Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford celebrates reaching second base on an error after hitting a leadoff single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Arlington. Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is at left. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)
While the Texas Rangers are in the thick of another AL West race with a chance to return to the postseason, not all eyes are focused on the here and now. During this week's YouTube live stream with DMN Rangers insider Evan Grant, the topic surrounding the future of the franchise came up, wondering which players in the organization should be considered the core of the roster for 2027, 2028, 2029 and beyond. Here is a snippet of Grant's response: Grant: "I've asked this question on this podcast or this live stream before, what is the core of the future Texas Rangers? You know, I think you feel like Wyatt Langford is part of that core. I think you feel like Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker could be part of that core. Jacob Latz is a little bit older, he'll be 31 next year, but certainly ... with service time, he could be part of that core. Where else are you looking? Is that a good enough core — three pitchers and one position player, a good enough core? "The other options would be Evan Carter, who has not demonstrated any ability to be more than an average platoon hitter. He's a great defender. And I don't know what the sliding scale in terms of production on offense versus run reduction on defense, how that meters out ... to justify a sub-.200 batting average and a sub-.650 OPS. "Josh Jung is gonna be in the second year of arbitration ... his window here or his window to free agency is not that far away. I don't know that I'd consider him part of the core going forward. He's certainly a contributor, but I don't know that the Rangers would be investing any long-term contracts in a guy who's gonna be 30 at the end of this contract."
The Rangers are currently 60-61, 1.5 games behind the Houston Astros in the division with 42 games to play. Texas returns to action Thursday night on the road, looking to bounce back after back-to-back tough losses to the Los Angeles Angels. To view the full version of this week's Q&A session with fans, click here.
Subscribe Sign up for the Morning Roundup, a free newsletter delivering the latest North Texas news each morning. This article originally published at Which Texas Rangers will be the core pieces to build around for 2027 and beyond?.