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Tucker Barnhart To Retire

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Former Gold Glove catcher Tucker Barnhart is set to retire, as agent Steve Rath of the Ballengee Group tells Robert Murray of FanSided. Barnhart played for the Reds, Tigers, Cubs, Diamondbacks, and Rangers across his 12 seasons in the majors.

Born and raised in Indiana, Barnhart was drafted by the Reds in the tenth round of the 2009 draft out of Brownsburg High School, just two hours from Cincinnati. As a high school catcher, his path to the big leagues was a long one. Barnhart didn’t make his debut until 2014, and only appeared in 21 games when he did finally make it to the show. The 2015 season saw him take on a much larger role, however, as Devin Mesoraco was sidelined by injury. That left the catcher position to Brayan Pena and Barnhart, the latter of whom proved to be a strong defender but hit a fairly lackluster .252/.324/.326 in 81 games.

Despite that unimpressive offense, Barnhart’s work behind the plate was impressive enough that he became Cincinnati’s primary catcher starting in 2016. His offense trended upwards enough from 2016 to 2018 that he was more or less on par with the average catcher in the league (87 wRC+), and he won the first Gold Glove award of his career in 2017 amid a 3.6 bWAR season. That 2017 campaign was enough to convince the Reds to sign Barnhart to a $16MM extension, locking him in with the club for at least the next four seasons. His offense took a step backwards starting in 2019, as he hit just .235/.318/.375 (79 wRC+) over his final three seasons with the Reds, but he remained a stalwart defender and won his second career Gold Glove during the shortened 2020 season.

After parts of eight seasons in Cincinnati, Barnhart was traded to Detroit ahead of the 2022 season, giving the Tigers the opportunity to exercise a $7.5MM team option on his services for that year. Barnhart struggled in his lone season with the club, however, hitting just .221/.287/.267 (67 wRC+) while his defense behind the plate slipped somewhat. Barnhart was still able to secure a two-year, $6.5MM guarantee from the Cubs that offseason, but he posted just a 55 wRC+ in 43 games before being designated for assignment by the club. Since then, Barnhart has caught for the Diamondbacks and Rangers in the majors after singing minor league deals with both organizations and also spent a brief stint in the Dodgers’ farm system. He’s appeared in 39 MLB games over the past two seasons with a .181/.294/.213 that’s offset somewhat by his continually solid defense.

Barnhart was let go by the Rangers earlier this month but re-signed with the club on a minor league deal shortly thereafter. Evidently, he’s decided he’d rather call it a career than play out the season in the minors. He’ll finish his career with 920 games played in the majors, two Gold Glove awards, 6.9 bWAR/5.8 fWAR, 662 hits, and 53 home runs. He hit .241/.318/.351 overall during his time in the majors. MLBTR congratulations Barnhart on a fine career in the majors and wishes him all the best in whatever comes next.

Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

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Rangers starter Tyler Mahle has been diagnosed with a rotator cuff strain, GM Chris Young told the Texas beat this evening (relayed by Kennedi Landry of MLB.com and Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). He’ll remain shut down entirely for the next two weeks and will not be back in MLB game action before the July 31 trade deadline.

Young downplayed the long-term concern but it’s obviously tough news for Texas in the coming weeks. Mahle, who has been on the injured list since June 12, has pitched well over his 14 starts. He carries a 2.34 earned run average across 77 innings. A modest 18.2% strikeout rate would have made it difficult to sustain that excellent an ERA, but he’d been a valuable part of Bruce Bochy’s rotation before the injury.

It could also have ramifications on the trade market. The Rangers are two games under .500 entering tonight’s series opener against the Orioles. They’re within 2.5 games of the final playoff spot in a muddled American League Wild Card race. While Texas surely hopes they’ll play well enough to buy, they’ve had a punchless offense all year. That may eventually knock them out of the playoff picture and force the front office to listen on at least short-term pieces.

Mahle is in the second season of his two-year free agent deal. He would have been one of the potentially available better rental starters if healthy. A trade now is much tougher to envision. Mahle would still be eligible to be traded while on the IL but would obviously have diminished trade value amidst a six-plus week absence for a shoulder injury. It’s tough to see the Rangers finding enough value to make a trade, especially if they’re hanging on the periphery of the playoff mix and expect Mahle back at some point in August.

Paradoxically, the injury could actually the front office some extra flexibility to add at the deadline. While it’ll be a little tougher to hang in the playoff mix without Mahle for the next month, they’ll have more breathing room financially if they do remain in contention. Mahle’s contract contains up to $5MM in incentives. MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald reported the specifics in April, writing that he’d earn $500K for getting to 100 innings, $1MM each at 110, 120 and 130 innings, then $1.5MM at 140 innings.

Unlocked performance bonuses count against a team’s luxury tax calculation at the end of the year. Texas clearly prefers to keep its CBT number below the $241MM base threshold. RosterResource estimates their CBT number around $234MM, though that’s unofficial. The Rangers have a few million dollars to play with — Seattle claiming Leody Taveras off waivers helped in that regard — but Mahle could have eaten up most or all of their remaining flexibility had he maxed out the incentives.

There’s now essentially no chance he’ll get to 140 innings. Even if he returned in early August, he’d probably only get another eight or nine turns through the rotation. He’d need to average seven innings per start across nine starts down the stretch to reach 140 frames total and max out his incentives. If he makes eight starts down the stretch and maintains his current average of 5.5 innings per start, he’d finish the season with 121 innings of work. Even that would be enough to unlock $2.5MM in bonuses, but if Mahle is still several weeks from a return come the deadline, that could open up another couple of million for the Rangers’ front office to work with this summer.

While having a bit of additional financial flexibility to work with in the event they decide to buy is good news, it comes attached to the reality that their rotation depth has now thinned noticeably for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, Texas recently welcomed Nathan Eovaldi back from the injured list. He’s now joined Jacob deGrom, Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter, and Patrick Corbin in a rotation that remains fairly solid even without Mahle on board, although they’ve exhausted the majority of their starting depth at this point and continued health from their remaining starters will be imperative if they hope to remain in the playoff picture going forward.

AL West Notes: Severino, Pena, Langford

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The Athletics are playing all of their games for the next few years at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento while they wait for their stadium in Las Vegas to be constructed. It’s been expected from the very beginning that playing in a minor league stadium would be an adjustment for the players, and before the season began there were issues raised by the MLBPA that resulted in a brief scuffle over whether the park would have grass or synthetic turf. Even with concessions such as the use of grass, however, some players were bound to find the change jarring.

According to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, Luis Severino is one such player. Severino has performed much better on the road this year, with a 2.27 ERA in seven road starts as compared to a 6.79 ERA in ten starts at Sutter Health Park. When asked about the discrepancy, Severino was quick to attribute it to the fact that the team gets to play in a traditional MLB stadium when on the road.

“We don’t have that at home right now,” Severino said, as relayed by Kuty. “It’s not the same. It’s not the same atmosphere. We don’t have a lot of fans. Our clubhouse is in left field. So, when we play day games, we have to just be in the sun. There’s no air conditioning there, too. It’s really tough.”

The A’s are expected to remain at Sutter Health Park through the end of the 2027 season, so conditions aren’t likely to change in the short-term. Severino signed with the A’s for three years and $67MM over the winter, and while his deal comes with an opt-out clause after the second season he’s still locked into that contract through the end of the 2026 campaign.

Given Severino’s displeasure with his home ballpark and the Athletics’ lackluster 34-51 record, it’s easy to speculate about the possibility of a trade benefiting all parties. The righty was floated as a possible trade target for the Cubs earlier this week, but there’s plenty of reason to think the A’s might be reluctant to part with Severino considering the struggles they’ve had luring high-dollar free agents into the organization previously. While most clubs would expect to be able to replace a high-dollar veteran they part with in trade via free agency the following winter, it’s not hard to imagine the A’s ballpark situation making free agent pitchers reluctant to sign there.

More from the AL West…

  • Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena was out of the lineup today after getting hit by a pitch in the ribs during yesterday’s game against the Cubs, but manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Chandler Rome of The Athletic) that Pena came in today feeling better after being considered day-to-day yesterday. Espada added that Pena would receive treatment and do light baseball activities but be held out of tonight’s game. That creates reason for optimism he could be back in the lineup for the series finale on Sunday, which would be a huge boost given that Pena has put himself into the MVP conversation with a blistering first half. Mauricio Dubon has filled in at shortstop in Pena’s absence.
  • Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford was placed on the injured list due to an oblique strain yesterday, but MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry writes that both Langford himself and Rangers brass have suggested the issue isn’t a serious one. President of baseball operations Chris Young told reporters that the team having two upcoming days off on the schedule played a role in the decision to send Langford for what the club expects to be a minimum IL stint, and added that the injury was “right on the cusp” of being something they’d just rest Langford on the bench for a few days for. Langford has struggled to a lackluster .224/.286/.342 in June this year, so perhaps a ten-day reset could benefit the 23-year-old in more ways than one. Alejandro Osuna has joined Evan Carter and Adolis Garcia in the regular outfield mix while Langford is out of commission.

Cody Bradford Undergoes Internal Brace Surgery

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June 27: Bradford underwent the internal brace surgery, which comes with a slightly briefer timeline than a full Tommy John repair (relayed by Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). He’ll still miss a good chunk of the ’26 campaign.

June 24: Left-hander Cody Bradford is going to undergo season-ending elbow surgery. President of baseball operations Chris Young informed reporters, including Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports. It’s still not clear if the lefty will require a full Tommy John surgery or the internal brace alternative, but in either case, he’s done for 2025 and will miss most or all of 2026 as well.

It’s obviously an unfortunate blow for the southpaw and the Rangers. The lefty has shown flashes of being a capable big league starter. He debuted in 2023 and posted a 5.30 earned run average over 56 innings in a swing role. Last year, he missed significant time due to a low back strain but still managed to log 76 1/3 innings with a 3.54 ERA, 22.7% strikeout rate and 4.2% walk rate.

That put him in a good spot to earn a rotation gig in 2025, but that has not come to pass. In the middle of March, he had an MRI due to some elbow soreness, though the imaging came back clean at that time. Nonetheless, the club decided to be cautious and shut him down for four weeks to see how his arm responded. Over the past six weeks, he has been ramping up with bullpens and live batting practice. One week ago, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News relayed that Bradford was on the cusp of a rehab assignment.

Presumably, some renewed soreness or discomfort has popped up in the past week, which then led to further testing and the discovery that surgery will be required. For Bradford personally, that means he won’t get to pitch at all in his age-27 season. Returning in his age-28 campaign is possible but won’t be guaranteed.

He came into 2025 with one year and 86 days of service time. He’s already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there the rest of the year, getting his service clock to 2.086 days in the process. He’ll still be shy of arbitration this winter, so the Rangers will probably keep him on the roster for his rehab, but he’ll need to retake a 40-man spot in the offseason since there’s no IL between the World Series and spring training.

For the Rangers, it’s a hit to their rotation depth for the rest of this year and for 2026 as well. They currently have a starting group consisting of Jacob deGrom, Patrick Corbin, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker, with both Nathan Eovaldi and Tyler Mahle having hit the IL this month. Jacob Latz has been working a multi-inning role and is making a spot start today. The club is expecting Eovaldi back on this weekend, which could push Latz or Dane Dunning to the minors, with the other in a long relief role.

Going into the deadline, it’s possible the club looks to add to that group. Corbin is more of a serviceable back-end guy these days than the type of arm a club would want starting a playoff game. Leiter and Rocker are both fairly inexperienced with middling results in the big leagues thus far. deGrom and Eovaldi each have great numbers on the year but each has a checkered injury history and is north of 35 years old.

Mahle and Jon Gray could get back in the mix if they recover from their current ailments, though it’s doesn’t appear either is especially close. Mahle has been out for over a week due to shoulder fatigue and will get a follow-up MRI soon, per Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. Gray has been out all season with a wrist fracture and still has yet to begin a rehab assignment.

The health and performance of the group will naturally impact the deadline plans. The club’s record will certainly be a factor as well. They are currently 38-41, which puts them just three games back of a playoff spot, but with several teams bunched together in the American League Wild Card race. The club has also been trying to avoid the competitive balance tax this year, though Leody Taveras getting claimed off waivers by the Mariners earlier this year gave them some notable wiggle room there.

Looking ahead to 2026, Corbin, Mahle and Gray are both impending free agents. That leaves the on-paper rotation as deGrom, Eovaldi, Rocker and Leiter. Prior to today’s news, Bradford could have been in that mix though he now won’t be a factor until partway through the season even in a best-case scenario.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Rangers Reportedly Made Recent Offer To J.D. Martinez

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The Rangers recently made an offer to slugger J.D. Martinez in hopes of acquiring a bat to bolster their struggling offense, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. It’s a non-guaranteed pact, which seems unlikely to entice Martinez, who is still working out and staying in game shape in the event that an offer to his liking comes along, per Heyman.

Martinez had a seemingly quiet offseason, as was the case in the 2023-24 offseason until the Mets swooped in with a late major league offer. No such deal came around this time, but he said as recently as Jan. 31 that he was intent on playing in 2025 and apparently is keeping the door open for a second-half return.

Martinez, 37, was the Mets’ primary designated hitter last year and turned in a .235/.320/.406 line (108 wRC+) with 16 home runs, 24 doubles and a triple. It was decent production but a far cry from the 33-homer season Martinez enjoyed in just 113 games with the Dodgers just one season prior, in 2023.

While last year’s overall performance constitutes a “down” season by Martinez’s lofty standards, there are reasons to think his results could have or even should have been better than they were. He upped his walk rate from 7.1% in ’23 to 9.9% last year — his highest mark since 2019 — and cut his strikeout rate from 2023’s 31.1% down to 28.5%. That’s still considerably higher than average but a step in the right direction.

Martinez’s batted-ball metrics remained strong, too. He averaged 91 mph off the bat, barreled nearly 15% of his batted balls and saw 45.5% of his batted balls register an exit velocity of at least 95 mph. All of those numbers are well above league-average. Statcast pegged Martinez’s “expected” batting average at .256 and his “expected” slugging percentage at .472 — vast improvements over his actual marks of .235 and .406.

It’s plenty understandable that Texas would inquire about the possibility of bringing in Martinez. No team in baseball has received less production from the DH spot than the Rangers in 2025. Texas designated hitters are batting just .167/.249/.277 on the season. The bulk of that has come from Joc Pederson, who struggled immensely before suffering a broken hand when he was hit by a pitch in late May. He’s currently on the injured list and will be for at least another few weeks.

Even if nothing winds up coming together with the Rangers, their offer to Martinez is a reminder that one of the game’s most prolific power hitters in recent years remains unsigned and, apparently, is still open to suiting up for the final few months of the 2025 campaign.

Any playoff hopeful without a locked-in designated hitter could contemplate a run at Martinez, although there are roster considerations that must be factored in for any such club. Many (most) teams rotate several players through their DH spot as a means of maximizing matchups, keeping regulars fresh and/or alleviating logjams (e.g. four outfielders for three outfield spots). Bringing Martinez into the fold might not be an easy fit for every club, but the veteran slugger and his .268/.334/.486 slash over the past four seasons make for an intriguing upgrade for teams seeking offense but unwilling or unable to find sufficient help on the trade market.

Rangers Select Dane Dunning

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The Rangers announced that they have selected right-hander Dane Dunning to their roster. Fellow righty Caleb Boushley has been optioned as the corresponding active roster move. The 40-man roster already had a vacancy.

The Rangers have been running a four-man rotation in recent weeks, having lost both Nathan Eovaldi and Tyler Mahle to the injured list. Behind starters Jacob deGrom, Jack Leiter, Kumar Rocker and Patrick Corbin, the club has had Boushley and Jacob Latz serving as multi-inning relievers. Leiter started yesterday and only lasted four innings, with Boushley getting the final four. The club lost on the road, meaning the bottom of the ninth didn’t need to be played.

Boushley likely wasn’t going to be available for a few days, so he’ll be swapped out. Corbin is taking the ball tonight but there’s likely going to be some sort of bullpen game tomorrow. The club then has deGrom likely to go on Wednesday with an off-day on Thursday and Eovaldi potentially returning after that. But in the meantime, they are still limping for a few more days and could need guys like Latz and Dunning to soak up some innings over the next few days.

Dunning, 30, has had some decent seasons for the Rangers but his results have backed up over the past year or so. He got bumped to the bullpen last year and has been bouncing off and on the roster this year. That’s due to the fact that he’s making a $2.66MM salary this year, which is preventing other clubs from claiming him off waivers. As a player with between three and five years of major league service time, he can reject an outright assignment but would have to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in order to do so. Twice this year, he has been passed through waivers and then accepted an outright assignment to Round Rock.

The club’s current pitching predicament will get him back to the majors yet again. He has just three big league innings pitched on the year, spending most of this time with Round Rock. For the Express, he has thrown 46 1/3 innings over 12 appearances with a 4.77 earned run average, 24.4% strikeout rate, 9% walk rate and 46.8% ground ball rate.

Photo courtesy of William Purnell, Imagn Images

Nathan Eovaldi To Return To Rangers Rotation This Week

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  • Nathan Eovaldi hasn’t pitched since May 27 due to right posterior elbow inflammation, but it seems as though he’ll return to the Rangers without a minor league rehab assignment.  Manager Bruce Bochy indicated (to Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News and other reporters) that Eovaldi will be activated from the 15-day IL to start during the Rangers’ upcoming series with the Mariners that begins on Friday.  Though Eovaldi won’t need any rehab starts, he did ramp up in the form of a live batting practice session of over 50 pitches on Saturday.  With Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford all still on the Texas IL, getting staff ace Eovaldi back is an enormous help, as the righty had a sterling 1.56 ERA in his first 69 1/3 innings of the season.

Rangers Place Jake Burger On 10-Day Injured List

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On Friday night, Jake Burger put his hand on his torso after a big swinging strikeout and looked in pain as he walked back to the dugout. He did not take the field for the bottom half of the inning. So, it came as little surprise when the Rangers placed the first baseman on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain this afternoon. Thankfully for Burger, he does not believe the injury to be particularly serious, and he told Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News that he doesn’t expect to miss more than the minimum 10 days. He related the oblique injury to one he suffered in 2023 that kept him out from May 4-14. While he is gone, Justin Foscue will take his place on the active roster.

From 2023-24, Burger hit 63 home runs and produced a 113 wRC+ in 278 games with the White Sox and Marlins. When the Rangers traded for him over the offseason, they were surely hoping to get a middle-of-the-order caliber power bat. Yet, he got off to a rough start in his first year with Texas, slashing .190/.231/.330 with a 53 wRC+ over the first five weeks of the season. At the beginning of May, the Rangers made the surprising decision to briefly option him to Triple-A Round Rock, giving the 29-year-old an opportunity to take a breath and reset. It seemed to work, as he went 9-for-23 with two home runs in six games with the Round Rock Express. Following his call-up on May 12, he hit eight doubles and seven home runs over his next 35 games. His overall results in this stretch (.725 OPS and 100 wRC+) were still more average than good, but his plus power was back, and even average overall production represented a huge improvement upon his early-season performance.

The Rangers have a few players who could see time at first, including Foscue and Josh Smith. However, manager Bruce Bochy suggests that Ezequiel Duran will take over as the team’s primary first baseman while Burger is out (per McFarland). Duran isn’t your typical first baseman. He’s a versatile defender who can play all over the infield (and a little bit of outfield too), but his bat leaves much to be desired. While he hit .276 with 14 home runs and a 110 wRC+ in his breakout 2023 season, his offensive numbers were disappointing in 2024 (.609 OPS, 74 wRC+), and they’ve been downright dreadful so far in 2025. Through 23 games, he’s batting .152 and has yet to hit a home run. He’s looked better lately, with three doubles in the past week (his first extra-base hits of the season), but still, there is little doubt the Rangers’ offense will suffer until Burger returns.

Phillies Acquire Nolan Hoffman From Rangers

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The Phillies announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired righty Nolan Hoffman from the Rangers in exchange for cash. Hoffman was not on the 40-man roster with Texas but has been selected to Philadelphia’s 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He won’t immediately join the Phillies’ bullpen, but the instant addition to the 40-man clearly puts him in position to potentially make his major league debut in the near future.

Hoffman, 27, was originally a fifth-round pick by the 2018 Mariners and landed with the Orioles by way of the minor league phase of the 2021 Rule 5 Draft. He became a minor league free agent following the 2024 season, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers and is now on the doorstep of a big league opportunity in Philadelphia.

The submarining Hoffman brings an uncommon arm slot to the Phillies’ bullpen mix, but he’s had a rough stretch with the Rangers’ Triple-A club in 2025. He’s punched out 29% of his opponents in 35 innings, but Hoffman also has a bloated 13.2% walk rate that has contributed to an ugly 5.91 earned run average. He’s been plagued by a .321 average on balls in play despite awful batted-ball metrics from his opponents — 85.7 mph average exit velocity, 28.2% hard-hit rate — as well as a 66.8% strand rate that’s well shy of his typical levels.

Prior to this season, Hoffman enjoyed nice stretches in Double-A and Triple-A with the O’s organization. His 2023 campaign saw the righty take advantage of his deceptive arm slot in the form of a 3.05 ERA over 44 1/3 innings between Baltimore’s top two minor league affiliates. He followed that with a 3.88 ERA and what was then a career-best 28.2% strikeout rate in 58 Triple-A frames in 2024.

Hoffman has regularly generated grounders at huge rates, though this year’s 44.6% mark is only a couple percentage points north of the MLB average. That’s perhaps in part due to some tweaks made by the Rangers’ development staff. He’s still throwing his sinker more than half the time, and Hoffman has even upped the average velocity on that pitch from 91.9 to 93.3 mph. He’s also begun to incorporate a new (but still seldom-used) cutter and scaled back his usage of his curveball and changeup. Obviously, Hoffman isn’t going to step in and cure all the Phillies’ bullpen woes, but he gives them another option to evaluate in the weeks leading up to a trade deadline that figures to see Philadelphia president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski again focus heavily on upgrading his relief corps.

Rangers Release Gerson Garabito

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The Rangers have released right-hander Gerson Garabito, according to the club’s official transactions ledger.  Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that Garabito is heading to South Korea to pitch for an unspecified club in the KBO League.

A veteran of 12 pro seasons, Garabito pitched in the Royals and Giants’ farm systems from 2013-21, and then didn’t pitch in affiliated ball until landing with Texas on a minor league deal prior to the 2024 season.  This paved the way for Garabito to make his MLB debut by appearing in 18 games for the Rangers last season, and he made three more appearances this year.  His brief time in the Show yielded a 5.77 ERA over 34 1/3 innings, plus a 19.2% strikeout rate and an 8.3% walk rate.

Garabito started two of his 21 games for Texas, but mostly pitched in long relief roles.  He has primarily worked as a starter over his minor league career, and started all 10 of his Triple-A games this season but struggled to an 8.53 ERA over 31 2/3 innings for the Rangers’ top affiliate.  It is safe to guess that the 29-year-old Garabito likely has a starting gig lined up in the KBO, as re-establishing himself as a starter would benefit his career both for future opportunities in the big leagues and overseas.

Since Garabito didn’t seem to be the Rangers’ plans, the team didn’t really lose anything by letting Garabito go to explore a new chapter of his career in South Korea.  As Grant notes, the release opened up a 40-man roster spot for the Rangers, which may hint at another forthcoming move in the next few days.  Speculatively, Texas might select Dane Dunning’s contract from Triple-A, as the Rangers may need some extra starting depth as their rotation continues to be racked with injuries.

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