Rangers Will Carry Rule 5 Pick Carter Baumler On Roster
The Rangers will break camp with Rule 5 right-hander Carter Baumler on the roster. In a unique moment that all fans will want to check out (video link), manager Skip Schumaker made a mound visit last night to inform Baumler he’d made the club mid-game. The entire Rangers infield converged to join in for the delivery and congratulate the 24-year-old on his first call to the big leagues. After his outing, an emotional Baumler told Laura Stickells of the Rangers Sports Network that he was blindsided by the news (video link). Naturally, when Baumler saw Schumaker heading to the mound, he assumed he was being taken out of the game earlier than expected.
“What a special way [to tell me],” Baumler said. “It caught me totally off guard. It was pretty cool. … A few years ago, I never would’ve expected this. Looking back, I’m glad I kept my head down, kept hammering away.”
A fifth-round pick by the Orioles back in the shortened 2020 draft, Baumler signed for an over-slot $1.5MM but has never been touted as a top-tier prospect. That’s in part due to persistent health troubles. He’s already undergone both Tommy John surgery and shoulder surgery in his young career. Between those injuries and the lack of a minor league season in 2020, Baumler pitched only 49 total innings in his first five seasons of pro ball.
In 2025, Baumler tossed 39 2/3 frames between High-A and Double-A. That’s still the highest single-season workload of his career, so the Rangers will be at least somewhat judicious with his usage — even in a bullpen role. Baumler worked to a sparkling 2.o4 ERA with a 29.1% strikeout rate but an 11.4% walk rate last year. He’s been outstanding with Texas this spring, tossing 9 1/3 shutout innings with a 28.6% strikeout rate, a 5.7% walk rate and a 54.5% ground-ball rate.
In order to shed his Rule 5 designation — which prevents him from being optioned to the minors at any point — Baumler will need to stick on the major league roster or injured list all season (including 90 days on the active roster). If he manages to do so, the Rangers will secure full control over the right-hander moving forward. He’d be controllable for five years and have a full slate of three minor league option years thereafter.
If at any point Texas feels the need to go in a different direction, Baumler would need to pass through waivers unclaimed and subsequently be offered back to the Orioles for a nominal sum of $50K. Given the excellent spring results and the fact that the Rangers actually sent a prospect to the Pirates in order to select Baumler for them in the draft, he should have a real chance to stick on the roster.
Baumler will join a revamped Texas bullpen that includes lefties Robert Garcia, Tyler Alexander, Jalen Beeks and Jacob Latz as well as right-handers Chris Martin, Cole Winn and Jakob Junis.
Andrew McCutchen Makes Rangers’ Roster; Kumar Rocker Named Fifth Starter
Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young announced today that veteran outfielder/designated hitter Andrew McCutchen has made his club’s Opening Day roster (link via Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News). McCutchen will earn a reported $1.25MM base salary and can double that amount via incentives. He and Ezequiel Duran will have spots on the team’s bench.
In the rotation, right-hander Kumar Rocker has won the fifth starter’s job over lefty Jacob Latz, who’ll head to the bullpen (link via Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). Non-roster veterans Cal Quantrill and Austin Gomber have been informed they did not make the team. McCutchen is not on the 40-man roster and will thus need to have his contract selected for the move to become official.
McCutchen signed midway through camp but quickly hit his way into the Rangers’ plans. He turned 39 last October but wasn’t showing his age during Cactus League play. It’s only 24 plate appearances, of course, but McCutchen went 8-for-18 with three doubles, a homer, six walks and five strikeouts in official spring games. He’ll give the Rangers a right-handed complement to lefty swinging designated hitter Joc Pederson, and McCutchen can still mix into the outfield corners on occasion as well. If Pederson’s anemic 2025 performance carries into the 2026 season — it’s carried over into spring training already — then McCutchen could eventually find himself in a larger role.
After all, McCutchen is coming off a season where he hit .239/.333/.367 in 551 plate appearances. It’s below-average production overall, but he was slightly above average in 2023-24. And given the depths of last year’s struggles from Pederson (.181/.285/.328), even slightly below-average offense would be a sizable improvement out of the DH slot.
Rocker, 26, had a rocky go of it in his first extended look in the majors last year. The former top-10 draft pick and top prospect pitched 64 1/3 innings but was knocked around for a 5.74 ERA with a below-average 19.5% strikeout rate and a solid 8% walk rate. Rocker pitched better in 19 minor league innings but also missed considerable time with a shoulder impingement.
This spring, Rocker has looked more formidable. He’s pitched 12 2/3 innings in Cactus League play, holding opponents to six runs (4.26 ERA) on 13 hits and three walks with 14 strikeouts. His velocity on his sinker is up about a half mile per hour, and the velocity on his cutter is up more than two miles per hour. Rocker has also been using his slider more than twice as often as he did in 2025, on a rate basis. Perhaps that’s more indicative of him working on the slider during camp than it is a sign of a new approach to his pitch selection in ’26, but the new trendlines are relatively intriguing.
Latz entered camp hoping to land the final rotation spot but will settle for a bullpen role to begin the year. He’s coming off a season in which he pitched 85 2/3 innings of 3.98 ERA ball, but Latz was torched for 14 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings this spring. The Rangers could keep the left-hander stretched out in a multi-inning role, which would allow him to be first up in the event of an injury elsewhere in the rotation.
For now, Rocker will break camp in the rotation alongside his college co-ace at Vanderbilt, Jack Leiter. The “Vandy Boys” will join Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and trade acquisition MacKenzie Gore in a rotation that has the potential to be one of the best in baseball but also has plenty of injury risk with both Eovaldi and deGrom being in their late 30s and having lengthy injury histories in recent years.
Poll: Who Will Win The AL West?
With Opening Day just around the corner, the offseason is more or less complete for MLB’s 30 clubs and teams. Until the playoffs begin, teams will be focused on a smaller goal: winning their division. In the run-up to the start of the season, we will be conducting a series of polls to gauge who MLBTR readers believe is the favorite in each division. The Blue Jays came out on top in the AL East, while our readers overwhelmingly (58%) voted for the Tigers in our poll on the AL Central. Today, we’ll be moving on to the AL West. All teams are listed in order of their 2025 regular season record:
Seattle Mariners (90-72)
Powered by an MVP-caliber season from star catcher Cal Raleigh, the Mariners surged ahead of the pack in the AL West last year and fell just one game short of reaching the World Series. Eugenio Suárez and Jorge Polanco departed via free agency, but the rest of that team is more or less intact. A rotation led by Logan Gilbert and Bryan Woo figures to once again be among the very best in baseball, and they’ll be backed up by a bullpen that added lefty Jose A. Ferrer to pair with Andres Munoz and Matt Brash in high-leverage situations. The big addition to the offense is utilityman Brendan Donovan, who’ll primarily play third base and help lengthen a lineup featuring Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, Josh Naylor, Randy Arozarena and breakout slugger Dominic Canzone. The offense could improve even more if young second baseman Cole Young and/or top prospect Colt Emerson prove they can be impact players in 2026, but it’s easy to make the argument that Seattle remains the most well-rounded team in the division even without those improvements.
Houston Astros (87-75)
The Astros missed the postseason for the first time since 2016 last year, and the team was not as aggressive as one might have expected this winter. That’s not to say the Astros were inactive. They replaced Framber Valdez at the top of the rotation with Tatsuya Imai and brought in Mike Burrows from the Pirates to add further depth to a rotation that was often held together by duct tape and bubblegum last year. Houston will bring back a nearly identical offense, only swapping Mauricio Dubon for Nick Allen and Jesus Sanchez for Joey Loperfido while going to internal backup Cesar Salazar as a replacement for Victor Caratini. The Astros explored trades of infielder Isaac Paredes and tried to get another left-handed bat, but they’ve come up empty to date. The uncertain health of closer Josh Hader only adds to the question marks facing Houston as they look to return to the top of this division.
Texas Rangers (81-81)
After a second consecutive disappointing season, the Rangers moved on from second baseman Marcus Semien, outfielder Adolis Garcia, and catcher Jonah Heim. Semien was traded to the Mets for outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who will take over right field following Garcia’s non-tender. Heim, also non-tendered, will be replaced by catcher Danny Jansen. Nimmo and Jansen should be upgrades over Heim and Garcia, though the team lost some positional depth by forcing Josh Smith into the everyday role at second base. The addition of MacKenzie Gore to an already talented rotation should allow the Rangers’ starters to once again be among the best in baseball, but they’ll need better health from Corey Seager and more production from Joc Pederson and Josh Jung if they’re going to compete for the division title this year.
The Athletics (76-86)
While it’s been a busy and exciting offseason for fans of the A’s, that excitement has mostly been focused on extensions. Long-term deals for Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson are encouraging for the long-term health of the franchise but don’t move the needle in 2026. The A’s added Jeff McNeil to help the offense at second base, and a full season of Nick Kurtz in the majors won’t hurt. Strong as the offense looks, the club’s lack of pitching additions for a roster that struggled to prevent runs even before losing Mason Miller at the trade deadline creates plenty of concern. They’ll need a lot to break right, particularly in the bullpen.
Los Angeles Angels (72-90)
As is often the case with the Angels, it’s not impossible to squint and see the bones of a solid team. Mike Trout was healthier last season than he’s been in a very long time. Jo Adell slugged 40 homers in 2025. Jorge Soler remains a potential middle-of-the-order force when healthy. Josh Lowe was a high-upside addition, and it’s not impossible to imagine any of Nolan Schanuel, Reid Detmers, and Christian Moore following in the footsteps of Zach Neto to become high quality regulars. Unfortunately, fans in Anaheim know that the club has been in this situation virtually every year for the past decade. They’ve seen far too many potential-laden teams undercut by a lack of depth before finishing the season underwater and failing to reach the playoffs. Perhaps this year will be different, but Angels fans have earned their skepticism, especially following an offseason where Lowe, Kirby Yates, and Grayson Rodriguez (the latter of whom is already injured) were the club’s biggest additions.
How do MLBTR readers think the AL West will shake out this year? Will the Mariners continue to reign supreme? Will the Astros find a way to reestablish themselves as the class of the AL? Was the Rangers’ roster shakeup enough to get them back to the playoffs? Or could the A’s or Angels surprise with a big season? Have your say in the poll below:
Who will win the AL West in 2026?
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Seattle Mariners 66% (3,469)
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Houston Astros 11% (553)
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Texas Rangers 8% (444)
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The Athletics 8% (441)
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Los Angeles Angels 6% (329)
Total votes: 5,236
Rangers Release Ryan Brasier
The Rangers announced that right-hander Ryan Brasier has been released from his minor league contract. As an Article XX(B) free agent, Brasier could use the first of three opt-out dates if Texas didn’t add him to its 40-man roster this weekend, and the Rangers have apparently chosen to let Brasier explore his options elsewhere.
The 38-year-old was having a tough time of it in camp, with a 7.36 ERA over 7 1/3 spring innings. It wasn’t specified if Brasier exercised his opt-out clause or if the Rangers just released him, yet it didn’t seem like there was much chance he would be part of the Opening Day bullpen.
Brasier has had plenty of ups and downs over a nine-season MLB career, with the highs including World Series rings with the 2018 Red Sox and 2024 Dodgers. His move to Los Angeles partway through the 2023 season seemed to get Brasier back on track, as he had a 1.89 ERA over 66 2/3 innings in a Dodgers uniform. L.A. still chose to designate Brasier for assignment and then trade him to the Cubs last winter, and Brasier posted a 4.50 ERA, 4.8% walk rate, and 19% strikeout rate over 26 innings for Chicago.
Groin problems limited Brasier’s playing time in 2025, and a calf strain also kept him on the injured list for a good chunk of the 2024 campaign. Between these health concerns, his so-so numbers with the Cubs, and his age, Brasier was limited to just the non-guaranteed deal with Texas this winter. He’ll probably have to settle for another minors contract in his next destination as well, as Brasier didn’t do much to boost his stock in Cactus League play.
Offseason In Review: Texas Rangers
The Rangers tried to walk the line of remaining competitive while simultaneously scaling back payroll. It led to a pair of major trades and a chunk of small free-agent and waiver acquisitions.
Major League Free Agent Signings
- Danny Jansen, C: Two years, $14.5MM (includes buyout of 2028 mutual option)
- Jakob Junis, RHP: One year, $4MM (includes buyout of 2027 mutual option)
- Chris Martin, RHP: One year, $4MM (includes deferred $2MM signing bonus)
- Jalen Beeks, LHP: One year, $1.6MM
- Jordan Montgomery, LHP: One year, $1.25MM
- Tyler Alexander, LHP: One year, $1.1MM
- Alexis Diaz, RHP: One year, $1MM (later outrighted to Triple-A)
2026 spending: $17.95MM
Total spending: $27.45MM
Option Decisions
- DH Joc Pederson exercised $18.5MM player option
Trades and Waiver Claims
- Acquired LHP MacKenzie Gore from Nationals in exchange for INF Gavin Fien, RHP Alejandro Rosario, 1B Abimelec Ortiz, INF Devin Fitz-Gerald and OF Yeremy Cabrera (all minor leaguers/prospects)
- Acquired OF Brandon Nimmo from Mets in exchange for 2B Marcus Semien
- Acquired RHP Carter Baumler from Pirates in exchange for minor league RHP Jaiker Garcia and cash (Baumler was selected from the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft)
- Claimed C Willie MacIver off waivers from Athletics
- Claimed RHP Michel Otañez off waivers from Athletics
- Claimed RHP Zak Kent off waivers from Cardinals (eventually landed with Twins via waivers)
- Claimed OF Dairon Blanco off waivers from Royals
Extensions
- None yet
Notable Minor League Signings
- Andrew McCutchen, Mark Canha, Ryan Brasier, Cal Quantrill, Austin Gomber, Josh Sborz, Nabil Crismatt (out for season due to UCL surgery), José Herrera, Anthony Veneziano, Jonah Bride, Tyler Wade, Declan Cronin, Nick Pratto, Patrick Murphy, Andrew Velazquez, Richie Martin
Notable Losses
- Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia (non-tendered), Jonah Heim (non-tendered), Merrill Kelly, Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, Shawn Armstrong, Phil Maton, Jacob Webb (non-tendered), Patrick Corbin, Hoby Milner, Danny Coulombe, Rowdy Tellez, Dylan Moore, Dom Hamel (lost on waivers), Dustin Harris (outrighted, elected free agency) Billy McKinney (outrighted, elected free agency)
The Rangers entered the offseason with a hefty slate of impending free agents. As many as four viable big league rotation arms (Merrill Kelly, Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, Patrick Corbin) and four quality relievers (Shawn Armstrong, Phil Maton, Hoby Milner, Danny Coulombe) hit the market at season’s end. Texas created further holes on the roster by non-tendering right fielder Adolis Garcia, catcher Jonah Heim and another solid middle reliever, Jacob Webb.
Despite all the departures on the pitching side of things, it seemed early that reimagining an offense that had grown stagnant and regularly struggled against fastballs and velocity was a goal. Texas had tried to do that the prior offseason by parting with Nathaniel Lowe and bringing in Joc Pederson and Jake Burger to reshape the heart of the order. It didn’t work out. Pederson and Burger had career-worst seasons. Texas hit .234/.302/.381 as a team. The resulting 92 wRC+ was tied for fifth-worst in baseball. Rangers hitters ranked 18th in home runs but just 22nd in runs scored. They were 26th in each of batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
That prompted a second and more aggressive shuffle of the offense. The Rangers found no takers for Garcia and Heim at their projected arbitration prices and ultimately non-tendered the pair, losing two key contributors from their 2023 World Series roster for nothing. Three days later, Texas dumped the final three seasons of Marcus Semien’s contract on the Mets, taking on the final five seasons of Brandon Nimmo’s eight-year contract in return.
Nimmo walked at a career-low 7.7% rate in 2025 and struck out more often than Semien, but he was a far more productive hitter overall in 2025. He’s also two years younger. Nimmo may have been traded straight up for Semien, but he’s effectively stepping into the roster spot created by Garcia’s non-tender. He can be reliably counted on for more walks and an on-base mark 40 to 50 points higher than Garcia. At least in 2025, he hit for more power as well. Nimmo makes the Rangers younger (relative to Semien) and provides a higher floor than had been the case with the whiff-prone Garcia.
The only other addition of note to the lineup this winter came in yet another attempt to solidify the team’s struggling catching corps. After Heim regressed in 2024, the Rangers signed Kyle Higashioka to a two-year contract last winter. That contract worked out reasonably well, but Higashioka will be 36 in a month and has never topped last year’s 327 plate appearances or logged even 700 innings behind the plate. With Heim out the door and no immediate heir-apparent coming from the farm, the Rangers needed some form of addition.
The free agent market was thin behind the plate — as is typically the case — but Texas scooped up one of the market’s better options when signing Danny Jansen to a two-year contract. Jansen draws poor framing grades but posted a solid 24.1% caught-stealing rate last year and typically receives good marks from Statcast for his ability to block balls in the dirt. He also draws walks at a high rate each season (12.5% in ’25, 10.8% since ’20) and has above-average pop. Jansen is strikeout-prone but not egregiously so. Although both Jansen and Higashioka hit from the right side, Jansen has better career splits in right-on-right matchups, while Higashioka has more conventional platoon splits. They probably won’t be used in a strict platoon, but Jansen will get more starts versus righties and generally see a larger workload than Higashioka.
Beyond Nimmo and Jansen, the Rangers’ lineup will remain mostly unchanged. They’ll rely on better health for Corey Seager and better performances from names like Pederson, Burger and Josh Jung, each of whom disappointed relative to expectations and projections in 2025. It’s certainly a risk, given that this lineup has a similar structure to the one that’s fallen flat in each of the past two seasons, but the Rangers were clearly working with a limited budget and did their best to make some changes where they could.
One final addition will likely be former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen. He signed a minor league deal after spring training was already underway. Cutch and the Pirates reunited in 2023 and he spent three seasons with his original organization, but the Buccos were hunting bigger fish this winter and opted to move on after McCutchen’s bat fell to about league-average over the past two seasons (slightly below that in 2025). At 39 years old, McCutchen isn’t going to dial things back to his peak form, but he can still hit lefties, which makes him a nice complement for Pederson. And, if Pederson can’t right the ship after last year’s calamitous .181/.285/.328 batting line (76 wRC+), Texas could move on entirely and turn DH reps over to McCutchen. Even if he’s “only” a league-average bat, that’d be a substantial improvement over Pederson’s 2025 output.
The other big change in the lineup isn’t due to a new acquisition but rather a change in role. Josh Smith has been a utility player for his first four seasons with Texas but is now in line for regular at-bats at second base, in place of Semien. Smith has posted a .254/.336/.380 line in semi-regular work over the past two seasons. It’s unremarkable production, but Smith had a strong four-month run to begin the ’25 season before a largely BABIP-driven swoon weighed down his production late in the year. He was hitting .277/.354/.420 through his first 380 plate appearances but batted only .195/.293/.252 in his final 183 plate appearances — all while experiencing a drop of more than 60 points in his average on balls in play.
Smith has never had a set, everyday role. He played seven different positions last year (in addition to a handful of DH appearances). Sam Haggerty‘s presence on the bench gives him a right-handed platoon partner if the Rangers prefer to go that route. They probably should, given that Smith is a career .223/.309/.322 hitter versus lefties to Haggerty’s .280/.362/.446. (Haggerty is a switch-hitter, but he’s delivered only a .202/.277/.279 slash as a left-handed hitter.)
As has typically been the case in recent years, the pitching staff was a prominent focus — both the bullpen and the rotation. Texas got nice performances from Robert Garcia and Cole Winn in 2025, and they brought Chris Martin back for one more go-around even though he’d previously hinted at retirement.
The Rangers had success building nearly an entire bullpen from small-scale free agent deals last winter and will try to replicate the strategy in 2026. It’s a clear risk, as relievers are the game’s most volatile performers on a year-to-year basis. The Texas farm is light on impact arms, however, particularly after dealing six minor league pitchers to acquire Merrill Kelly, Phil Maton and Danny Coulombe in separate trades.
Last offseason, Texas brought in Martin, Shawn Armstrong, Hoby Milner, Jacob Webb and Luke Jackson (in addition to trading for Robert Garcia, who’s controlled through 2029). This winter it was more of the same. Martin is back on another one-year deal, and he’s joined by Jakob Junis, Jalen Beeks, Tyler Alexander and Alexis Diaz, although the former will have to earn his way back onto the roster.
Diaz inked a $1MM contract after being non-tendered by the Braves but was designated for assignment and passed through waivers when Texas signed Beeks earlier this month. It’s at least possible that was the plan from the jump; we increasingly see teams sign experienced players to low-cost, one-year deals and then pass them through waivers to stash as Triple-A depth, knowing they won’t reject the outright assignment to the minors because doing so means forfeiting any guarantees on the contract (for players with fewer than five seasons of service anyhow). Even if that wasn’t the initial intent, Diaz didn’t do himself any favors by allowing eight runs with four walks and a hit batter in 1 2/3 frames this spring.
As was the case last spring, the Rangers’ bullpen looks shaky on paper. All of Martin, Beeks, Junis and Alexander have had success at times but lack consistency (hence being available on short-term contracts). Garcia’s performance was strong but less than elite. Winn posted a pristine 1.51 ERA, but metrics like SIERA (4.13) and FIP (3.90) aren’t buying it because of the former top prospect’s mediocre 21.6% strikeout rate and sub-par 10.5% walk rate.
There are other potential upside plays in the mix. The Rangers claimed righty Michel Otañez off waivers from the division-rival A’s, selected righty Carter Baumler from the from the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft (by way of a trade with the Pirates), and signed veterans Ryan Brasier and Josh Sborz to minor league contracts. Baumler was an over-slot ($1.5MM) fifth-rounder who posted a 2.04 ERA with a 29% strikeout rate between High-A and Double-A last year. Otañez sits upper 90s with his heater and misses bats in droves but also has a career 14% walk rate in the majors. Sborz was a key bullpen piece for much of 2023 but has been hampered by injuries since. Brasier has a nice track record but is 38 years old and has had a tough spring.
Perhaps the Rangers can defy the odds again, but this is a tough way to build a bullpen with any sort of regularity. Relievers are inherently volatile, and that volatility often necessitates going out and adding help at the deadline if the club is in contention. That could lead to trading away some potential down-the-road bullpen arms, creating a bit of a vicious cycle.
The other side of the pitching staff, once again, proved a core focus for the Rangers. Since being installed as president of baseball operations, former big league right-hander Chris Young has repeatedly focused on deepening his pitching staff. That’s in part due to the old adage that there’s no such thing as “too much” pitching — which a former pitcher understands keenly — and also in part due to difficulty in developing homegrown arms.
Former No. 2 overall pick Jack Leiter was a bright spot in 2025, but fellow top prospect Kumar Rocker couldn’t get off the ground floor. Winn was once a top-tier rotation project who’s fizzled out in a rotation role and is now in the ‘pen. Other prominent Rangers pitching prospects like Owen White, Hans Crouse, Dane Dunning and Brock Porter (to name a few recent examples) have largely plateaued — if not before reaching the majors then not long after.
The struggles to develop homegrown pitching have led the Rangers to routinely go outside the organization to get it. They did so again this winter, bringing former trade acquisition and 2023 rotation savior Jordan Montgomery back on a one-year deal that’ll potentially plug him into the rotation once he’s recovered from UCL surgery. The larger move, of course — arguably their signature move of the offseason — was the trade for Washington’s MacKenzie Gore.
Texas sent a five-player package, headlined by 2025 first-rounder Gavin Fien, to Washington to pry Gore loose. The package notably lacked a consensus top-100 prospect, though the Nats presumably have Fien in that group on their internal rankings. One would imagine the Nationals at least asked about names like Sebastian Walcott and Caden Scarborough and were rebuffed. Washington had a thin system that badly needed depth, however, so diversifying their risk by acquiring a bushel of prospects rather than one or two higher-end names is a reasonable approach.
In that sense, the trade worked out for both parties. The Nats add a smattering of talented young players to their system, including last summer’s No. 12 overall pick (Fien). The Rangers added two years of Gore without surrendering the very best their system has to offer.
Gore will spend the next two seasons in Texas. He’s a former No. 3 overall pick who once ranked as the sport’s top pitching prospect. Injuries and poor performance stemming from mechanical issues delayed his arrival in the majors, but he’s started 89 games over the past three seasons now and done so with a respectable 4.15 ERA. Gore looked to finally be breaking out in full last summer. He made the All-Star team and entered the break with a terrific 3.02 ERA, 30.5% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. A brutal four-start stretch saw him rocked for 23 runs over his next 15 2/3 innings. He then rebounded with a 3.74 ERA down the stretch.
Gore now joins Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Leiter to form an impressive quartet. The depth thereafter isn’t great, in part because the Rangers shipped out three nearly MLB-ready starters for Kelly last summer. Lefty Jacob Latz is the favorite for the fifth spot on the starting staff. Rocker, Jose Corniell and David Davalillo are depth options on the 40-man roster, and Young brought in veterans like Cal Quantrill and Austin Gomber on minor league deals. Both Montgomery and southpaw Cody Bradford could be ready to return from the IL early this summer.
It’s a talented but top-heavy group, and the Rangers are at some risk of that depth being exposed if deGrom and/or Eovaldi run into further injury troubles. Eovaldi hasn’t started 30 games since 2021. DeGrom made 30 dominant starts last season but combined for 35 starts in the four seasons prior.
The Rangers have the makings of a solid veteran core on both the offensive and pitching side of things. Their defense should be good but perhaps not to the extent of last season, given the subtraction of Semien’s all-world glove at second and Garcia’s quality glove in right field. The bullpen will need several things to break right, and the bench and minor league depth options are a bit lacking.
Better health from Seager and center fielder Evan Carter, rebounds from Burger/Pederson, and a step forward from standout left fielder Wyatt Langford — who has superstar potential — would go a long way toward pushing the Rangers back into the postseason mix.
How would MLBTR readers grade the Rangers’ offseason? Have your say in the poll below:
How would you grade the Rangers' offseason?
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C 48% (356)
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B 31% (229)
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D 12% (92)
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F 5% (35)
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A 4% (27)
Total votes: 739
Rangers Notes: McCutchen, Pederson, Higashioka
Andrew McCutchen has hit the ground running in his attempt to make the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, as the veteran has a blistering .583/.706/.833 slash line over 17 Cactus League plate appearances. Nothing is yet guaranteed for Cutch since he is in camp on a minor league contract, yet the 39-year-old is using the rather awkward end of his tenure with the Pirates as some extra incentive.
“I haven’t been in this position, in a place where there are a lot of doubts from other people in quite a long time. I’m motivated in a different way,” McCutchen told the Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant. “I remember getting invitations to spring training when I was 20-21 years old, knowing I wasn’t going to make the team, but had the approach that I wanted to showcase that I can do this here, no matter the age. This is kind of the same thing, only the ages are different. I want to show people that I can continue to play this game at a very high level.”
McCutchen’s second stint in Pittsburgh began with two above-average offensive seasons, but he hit a more modest .239/.333/.367 over 551 PA in 2025, translating to a 95 wRC+ and the first sub-replacement (-0.1 fWAR) performance of his 17-year Major League career. Hitting in a pitcher-friendly venue like PNC Park has never been easy for batters, though McCutchen observed that “we had some of the same ballpark effect the Rangers had last year, that the ball wasn’t really flying to left field. You weren’t getting rewarded as often and I was trying to find ways to improve the numbers. How can I get hits? How can I get on base? How can I work counts? I put my body into positions that weren’t ideal.”
“I needed to get back to basics and get myself in the most optimal position for 39 that I could get. And, honestly, I feel like I’m in a better spot than I have been in a number of years.”
Despite the subpar production, there was still an expectation that McCutchen would again re-sign with the Pirates, as there seemed to be an unofficial agreement in place that the veteran would end his career in a Pittsburgh uniform. As McCutchen puts it, “I was pretty vocal about doing that, and wanted that. The other side also was pretty vocal about wanting to do that too, but they wanted to do it a little sooner.”
The apparent lack of response or even communication on the Pirates’ part led to McCutchen going public with his frustrations on social media in late January. The Bucs then signed Marcell Ozuna in early February, and Ozuna’s usage in the DH role more or less closed the door on the chances of McCutchen remaining in Pittsburgh.
Should McCutchen break camp with the Rangers, he might get a bit more outfield time than he did with the Pirates, but he’d likely still be primarily used as the right-handed side of a DH platoon with Joc Pederson. Of course, this assumes that Pederson will hit well enough to hold his own spot in the lineup, which is no guarantee since the veteran slugger is also trying to bounce back from a disappointing year.
After signing a two-year, $37MM free agent deal with Texas last winter, Pederson hit only .181/.285/.328 over 306 PA. He was off to an ice-cold start even before he missed two months due to a hand fracture, and he hit only marginally better after his return from the injured list in late July.
Pederson told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry that “the mentals of not playing good for so long” contributed to his inability to get out of his funk. “Even the whole second half of when I came back, things started to trend in the right direction, but still I was not where I wanted to be….We have so many goals, so everything is going to be tailored around that, how to contribute to a winning team, how to be an above-average productive player.”
An offseason of work with Rangers hitting coach Justin Viele can hopefully get Pederson back on track, though the numbers haven’t yet been there for Pederson in Spring Training. The $18.5MM salary owed to Pederson in 2027 gives the Rangers incentive to give him plenty of time to find himself at the plate, though another extended slump might lead to some hard questions about Pederson’s playing time (or even a spot on the roster). Another DH candidate like McCutchen could emerge, or Texas might want to give multiple players a shot at DH at-bats to help keep people fresh.
In some injury news from the team’s camp, catcher Kyle Higashioka is expected to return to game action tomorrow, manager Skip Schumaker told Evan Grant and other reporters. Back stiffness has kept Higashioka sidelined from games since March 5, though he returned to catching and batting work against live pitching. Assuming no setbacks once he gets back on the field, Higashioka should have enough time to ramp up and be ready for Opening Day.
Higashioka and the newly-signed Danny Jansen will share the Rangers’ catching duties this season. Another free agent signing from the 2024-25 offseason, the first season of Higashioka’s two-year, $13.5MM contract resulted in a .241/.291/.403 slash line and 11 homers over 327 PA (93 wRC+).
Rangers Outright Alexis Diaz
The Rangers announced this afternoon that they’ve assigned right-hander Alexis Diaz outright to Triple-A. Diaz had previously been designated for assignment by Texas on Friday to make room for Jalen Beeks on the 40-man roster.
Diaz, 29, is a one-time All-Star and the younger brother of Dodgers closer Edwin Diaz. The younger Diaz was a 12th-round pick by the Reds back in 2015 who made his big league debut during the 2022 campaign. He made an immediate splash upon reaching the majors with a 1.89 ERA in 59 appearances, and made his lone All-Star appearance the following year after settling in as Cincinnati’s closer. An up-and-down 2024 season saw Diaz struggle to maintain his previous success, and while he did manage to get his ERA down below 4.00 by the end of the year thanks to a strong second half (2.83 ERA from July onwards), even those stronger months came with lackluster peripherals. His strikeout rate on the year plummeted from over 30% in both 2022 and ’23 all the way down to 22.7% in 2024.
By the time the 2025 season rolled around, Diaz’s uneven performance and shaky peripherals had gotten the better of him. The right-hander’s strikeout rate dropped further to just 20.0% last year, while his walk rate reached a career-high 14.1%. He ended up bouncing between the Reds, Dodgers, and Braves throughout the 2025 season, but was shelled to the tune of an 8.15 ERA and an 8.51 FIP across 18 appearances in the majors. That made it hardly surprising when Atlanta opted to outright Diaz off their roster, and he elected free agency shortly thereafter.
He wound up signing in Texas on a $1MM MLB guarantee. The decision to bring Diaz into the fold was a relatively low-risk one given the low cost of the deal, and the right-hander entered Spring Training competing for a spot in the Rangers bullpen with the upside of a potential set-up man or even closer if he managed to rediscover his early career form with the Reds. That’s not how Spring Training has gone so far, however. Diaz has allowed eight runs while recording just five outs across three spring appearances. He’s walked four batters and hit another while striking out just one opponent. He’s looked entirely lost on the mound and, as a result, it was hardly a shock when he passed through waivers unclaimed following his DFA.
Diaz has the requisite service time to decline his outright assignment, but in doing so would forfeit the $1MM salary he’s owed for the 2026 season. That makes it all but certain that Diaz will accept his outright assignment and stick with the Rangers at Triple-A Round Rock going forward. That gives the Rangers the opportunity to continue working with Diaz in hopes of helping to get him back on track. If their efforts are successful, the right-hander can be controlled via arbitration through the 2028 season. In the meantime, the Rangers will turn to Robert Garcia, Chris Martin, Jakob Junis, and Beeks for veteran help in their bullpen.
Injury Notes: Vasil, Neto, Jung, Wheeler
White Sox right-hander Mike Vasil left today’s Spring Training game with elbow soreness, the team announced. He is set to undergo further testing. Vasil started the game with 3 2/3 scoreless innings before issuing two walks, calling for the trainer, and ultimately departing. That continued his effort to build up as a starter after working mostly in relief in 2025. In 101 innings over 47 appearances (three starts), he posted an excellent 2.50 ERA, albeit with less-shiny peripherals including a 4.32 FIP. On the plus side, Vasil induced groundballs 51.4% of the time and provided plenty of value by eating innings. Though he proved himself in the bullpen last year, he had an outside shot at joining the rotation in 2026, according to manager Will Venable.
The Sox open their season on March 26 on the road against the Brewers, so Vasil may not have time to fully build up if he is anything more than day-to-day. If he misses time, the club will roll with Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Anthony Kay, and Erick Fedde in the rotation behind 2025 All-Star Shane Smith. Given that he’s stretched out for multiple innings, Vasil could return to long relief at first then join the rotation later if there’s an injury.
A few other injury updates from around the league:
- Angels shortstop Zach Neto injured his left hand on a head-first slide into home in today’s game against the Mariners. He was set to undergo tests after the game, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Neto ended the 2025 season on the injured list with a left hand strain, and he underwent surgery in 2024 to fix a right shoulder injury that he incurred from a head-first slide. Today’s injury doesn’t seem nearly as serious, with manager Kurt Suzuki saying “it was a little more optimistic” after he spoke to Neto in the dugout. If Neto misses time, one of Vaughn Grissom or Oswald Peraza could draw some early starts at shortstop for the Halos.
- Rangers third baseman Josh Jung took six plate appearances on a back field today, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. He’ll take a few more tomorrow, then play against the White Sox on Monday. Jung has been out of action since February 24 due to a Grade 1 adductor strain, though manager Skip Schumaker downplayed the severity of the injury. Jung batted .251/.294/.390 with a 91 wRC+ in 131 games in 2025. He stayed healthy outside of a minimum IL stint at the start of the year, but it marked his first below-average offensive campaign since his 26-game debut in 2022. Both Jung and Shumaker seem confident that the former will be ready for Opening Day.
- Phillies ace Zack Wheeler threw a live batting practice session today, his first time facing hitters since undergoing thoracic outlet surgery in September. He will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday, manager Rob Thomson told reporters including Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer. That could set him up to appear in at least one game before the end of Spring Training, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Granted, this is more of an expected progression in Wheeler’s rehab than a sign that he will make an early return. Wheeler himself emphasized that “We’ve still got a long way to go,” while Thomson said last month that Wheeler could be back in action not “too far beyond” Opening Day.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Rangers Designate Alexis Díaz For Assignment
The Rangers announced Friday that right-hander Alexis Díaz has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster goes to veteran lefty Jalen Beeks, whose previously reported one-year contract with Texas is now official.
Díaz, 29, signed a major league contract of his own with the Rangers earlier in the winter. The former Reds All-Star is being paid $1MM this year but has struggled immensely in spring training after a discouraging 2025 showing. Díaz has appeared in three official spring games and walked four of the 13 hitters he’s faced. He’s plunked another. Considering he walked 14.1% of his opponents in the majors last year and more than 16% of his Triple-A opponents, continued command problems of this magnitude stand as a notable red flag.
It’s possible that for the Rangers, attempting to pass Díaz through waivers at some point was the plan all along. It’s become increasingly common for teams to sign free agents who have fewer than five years of service time to major league contracts with modest salaries and then pass them through waivers. (Díaz has 3.088 years of service.) Those players aren’t able to retain the remainder of their guaranteed salary upon rejecting an outright assignment. If Díaz goes unclaimed — which seems likely given last year’s struggles and his poor command this spring — he’ll very likely accept an outright assignment and give the Rangers some depth and a reclamation project with which to work at the Triple-A level.
Early in his career, Díaz looked to be following in the footsteps of older brother Edwin Díaz in a march to stardom. He finished fifth in 2022 NL Rookie of the Year voting after pitching 63 2/3 innings with a 3.07 ERA, 10 saves, 13 holds and a gaudy 32.5% strikeout rate. His 12.9% walk rate was an eyesore, but Díaz offset the free passes with a glut of strikeouts. His velocity and strikeout rate have dipped in each subsequent season, however, and Díaz’s struggles reached a tipping point last year.
The Reds optioned Díaz to Triple-A on May 1 after he was rocked for eight runs in his first six innings (during which he walked five men and hit another two). Four weeks later, he was traded to the Dodgers. Los Angeles called him up mid-July and gave him nine innings, during which he was tagged for five more runs. Díaz was designated for assignment in early September and claimed by the Braves, who gave him another 2 2/3 innings during which he served up three more runs. Díaz finished the season with an 8.15 ERA in 17 2/3 big league innings. He logged a 5.61 ERA in 25 1/3 Triple-A frames.
Díaz is a recognizable name with plenty of track record, but at this point he’s more than two full years removed from his last campaign as a high-end reliever (2023). The Rangers can spend the next five days trying to trade him before he has to be put on waivers, though he can be waived at any point in the interim as well. Any team that claims Díaz would be on the hook for that $1MM salary. As previously noted, if Díaz passes through waivers unclaimed, he’ll surely remain in the organization by accepting an outright assignment, as rejecting would mean forfeiting that $1MM guarantee.
Rangers Sign Jalen Beeks
The Rangers announced the signing of lefty reliever Jalen Beeks to a one-year contract. The Frontline client is reportedly guaranteed $1.6MM and can earn an additional $1MM in incentives. He’d receive $75K bonuses at 10 and 15 appearances, $100K for his 20th outing, and $125K each at 25, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 65 games. Texas designated Alexis Díaz for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot.
Beeks finds a guaranteed contract just two weeks from the beginning of the regular season. The southpaw spent the 2025 campaign with the Diamondbacks on a $1.25MM contract. He made 61 appearances, working to a 3.77 earned run average across 57 1/3 innings. There’s a decent chance he would have been traded at the deadline if not for a three-week injured list stint in July due to lower back inflammation.
The 32-year-old wound up finishing the season as one of the rare veteran pieces in Arizona’s bullpen. He allowed only four runs across his final 16 1/3 innings. Beeks’ underlying marks were middle of the road. He had a slightly below-average 20.3% strikeout rate with decent but unexceptional walk and ground-ball marks.
Unlike a lot of lefty relievers, Beeks doesn’t have a great breaking ball. He only used his cutter around 10% of the time last year. Beeks works mostly with a 94-95 mph fastball and an upper 80s changeup that serves as his best swing-and-miss pitch. He doesn’t have extreme platoon splits as a result. Beeks allowed similar slash lines to left-handed (.218/.266/.345) and righty (.190/.285/.339) bats alike last year, though his strikeout rate was quite a bit higher when he had the platoon advantage.
Beeks will have a couple weeks to get ready for the start of the regular season. It’ll be a patched together Texas bullpen for a second straight year. Robert Garcia is their one high-leverage lefty. There’s a decent chance he gets some save opportunities. Tyler Alexander will pitch in a long relief role. Beeks isn’t a pure specialist but can take some left on left matchups in the middle innings.
Garcia, Chris Martin, Cole Winn, Jakob Junis, Beeks and Alexander all seem assured of Opening Day bullpen spots. Diaz signed a one-year deal, but he’s been bombed for eight runs in 1 2/3 innings this spring and was pushed off the roster.
Rule 5 draftee Carter Baumler needs to stick on the MLB team or be waived and offered back to the Orioles. He has only surrendered one unearned run with a 4-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 5 2/3 frames. Minor league signees Ryan Brasier and Josh Sborz are also in camp. Sborz has had the much more impressive spring.
As Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports observes, this may also tip the team’s hand on their rotation plans. Left-hander Jacob Latz will be on the big league roster in some capacity. Latz pitched mostly in relief last year but is competing with Kumar Rocker for the fifth starter job. Rocker has the higher pedigree, but Latz was the better pitcher in 2025. There hasn’t been a huge divide between the two this spring.
If the Rangers keep Rocker as the fifth starter, they’d have four left-handers in their projected Opening Day bullpen. Most teams prefer to carry two or three lefty relievers. That could point to Latz having the upper hand in the rotation competition and Rocker beginning the season in Triple-A.
Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News first reported the Rangers and Beeks had agreed to a big league deal. The Associated Press reported the salary and bonuses.
Image courtesy of Rob Schumacher, Imagn Images.