Baseball Prospectus’s 2026 PECOTA predictions are in, and they have the Rangers winning two more games than they did last year. But still finishing third in the division. PECOTA stands for too many random words to care about, but it’s a sabermetric system of evaluating player performance, running it through a computer model, then predicting a number of wins each team will earn. 

Texas, who won 81 games in 2025, is predicted to win 83 games, which is more generous than RangersRounding3rd would predict.

Even though they have the Rangers finishing third again in the West, they do have them barely squeaking into the third and final wildcard slot. We all know what happened last time the Rangers snuck into the playoffs. 

For those who like to view their research as numbers:

For those who like to view their research as colorful heaps of laundry: