Dreaming up the Rangers’ playoff path if they sneak into the dance

Infused with new life following a dominant homestand and a three-game sweep over the best team in baseball, the Texas Rangers are just a handful of games shy of making the playoffs with just over two weeks remaining.

While there is still a lot that needs to be done to get Texas into a playoff spot, they are peaking at just the right time, seven games over .500 for the first time this season and winners of 14 of their last 18 games.

Closing in on the teams ahead of them in the standings, the Rangers are only 1.5 games back of Seattle for the final AL Wild Card position and two games back of the reeling Astros in the AL West. With that being said, there are several possibilities for the Rangers, if they managed to find themselves among the six American League teams in hunt for a world championship.

Who would the Rangers play if Texas snuck into playoffs as a wild card team?

If Texas managed to sneak in as a wild card opponent in the AL, it would be eerily similar to the challenges they were faced with during the 2023 playoffs.

While it is still possible Texas could be seeded higher, their likely landing spot if they just snuck in would be the sixth and final seed. That would translate to them playing a best-of-three series against the third overall seed. As of this moment, that third seed would be the Houston Astros, if they managed to hold on to their lead in the AL West.

It could also be Seattle if the Mariners were able to take over the AL West from Houston down the stretch of the final weeks. Either way, the chances are pretty high we could see an all AL West Wild Card series to start the playoffs.

Given the current state of the AL East and AL Central division race, it's hard to see the winner of the AL West overtaking for more than a third seed. Then if Texas survived the wild card round, they'd move to the ALDS and face the second seed, which is currently Toronto.

Rangers could still win the AL West. Who would they face then?

That answer remains the same as the Wild Card, it just puts Texas in an obviously more advantagous situation.

If Texas managed to find a way to overtake Houston and Seattle for the division, Texas could see one of them in the best-of-three wild card series as the third seed taking on the sixth seed. The only time it could be different is if both found a way to slip entirely out of playoff contention and the next teams up would be Cleveland, Kansas City or Tampa Bay.

Then if the Rangers took the wild card round, it would turn to the ALDS against the second seed, which is Toronto. It could end up being either the Yankees or Red Sox as well, if either one of the two were able to take the AL East away from the Blue Jays.