ANAHEIM -- Mark Teixeira was upfront and direct in Spring Training when he was asked about all the changes the Rangers made in the offseason.

"Management did their job," Teixeira said about eight months ago. "Now we as players have to do our jobs."

Teixeira nodded with a grim smile when that was brought up on Monday afternoon at Angel Stadium.

"It's been a disappointing season," Teixeira admitted in the clubhouse before the Rangers' 8-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Monday night. "It's a different team than we thought we were going to have -- a few injuries here and there, a few trades here and there.

"At the same time, everybody in here feels the players we have are championship players. I don't fault my teammates or myself for not trying. Everybody wants to win. It just didn't happen. The team that we're playing tonight could say the same thing."

The Angels still have a sliver of hope after Monday's victory. The Rangers may not even end up with a winning record. Monday's loss was their 10th in their last 17 games, and they are now 78-79 on the season.

"One thing is I think we have learned what it takes to win," Teixeira said. "We've tried a lot of different combinations the last four years, and none of them have been good enough to beat the better teams in the league.

"If you look at what Oakland has done, they have a solid bullpen, good young starting pitching and timely hitting. That's what it takes."

The Rangers have been lacking in a variety of areas, and they will miss the playoffs for the seventh straight year. It will be the fourth for Teixeira, and it is not a good feeling.

"I'd love to win here, no doubt about it," Teixeira said. "There's connection between me and the community, the fans and my teammates. The problem is, I don't want to get used to losing. It makes me jealous of players like Derek Jeter, who is there every year with a chance to win the World Series from Day 1."

The Rangers had that feeling in the late 1990s, when they won three division titles over a four-year period, but that is long gone. An unsettled feeling has replaced it, and Teixeira feels it as much as anybody when he talks about the possibility of the Rangers winning while he is here.

"It definitely could happen here," Teixeira said. "But when you talk about the future, you want to put yourself in the best place to win. A last-place finish and three third-place finishes doesn't leave you with a good feeling. I just don't want four years to turn into 15 years.

"It's not despair, but if you asked me about it two years ago, I would have said we have four years to build a championship team. Now it's down to two years, and a lot of question marks still remain about where this team is going."

Similar questions exist with Teixeira, the Texas first baseman who is finishing up his fourth season in the Major Leagues. He is signed through the 2007 season and can be a free agent after the 2008 season.

There has long been a feeling that Teixeira, represented by high-powered agent Scott Boras, won't be with the Rangers beyond 2008. There has been little talk lately of locking him up beyond 2008, not with nine of his teammates eligible for free agency after this season.

"The way I look at it is I'm a Texas Ranger today," Teixeira said. "I'm going to play hard today. What happens this offseason or the year after that is beyond my control."

The season has not been without personal satisfactions. His defense has been superb, and he likely will win a Gold Glove for the second straight year.

His offensive numbers also are returning to expected levels because of a second-half surge. After going 1-for-4 with a single on Monday, he is hitting .277 with 20 home runs and 53 RBIs in 256 at-bats since the All-Star break.

He hit .253, but with just nine home runs and 49 RBIs, in 353 at-bats before the break. His slugging percentage has gone from .445 to .562. Overall, he is hitting .276 with 29 home runs and 102 RBIs.

"Obviously I wish the first half had been better as far as home runs, but I'm still learning about myself, and the first half was a good learning experience," Teixeira said. "When things aren't happening right away, trying harder and overanalyzing is not the way to go.

"The best way is just trusting yourself and doing the things that you've always done to be successful. I started trying to hit home runs, and did too much. I wasn't taking walks and being selective, like I need to be, and I spent the next couple of months trying to feel my way."

His walks and on-base percentage are both up in the second half, and the home runs have followed. Going into Monday's games, he was tied for the third in walks in the American League since the All-Star break, and he had the second-most home runs.

"If I just swing at pitches I can drive, the home runs will be there," Teixeira said.

In baseball history, only Ralph Kiner, Albert Pujols, Eddie Matthews and Joe DiMaggio have hit more home runs in their first four seasons in the Majors Leagues than Teixeira. He has 136 so far, and Teixeira has five games left to catch DiMaggio, who hit 137 in 1936-39. DiMaggio also played in 10 World Series.

Teixeira would settle for one right now. But the Rangers aren't going to the playoffs, and that's an unsettling feeling.