The Rangers announced this morning that they’ve signed outfielder Kevin Pillar to a minor league deal with an invite to big league Spring Training.
Pillar, 36, is a veteran of 12 MLB seasons. After getting his start as a 32nd-round pick with the Blue Jays back in 2011, he made his big league debut in 2013 and has fashioned a solid career for himself as a glove-first outfielder who can provide some offense against left-handed pitching. His peak seasons as Toronto’s everyday center fielder where he posted 8.2 fWAR and 14.0 bWAR from 2015 to 2018 are long behind him, but in more recent years he’s transitioned into being a serviceable fourth or fifth outfielder for a variety of MLB clubs.
In 2024, Pillar started the season with the White Sox but struggled badly through 17 games. The veteran was cut by Chicago but managed to find a job with the Angels in Anaheim after Mike Trout went down for the year due to a meniscus issue. Pillar joined the club’s outfield mix and did fairly well for himself, appearing in 83 games for the club while primarily playing center field. In 282 trips to the plate for the Halos, Pillar slashed .236/.291/.378 with a decent 88 wRC+ that suggested he was a touch below league average as a hitter. That’s perfectly serviceable for a depth piece, but Pillar notably crushed left-handed pitching with a .310/.352/.500 slash line against southpaws last year.
That seems to suggests he could be more productive on a team with a deeper outfield mix who can offer him more platoon protection against right-handed hitters, and that makes the Rangers a decent fit for his services despite their full outfield mix. Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia are expected to be the club’s regular outfielders in the corners, with Evan Carter getting regular reps in center field and Leody Taveras serving as the club’s fourth outfielder. Taveras is a somewhat imperfect complement to the lefty-swinging Carter in center, however, as he’s just a .231/.291/.320 hitter for his career against southpaws including a dismal .189/.270/.244 showing against them last year.
Taveras, who is controlled through the end of the 2027 season and is making just $4.75MM this year, has been bandied about as a potential trade candidate throughout the winter thanks to his questionable fit on the Rangers’ roster and the club’s desire to stay under the first threshold of the luxury tax this year. The club was reportedly receiving interest in Taveras as recently as the end of January, though now that Spring Training has begun the odds of any trade getting done have gone down significantly. Even so, bringing Pillar into the fold offers the Rangers insurance against injury following a season where Carter was limited to just 45 games by back issues while also potentially giving them the flexibility to listen to offers on Taveras more seriously than they would have if trading him would’ve forced them to rely on Garcia or Langford as their backup center fielder.
Verdugo must be waiting for the last major league deal available. He’s not desperate enough for a minor league one yet like most players
He’s taking his talents to Miami Beach.
He blew his free agency with a bad year. He probably doesn’t want to change his mindset yet from a year ago dreaming about the money.
Verdugo is gonna sign in the NPB lol
Another vampire who just will not fly away.
He’ll be okay if regulated to night games only
Sensible move for the Rangers and Kevin Pillar.
The Rangers can benefit from a southpaw mashing OF who is still solid defensively in CF. Texas is a good fit for Pillar who un-retired this past December and resides in Dallas with his young family.
I’ll miss him in Anaheim.
Wasn’t he retired?
Former Toronto Blue Jays Outfielder Kevin Pillar Announces Return From Retirement: si.com/fannation/mlb/fastball/news/toronto-blue-ja…
He misretired.
I get the fit but I don’t like the guy.
Can you be more specific with your dislike?
Rangers fans may remember him throwing punches in the Bautista vs Odor brawl of 2016. Pillar and Donaldson both came out ready to defend Bautista at all cost
The only thing that slowed him down was Mitch Moreland putting him in a headlock.
Despite some trepidation from Rangers fans, your skipper is glad to have Kevin Pillar in camp:
“He’s a really, really talented player that’s a good right-handed bat who plays all three outfield positions,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “I had Kevin [in San Francisco in 2019]. I mean, he’s a great teammate, plays full throttle, which is what you love about him. He’ll be here competing for a job. I’ve been there [retiring and coming back]. This is what he loves to do. Sometimes when you back off, you miss it. It didn’t take him long to miss it, and he wanted to get back in.”
mlb.com/news/kevin-pillar-signs-minor-league-contr…
I remember an interview after a game in which he made a decent catch . Pillar was talking about himself in the 3rd person and he said “Kevin keeps a loop of his great plays running on a video loop on the tv all the time”. Kevin was going to add it to the loop.
LOL
He doesn’t like you either
Are you the Kevin Pillar burner account? Cool if true but whatever.
Nice low-cost signing of Pillar and a good compliment to the rest of the outfield.
Now go sign either David Robertson or Kyle Finnegan to close and their set to start the season!
This guy has had a helluva career. A 32nd round pick who’s been a good player and has played long enough to get the MLB pension. Good on him.
“Pillar slashed .236/.291/.378 with a decent 88 wRC+ ”
That’s “decent” production? Okay….
Half the league has to be below average
He was really hot for a few weeks after joining the Angels, and cratered after that.
The fit is only a “fit” if someone is traded/injured or has a terrible spring.
The Rangers bench will have Higashioka and Smith for sure, leaving Tavares/Duran/Pillar/Ahmed/Haggerty/Trejo/whiever else is in Rangers camp fighting for two spots
I guess David Peralta and Rizzo are next! On another thread I was asked to name 3 other out of work 35 year olds with no pop – KP was one of my 3 and 3 hours later he has a milb contract! You are welcome KP.
He said he was going to retire.
Got heeem!
@non roster. I feel like he just said that to get a mlb contract, and apparently it didn’t work. He’s about the same as Bader and 4 million dollars less.
He crushed left handed pitching, was clutch several times and was reliable in the outfield. Compared to the players the Angels fielded last year he looked like an all star at times.
Pillar, Jesse Chavez, Jacob Webb, Chris Martin, and Joc Petersen. All those dudes minus Pillar are World Series winners with Atlanta. Texas Bizarro Braves
Considering their current plan is to play J.T. Realmuto out of position in left field against lefties, the Phillies should have offered Pillar a major league deal to be their fourth outfielder.
Great outfielder, but dives unnecessarily for routine catches.
A+ absolute bargain
This is a low risk medium upside signing. No biggie if it doesn’t pan out.
At first glance, Kevin Pillar is just a depth signing—a veteran glove with a history of crushing lefties. But what if this move signals a strategic front office gambit with long-term implications?
The key isn’t just Pillar’s fit; it’s Leody Taveras’ expendability. The Rangers know that Taveras, despite being an elite defender, is a liability against lefties, and his trade market has quietly been warming up all offseason. By signing Pillar, Texas is sending a subtle but powerful signal: Taveras is available, and we have a contingency plan.
But there’s an even deeper layer. By adding Pillar now, the Rangers have hedged against an Evan Carter injury without committing to a trade—yet. If Carter stays healthy, the front office can flip Taveras for pitching at peak value to a team desperate for a glove-first center fielder. If Carter struggles, they keep Taveras and Pillar shifts into the fourth outfielder role seamlessly.
The real genius? Luxury tax maneuvering. Taveras makes $4.75M, but if Texas offloads him midseason, they can stay under the first tax threshold, keeping their long-term flexibility intact.
So this isn’t just a minor league deal—it’s a calculated positional arbitrage that keeps all doors open, maximizes trade leverage, and ensures roster balance in a season where Texas is a serious contender. The real question: which team bites first?”
Pillar is only an option if Tavares is traded to save the $4.5m owed him. Tavares can’t hit left handed pitching but Texas needs a platoon partner with Carter who can hit lefthanders. That is Pillar. This isn’t confusing.