Rangers Designate Sam Haggerty For Assignment

The Rangers announced that infielder Corey Seager and outfielder Wyatt Langford have each been reinstated from the injured list. Infielder/outfielder Cody Freeman and outfielder Alejandro Osuna were optioned in corresponding active roster moves. Additionally, the Rangers reinstated infielder/outfielder Sam Haggerty from the bereavement/family medical emergency list and designated him for assignment.

Seager hit the IL a little over two weeks ago due to low back inflammation. His absence wasn’t too bad since Ezequiel Durán has stepped in and is having a good season, currently sporting a .287/.340/.454 line. He has played well enough to stay in the regular lineup, probably at second.

Josh Smith had that spot earlier in the year but struggled before hitting the IL with a glute strain. While on the IL, he was set back by meningitis and his timeline is still unclear. Justin Foscue held second for a while and hit well but some shaky defense led the Rangers to go with Nicky Lopez, who is good with the glove but is hitting .226/.250/.323.

Langford hit the IL three weeks into April due to a flexor strain. It was initially hoped that he would only require a minimal stint on the IL but it turned into an absence of over six weeks. He’ll now jump back into the regular outfield group alongside Brandon Nimmo and Evan Carter.

Haggerty signed a minor league deal with the Rangers ahead of the 2025 season. He was added to the roster in May and held that spot for the rest of the season. He hit .253/.328/.370, stole 12 bases and split his time between second base and the outfield. The Rangers were happy enough with that production to tender him a contract for 2026, agreeing to a $1.25MM deal in November.

Unfortunately, his numbers have backed up this year, as he is hitting just .15/.213/.182. He is only walking in 4.3% of his plate appearances and is striking out at a huge 34% clip. The Rangers have decided to move on.

Haggerty has at least five years of big league service time. That means he has the right to reject outright assignments in favor of free agency while keeping his salary commitments in place. The Rangers might skip that formality and release him. Either way, he will likely be on the open market in the coming days. In that scenario, the Rangers would remain on the hook for the money. Another club could then sign him and pay him only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what Texas pays.

Though his numbers have been poor this season, he could garner interest based on his track record. He has often been a solid utility guy, like he was for the Rangers just last year. From 2020 to 2023, he slashed .241/.322/.365 for the Mariners while stealing 32 bases and bouncing around the diamond. An Achilles tear wiped out most of his 2024, leading to a non-tender. That allowed the Rangers to scoop him up and benefit from last year’s bounceback.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images