Should Bruce Bochy be the Texas Rangers manager in 2026?

The 2025 Rangers season has been a roller coaster that has felt like a car crash. Bruce Bochy has attempted to hold off the inevitable and time will tell if he can do the impossible and get this team to the playoffs.

Despite the miracle run the Rangers are currently on, there is clearly a call for change happening. The team has been underperforming for 2 years now despite multiple attempts to get it restarted. Bochy still has the desire to coach and will have a decision to make on where.

Rumors have been swirling about the Rangers manager and where he will be at in 2026. He will have a decision to make himself, but will the Rangers be telling him that he won't have the choice in staying in Arlington?

Why should Bruce Bochy want to come back?

The team is ready to win now and despite the Baseball God's best efforts, are doing just that. We are not where we're at now without his all time great leadership. Countless managers would've punted on the season and moved on but Bochy has not. He is potentially trending towards returning for another season in Arlington according to Bob Nightengale.

There is not a clear and obvious answer for what is going wrong. The moves that were made were clearly the "right" ones at the time and should have solved their 2024 problems but instead cratered them into oblivion.

Fans have tried blaming everything from players for underperforming or the roof for being closed. There is clear unrest despite a clear path to the playoffs. A change of face is warranted.

This is clearly what Bochy has always lived for. He has reiterated such words even recently. He can manage his way to a World Series while also being rumored for other jobs.

If he thinks that this roster can be fixed, then he would likely be welcomed back. If he thinks the roster isn't ready for him at his advanced age, he could very reasonably be expected to exit for another chance.

Why the Texas Rangers shouldn't bring Bruce Bochy back

Chris Young and company have been preparing for Bruce Bochy's exit for about a year now. Skip Schumaker was hired in the organization quickly after being released from the Marlins. There has been a large amount of speculation that he is next up for the spot.

Wherever there is smoke, there is fire. There have been far too many articles and rumors about Bochy potentially taking other jobs and the Rangers are prepared if that happens. Far too many question marks have appeared about this locker room and team for those rumors to not hold some truth.

People can question anything about a team but the second the identity is questioned, there is a problem. It should be clear if a team is ultra aggressive like the Dodgers or patient and mehtodical like the Brewers.

The Rangers seem to be in this grey area where they have no idea what team will show up. There are flashes of elite offense combined with their all time pitching and other times where you question if some of the players are aware they're playing baseball.

The lack of consistency has lead to a wildly disappointing season. There should have been an easy push to take a laughably weak AL West this year rather than a fight to score 4 or 5 runs nightly.

Bochy's lack of adjusting for a very large portion of the season and lackluster coaching staff hires have left a stain on his run in Arlington. The locker room looked to be lost for a long period of time as well.

The Rangers need to have a more consistent product nightly. If the team believes Bochy can bring that then he will likely stay. If the team falls flat in the coming weeks, he may not have a choice. It will be a storyline to follow for the time being on if Bochy is told to stay or go, or maybe he may not leave it up to the front office to decide.