Texas Rangers Emerging Outfielder Anticipated to Shine Next Season

The Texas Rangers are expected to see one of its young outfielders have a breakout season in 2025.

Sep 22, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford (36) walks back to the dugout after he strikes out during the fourth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Field. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers are coming off of a 2024 MLB season that saw them finish the year with a 78-84 record and miss the playoffs. That hasn't sat well within the organization and they want to make a push to get back into being a postseason contender.

So far this offseason, the Rangers have been relatively quiet.

They were able to work out a new three-year, $75 million contract with starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. They also traded for Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins.

Those two moves are quality transactions, but they aren't enough to make Texas a contender once again.

While a lot of a team's improvements come from outside moves, the development of young talent is crucial as well. Looking at the Rangers' roster, they have a few pieces who could end up becoming much bigger impact players with development.

One of those players is none other than 23-year-old outfielder Wyatt Langford.

During the 2024 MLB season with Texas, Langford ended up playing in 134 games. He hit 16 home runs to go along with 74 RBI and also recorded a slash line of .253/.325/.415.

There is a lot more talent where that came from. With development, he could end up becoming a legitimate superstar.

Kennedi Landry of MLB.com is expecting Langford to have a breakout season in 2025.

The former Florida star was the Rangers' rookie of the year, as selected by the local Baseball Writers Association of America chapter, and finished seventh in AL rookie of the year voting. Like many rookies, he started slow and hit just one home run in the first two months of the season. But, after that, he steadily showed a productive bat.

"But from June 1 through the end of the season (a span of 100 games), he slashed .263/.337/.458 with 15 home runs," Landri wrote. "It wasn’t quite enough to get Langford back into the AL Rookie of the Year race, but things ended on a high note for him. He can only get better next year."

Simply looking at his numbers from the 2024 season, the talent is clear. Langford could end up being a huge part of helping the Rangers get back to the playoffs.

They could still use another move or two to bring in outside talent, but Langford's development will be just as important.

Hopefully, he is able to take the kind of jump that the Rangers are expecting from their No. 4 overall pick in 2023. If he can do that, he will further cement himself as one of the top up-and-coming talents in baseball.