This has been an offseason of change for the Texas Rangers.
Coming off missing the playoffs for two straight years following the franchise’s first-ever World Series championship in 2023, it was announced that future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Bochy would not be back next season with Skip Schumaker taking over for him.
The plan was for the Rangers to retain their coaching staff under Schumaker, but well-respected pitching coach Mike Maddux and longtime catching coach Bobby Wilson elected to not return, with Maddux accepting a job with the Los Angeles Angels.
Now, more changes seem to be on the way.
Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required) gave the latest insight into some potential moves that could be coming. He mentioned how it’s expected that Bret Boone won’t return next year after stepping in during the 2025 season to help the offense.
In addition to that note, Grant stated Justin Viele will likely be promoted to lead hitting instructor and they could turn to former Houston Astros co-hitting coach Alex Cintron as someone to join the offensive staff.
“According to three people familiar with the hiring process, Alex Cintron, who served as the Astros’ hitting instructor the last six seasons, has emerged as a very strong candidate to join the reconstructed hitting staff,” the insider stated.
Not a lot of coaches in baseball make headlines, so some Rangers fans might not be too familiar with Cintron despite the fact he had been a major part of their archrival’s staff for the past six years. However, even though he wasn’t retained at the end of this past season, there is reason to be excited about adding him under Schumaker.
For one, he played a key role in the Astros being one of the best offensive teams in baseball that powered them to a World Series championship in 2022 and kept their dominant run in the American League going despite multiple player departures.
During his tenure as the co-hitting coach alongside Troy Snitker, Houston ranked fifth in the majors in OPS+. They were able to combine patience at the plate with doing damage for extra-base hits and a owning a high slugging percentage, which was lethal for opposing staffs to face.
Considering Texas had an OPS+ that was right at the league average of 100 during each of the past two seasons, it’s clear some changes need to be made to their offensive approach. And if Cintron does get hired like Grant is hearing, then he will be a new voice on this coaching staff who could help get this offense back to being elite like they were in 2023 when they had an OPS+ of 116.
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