Let’s talk 2026 Texas Rangers payroll.
We don’t know how much the Rangers payroll is going to be in 2026. It appears likely that it will be less than it was in 2025, since part of the reason given for Bruce
Bochy’s decision not to return as manager in 2026 was the team’s “financial uncertainty” for the upcoming offseason.
You may recall that the team had “financial uncertainty” last offseason, as well, due to the Bally Sports bankruptcy and the drama around the TV situation. It turned out that the Rangers decided to play The Price Is Right with the payroll for 2025, getting as close as possible to the first competitive balance tax threshold without going over.
The desire to avoid going over the competitive balance tax threshold in 2025 was supposedly to re-set the tax level after going over in 2023 and 2024. If the Rangers went over in 2025, they’d pay a 50% tax on the overage in 2025, as well as 50% on any overage in 2026. If the Rangers stayed under the CBT line in 2025, they would only pay 20% on any overage in 2026, and we were told that the Rangers wanted to stay under to re-set that amount.
It is unclear at this point whether the Rangers stayed under the tax or went over in 2025. If they went over, it was only by a small amount, so the actual financial consequences in terms of the tax paid would not be significant. And since management seems to be signaling payroll will be below the CBT level in 2026, it doesn’t matter if the tax rate is re-set or not, because the Rangers appear intent on not paying it in 2026 regardless.
You can read the details of the CBT rules here.
The first CBT threshold for 2026 $244 million, though that includes player benefits and the pre-arbitration bonus pool, which total around $20 million. Given that, we can assume that the payroll, in terms of player salaries for 2026, will be south of $220 million.
How much south of $220 million? Good question. I don’t have an answer.
The Rangers currently have five players under contract for the 2026 season:
Jacob deGrom — $38M
Corey Seager — $31.5M
Nathan Eovaldi — $31M(?)
Marcus Semien — $26M
Kyle Higashioka — $6.75M
A few notes here…
Corey Seager’s 10 year, $325 million deal was slightly front-loaded, as he received $35 million in 2023 and $34.5 million in 2024. For the final six years of his deal, from 2026-31, he makes $31.5 million per year. In discussing yesterday Alex Bregman opting out of his deal with the Red Sox, I mentioned that I thought Bregman (who is the same age as Seager) would end up getting more guaranteed than the $189 million Seager has remaining on his deal.
Semien’s 7 year, $175 million deal pays him $26 million in 2026 and 2027, and then $20 million in 2028, so he has $72 million remaining on his contract.
deGrom is guaranteed $38 million in 2026 and $37 million in 2027. Because he underwent Tommy John surgery, the Rangers have a club option for 2028. That club option would be for $37M if he is in the top five in the Cy Young voting in 2025, 2026 and 2027, $30 million if he is in the top five of the Cy Young voting in one of those three years, and $20 million if he doesn’t finish the top five of the Cy Young voting.
Eovaldi’s payroll number for 2026 depends on how you calculate it. His 3 year, $75 million deal included a $12 million signing bonus, an $18 million salary in 2025, a $25 million salary in 2026, and a $20 million salary in 2027. Cots has his 2026 salary at $29 million because they amortized the signing bonus over the three years of the deal. The signing bonus, though, is reportedly split between two payments of $6 million apiece, the first in 2026 and the second in 2028.
So in reality, Eovaldi is getting $31 million from the Rangers in 2026, $6 million of which was already earned. From a cash flow standpoint there’s a question of whether the Rangers funded the $6 million already or not. While teams are required to fund deferred salaries, they don’t have to do it, per the CBA, until July 1 of the second season following the salary being earned, so there’s no requirement for that first $6 million to have been funded.
For payroll purposes, you can put Eovaldi on your spreadsheet at $25 million, or $29 million, or $31 million, and any of them is arguably right. I’m going to use $31 million in this post, rather than $29 million, though the $2 million delta doesn’t make a huge difference, I don’t think. The difference in Bruce Bochy’s 2025 salary and Skip Schumaker’s 2026 salary is probably more than $2 million.
As an aside, none of that matters from a CBT calculation standpoint, because for CBT purposes, the player’s CBT salary is just the AAV for the entire deal. Eovaldi counts $25 million each year in 2025, 2026 and 2027, at least if he stays with the Rangers. If he were traded after the 2026 season, he’d count just $20 million towards the CBT, because the CBT number for the acquiring team is how much that team is paying over the remaining life of the deal, without regard to what the contract paid out before the trade.
So those five players total $133.25 million. Add Joc Pederson, who can opt out of his deal (but won’t, because he’s due $18.5 million in 2026 and isn’t going to get near that much in the free agent market), and we are up to $151.75 million.
The Rangers have eight arbitration-eligible players. Adolis Garcia and Josh Sborz are almost certainly getting non-tendered. That leaves us with the following seven players, listed with their MLBTR projected arbitration salaries:
Jonah Heim — $6M
Jake Burger — $3.5M
Josh Smith — $3M
Josh Jung — $2.9M
Jacob Webb — $2M
Ezequiel Duran — $1.4M
Sam Haggerty — $1.4M
Add those seven players at those salaries to the mix and payroll is up to $171.95 million.
Now, I know what you’re saying — you’re saying, AJM, Jonah Heim is probably being non-tendered, rather than paid $6 million. You’ve said so yourself!
And that’s true. However, someone is going to have to team up with Kyle Higashioka to catch next season. Whoever that person is will likely be expected to catch at least half of the time. And that person is going to have to come from outside of the organization, because there are no internal options to start 80-90 games behind the plate in 2026.
And functional catchers don’t come cheap. Did you see that the Cleveland Guardians just re-signed Austin Hedges for 2026 for $4 million, plus $500K in incentives? Austin Hedges! A guy who hasn’t started 100 games since 2017, who hasn’t started 70 games since 2022! A guy whose 47 OPS+ in 2025 (in 180 plate appearances) was his highest OPS+ since 2019! A guy who, since 2019, has a .170/.235/.274 slash line!
That guy got $4 million guaranteed for 2026!
And yes, Hedges is very much a vibes and clubhouse guy and a defensive wizard and pitcher whisperer, but still.
So the Rangers need a catcher, and whether it is Jonah Heim or someone else, the cost will probably be in that ballpark. Unless they go after J.T. Realmuto, in which case it would be much higher.
Similarly, Sam Haggerty and Jacob Webb could be non-tendered — they were signed as free agents last offseason, after all — and Ezequiel Duran could be traded or whatever. But whoever fills those roles in their absence will likely be making a similar amount.
Let’s add another $8 million or so for guys in the majors who are making the league minimum. That puts the Rangers at $180 million.
However much difference there is between $180 million and the amount Ray Davis authorized for player payroll in 2026 is what the Rangers have to spend this offseason. They will need a right fielder, of course. And at least one starting pitcher. And some relievers.
So that is the lay of the land as of right now.
