Rangers continue streak of avoiding salary arbitration with all four eligible players

A streak that has lived on since the turn of the century has extended another year after the Texas Rangers agreed on arbitration figures with their four eligible players ahead of the Thursday deadline.

The Rangers finalized their deals with Jake Burger, Josh Jung, Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran for the 2026 season.

Rangers avoid arbitration hearing with remaining four eligible players

Texas entered the offseason with nine arbitration eligible players, including the four from today. Earlier this winter, they agreed to a deal with OF Sam Haggerty while non-tendering Jonah Heim, Adolis Garcia, Josh Sborz and Jacob Webb.

The last time the Rangers had to undergo a salary arbitration hearing with an eligible player was prior to the 2000 season with first baseman Lee Stevens and the team ended up winning that hearing and later traded Stevens to Montreal.

For those unaware, arbitration is for a player with anywhere between 3-6 years of service time to propose a salary to the organization they are under contract with. The team gets to do the same and both sides can either agree on a figure or take that to a "winner-take-all" arbitration hearing.

Smith's deal is reported to be $3.225 million, which is almost $1 million more than estimated. During the 2025 season he hit .251 with 10 home runs, 35 RBIs, 23 doubles and 12 stolen bases and is the frontrunner to be the Rangers' starting second baseman.

The other three figures are yet to be announced but according to Spotrac estimations Burger would get $3.1 million, Jung at $2.4 million and Duran at $1.75 million. If all those numbers are closely accurate, Texas will be looking at a 2026 payroll just around $190 million.

With Ray Davis attempting to stay close to the $200 million, it only gives the Rangers approximately $10 million to field the rest of their roster. They've expressed the need to still add a relief pitcher or two, right-handed bench bat and a backend starter for the rotation.