Youthful Cy Young winners are just another reminder of how far the Rangers are from contention

Youth has been served with the announcement of the two unanimous Major League Baseball Cy Young Award winners for 2026. Jacob Misiorowski is having a 2026 he won't soon forget. First, he guided the Brewers to the World Series title, and now he has been crowned the National League's top starting pitcher at just 24.

Another young gun, the Yankees' Cam Schlittler, was named the best hurler in the American League. He is only 25. Both had incredible years that were deserving of the award. It is just the third time in the game's history that both winners were unanimous.

So how does the success of these two baby-faced fireballers relate to the Texas Rangers, you may be asking? Well, it is just another reminder of how far away the team is from being legitimate contenders, by comparison. Allow us to explain.

Jacob Misiorowski and Cam Schlittler's Cy Young wins illustrate the chasm between the true contenders and the aging Rangers staff

What an amazing season for Miz! The Milwaukee ace put together a statistical line for the ages with a 16-5 record, an MLB-best 1.80 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP, 6.4 bWAR, and an otherworldly 252 Ks (tops in MLB) in 174.2 innings pitched. The Blue Springs, Missouri, native was able to bring the heat at 102-105 mph and sustain it over an entire season.

Similarly, Schlittler used his 99-102 mph four-seamer as his best pitch on the way to posting a 14-6 record, 1.96 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 7.0 bWAR, and 239 strikeouts spanning 193.2 innings. He was dominant for the Bronx Bombers.

The Brewers won it all, and the Yankees easily punched their ticket as a wild card before being eliminated by the Rays in the NLDS.

Meanwhile, the hometown Rangers are likely going to trot out battle-tested, but hardly spring chickens, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi again at the top of their rotation to begin 2027. Tonight's coronation of Miz and Schlittler just felt like rock salt pressed firmly on an open wound.

To be clear, deGrom and Evo are warriors who have given this franchise some of the best seasons of their careers. This is not about the grit and heart of either of them. It is, however, about their advancing age. deGrom will turn 39 next year, and Evo is creeping up on 37.

Father Time is undefeated, and as good as they have been, the ascension of two young studs like Misiorowski and Schlittler makes it feel like deGrom and Evo are damn near senior citizens in baseball years. This group of players in Arlington somehow feels even farther away from being a legitimate contender than they were 24 hours ago.

When Chris Young said "younger and more athletic" in his postseason presser, you couldn't blame him if he was envisioning two superstars like Miz and Schlittler. Still, an arm on their level isn't in the state of Texas at the moment, and Tarik Skubal isn't walking through that clubhouse door anytime soon.

There's no doubt Jacob and Nate will go out and compete at 110% until their arms fall off, but their best days are behind them, and the organization won't be World Series-worthy until they can find a way to bridge the age gap over the next 3-5 years. Jack Leiter, MacKenzie Gore, and Kumar Rocker don't look like the heirs apparent right now.

In an ideal world, Gore would've taken the mantle as an ace last season, and at least one of Rocker and Leiter would have emerged as a front-end starter. Instead, we're still left wondering if either Rocker or Leiter even belongs in the rotation, while looking at Gore's 4.58 ERA this year, ranking as the fifth-worst mark among qualified starters, and wondering where it all went wrong.

As always, we hope for the best, but acknowledge that pragmatism and realism usually win at the end of the day. This looks like an average-at-best rotation, and it could really hold the Rangers back in 2027.

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