Rangers seeking to swipe fired division rival as new-look hitting coach

It's no secret that Texas needs to improve its offense next season. The Rangers arguably had the best pitching staff in Major League Baseball last season, leading the league in ERA with 3.47, yet they still missed the postseason due to their inability to perform consistently well offensively, as Texas ranked 26th out of 30 teams in OPS (.683) during the 2025 campaign.

The Rangers were already dealt a brutal blow to their coaching staff, as pitching coach Mike Maddux has joined the Angels' staff to work under new manager Kurt Suzuki. However, given the star power of their starting rotation, the Rangers should be just fine on the pitching side as long as they build an adequate bullpen this offseason. The main concern for Texas, as stated earlier, is its offense, and bringing in a successful hitting instructor could be a good starting point for improvement.

Rangers interested in fired Astros hitting instructor Alex Cíntron

Alex Cíntron, who worked as the Astros' hitting instructor for the past six seasons, is a strong candidate to join the Rangers' coaching staff as an assistant hitting instructor under new manager Skip Schumaker, according to The Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant. The Astros declined to renew Cíntron and Troy Snitker's contracts after the team missed the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Cíntron, 46, joined the Astros' staff in 2017 as the team's Spanish translator, advance coach and assistant coach. He was promoted to first-base coach in 2018 and then to hitting coach in 2019.

If the Rangers hire Cíntron, fans shouldn't worry about Houston's decision to let him go. The Astros have very high standards, having made the playoffs every year from 2017-24, so they had to scapegoat some coaches to prove to fans that missing the postseason is unacceptable. The Astros experienced considerable success with Cíntron working for the team. Additionally, Houston's offense still ranked in the top half of the league (14th) per OPS (.714) in 2025.

Before joining Houston's staff, Cintron played in parts of nine seasons (2001-09) as an MLB infielder, having played five seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, two seasons with the Chicago White Sox, one season with the Baltimore Orioles and one season with the Washington Nationals. In his career, Cintron posted -2.2 bWAR and an 80 OPS+.