The Texas Rangers continued their brutal slog to the finish line Tuesday when they lost 6-3 to the New York Mets. The loss marks another in a long line of devastating losses. This Rangers team is one of the most infuriating baseball teams ever. Every positive performance and sign of life is immediately followed by disappointment. This has led this tortured team to float around .500 all season, unable to parlay a drop of momentum into sustained success. This wretched incompetence is made infinitely worse by the listless performance of the Houston Astros. The Astros are very flawed and have floated around .500 for most of the season. This means had the Rangers been able to get out of their own way even a little bit they would have had the division locked down. They have done the opposite, squandering countless chances to build a division lead as they match Houston loss for loss.
The Astros utilized tanking, great coaching, and illegal sign stealing to build a juggernaut that dominated the AL for a decade. The Rangers spent the last decade, with the notable exception of 2023, playing second fiddle to the duplicitous Houston powerhouse. The Astros core that defined their decade of dominance is largely gone. Yordan Alvarez is no longer protected by Kyle Tucker. Jose Altuve is no longer an effective player. The likes of Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa, Justin Verlander, and Gerrit Cole have been scattered to the winds. The Astros have fallen back down to earth. The Rangers needed to merely put one foot in front of the other to win the division with 87 wins. They have committed fraud and disgrace at every turn, waterboarding their faithful fans on a daily basis. The low-hanging fruit of the division title is dangled in front of the Rangers constantly. Again and again they disappoint their fans and underperform.
The tantalizingly easy nature of the divisional title makes this mediocre, forgettable season particularly agonizing. Even the most cynical person is drawn back into the daily trainwreck of Rangers disappointment by the ineptitude of the Astros. The Astros and Rangers have been in a race to the bottom all season. Their pathetic displays have made even the notoriously inept AL Central look decent by comparison.
The Rangers will miss the playoffs despite the Astros giving them every opportunity to win the division. The Rangers best pitcher, Cal Quantrill, just went on the 60 day IL. Quantrill has been electric for the past two months. The Rangers flaccid offense has been the main reason the team has been such a disaster this season. It is also worth noting the defense has fallen off tremendously. The Rangers had the best defense in the league last season. They are no longer in the top 10.
The AL is incredibly weak compared to the NL this season. The bar for making the playoffs in the AL Central and AL West is tremendously low. The Rangers have failed to capitalize on this. They have underperformed with stunning consistency. There is less than a week left in this vexing season. The Rangers will have to answer some tough questions during the offseason.
