Since Texas Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young talked to the media in October, the talk has been about trimming payroll.
Young said during his end-of-year press conference that the franchise was looking to get younger and less expensive. That reality is part of the reason manager Bruce Bochy opted to move away from managing the club. It’s led to great speculation about just how much the Rangers intend to trim.
During the MLB general managers meetings in Las Vegas this week, Young finally put a number on it.
Texas Rangers Targeted Payroll for 2026
Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images
Young told reporters during an interview, including USA Today, that the anticipated payroll for 2026 is expected to be at least $200 million. He told The Dallas Morning News (subscription required) that even with the trim, he expects the team to be competitive.
“I just don’t feel sorry for ourselves that our payroll is going to be smaller than it was,” Young said. “I don’t think it’s going to inhibit us. …I’m a competitor. It doesn’t deter me. It means we better be better at our jobs. And that’s what I expect to do. I think the biggest thing that we need to do is play up to our expectations. This past season and the year before, we did not do that.”
If there is good news, it’s that the Rangers are below the target. Per Spotrac, Texas finished the season with an active payroll of $226.5 million. When looking ahead to 2026, the Rangers have a projected $149.7 million in veteran payroll spread among six players. From there, the site projects the Rangers will land at approximately $191.9 million based on arbitration and pre-arbitration players.
It does leave room to add. But Young has also said the team expects to get younger. He also acknowledged in October that the offense must get better. The team barely batted .230 in 2025, the second straight year the offense faltered. Earlier this week, new manager Skip Schumaker released his coaching staff. The lead hitting coach will be Justin Viele, who has been on staff the past few years but has never been in the lead role.
How the Rangers arrange their payroll in the coming weeks will be interesting. Two key veterans could cost Texas a projected $18 million in salary arbitration — outfielder Adolis Garcia and catcher Jonah Heim. There is speculation that Texas could non-tender one or both and release them. That deadline is coming up this month.
The Rangers could also look to dump some of their high-dollar contracts in trade. Potential players that could be dealt include second baseman Marcus Semien, designated hitter Joc Pederson and even starting pitcher Jacob deGrom, who was just named AL comeback player of the year.
For now, the Rangers have a target. And it looks attainable.
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