Small-market teams' playoff success proves Rangers fans upset with payroll are focused on wrong issue

The Texas Rangers missed the playoffs for the third straight year. They missed the postseason in nine of the past 10 years. Luckily, Texas won the World Series in the only year (2023) the club made the playoffs in the past 10 seasons, but the organization still clearly needs to make changes.

It's easy to blame the Rangers' poor results on low spending. In 2023, Texas ranked fourth in payroll at $251,332,754, according to Spotrac. This year, the organization ranks 13th at $191,262,798.

While reducing payroll hasn't helped Texas and has drawn the ire of fans, it isn't the organization's main issue. Four of the five teams still alive in the postseason race (as of Saturday morning) rank 19th or lower in total payroll. Here are the numbers:

• Milwaukee Brewers (NLCS bound): 19th in payroll ($146,206,320)
• Chicago White Sox (Currently in ALDS): 24th in payroll ($103,330,141)
• Tampa Bay Rays (ALCS bound): 28th in payroll ($95,615,469)
• Cleveland Guardians (Currently in ALDS): 30th in payroll ($74,459,014)

Of course, the big bad Dodgers are where they are largely due to their substantial payroll. Los Angeles ranks second in payroll at $339,319,244 and will face Milwaukee in the NLCS. However, the New York Mets rank first in payroll at $346,736,805 but finished last in the NL East with a 74-88 record, proving that spending big isn't enough to build a World Series contender. The New York Yankees ($308,336,780), once the epitome of big spending, were swept by the thrifty Rays in the ALDS.

Would the Rangers be better if ownership spent more on the roster? Sure. But the Rays, Brewers, Guardians and White Sox have proved that teams can make a deep playoff run without large payrolls.

The real issue with the Rangers is poor player development and mismanagement of assets.

Rangers need to make major organization changes to return to playoffs

Jake Burger hasn't been anything more than an average player since joining Texas. Evan Carter has regressed dramatically since his breakout rookie season in 2023. Joc Pederson had a decent 2026 season but has been an overall bust for Texas.

On the pitching side, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker haven't lived up to their potential. MacKenzie Gore hasn't been the pitcher Texas wanted after acquiring him last offseason. Except for Jacob Latz and a few others, the bullpen has mostly been unreliable over the past couple of seasons.

Not to mention, the Rangers are spending a huge chunk of their payroll on Corey Seager. The club is also spending plenty on Brandon Nimmo, whom Texas acquired from the New York Mets last offseason in exchange for second baseman Marcus Semien.

Seager represents an interesting issue that has paralyzed the team. He, along with Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, all have no-trade clauses in addition to their bloated salaries. That's not uncommon for stars, but both Seager and deGrom have the kind of injury histories that you'd like to have an off-ramp from, while Eovaldi isn't the type of player you typically associate with this perk. These decisions have boxed Texas in, despite some interest around the league in these players.

Then there's the question of asset management. Chris Young traded five top-30 prospects for MacKenzie Gore. At the time of the deal, it was clear that the trade market for controllable starting pitching heavily favored sellers. It's not so much the prospects he lost as much as it is what else they could have been used for that would have had a greater impact, and how they could have yielded a higher-caliber player at a different, less-in-demand position.

The Rangers cannot simply run it back next year if they want to be competitive. It'd be nice if the organization spent more on the roster, but realistically, that won't happen. If the Rangers want to be like the Rays, Brewers, White Sox and Guardians, the organization needs to manage its assets more effectively and improve player development.

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