The Rangers announced Friday that they have chosen not to tender 2026 contracts to outfielder Adolis Garcia, catcher Jonah Heim, and relievers Josh Sborz and Jacob Webb. All four were arbitration-eligible for the final time and were set to enter their final year of club control. They will instead immediately become a free agent without needing to pass through waivers. Both Garcia and Heim were being shopped by the Rangers throughout the early stages of the offseason. Clearly, no takers manifested at their arbitration prices. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a $12.1MM salary for Garcia and a $6MM salary for Heim. Webb was projected at $2MM and Sborz at $1.1MM.
Garcia’s hold on his roster spot has appeared tenuous for months. While he was a focal point of the offense that helped the Rangers capture their first World Series title in 2023, the slugging right fielder’s bat has cratered over the past two seasons. He’s also become emblematic of the type of undisciplined, boom-or-bust offensive approach that the Rangers have openly voiced a desire to change since the season ended.
Back in 2023, Garcia bashed 39 homers while hitting .245/.328/.508 with plus defense in right field. That alone made him one of the shrewdest DFA pickups in recent memory, but it didn’t set the stage for him to emerge as a core piece like many expected at the time. His 2024 numbers took a major step back (.224/.284/.400), and in 2025 he slashed just .227/.271/.394.
Garcia, 33 in March, still makes thunderous contact when he connects with the ball, averaging 92.1 mph off the bat and logging a stout 46.7% hard-hit rate. However, his chase rate on pitches off the plate has spiked from 29.5% in 2023 to 35.1% in 2025. His overall contact rate in ’25 sat about five percentage points shy of league-average, and his 79.5% contact rate on pitches within the zone is six percentage points shy of average. Swinging through a bit more than one of every five offerings within the strike zone is nothing new for Garcia, but that flaw has been compounded by the manner in which he has increasingly expanded the percentage of pitches at which he’s willing to swing since that peak season.
Heim, who’ll turn 31 next June, broke out with a .258/.317/.438 line (107 wRC+) and career-best 18 home runs back in ’23. For a catcher who already boasted some of the strongest defensive grades in the game, that offensive performance was enough to earn him a spot on the 2023 All-Star team. In 924 plate appearances since, Heim’s bat has evaporated. He’s hitting .217/.269/.334 since Opening Day 2024.
Heim has also gone from an elite pitch framer and thrower behind the dish to more of an average framer and poor thrower. He nabbed 29.3% of thieves in ’23 but has just a 13.7% caught-stealing rate since. His average pop time has crept north of two seconds, and the average velocity on his throws to second base has fallen from 81.1 mph in 2023 (21st among 67 catchers) to 79.5 mph in 2025 (33rd among 63 catchers).
Webb, 32, is a somewhat surprising non-tender. He pitched 66 innings of 3.00 ERA ball and fanned 21.7% of his opponents against a 7.1% walk rate. In 176 1/3 innings between the Rangers and Orioles, dating back to 2023, he’s pitched to a combined 3.22 earned run average with 33 holds and four saves.
Sborz, 31, didn’t pitch this season due to shoulder troubles. The right-hander had a bizarre campaign in 2023, pitching well for much of the season (3.83 ERA through mid-August) before being torched for 13 runs in 7 2/3 frames down the stretch, thereby ballooning his ERA to 5.50. Sborz then bounced all the way back — and then some — in the playoffs, serving as one of then-manager Bruce Bochy’s most trusted relievers. He pitched a dozen innings and allowed only one run (0.75 ERA) on four hits and four walks. He fanned 13.
The following season, Sborz got out to a nice start, logging a 3.86 ERA through 16 1/3 innings before landing on the injured list. He never returned. Sborz wound up undergoing shoulder surgery in the offseason. Originally, the Rangers suggested he’d miss the first two to three months of the 2025 season. Instead, Sborz pitched only 12 minor league innings in 2025, including a 5.79 ERA in 9 1/3 frames of Triple-A work.
Jesse Rogers of ESPN first reported that Garcia was being non-tendered.
His defense alone makes him better than anything Pittsburgh has currently
Heim or Garcia? Or the pitchers?
Yes.
Are you an empty beer can?
A warm one.
Woof. Warm Natty Ice
Heim’s defense this year was below average, I’d rather just roll out Davis and hope he can do soemthing. Wouldn’t mind Garcia though. There’s no way he can be worse offensively than Suwinski at this point.
When i posted the article was only on Garcia. I’ll gladly take that .660 OPS too… better than anything Pittsburgh was rolling out in RF
As bad as the Pirates were, of the 10 Piraets who had at least 300 plate appearances in 2025, a .660 OPS wouldn’t have even been top 5, it would have only been the 9th best. Although if we want to just say overall bWAR, he would have led all Pirates position players.
It’s not worth it. Adolis was awesome, but he swings at everything!
He’s not a LHH but wouldn’t mind the Astros taking a flier. 1 year, $10M w/ performance incentives?
He does own Houston
meh not really
Yeah really
One hit wonder.
Absolutely not. I wouldn’t want him in an Astros jersey, if he played for free.
i’m tired of the meyers/mcormick/leon/melton/trammell/etc clown show
But Jake Meyers is a solid player, this Mariner fan has always thought he was an undervalued/underrated player. I hope he can keep progressing & stay healthy.
McCormick and Leon are gone. Trammell is likely gone, Meyers might be traded, so will Melton. The one you will most likely see long term is Jacob Melton.
He didn’t progress though. Look at his batted ball profile. His “career year” had him league average at best
Trammell was tendered a contract. Jacob Melton sucks.
What’s wrong with Meyers? Seems like an okay hitter and good fielder.
I hope Meyers is on the Phillies radar along with maybe signing Bader. Feels like one of those moves should happen for them.
I like when he gets doubled up at 2nd as he is crossing homeplate. That’s my favorite Meyers.
Meyers broke out this season batting .292, in 2024, he batted .219, 2023, .227.
He has excellent defense that let many teams to look at him before his hitting breakout according to Chandler Rome and Tyler Stafford of Crush City Territory.
mlb1225
What’s wrong with Meyers? Seems like an okay hitter and good fielder.
==========================
I’m not even sure why it’s a discussion. They don’t play the same position.
The Astros don’t want Adolis Garcia. They can spend their 10MM elsewhere. (In starting pitching)
That’s fine, but they still need outfielders who can hit. among guys with at least 20 PA’s, 8 of 12 had either 0 or negative fWAR. Fortunately 4 of those guys are gone. But Jake Meyers and his pool noodle bat are still here, and we’re basically relying on Cam Smith to become a solid player, and for Alvarez to be healthy, and for Zach Cole to be productive despite a high K rate.
They should get Martin Maldonado out of retirement if they did sign Garcia. That would make for some interesting clubhouse dynamics.
lol
Maldonado is going to be a manager someday.
Hopefully an Astros catching coach first.
mlb.com/news/astros-catching-coach-tim-cossins
Not very many people saw this. I caught it while browsing for Astros news yesterday.
Those that can’t hit manage!!
Obviously you don’t follow the Astros closely, or forget whatever you read.
The fact that you guys are even talking about signing Adolis Garcia proves something.
1. You guys are not Astros fans or follow the Astros
2. You guys just don’t know what your talking about and have the wrong idea in mind
3. You HOPE the Astros sign him because you feel that you can waste valuable cash on this instead of starting pitching because you want the Astros to lose and your’re putting some biased in there
4. You want the Astros to sign Adolis Garcia to sign with Houston because you think he’s productive enough.
He could benefit from the Houston penchant for, em, batting ‘guidance’
No. Every single dime needs to be spent on SP. If there is any left over change, it needs to be spent on a backup catcher. Also, Adolis should never be allowed in an Astros uni.
Go all out and get Framber Valdez/Ranger Suarez long term, THEN go get Merrill Kelly and Justin Verlander, don’t forget to re-sign Caratini/Danny Jansen.
If Adolis went to the Stros for cheap and had a monster year the Rangers would crap the bed!
The Astros want to IMPROVE their offense, Garcia will NOT.
Remember when this guy thought he was good
2021-2023 he was good, though
He is good and I believe the Rangers will regret not signing him. Too bad the team is cash strapped.
Tell me you’re stuck in the 90’s without telling me you’re stuck in the 90’s. His OPS+ has been below league average each of the last 2 seasons. Yes, he’s still put up decent HR & RBI totals, but the argument for tendering him a 12 million dollar (arb proj.) contract is a purely emotional one. This has nothing to do with money and everything to do with age and declining performance.
he’s 32 and 73rd percentile for barrel rate, 89th percentile for avg exit velo. he’ll sign a major league deal somewhere for $8-10 million, easily.
Ooh look at this guy. Mister modern age. No 90s flannel for him. Beck not the only loser
I think Garcia will be much cheaper than that. Has the smell of an Angels pickup though.
He hits the ball hard, but he has to do more than just that. Launch angle sweet spot rate went from the 67th percentile to 32nd percentile. Unless he figures that out, he’s just a 4th otufield type.
Garcia’s average launch angle has increased by 1.3 degrees from last year and hit more flyballs. The issues are he’s not pulling the ball as much as he used to, and of course the allergy to drawing a walk. In order to succeed in Globe Life power hitters have to swing pullside. I wonder if Cincy would be a fit, his swing could be perfect for the band box park out there, and the Reds need a slugging COF/DH. I’m not sure he’ll suddenly see a surge in walk rate no matter what, but if he’s hitting more homers he’ll be fine. Shouldn’t be too much of an expense even for the perennially cheap Reds, and Garcia can potentially rebuild his value in a better hitting environment.
Wonder if his lunch angle increased as well. Too many bon bon
My lunch angle changes depending what’s on the menu.
Phuture Phillie
No they won’t. He’s not good enough for the projected $12 million salary. He might get $5 or $6 million from some team.
His offense plummeted after 2023, and the only thing worth keeping is his Gold Glove defense. Entering his age 33 season after these performances and asking for 13-15 million a year is probably not worth it with the increasing amount of luxury taxes.
I wish him the best of luck for a different team, but it would be cool if he decides to stay in Texas for a pay cut.
In 2023, he was 14th in MVP voting at the ALCS MVP, maybe the issue is in your mind, not his.
He will get a solid one year deal from someone.
GMoney28
Remember when this guy thought he was good
=====================
I don’t have the foggiest idea what that remark means. Everyone in the world thought he was good.
future San Francisco Giant
That sounds pretty plausible!
Royals, Pirates or Angels all do too.
He should sign with Colorado.
I wish the Royals took him instead of keeping India.
I’ll miss you Bombi. Thanks for everything in 2023.
Bombi looking more like Gumbi as of late.
What a travesty.
As a Mariners fan, this guy was fun to watch in 2023. He had his mojo working when it counted. Will have fond memories of him putting the Astros away.
What do you think the Ranger’s divison rivals did?
What do I think who did what? Come again?
The A’s Angels, Astros, Mariners, and Rangers. It’ll be a tight race if the Astros and Rangers really did lose as many wins to injures as the paper said, the Mariners (it’s obvious to anybody), the A’s, who have are pretty much done with their rebuild, and the Angels (who MIGHT compete).
I think you over-estimate Anaheim.
Yeah Rangers are losing 9 pitchers to free agency. Astros need to build out a starting rotation after Hunter Brown, right now it’s just reclamation projects and injury risks. Astros always somehow piece things together though. Can’t judge anything now at the start of the offseason of course. Both Texas teams may be taking a step back though. Lot of holes to fill. Angels will Angel and A’s will hit good but…West Sacramento and stuff.
Wait actually! The Rangers are losing NINE pitchers.
Lemme say they’ll be around .500 at best.
Seattle is in good shape, they’ll upgrade parts of it to create a World Series team.
Houston, unless it uses it’s money and isn’t injured as much, is dead.
Texas is declining, they need to do something to stay .500
A’s might need some extra resources?
Angels have less than 25% chance to compete.
Or underestimate the lolAngels penchant for lolAngelling
Rangers and Astros are both watching the playoffs next fall. Seattle will have control of the AL West for 3 yrs unless the A’s screw the rebuild up. Their time is after Seattles. Rangers and Astros are cooked in the AL until the 2030’s
@cajundago19
I have a feeling you’re a Mariners fan. They think that the Astros and Rangers are cooked until the 2030s. Well, your’re wrong, both suffered immense injures.
For the Astros, the multiple sources say the Astros lost over 10 wins, while the Rangers lost many too.
cw33.com/texas-rangers/texas-rangers-revealed-as-u…
medium.com/@breathingorangefire_71114/the-tragedy-…
2030s? How bout 2070s?
Man I’ll be dead. Dead-o-rino.
I’d be a grandparent in 2070, so I guess I am one of the younger users.
ASTROS27!
Texas is declining, they need to do something to stay .500
==========================
Texas will be one of my over picks in 2026. They had some injuries in 2025, and have some good young talent.
I think you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Mariner fans are always good for a laugh . It will be another 24 year drought,
@ABaddaBingWhatever
Did injures not affect the Astros season?
Who’s on first. What’s on second.
Steroid crash
Nothing the losers on MLBTR love more than baseless gossip mongering
Sounds like something your maternal side does
Dodgers there’s your outfield depth you’ve been asking for
Can’t be any worse than Conforto was….
That Conforto signing was a head scratcher. Dodgers acting like the Giants.
I don’t understand what happened to Jonah Heim.
Decline alert
Young for age-related decline. Maybe his 2023 was a bit fluky? He’ll get picked up. The market demand is always high for experienced catchers, just at a lower rate than he was going to get in arbitration. Maybe he even returns to the Rangers.
Seattle should take a look at Heim. We need a backup and this will make it so they can shop Ford around. Heim will have the benefit of playing for a good C in his day. Garcia might be interesting too. Could Edgar get his head straight? If yes than definitely worth the cost.
Deal w the devil that how
Heim was never a high-end prospect. He’s mostly played like the defensive-first backstop he was projected as in the minor leagues, except for the first half of 2023.
Reds blew it not acquiring Garcia for peanuts on a bloated one year deal. He has better bounce back potential than Hayes or most the guys they grab. He fills OF and HR needs too. Doubt they do better
Not sure I’m comfortable putting a.227 hitter at cleanup. EDLC will still get pitched around. I hope we do better than that but I do see your point.
They could sign him straight up for less than he would make in arbitration. Otherwise some team would have grabbed him. No team sees surplus value in paying him that salary.
When give the option and even money, most free agents look else where then cincy. Thats why it’s worth the overpay
If I want playing time and a chance to rebuild some value I would go Reds or Rockies in a heartbeat.
I have feeling the Reds might be sneaky busy this winter…. I see them come up in many rumors yes I know it’s rumors….but a guy like Francona didn’t take a job to suck and not win…. Reds fans should be excited I think they will build off this years playoff appearance ….
I’m a Tito fan, so I’d like to see him in another WS. All they need is to trade for one hitter, and sign one big thumper. Maybe get a closer. They have been as high as $166M, and with inflation, that might look like $190M+. That would give them ~$60M to spend.
It won’t happen, but if they were to sign Tucker & Williams, and trade for Duran or the equivalent, they’d be a very good team. They probably have a ceiling of 2.5M fans, so that could be an additional $60M+ in revenue.
I wanted Tito for Yankees job before Tito went to Boston. I still think he would be great as Yanks skipper . Cinci is good now and have huge shot of winning and making deep run in playoffs . Cincinnati fans will support a winning team they are good baseball fans and deserve a winner .just not against our Yanks lol
Braves could sign Garcia for DH slot
Nah. They’re gonna have Acuna/Baldwin/Murphy rotate that.
Garcia is a player I wouldn’t mind seeing the Braves take a look at, too, depending on the cost. I don’t think they’re going to sign anyone to exclusively DH, but Garcia could find playing time between the OF and DH, since I think they’ll DH Acuna Jr occasionally to spell him a little. I think it’d be a good fit for Atlanta; although Garcia might prefer somewhere he’s an everyday starter.
Garcia at DH is a ridiculous waste. The one thing he still does very well is play the OF.
I’d love to give him a shot for DH. I don’t particularly love the idea of Murphy/Baldwin rotating DH like many seem to suggest….its crazy Garcia is still in Arbitration at age 32, am I understanding that right?
He needs to learn a bit of plate discipline and he could be stellar. But he’s 32 so if hasn’t learned by now then when ? He will thrive in a packed line up with high obp person before and after him
Someone could probably get a return ranging from solid to very good by taking a chance on either him or garcia. I don’t see either of them being without a job for very long, might not be for the salary they want but they will have some interest for sure.
They will definitely both get picked up. Not for what they would have made in arbitration. Either could end up having a good year too.
Adolis Garcia needs to sign with MY team!
Pirates can definitely kick the tires on Adolis and he wouldn’t cost much either.
Both of these guys could work for the giants or padres
Caratini or Realmuto; which one is more likely to be a ranger?
Caratini
They still want to add some pitching while also reducing payroll. That means Realmuto is definitely out. Maybe Caratini.
Heim coming back for less is more likely than either of those.
Orioles Grayson for Ward trade is looking worse and worse. They could have held onto Grayson and made a run at Garcia. Everything about that trade sucks right now.
I liked if for the Os ! Ward broke out and Baltimore has never did much w grod. Os also need that power mid lineup. Ward is clearly better than Garcia too and I like Garcia
The Pirates need to get Garcia, huge upside, and would not cost much. Heim would be a great fit for the Rays, among other teams in need of catcher.
Mets should sign Garcia to DH
Adolis Garcia, your new KC Royal.
Exactly the type of player the Royals should take a flyer on. I could definitely see them talking at the minimum.
He will get more than the minimum based on past results. Otherwise he’ll take more to play overseas.
Adolis to SFG, reunites with Bochy!!
Boston should take a shot at heim. I know roster spots are at a premium, but he could be better than Wong.
The Rangers non-tendering these two would’ve been unthinkable two years ago, but here we are. Both should still be relatively attractive in free agency.
I could see the Yanks trading one of their lefty catchers (Escarra) and signing Heim as a righty backup.
Heim – Giants
After the World Series win in 2023, I never thought I’d see Jonah Heim as a non-tender. He looks like a unit at catcher.
Phillies seriously need to look into signing Garcia over Bader.
Both? Both. Both is good.
Okay, then no Schwarber
I watched both men play all season and I can saw Garcia still had fire and played wonderful defense. However he swung and missed so much that he put out any fires the Rangers started on offense. I would welcome back at 5 mil but I bet he gets a solid 8mil from the Royals. Not sure what happened to Heim but I bet the Rangers get him back at 1 year. 3 mil. If not he will make a good back up catcher for someone.
wouldn’t mind the Braves taking a shot on him as their DH and part-time outfielder. his older brother Adonis used to play third base for the Braves years ago
It seems like there was something going on in Texas that was not conducive to hitting. All of their players numbers were down. Garcia seems to take excellent care of his body so I think he would be worth a gamble even at 33. Jonah Heim is only 30 years old. I don’t think either one of those guys are done.
Garcia has always had an issue with swinging at breaking balls out of the zone. However, this past season, pitchers were just blowing fastballs by him.
He looks like a hitter that got old. It will only get worse.
He’s actually much better against breaking balls than fastballs. Throwing a curveball at the incorrect spot will get clobbered by him.
He just cannot time his swing against fastballs as well as off-speed pitches.
Thank god heim is no longer a ranger. He’s been a mariner killer. If ford leave in a trade I wouldn’t mine signing him as cals backup.
When Heim and the Rangers came into Anaheim the last 2 seasons The people who put anecdotes on the message board put up the following “Ranger Catcher Jonah missed a golden opportunity to name his daughter Ana.”