Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rangers Rumors

MLBTR Podcast: Firings in Washington, Bad Braves, And An AL East Shake-Up

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Rangers Re-Sign Billy McKinney To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Rangers re-signed Billy McKinney to a minor league contract, reports Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News. The lefty-hitting outfielder had elected free agency yesterday after going unclaimed on outright waivers.

McKinney was very briefly on the MLB roster. Texas selected his contract last Tuesday when Evan Carter was on bereavement leave. He played twice during Carter’s three days away before being designated for assignment once the younger outfielder returned. McKinney was ripping the ball before his promotion. He hit .295/.433/.487 with 17 walks and 22 strikeouts through 97 plate appearances with Triple-A Round Rock. It’s a marked improvement over his .184/.285/.307 showing with the Mets’ top affiliate earlier in the year.

A former first-round pick and top prospect, McKinney has appeared in parts of eight MLB seasons. Texas is his eighth club, as he has only appeared in more than 50 games for one franchise (the Blue Jays). He’s a career .208/.283/.384 hitter in 951 big league plate appearances. McKinney has logged over 1500 trips to the dish in Triple-A, where he owns a .268/.358/.487 slash line.

Billy McKinney Elects Free Agency

By | at

3:55pm: McKinney has elected free agency, per an announcement from the Rangers.

3:06pm: The Rangers have sent outfielder Billy McKinney outright to Triple-A Round Rock, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency but the log doesn’t indicate whether or not he will do so.

McKinney, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers at the end of May after being released from a minor league deal with the Mets. Texas added him to the roster but his stint in the majors was predictably brief. He was added to give the club an extra outfielder while Evan Carter was on the bereavement list. Carter returned three days later and McKinney was bumped back off the roster. As he’s out of options, McKinney had to be bumped off the 40-man, not just the active roster.

In that short window, McKinney got into two games and stepped to the plate eight times, recording one single, one walk and one strikeout. He now has a career batting line of .208/.283/.384 in 951 plate appearances dating back to his 2018 debut, with that production translating to a wRC+ of 79.

His minor league production this year was enticing but also nothing new for him. He slashed .295/.433/.487 for a 136 wRC+ in 24 games for the Express before being called up. Dating back to 2018, the year he first made it to the big leagues, he has a combined .259/.364/.471 line and 116 wRC+ on the farm. That had led to plenty of big league chances, with McKinney having spent time with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, Athletics, Yankees again, Pirates and then the Rangers.

He hasn’t been able to translate his big league chances into much success, which has led to him exhausting his option years, thus propelling him into journeyman status. If he elects free agency this week, he can see what other opportunities are out there for him. If he decides to report to Round Rock, he could hope for big league playing time later in the year. An injury could pop up at any time and Adolis García is a plausible deadline trade candidate.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Rangers To Sign Rowdy Tellez To Minor League Deal

By | at

TODAY: The deal between the Rangers and Tellez is now official, as relayed by Sean McFarland of the Dallas Morning News. Tellez will report to Triple-A for tonight’s game.

July 4: The Rangers are signing free agent Rowdy Tellez to a minor league contract, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. Tellez was released by the Mariners last week.

Now more than ever, Tellez seems to be a one-dimensional player, offering big power against right-handed pitching and not much else. He has put up negative defensive metrics at first base in every season of his career, including -5 DRS and -5 OAA in 393 innings this year with Seattle. Unsurprisingly, he is also a poor baserunner, with the second-slowest sprint speed among qualified runners in 2025. According to FanGraphs, he has also produced negative baserunning value in all eight seasons of his career.

Of course, no one ever expected Tellez to be a valuable defender or baserunner. What was surely more disappointing to the Mariners were his declining contact and on-base skills. He was chasing and whiffing significantly more than he had in recent years, and the result was his worst walk-to-strikeout ratio since his first big league cup of coffee in 2018. His power was still present. Indeed, he was barrelling balls up at the highest rate of his career (15.9%), and accordingly, he crushed six doubles and 11 home runs in just 62 games and 185 trips to the plate. Yet, despite the fact that the Mariners shielded him from left-handed pitching so effectively, his worsened plate discipline canceled out his .891 OPS on contact, and his overall batting line with Seattle was below league average (92 wRC+).

With all that said, Tellez’s .217 BABIP with the Mariners was well below his .259 career average entering the season, and the 54-point gap between his .293 wOBA and .347 xwOBA is the 12th-highest in the league (min. 180 PA). So, there is still some reason to believe that Tellez can overcome his shortcomings to be a productive major leaguer in 2025. And if any team is going to give him the chance to try, it makes sense that it’s the Rangers. Their team-wide 91 wRC+ against right-handed pitching is the fifth-worst in the sport, ahead of only the Pirates, Royals, White Sox, and Rockies. With Joc Pederson still weeks away from making his return from the IL, signing Tellez is a low-risk and potentially high-reward move by Texas.

Billy Hunter Passes Away

By | at

Former big league player, coach, and manager Billy Hunter passed away at age 97 earlier this week, the Orioles announced.  Long associated with the Orioles organization for most of his career, Hunter was the last surviving player who played for both the St. Louis Browns (the Orioles’ previous incarnation) and for the franchise’s first season in Baltimore in 1954.

A veteran of six MLB seasons overall, Hunter made his big league debut with the Browns in 1953 and was an All-Star as a rookie, quickly gaining notice for his strong glovework at shortstop.  Following the now-Orioles’ 1954 debut season, the club included Hunter as part of the largest trade ever in terms of pure volume — a 17-player swap between the Orioles and Yankees that sent Hunter to the Bronx as part of a trade package that also included future Cy Young Award winner Bob Turley and World Series perfect game hero Don Larsen.

Hunter saw a good chunk of playing time at shortstop in 1955, but the Yankees went with longtime shortstop Phil Rizzuto down the stretch and into the postseason.  Shifted into more of a clear backup role in 1956, Hunter nevertheless earned a ring for his contributions to the Yankees’ championship season, though he didn’t see any action during the 1956 World Series.  New York then sent Hunter to the Athletics that offseason as part of another gigantic deal, this time a 14-player swap that saw such notables as Clete Boyer, Bobby Shantz, and Art Ditmar head to the Yankees.  Hunter spent parts of the 1957 and 1958 seasons with the A’s, and finished his Major League career with 76 games with the Indians in 1958.

After a year of minor league ball, Hunter transitioned into a scouting role, and then worked as a minor league manager in the Orioles’ farm system.  This work led to a job as Baltimore’s third base coach, a role Hunter held from 1964-77.  He left the coaching staff in June 1977 to become the Rangers’ new manager, and Texas promptly went 60-33 with Hunter in the dugout.  Though the Rangers still won 87 games in 1978, Hunter was fired before the final day of the regular season.  That was his last gig in pro baseball, as Hunter went onto become a baseball coach and then athletic director at Towson State University.

Hunter appeared in 630 career games and hit .219/.264/.294 over 2052 plate appearances in the majors.  His career resume includes that first-year All-Star nod, as well as three World Series titles — his 1956 ring with the Yankees, and two as a coach with Baltimore in 1966 and 70.  The Orioles inducted Hunter into their franchise Hall of Fame in 1996.

We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Hunter’s family, friends, and loved ones.

Rangers Designate Billy McKinney For Assignment

By | at

With Evan Carter returning from the bereavement list today, the Rangers have designated Billy McKinney for assignment. It was a quick stint in Arlington for the 30-year-old outfielder.

McKinney signed a minor league contract with the Rangers in May after he was released by the Mets. Following a strong month at Triple-A Round Rock, he got the call to the majors earlier this week when Carter was placed on the bereavement list. He went 1-for-7 with a walk and a run in two games. While he didn’t get much of a chance to prove himself for Texas, his .295/.433/.487 slash line and 137 wRC+ for Round Rock might be enough to convince a team in need of outfield depth or a lefty bench bat to take a chance on him via trade or a waiver claim.

A first-round pick in 2013, McKinney has never been able to live up to that billing. He has, however, carved out a legitimate major league career for himself. He has appeared in the majors each year since 2018, suiting up for the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, Athletics, Pirates, and Rangers. He also spent time in the Cubs’ minor league system early in his career. Over the past eight years, he has appeared at all three outfield spots as well as first base and DH, playing a total of 323 MLB games. He will look to increase that number once his DFA is resolved.

As for the Rangers, they are surely pleased to have Carter’s hot bat back in their lineup and his glove back in center field. The 22-year-old has an .816 OPS and a 133 wRC+ this season, and a .965 OPS and 173 wRC+ over the past month. He has also compiled 2 DRS and 3 OAA in center field and has yet to make an error all season. Even better, the Rangers are also hoping to have Wyatt Langford back from the injured list this weekend. Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News notes that Langford is eligible to return tomorrow and reports that the young outfielder is already back in the clubhouse ahead of today’s game.

Rangers Option Josh Jung

By | at

The Rangers announced today that they have reinstated infielder Jake Burger from the 10-day injured list. Fellow infielder Josh Jung has been optioned to Triple-A Round Rock as the corresponding move, the first time in his career he’s been optioned to the minors.

The move highlights what a tough time Jung has been having of late. Since the calendar flipped to June, he has produced an awful .158/.208/.221 slash line in 101 plate appearances. His 19 wRC+ in that time is the third-worst mark in the majors, ahead of just Brenton Doyle and Michael Harris II.

“He keeps working, but I don’t know what else to tell you,” manager Bruce Bochy said this week, per Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. “If it’s, you know, another break, and you have to do it, it’s a performance-based game, as we always say. We’ve got to find a way to score runs. … We do have some options if we have to give a guy a break.”

The lack of performance was naturally not lost on Jung himself. “I haven’t been very good,” he said on Monday, per Grant. “It’s been the worst [month] ever. I’m just trying to stay in my routine and make adjustments. It’s a daily grind, daily battle, but I’m doing everything I can. It’s frustrating. It’s hard. But this game isn’t easy. It’s just me versus me right now.”

Grant also relays that the club wants Jung to work on fastballs up-and-in, a pitch that he hasn’t been able to lay off of, with one of the worst rates in the majors for swinging at such pitches outside  the strike zone.

It’s a stark contrast to Jung’s previous work. The eighth overall pick in the 2019 draft, Jung got a cup of coffee in the majors in 2022. He got a fuller opportunity in 2023 and ran with it, hitting .266/.315/.467 in 122 games. He then hit .308/.329/.538 in 17 postseason games, helping the Rangers win their first title in franchise history. Last year, a right wrist fracture limited him to 46 games but he still put up a stout .264/.298/.421 line when on the field. Here in 2025, he was doing fine before the month of June, as he was sporting a .277/.321/.440 line at the end of May.

It seems possible that the book is out on him, which has led to his aforementioned struggles with those up-and-in fastballs. That’s been one part of a larger team-wide lack of offense this year, as the Rangers have a collective .228/.296/.366 batting line. Their 87 wRC+ is only better than four teams: the Royals, Pirates, White Sox and Rockies. Ezequiel Durán played third last night and is in there again tonight. He’s been even worse than Jung, with a .145/.229/.226 line this year, but the Rangers are probably hoping that Jung can quickly find his form and retake the job.

How that plays out could impact the club’s deadline plans. They are currently 42-44 and 2.5 games back of a playoff spot in the American League. If they can hang in the race and Jung is still struggling, perhaps the club would look to external third base options, or they could perhaps move Josh Smith over to the hot corner and leave Burger in charge of first base. That would open the designated hitter spot for the return of Joc Pederson or someone else on the roster. There are a few moving pieces there and the situation could change in a few different ways in the coming weeks.

For Jung personally, the length of this rehab assignment could impact him professionally. He came into this year with two years and 27 days of service time. By my count, he has added 97 days so far this year, getting him to 2.124. That’s 48 days shy of the three-year mark. If he’s recalled by the middle of August, he could still get over the three-year line before the offseason. If not, then his path to free agency would be pushed by a year. As of now, he may have enough service time to qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player, depending on where this year’s cutoff ultimately falls. Any service time he could add later in the year would increase his chances of qualifying for arb, while hitting the three-year line would guarantee it.

Photos courtesy of Jerome Miron and Kevin Jairaj, Imagn Images

Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

By | at

Kevin Pillar is hanging up his Superman cape. On an appearance on Foul Territory, he announced that he is retiring from playing. He was with the Rangers earlier this year but was released about a month ago.

Pillar, now 36, was able to engineer an incredible zero-to-hero career. The Blue Jays drafted him in the 32nd round of the 2011 draft. But despite that humble beginning, he would not only make it to the big leagues but he would stick around for more than a decade.

His best asset was his defense, as he quickly earned a reputation for making highlight-reel catches, often diving horizontally in a way that earned him his Superman nickname. He got some limited big league time in 2013 and 2014 before fully cementing himself as a big leaguer in 2015.

That year, he got into 159 games for the Jays, producing a batting line of .278/.314/.399. His 94 wRC+ indicated he was 6% below league average at the plate, but that was more than adequate to pair with his other attributes. He stole 25 bases and received strong grades for his glovework, leading FanGraphs to credit him with 3.7 wins above replacement. That played a big role in getting the Jays to the postseason for the first time since 1993. Though the club was eventually felled by the Royals in the ALCS, the Jays got José Bautista’s legendary bat flip game along the way.

That would ultimately prove to be an apex for Pillar. He never again stole more than 15 bases nor topped a 90 wRC+ in a full season. But he still proved to be a useful player in generally the same shape, with his speed and defense making up for some subpar offense. From 2016 to 2018, he got into 442 games for the Jays, slashing .258/.296/.401 for an 86 wRC+ and producing 4.5 fWAR.

By the time the 2019 season had rolled around, Pillar was 30 years old and the Jays were rebuilding. Early that year, he was flipped to the Giants, which started the journeyman period of his career. Over the next few years, he would bounce to the Red Sox, Rockies, Mets, Dodgers, Braves, White Sox, Angels and Rangers. Though he had moved into his 30s, his performance was roughly the same as before, though with his glovework naturally slipping a bit. Over those 2019-25 seasons, he played 544 games and hit .246/.284/.415 for an 85 wRC+ and produced 2.4 fWAR.

Most recently, he had a stint with the Rangers but hit just .209/.209/.256 in 20 games before getting designated for assignment and released. He had flirted with retirement before but now seems to have decided that it’s time to hang up the spikes.

Any 32nd-round pick making it to the big leagues is exceedingly rare. In fact, the draft was shortened to 20 rounds a few years ago, so it likely won’t happen again. Pillar not only made it, but he got into 1,234 games over 13 seasons. He racked up 1,053 hits, including 114 home runs. He was credited with 10.8 WAR from FanGraphs and 16.1 from Baseball Reference. He earned about $25MM in his career, according to Baseball Reference. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Pillar on an impressive career and wish him the best with whatever comes next.

Rangers Select Billy McKinney, Transfer Tyler Mahle To 60-Day IL

By | at

The Rangers have selected the contract of outfielder Billy McKinney and placed outfielder Evan Carter on the bereavement list, per a team announcement. Injured righty Tyler Mahle moves from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. That move was largely a formality in the wake of the revelation that Mahle will be sidelined beyond the July 31 trade deadline due to his current rotator cuff strain. Texas also recalled righty Dane Dunning from Triple-A Round Rock and and optioned fellow righty Cole Winn to Round Rock in his place.

McKinney, 31 next month, is a former first-round pick and top prospect who has moved into a journeyman phase of his career. He opened the season on a minor league deal with the Mets but was released in mid-May after some considerable struggles with their Triple-A club in Syracuse. He caught on with the Rangers and has clobbered Triple-A pitching in his new environs, slashing .295/.433/.487 in 24 games and 97 plate appearances in the organization.

The Rangers, McKinney’s eighth big league team, represent a homecoming opportunity for McKinney. He’s not only a Texas native but a graduate of Plano West High School, located just about 30 miles northeast of Globe Life Field. It could be a short stay with his hometown club, as Carter is eligible to be reinstated as soon as Friday.

McKinney has also played with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Mets, Brewers, Dodgers, A’s and Pirates. He’s appeared in 321 major league games and tallied 943 plate appearances, slashing .209/.284/.386 with 34 homers, a 9% walk rate and a 26.8% strikeout rate in that time.

Mahle hasn’t pitched since June 10, when he yielded four runs against his former Twins teammates. He’s had a strong season in terms of bottom-line run prevention numbers, with a 2.34 ERA in 77 frames. However, Mahle’s subpar 18.2% strikeout rate, .253 average on balls in play, 4.6% homer-to-flyball rate and 82.3% strand rate all point to some potential regression; his 4.61 SIERA is more than two runs higher than his actual ERA.

Regardless, Mahle was a dependable arm for the Rangers when healthy and would either have been a key member of the rotation in the season’s second half or a trade chip of some note heading into the deadline — depending on which direction the Rangers choose. It’s still possible he’ll be traded if the Rangers sell off, given his status as a free agent at season’s end, but the injury creates plenty of uncertainty surrounding his status and hampers Texas’ ability to extract a return of much note.

Tucker Barnhart To Retire

By | at

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 signing 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.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top