Sunday hops, 3-15-26.

A weekly compendium emptying the bench, with Rangers developments, rumors, and takes — and yes, a little TROT COFFEY.

(Photo by Brandon Wade/Getty Images)An

We’re more than a month into spring training. Opening Day is in 11 sleeps.

If you’re among those checking out today’s free post, I’d love to have you join our community through one of several different subscription options. I wrote 285 stories in this space in 2025 — and would love nothing more than the Rangers putting together a season in 2026 that prompts more than that.

On to this week’s Hops.

Surprise.

I always head to spring training with several stories in mind, but with the expectation that I’ll see something on the backfields that will cause me to pivot into a change of plans.

I did see plenty at the complex this last week that will impact my next Top 72 Prospects list (which I’m now ready to get to work on) — but this year, the three stories I had penciled in to work up turned out to be the three I ended up tackling.

It’s inescapable, I suppose, after getting around a young player — and learning more about his mindset, his preparation, his human side — that my opinion of him and optimism for where his career is headed kicks up a level or two. (Not always; I can think of a couple exceptions in past years.) But whether there’s a halo effect at work or not, I can’t tell you how excited I am to see what lies ahead in 2026 for RHP Caden Scarborough, 3B Jack Wheeler, and SS/2B/CF/3B/RF Cam Cauley.

Though I guess I did sort of tell you. In case you missed any of those three stories, they’re all linked at the end of this post.

Beeks.

With veteran left-handed relievers Danny Coulombe and Jalen Beeks still lurking on the free agent market, the Rangers opted for the one they had less familiarity with. Texas signed Beeks on Thursday, and on the same day Coulombe inked a deal with the Red Sox.

The difference in contracts is interesting. According to Spotrac, Beeks (who at 32 is four years younger than Coulombe) gets a $1.6 million guarantee with workload incentives that can max the deal out at $2.6 million. Meanwhile, Coulombe signed for just a $1 million base, but can earn up to $3 million if he makes enough appearances and spends enough time on the active roster. So it’s a slightly larger guarantee for Beeks, but Coulombe can still outearn him.

Beeks, a seven-year veteran, had his best season since 2022 last year, holding opposing batters to a .202/.277/.341 slash line — his .618 OPS was seventh best among NL left-handed relievers — while leading the Diamondbacks with 61 appearances. Of note, he had roughly equal splits: a .611 OPS facing left-handed hitters, .624 against righties.

Nine different times in 2025, Arizona had Beeks pitch more than one inning — and fascinatingly, in the 15 innings he logged in those nine outings, he allowed one run on just two hits and four walks, striking out 12. Sturdy. Coulombe got more than three outs only twice last year, once each for Minnesota and Texas.

Whether having Beeks in the pen makes the Rangers more comfortable elevating Jacob Latz into the rotation rather than Kumar Rocker was probably not a huge factor in the signing, but it’s not insignificant that Beeks has had recent success delivering multiple innings in relief, something the equally left-handed Latz has proven he can deliver.

Incidentally, while the Rangers hadn’t suited Beeks up before, his new coach has shared a uniform with him. Beeks and bullpen coach Colby Suggs both pitched for the University of Arkansas in 2013. (Suggs was Coulombe’s bullpen coach in Minnesota as well.)

To make room for Beeks on the 40-man roster, the Rangers designated RHP Alexis Díaz for assignment. Diaz, in camp on a $1 million flier, had a rough go of things in three Cactus League appearances, surrendering eight runs on three hits, four walks, and a hit batsman while recording only five outs. In his final of those three outings, on March 8, he managed to throw three strikes out of 17 pitches. Just as noteworthy, if not more so, was a marked dip in velocity from his peak a couple years ago.

Third base.

Josh Smith started at third base on both Friday and Saturday, which you certainly don’t do with your everyday second baseman this late in camp unless you’re looking to cover contingencies.

Josh Jung’s return to action has not happened as soon as anticipated, but the Rangers are appropriately playing things safe with his adductor strain. No sense in taking chances now and risking a two-month injured list stint. Early this week, Skip Schumaker suggested Jung — who has been taking ground balls, running the bases, and working through his hitting progressions — could get into a game this weekend. I haven’t seen today’s lineup yet, but the fact that Smith has played third base two straight days makes me wonder whether the club is tapping the brakes on getting Jung back out there.

Smith, for what it’s worth, is really locked in at the plate — and so is Ezequiel Duran.

13.

Half of the Rangers squad plated 13 runs against the Padres in the bottom of the third yesterday — facing two veterans, southpaw Marco Gonzales and righthander Logan Gillaspie — putting together their biggest spring training inning since they started keeping records of such things in 2006.

In the inning:

• Sam Haggerty: 105.7-mph triple to left

• Ezequiel Duran: 111.8-mph double to left

• Willie MacIver: sacrifice bunt

• Brandon Nimmo: 97.2-mph, left-on-left, opposite-field single to left

• Wyatt Langford: 112.1-mph single to center

• Corey Seager: walk

• Andrew McCutchen: check-swing single to shortstop

• Josh Smith (facing Gillaspie): 109.8-mph, 23-degree, 392-foot grand slam to right center

• Evan Carter: 92-mph groundout to second base

• Haggerty: 109.3-mph single to center

• Duran: 106.4-mph, 26-degree, 402-foot home run to left

• MacIver: walk

• Nimmo: 99.8-mph double to center

• Langford: 107.1-mph, 25-degree, 443-foot home run to left center

• Seager: 106-mph, 27-degree, 449-foot home run to center

• McCutchen: 94.8-mph opposite-field single to right

• Smith: walk

• Carter: 103.9-mph groundout to first base

The Rangers were plenty good in the other seven innings, too, scoring another nine runs on 10 hits in those frames in the 22-2 victory. It was a game pitting two split-squads against each other, but Texas was facing big league pitchers for much of the demolition.

Another thing that jumped out Saturday: there were 16 walks in the game — all earned by Rangers batters. The fivesome of Nathan Eovaldi, Mason Thompson, Jakob Junis, Josh Sborz, and Ryan Brasier walked zero, scattering seven hits and fanning eight Padres.

I bet Glenn Otto had a good Saturday.

He retired in December. But I’m guessing Glenn Otto had a really good day yesterday doing whatever he was doing. The other three guys who came over in the 2021 Joey Gallo trade sure did:

Night action.

I’ve never really understood why teams haven’t done what the Rangers are doing this spring — playing lots of night games as camp wraps up. After this afternoon’s game against the Dodgers, Texas plays four of its remaining Arizona games under the lights.

It just seems to make sense to get the players in their routine before breaking camp. The Rangers do play three day games to start the season in Philadelphia, but two weeks into the season they’ll head out on a 10-day West Coast road trip (Dodgers, A’s, Mariners) with lots of late starts.

The club has also moved Wednesday’s and Friday’s games this week an hour later, but that was in deference to what’s being forecast as a 102- and 107-degree highs those two days.

Another thing I’d seen the Rangers do before and saw again this week is, from time to time, holding morning big-league BP sessions in Surprise Stadium rather than on the backfields.

Emily.

I could spend some time in this space running down what Emily Jones has accomplished in her long and impactful career as part of the Rangers TV broadcast, but for me this doesn’t call for the way you’d introduce a keynote speaker.

Emily shared this on Thursday:

Though she will no longer be part of the broadcast, Emily will remain with the organization as a “host/ambassador” for charity and sponsorship events.

She will be missed. Emily not only made the game presentation better for so many years — I’m convinced, in her own way, that she made the team better, primarily in her role as a mentor to so many young Rangers players over the years finding their way in the big leagues.

Job well done, Em. So well done.

The state of the 40-man roster.

The Beeks/Diaz exchange wasn’t the only adjustment to the 40 this week. Jordan Montgomery was also shifted to the 60-day injured list to clear a spot for the waiver claim of OF Dairon Blanco, an optionable speed demon.

The 32-year-old has played in parts of four major league seasons with the Royals, hitting .257 with a .728 OPS and stealing 59 bases in 171 games. Nobody has more pinch-running appearances since 2022 than his 64.

Whether Blanco survives final roster maneuvers here, that is, when and if non-roster players (such as Andrew McCutchen or Mark Canha, and conceivably Josh Sborz plus either Tyler Wade or Cam Cauley) need roster spots, will be sorted out in the next two weeks. But Blanco is not the only one who might be on the 40-man roster bubble.

• PITCHERS (22): Tyler Alexander, Carter Baumler, Jalen Beeks, Cody Bradford, Marc Church, Jose Corniell, Luis Curvelo, David Davalillo, Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Robert Garcia, MacKenzie Gore, Jakob Junis, Jacob Latz, Jack Leiter, Leandro Lopez, Chris Martin, Michel Otañez, Kumar Rocker, Winston Santos, Emiliano Teodo, Cole Winn

• CATCHERS (3): Kyle Higashioka, Danny Jansen, Willie MacIver

• INFIELDERS (8): Jake Burger, Ezequiel Duran, Justin Foscue, Cody Freeman, Josh Jung, Joc Pederson, Corey Seager, Josh Smith

• OUTFIELDERS (7): Dairon Blanco, Evan Carter, Sam Haggerty, Michael Helman, Wyatt Langford, Brandon Nimmo, Alejandro Osuna

• 60-DAY INJURED LIST (1): Jordan Montgomery

No changes to the NRI’s. I’ve put in bold the ones who remain in big-league camp:

• PITCHERS (15): Robby Ahlstrom, Ryan Brasier, Gavin Collyer, Nabil Crismatt, Declan Cronin, Austin Gomber, Peyton Gray, Ryan Lobus, Eric Loomis, Patrick Murphy, Dalton Pence, Cal Quantrill, Josh Sborz, Trey Supak, Josh Trentadue

• CATCHERS (2): Jose Herrera, Cooper Johnson

• INFIELDERS (6): Jonah Bride, Cameron Cauley, Richie Martin Jr., Andrew Velazquez, Tyler Wade, Sebastian Walcott

• OUTFIELDERS (4): Mark Canha, Trevor Hauver, Andrew McCutchen, Aaron Zavala

Key dates.

• February 10: Rangers pitchers and catchers report.

• February 15: All other Rangers players report.

• February 20: Cactus League opener: Rangers vs. Royals in Surprise.

• March 4-17: World Baseball Classic.

• March 20: Spring Breakout prospect game, Rangers vs. Royals in Surprise.

• March 23-24: Rangers vs. Royals exhibition games at Globe Life Field.

• March 25: Opening Night: Yankees at Giants.

• March 26: Opening Day, Rangers at Phillies.

• April 3: Home Opener, Reds vs. Rangers.

• July 11-12: MLB Draft.

• July 12: Futures Game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

• July 14: All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

• August 3: Trade Deadline (5:00 p.m. Central).

• September 27: Regular Season ends.

• September 29: Postseason begins.

• October 23: World Series Game 1.

This Week in Nestico & Pitch Profiler.

In a story featuring a hitter at each position whom he expects to exceed expectations in 2026, Thomas Nestico includes Langford as his left fielder.

Nestico suggests there’s “another gear to [Langford’s] game,” which is already “highlighted by his innate ability to barrel the ball and to lay off bad pitches.” Regarding the above projections of a 125 wRC+ and 4.5 fWAR season, Nestico “ha[s] no question that the bat can outpace that projection — he has already set a new max EV of 115.8 MPH this spring — and if he can carve out a more meaningful role in CF, we could be looking at a 6-win player.”

This Week in Roster Reconstruction.

• March 7: RHP Jeyson Bautista signed to a minor league contract

• March 8: OF Dairon Blanco claimed off waivers from the Kansas City Royals

• March 8: LHP Jordan Montgomery placed on the 60-day injured list (elbow surgery)

• March 13: LHP Jalen Beeks signed to a one-year, $1.6 million contract

• March 13: RHP Alexis Diaz designated for assignment

Also, the Rangers optioned RHP’s David Davalillo and Leandro Lopez to Double-A Frisco this week, and reassigned eight non-roster invites to the backfields: RHP’s Ryan Lobus, Eric Loomis, Patrick Murphy, and Trey Supak, LHP Robby Ahlstrom, C Cooper Johnson, IF Andrew Velazquez, and OF Aaron Zavala.

Farm stuff.

• In his latest mock draft, Carlos Collazo (Baseball America) has the Rangers taking Stoneman Douglas High School LHP Gio Rojas with the 16th overall pick — as the first high school pitcher off the board. Rojas, who Collazo suggests “has excellent pure arm speed, athleticism and lots of upside potential,” plays for Devin Fitz-Gerald’s father Todd in the storied Stoneman Douglas program.

• Jonathan Mayo, Jim Callis, and Sam Dykstra (MLB Pipeline) predict that RHP Caden Scarborough will “continue his ascension in 2026, ranking among the Minor League leaders in strikeouts and K/BB ratio and blossoming into the third-best righty pitching prospect in the game, behind only Seth Hernandez (Pirates) and Ryan Sloan (Mariners).”

TROT COFFEY!

• In a wide-ranging story covering all 30 teams, Jeff Passan (ESPN) predicts the following as far as the Rangers are concerned:

  • That the season hinges on MacKenzie Gore, whom they “are banking on giving . . . the sort of direction he didn’t have with the Nationals’ previous regime and optimizing an arsenal that includes the hardest left-handed fastball outside of [Tarik] Skubal, [Garrett] Crochet, and Jesús Luzardo.”

  • That if Jake Burger “can stay on the field . . . he’ll hit the ball over the wall plenty and put himself into top-10 first baseman range.”

  • That it wouldn’t be a surprise if Wyatt Langford finishes in the top five of AL MVP voting: “It’s the tools. It’s the talent. It’s time.”

• Though Bradford Doolittle (ESPN) describes their offseason as “[m]oderate . . . with no major splash,” he suggests that “[t]he thing to keep in mind about the Rangers is that even though they finished a disappointing 81-81 last season, they had the run differential of a 90-win team. They did that despite a spate of offensive underperformances and inconsistencies. If the Rangers are closer to that 90-win talent level than the break-even club they were in the standings, this low-key pursuit of marginal wins could pay off big time over the next few months.”

• Kiley McDaniel (ESPN) chooses RHP Carter Baumler as the Rangers’ top candidate for a breakout, “showing above-average to plus stuff with his four-seam fastball, slider and curveball while also throwing enough strikes to be a real contributor to this year’s big league club.”

• A few spring training updates around the league:

  • Mets 2B Marcus Semien: .148/.179/.296 (.475 OPS) in 28 PA

  • Phillies OF Adolis Garcia: .200/.333/.240 (.573 OPS) in 30 PA — but five walks and two strikeouts

  • Braves C Jonah Heim: .182/.269/.227 (.496 OPS) in 26 PA

  • Nationals 1B Abimelec Ortiz: .100/.280/.150 (.430 OPS) in 25 PA

  • Orioles OF Leody Taveras: .231/.276/.385 (.661 OPS) in 29 PA

• The Orioles will induct former Rangers 1B Chris Davis and former Rangers minor league coach Storm Davis into the team’s Hall of Fame this summer.

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ICYMI.

Posts since last Sunday’s Hops: