League.
The Astros and Rangers this season are barely average, and the beneficiary of playing in a terrible American League West.
The hard reality for the Texas Rangers
The Astros are bad. The Rangers are bad. The division stinks.
Unless the Rangers sweep the Twins, this will be the ninth time in the last 10 years the club does not finish with a winning record. In 2023, they won the World Series. In 2025, they finished .500.
Rather than use the momentum created by that magical run to their first-ever World Series title into a string of winning seasons and postseason appearances, the team continues to flounder around mediocrity.
There are levels to “bad” in Major League Baseball, and the Rangers are not close to it. That Bad Level is occupied by the Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, the Anaheim Angels, Las Vegas A’s; one or two others.
The Rangers, much like their payroll and home attendance, remain firmly in the middle. The team’s payroll ranks 14th in MLB; the home attendance ranks 15th in MLB.
They’re not bad. They’re not good. They’re just there.
In 2026, “just there” may be good enough to win a division title.
This story was originally published September 24, 2026 at 5:38 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Mac Engel is an award-winning columnist who has covered sports since the dawn of man; Cowboys, TCU, Stars, Rangers, Mavericks, etc. Olympics. Movies. Concerts. Books. He combines dry wit with 1st-person reporting to complement an annoying personality.
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