LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Everybody gets caught up in window shopping and swapping rumors at the MLB’s Winter Meetings. Baseball comes to these palaces of fantasy like Opryland or Las Vegas or Disney (this year’s locale) and dreams big.
The answers, though, aren’t always out there on the market just waiting to get plucked, signed or traded for.
For all the casting the Rangers may do this week for catchers, relievers and bargain starting pitchers, the biggest chance for improvement in 2026 lies not out there on the market, but right at home in the clubhouse.
“Not to insult any players out there, but as much as our focus is on potential additions and rounding out the roster, it is equally as focused on getting the best out of our own players,” President of Baseball Operations Chris Young said. “The reality is, last year, a number of our players had what we felt like were below-average years by their standards, by our standards. We have to do a better job as an organization.
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“That’s on me, on [GM Ross Fenstermaker], on our coaches collectively to get the best out of these guys. We’re very focused on doing that, because if we don’t get the best out of our players that we currently have, it really doesn’t matter who we bring in.”
Which is the very polite way of putting it. Another way: Consider Josh Jung, Jake Burger and Evan Carter on notice.
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They begin 2026 in much the same position that Jonah Heim and Adolis García began 2025. Jung and Burger, who are both in their first year of salary arbitration, are coming off subpar offensive seasons and were big factors in the Rangers’ 27th-ranked team OBP. Burger, at .269 for 376 plate appearances, had the third-lowest OBP among the 242 players with at least 350 plate appearances. Jung, at .294 for 511 plate appearances, was 129th of 145 qualifiers.
Carter, meanwhile, has had consecutive seasons significantly shortened by health issues, mostly related to an autoimmune issue that affects his back. He’s played just 108 games and posted a .688 OPS over the last two seasons; it’s .275 — yes, that’s OPS — against lefties for his career.
While the Rangers believe all three can be significant contributors, they’ve yet to give them convincing evidence to back that up.
The Rangers are determined to improve their OBP in 2026. It will be a major focus. And with the team unlikely to add much more than a platoon catcher and perhaps a right-handed complementary bat in the outfield this winter, the biggest changes must come from within.
“I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, that I think we have a great core group of players in place,” Young said, “and I think the best thing we can do as an organization is to get the best out of those players and perform up to the level that we believe these guys are capable.”
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The Rangers can, however, use the winter meetings to address their other needs, such as catching and the bullpen. But in both places, their relatively meager financial resources this winter likely put them toward the back of the line. Before anything happens to free agent catchers Danny Jansen and Victor Caratini, reasonable targets, the market will likely be set by what somebody is willing to pay for J.T. Realmuto.
On the relief market, the Rangers may be able to strike on some bargains by offering major league contracts to guys who don’t want to wait until spring to sign or ultimately be forced to take minor league deals. Still, those deals aren’t liable to make headlines. The Rangers’ big relief free agent signing at the 2024 winter meetings was Jacob Webb. It was followed in the next 10 days by deals with Hoby Milner and Shawn Armstrong. They didn’t grab anybody’s attention, but paid real dividends over the course of the season in bolstering what was considered a significant weak spot.
This year, the Rangers could get similar dividends without even making a deal. The biggest changes could come if Jung, Burger and Carter stay healthy and productive. That won’t make any national headlines during the winter, but it would go a long way to making headway on being competitive in 2026.
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