The Rangers won the American League Central in 2025 but didn’t do much to follow up that division crown in the winter. They entered the year relying almost entirely on inside players like themselves Chase DeLauter, Parker Messick, Travis Bazzana, Cooper Ingle and others moving on to play important roles in the majors. The approach has had mixed results, but the American League as a whole has been so flawed that Cleveland finds itself in the playoff picture. The Rangers are tied with the White Sox for the top of the division, but are currently the Wild Card team as Chicago leads the season series between the two teams.
Presumably, Cleveland will act as a buyer at the deadline. The extent to which they’ll be willing to send away potential high contributors for short-term gain is unclear, but scouts generally shy away from splashy deadline additions. There have been a number of special features over the years (eg Andrew Miller), but Cleveland generally prefers to stick with its top power.
Record: 51-46 (61.6% playoffs, per FanGraphs)
Buy Mode
Potential needs: Outfield (many), first base, rotation depth, reliever
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Cleveland is carried by its pitching staff but has a clear need for more bats. Cleveland has scored the second fewest runs in baseball (385), leading only the Padres. Hitters are 29th in batting average (.229), tied for 23rd in OBP (.310) and last in the majors in slugging (.369). Their 93 home runs are the fourth fewest in the game.
In the past, Cleveland’s lack of power has been a tradeoff for superior contact/bat-to-ball skills. Not really in 2026. Cleveland’s overall team strikeout rate of 22.4% is tied with the Rangers for 17th in baseball. The average MLB batting average in 2026 is 22.1%. Cleveland hitters are drawing walks at a slightly above-average clip (9.8% compared to the league average of 9%), and they’re better than average on the basepaths, too. Cleveland has a channel-to-channel, small-ball style of offensive play that constantly needs to put pressure on the opposition … but they don’t actually put the ball in play enough to maximize that style.
The most important areas of need are on the outside and in the beginning. It’s true that Cleveland’s catchers are once again a below-average unit, but the catcher’s organization prioritizes protecting catchers more than any other club in the game. It is the reason they trade Patrick Bailey back in May when he hit .146/.213/.185; he is the best defensive catcher in the game. It’s easy to argue that Cleveland should aim for more offense here, but with Bailey once Austin Hedges on the big league roster once Bo Naylor in Triple-A, they are clearly committed to the best glove behind the plate, even at the expense of the offense.
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