‘We Hate That He’s Not Coming Back’: Texas Rangers Interview Outside Candidates For Assistant Hitting Coach After Alex Cintrón Exit
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers are looking outside the organization for their next assistant hitting coach, and every candidate interviewed so far has been external, president of baseball operations Chris Young said Monday, MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry reported. The job opened when Alex Cintrón, who joined the staff last November, chose a part-time role in the hitting department instead.
Whoever gets the job will work under lead hitting coach Justin Viele, who enters his third season with Texas in 2027. The Rangers won’t replace assistant pitching coach Dave Bush, who also isn’t returning, and the rest of manager Skip Schumaker’s staff is expected back.
Young addressed Cintrón’s status during the same availability Monday. Cintrón spent one season on the major league staff after coming over from the Houston Astros.
“This was a choice Alex made to balance what’s best for him at this point,” Young said. “He will still be involved in our hitting department and work with the Major League team. It just will not be in a full-time capacity.”
Texas Rangers’ 2026 Offense Ranked 25th In Runs
With Viele and Cintrón on the staff, Texas finished tied for eighth in the majors with a 102 wRC+ but scored 673 runs, which ranked 25th. The Rangers were tied for 21st in slugging percentage at .396 and tied for 18th in batting average at .242.
Texas also ranked tied for 14th in on-base percentage (.317) and tied for 16th in walk rate (8.7%). Those team-wide numbers were slightly better than in 2025, Landry reported. The Rangers went 80-82, finished one game behind the Houston Astros in the American League West, and missed the postseason for a third straight year.
Alex Cintrón Moves Into Part-Time Rangers Hitting Role
The Rangers hired Cintrón on Nov. 12, 2025, after he spent seven seasons as Houston’s hitting coach. Over that stretch, the Astros led the American League with a .764 OPS and a .329 on-base percentage, according to the Rangers, and they won the World Series in 2022.
MLB.com reported at the time that Cintrón’s job was to help Viele fix an offense that had regressed over the previous two seasons.
“Alex has a pretty nice resume,” Schumaker said in November 2025. “He developed some really young players into some pretty good big league hitters. He had the ear of some really good guys over in Houston that I trust when talking to a couple of the former players over there.”
“The hitting coach, that is not a fun job at all. They love it. I don’t know how they love it so much, because it is hard,” Schumaker continued. “But he has a passion for hitting, and really excited that he’s on board.”
Cintrón’s part-time role will include work in the farm system. Young said the club still values what he did with the major league team.
“We thought AC did a great job last year, and we hate that he’s not coming back as the assistant hitting coach,” Young explained. “But we are excited for him and the role he’ll be in, and excited that he’ll make a meaningful impact to our hitting department, not just with the Major League team but in the system as well.”
The deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is Nov. 20.
