For this Rangers team to break out of its two year offensive funk will require a bounce back season from so many players. One of those being Jake Burger.

Burger was never the centerpiece of an offense. You don’t build a team around Jake Burger. He’s a final piece of an offense that has already been established. That’s the challenge—this Rangers team is an offense looking for solutions.

The Rangers are Burger’s third team in what will be his seventh season. Two and a half with the Chicago White Sox, a season and an half with Miami, now starting his second with Texas. He was traded from the White Sox to the Marlins at the 2023 trade deadline and had his best strength of baseball with Miami under Skip Schumaker, who’s now the Rangers manager. That Marlins team, like the Rangers, squeaked into the playoffs. In fifty-three games for Miami, Burger his .303 with an elite OPS of .860.

The next season, under Schumaker, Miami, like Texas, regressed, failing to make the playoffs, and Burger regressed, his OPS dropping to .760. Last season, his first with Texas, was a disappointment. Burger ended up on the IL three times. Worse, he ended up at Triple-A after a miserable start in which he hit just .186 in March. 

When the season ended, Burger had career lows across the board. Maybe that’s the most encouraging news for 2026. He’s already hit rock bottom. There’s nowhere to go but up.