The Texas Rangers have not been able to reach the playoffs since winning the World Series in 2023. That could change this season.
As the 2026 Major League Baseball season enters its final days, the Texas Rangers are fighting to keep their postseason hopes alive.
At the time of writing, the Rangers have a one-game lead over the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West Division. With just six games remaining, Texas may finally break its postseason drought after winning the World Series in 2023.
With that in mind, let’s take a trip to the past when the season was getting ready to kick off. During that time, The Athletic asked fans of MLB organizations about their level of optimism heading into the season.
Now that playoff contenders are more defined, The Athletic circled back around to that survey to ask the fans of 15 teams about their levels of optimism regarding their team winning the World Series. The 15 teams were made up of those that have already secured a playoff spot or are in the mix for one, like the Rangers.
Solid confidence
Even though Texas missed the playoffs in 2024 and 2025, it did not stop a majority of its fans who participated in this survey from expressing optimism.
Of the 15 teams listed, the Rangers’ fan base came in at No. 6 with 77.5% optimism. That is not bad at all, especially in a year with a new manager in Skip Schumaker.
Perhaps the optimism came from a place of recent enough success. It had not been that long since the Rangers had won the World Series, and they were returning several key pieces to the lineup from that team, such as Corey Seager and Jacob deGrom.
For this franchise, the last two years had been less than stellar, but there was too much talent on the roster for it to remain that way. Or at least, that is how it seemed on paper.
Still, the Rangers have struggled this season to maintain a .500 record, let alone a winning one. At 78-78, Texas is lucky the AL West is so weak, because that is what is providing a chance for it to have a chance to play in October. As a Wild Card team, the Rangers do not have the record to put them in the conversation.
The results reflecting the optimism of this fanbase regarding another World Series have not yet been released by The Athletic, but it is probably safe to say that they are just hoping to make it to the playoffs. The Rangers won it all as a Wild Card team in 2023, but that version of the roster is better than this one, even if they win the AL West.
