The Texas Rangers’ 2026 playoff miss is harder to excuse when the Houston Astros won the AL West at 81-81. The Rangers finished 80-82, one game behind the Astros, and missed October for the third straight year since their 2023 World Series title.

The final day offered one last chance. The Rangers needed to beat the Minnesota Twins and have the Astros lose to the Athletics because Houston owned the season series tiebreaker. Instead, Texas lost 6-4, and the Astros won 9-0. The Rangers went 35-46 on the road and 51-53 against teams with losing records. Those failures were collective, but three expected difference makers left particularly large gaps.

3. Jacob deGrom

The defining image of Jacob deGrom’s season came Friday in Minnesota. The Rangers scored twice in the first inning, giving their ace an early lead. The Twins answered with six runs in the second. He allowed eight runs in four innings, and the Rangers lost 10-2. The Astros also lost that night, but the Rangers wasted an opportunity to take control of the division race.

The veteran did plenty right. He struck out 201 batters across 162 2/3 innings and delivered several dominant starts. Those contributions make him a less straightforward choice than someone who struggled from April through September. Still, his 4.20 ERA represented a sharp drop from his 2.97 mark in 2025. He surrendered 11 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings across his final two starts.

One start did not decide 162 games. But an ace falling short of his usual standard, then allowing eight runs with the division at stake, belongs in this discussion.

2. MacKenzie Gore

The Rangers sent five prospects to the Washington Nationals to acquire MacKenzie Gore in January. The investment signaled a plan to win immediately, with the left-hander adding another frontline option to the rotation. Gore took the ball 34 times and logged 173 innings. Availability was not the issue.

The results were uneven. Gore finished 8-11 with a 4.58 ERA and 174 strikeouts. Over his final seven starts, he had a 6.26 ERA and averaged fewer than four innings per outing. His inability to consistently work deep placed additional pressure on a Texas bullpen that entered the final day of the season with a 4.44 ERA.

Article Continues Below

Gore allowed just one run in the finale, so the 6-4 loss cannot be pinned on his pitching line. But he lasted only 2 1/3 innings, leaving the Rangers to cover most of their most consequential game with relievers. His late-season slide reflected a familiar pattern. He flashed impressive ability but delivered too few outings that matched the price Texas paid. A more dependable year from its major offseason pitching addition could have changed a tight division race.

1. Corey Seager

No Rangers hitter had a bigger assignment than Corey Seager. He produced an .860 OPS in the 2025 season despite playing only 102 games, giving the Rangers reason to expect their lineup’s centerpiece to carry it again. Instead, he hit only .227 with a .312 on-base percentage, a .424 slugging percentage and a .736 OPS. His 20 home runs offered power, but they did not make up for the drop in his overall production.

The three injured list stints matter because they removed his bat from the order. Back trouble and a concussion also provide important context for his difficult year. They are not reasons to fault his effort. Even when he played, though, Seager's production fell short of its previous standard. His career-worst 0-for-27 skid in May illustrated the problem. He went 4-for-30 over his final seven games.

Seager’s two-run homer in the ninth inning of Game 162 gave the Rangers a last jolt. It also arrived too late to erase the five months when the lineup needed more from him. Texas scored 673 runs, and its highest-profile bat finished well below his established standard.

Injuries and roster decisions extended beyond these three players. First-year manager Skip Schumaker acknowledged that he could not solve the Rangers’ poor play on the road and against losing teams. But Texas had a viable path to October in a division won by a .500 team. Seager, Gore and deGrom each had the talent to make that path easier. Their collective shortfall helped leave Texas on the wrong side of it.