Rangers Place Evan Carter On 10-Day IL With Oblique Strain
Rangers outfielder Evan Carter is heading to the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, the team announced. The Rangers recalled infielder/outfielder Cody Freeman from Triple-A Round Rock to take Carter’s roster spot.
Injuries have been an all-too-frequent occurrence during a frustrating career for Carter, who left a loss to the Red Sox on Friday with what was described as soreness. He will now hit the IL for the fifth time since he debuted in September 2023. The 23-year-old appeared in just 108 of a possible 324 regular-season games from 2024-25. Carter had been much healthier this year until this injury cropped up, as he played in 66 of the Rangers’ first 69 games. The severity of his latest malady is unclear, but oblique problems often lead to lengthy absences.
The lefty-swinging Carter looked like a future star when the Rangers promoted him to the majors. He slashed .306/.413/.645 over a 23-game, 75-plate appearance span to close out the regular season. Carter followed that up by hitting .300/.417/.500 in 72 trips to the plate during a playoff run that concluded with the Rangers’ World Series victory over the Diamondbacks.
Carter was riding plenty of momentum going into 2024, but lower back troubles held him to 45 games and kept him out from late May onward. He hit a meek .188/.272/.361 with five home runs in 162 plate appearances that year. Carter’s performance improved in 2025, in which he batted .247/.336/.392 with five HRs and 14 stolen bases, but quadriceps, back and wrist troubles limited him to 63 games and 220 PA.
While Carter has been the Rangers’ primary center fielder this year, his offense has backslid. He is going on the shelf with a .176/.292/.321 line, six homers and 10 steals in 229 trips to the plate. Carter’s .209 batting average on balls in play suggests he has been unlucky, but his xBA, xSLG and xwOBA all rank in the league’s bottom 19th percentile or worse. Lefties have been especially hard on Carter, who has gone a miserable 1 for 27 with a single, 11 strikeouts and three walks against them.
Michael Helman, the Rangers’ second option in center this year, will start there on Saturday against the Red Sox. He could get most of the work at the position while Carter is out. Corner outfielders Wyatt Langford and Brandon Nimmo also have experience in center, though the latter hasn’t seen much action there since 2023.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images
Rangers Select Joe Ross, Designate Michel Otañez
The Rangers announced that they have selected right-hander Joe Ross from Triple-A Round Rock and designated fellow righty Michel Otañez for assignment. They optioned righty Luis Curvelo to Round Rock to clear a 26-man roster spot for Ross.
While Ross went 25th overall to the Padres in the 2011 draft, he has spent the majority of his career in Washington. He debuted in 2015 and went on to combine for 3.52 ERA over 181 2/3 innings, 35 appearances and 32 starts in his first two seasons. Thanks in part to injury problems, the two-time Tommy John patient’s effectiveness has dropped off since 2017. Also a former Brewer, Phillie and Diamondback, Ross has pitched to a 4.37 ERA in 572 major league frames.
Ross was out of the league from 2022-23 and has since worked almost exclusively in relief. The 33-year-old cracked the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day roster this season, but they designated him for assignment after he coughed up eight earned runs on seven hits and four walks in a three-appearance, 3 2/3-inning span. After the D-backs released Ross in late May, he quickly joined the Rangers on a minor league pact. Ross has since made seven relief appearances with Round Rock and registered a quality 2.92 ERA in 12 1/3 innings, though he has managed just eight strikeouts against five walks.
The Diamondbacks cut Ross when he was just one day shy of reaching eight years of big league service time. He will hit that mark in his return Saturday. Meanwhile, Otañez will go into DFA limbo for up to a week. The Rangers claimed him off waivers from the Athletics last November, but the hard-throwing 28-year-old has not gotten to the majors this season. Texas booted him from its 40-man roster after he logged a 6.15 ERA with high strikeout and walk rates of 30.8 and 20.8 percent, respectively, in 26 1/3 innings with Round Rock. In 39 1/3 frames with the A’s from 2024-25, Otañez notched a 4.81 ERA with a 34.1 percent strikeout rate and a 14.1 percent walk rate.
Rangers Trade Richie Martin Jr. To Rockies
The Rangers have traded Richie Martin Jr. to the Rockies, according to the infielder’s transaction log on MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Albuquerque. There’s no word on what Colorado is sending Texas in return, although it’s likely cash considerations.
Martin, now 31, was the Athletics’ first-round pick in the 2015 draft. Three years later, the Orioles took him with the first pick in the 2018 Rule 5 draft. He would play 120 games for Baltimore in his rookie season and another 50 between 2021 and ’22. Throughout his time with the O’s, he hit .212 with seven home runs and a .572 OPS, swiping 13 bases on 17 attempts. In the field, he mostly played shortstop, though he also started a handful of games at second base. Defensive metrics like DRS and OAA rated him as a well-below-average glove. All told, Martin produced -1.1 fWAR in 170 games from 2019-22. He has not played in the majors since.
Over the last few years, Martin has signed minor league contracts with the Reds, Nationals, Angels, and Rangers. He also spent time in the independent Atlantic League. In a total of 316 games at the Triple-A level, he owns a .238/.339/.352 slash line with 12 home runs, 95 stolen bases, and an 84 wRC+. He will now offer the Rockies some infield depth with MLB experience.
Rangers Release Sam Haggerty
The Rangers have released utilityman Sam Haggerty, according to his MLB.com transaction tracker. The veteran was designated for assignment on Friday. He’s now on the open market.
The Rangers still owe Haggerty the remaining money on his $1.25MM deal. Another team can add him and pay him the prorated league minimum while he’s on the roster. That figure would be subtracted from Texas’ total.
The 32-year-old Haggerty slashed .159/.213/.182 in limited playing time this year. He’s typically punched out at a slightly above-average clip, but his strikeout rate has jumped to 34.0% in 2026. Haggerty’s two steals were largely the extent of his offensive contributions. He no longer has high-end wheels, though he still ranks in the 75th percentile for sprint speed.
Haggerty has experience at all three outfield spots and every infield spot except shortstop. He’s only played center field and left field with the Rangers this season, but his versatility could attract another club. Haggerty was a league-average hitter as recently as last season. He delivered a 98 wRC+ in 64 games with Texas. The veteran chipped in a dozen stolen bases. The performance was enough to earn a seven-figure commitment from the Rangers over the winter.
Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
Rangers, Elias Díaz Agree To Major League Contract
June 6: Texas has officially announced the deal. Diaz will take the big-league roster spot of Jansen, who is heading to the 10-day injured list with a forearm strain. With the addition of Diaz, the Rangers’ 40-man roster is now full.
June 5: The Rangers are in agreement on a major league deal with veteran catcher Elias Díaz, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. The ACES client recently became a free agent after being waived by the Royals.
Texas designated Sam Haggerty for assignment on Friday afternoon, so they have an opening on the 40-man roster. They’ll need to clear an active roster spot once Díaz reports to the team. Texas has a veteran catching tandem of Danny Jansen and Kyle Higashioka.
Higashioka has earned the recent playing time with hits in four straight games, including a home run off Parker Messick in tonight’s 3-2 win over the Guardians. Jansen has had a tough year, batting .171/.277/.309 across 142 plate appearances. He’s a couple months into a two-year, $14.5MM free agent contract. Jansen doesn’t figure to be in jeopardy of losing his roster spot at this point.
That seemingly points to a three-catcher arrangement for the time being. Texas just activated Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford from the injured list to put their lineup pretty close to full strength. Ezequiel Duran can move back from shortstop to second base, pushing Nicky Lopez to a bench role. He and Jansen have five-plus service years and cannot be sent to the minors without their consent. Michael Helman and Justin Foscue each can be optioned. Foscue’s start at designated hitter tonight was his first time in the lineup since May 27.
Díaz will be accustomed to a depth role. He spent more than a month on Kansas City’s roster as a third catcher behind Salvador Perez and Carter Jensen. He started seven of 10 games and tallied 23 plate appearances. Díaz popped a couple home runs and doubles apiece. He’s coming off a .204/.270/.337 season over a much bigger body of work with the Padres.
The 35-year-old is best known for his surprise All-Star Game MVP win as a member of the Rockies back in 2023, but he has been more of a backup over the past few seasons. He has a good arm and has graded as a solid receiving catcher in recent years after struggling with pitch framing early in his career.
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
Rangers Re-Sign Josh Sborz To Minor League Deal
The Rangers are re-signing reliever Josh Sborz to a minor league contract, reports Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. He’d been granted his release earlier in the week.
Sborz pitched parts of four MLB seasons with Texas between 2021-24. While he had a mostly nondescript 4.86 earned run average across 150 regular season innings, he carved out a place in team history in October ’23. Sborz worked 12 frames of one-run ball over 10 appearances during the Rangers title run. He was one of Bruce Bochy’s top setup arms and fired 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the save in the World Series clinching Game 5 at Chase Field.
Shoulder problems have mostly hampered him since that triumphant moment. Sborz was limited to 16 2/3 innings in 2024. He missed all of last season working back from a debridement procedure, as he encountered a setback during a brief minor league rehab attempt. Texas opted not to tender him an arbitration contract but was able to retain him via minor league deal.
The 32-year-old has been healthy this year but hasn’t pitched well enough to earn a roster spot. Sborz allowed 13 runs across 14 1/3 innings at Triple-A Round Rock. He fanned 17 of 65 opponents (26.1%) but issued nine walks and gave up six home runs. He spent a month working on his mechanics outside of game action before being reassigned to Double-A a couple weeks ago. Texas bumped him back to Round Rock on May 27. He allowed hits to five of 10 batters faced in two innings before briefly testing the market.
It’s not uncommon for players to re-sign on a minor league deal after triggering an opt-out. They get a couple days to gauge whether there are better paths to an MLB opportunity elsewhere. The new deal could have a slightly higher minor league salary and include new upward mobility/opt-out chances that weren’t in the previous agreement.
Rangers Release Ryan Brasier
The Rangers released veteran reliever Ryan Brasier from their Triple-A affiliate, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. Brasier had been pitching well and was cut loose on June 1, which suggests there may have been an opt-out date in his contract with Texas. He joins righty Josh Sborz, also released from the Rangers’ Round Rock affiliate yesterday, in returning to the open market.
Brasier signed a minor league deal with Texas in the offseason. He was in big league camp this spring but opted out of that original minor league pact when he was told he wouldn’t make the roster. The 38-year-old righty and Texas native eventually re-signed on a new minor league deal but hasn’t gotten a call to the majors despite solid results in the upper minors.
In 22 2/3 innings with the Express this season, Brasier has posted a respectable 3.97 ERA with more encouraging rate stats. He’s set down an above-average 24.5% of his opponents on strikes, turned in a sharp 6.4% walk rate and induced grounders at a hearty 47.6% clip. He’s yielded only two round-trippers thus far — an average of 0.79 per nine innings pitched.
Brasier’s velocity has been on the decline for a few seasons now, as one would expect for a veteran who’s in his 20th professional season and approaching his 39th birthday (in August). He’s no longer averaging the 96 mph he was at his peak, but the 93.9 mph he’s averaged in Round Rock this season is right in line with the 94 mph he averaged in the Cubs’ bullpen last year; Brasier tossed 26 innings with a 4.50 ERA in Chicago last year (with a more impressive 3.74 SIERA and 3.17 FIP).
Brasier has pitched in parts of nine major league seasons and accrued more than eight years of MLB service time. He made brief MLB debut with the 2013 Angels but didn’t settle in as a consistent big leaguer until an age-29 stint in Japan with the Hiroshima Carp helped to turn his career around. A nice performance in Japan landed him a minor league deal with the Red Sox, and he broke out with a 1.60 ERA in 33 2/3 frames for their World Series-winning club in 2018.
Since that return from NPB, Brasier carries a 3.96 ERA in 302 1/3 frames. As previously mentioned, the stuff isn’t where it was in his early 30s, but even over the past three seasons, Brasier has worked to a solid 3.48 earned run average while fanning a league-average 22.3% of his opponents. His command has sharpened in the late stages of his career; Brasier has posted a sub-5% walk rate in three of the past four seasons, including each of the past two.
There are plenty of teams around the league in far more dire need of bullpen help than Texas. Rangers relievers have combined for a 3.39 ERA that ranks eighth-best in the sport. They’ve struggled a bit more over the past month (4.43 earned run average), but they ostensibly preferred to give rookie left-hander Robby Ahlstrom (just selected to the roster yesterday) a look over a more veteran option like Brasier or Sborz. Brasier’s track record and solid performance in Triple-A this year ought to earn him an opportunity with another organization before long — perhaps even a major league deal.
Rangers Release Josh Sborz
The Rangers have granted reliever Josh Sborz his release from a minor league contract, reports Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. The righty’s deal contained an unspecified June opt-out date. It’s not clear if Sborz formally opted out or if Texas preemptively released him after determining he wouldn’t make the MLB club.
Sborz pitched parts of four MLB seasons with Texas between 2021-24. While he had a mostly nondescript 4.86 earned run average across 150 regular season innings, he carved out a place in team history in October ’23. Sborz worked 12 frames of one-run ball over 10 appearances during the Rangers title run. He was one of Bruce Bochy’s top setup arms and fired 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the save in the World Series clinching Game 5 at Chase Field.
Shoulder problems have mostly hampered him since that triumphant moment. Sborz was limited to 16 2/3 innings in 2024. He missed all of last season working back from a debridement procedure, as he encountered a setback during a brief minor league rehab attempt. Texas opted not to tender him an arbitration contract but was able to retain him via minor league deal.
The 32-year-old has been healthy this year but hasn’t pitched well enough to earn a roster spot. Sborz allowed 13 runs across 14 1/3 innings at Triple-A Round Rock. He fanned 17 of 65 opponents (26.1%) but issued nine walks and gave up six home runs. He spent a month working on his mechanics outside of game action before being reassigned to Double-A a couple weeks ago. Texas bumped him back to Round Rock on May 27. He allowed hits to five of 10 batters faced in two innings before the release.
It’d be surprising if Sborz secures a major league deal given his recent form. He’ll presumably look for a new landing spot on a minor league contract in an effort to get on track. Sborz’s 93.4 mph average fastball speed in Triple-A this year is down a couple ticks from his peak.
Rangers Place Chris Martin On IL With Shoulder Impingement
The Rangers announced a series of roster moves prior to tonight’s game. They selected the contract of left-hander Robby Ahlstrom, recalled infielder/outfielder Cody Freeman and recalled right-hander Luis Curvelo. In corresponding active roster moves, they optioned right-hander Gavin Collyer, placed infielder/outfielder Sam Haggerty on the bereavement/family medical emergency list and placed righty Chris Martin on the 15-day IL due to a shoulder impingement. Martin’s move is retroactive to May 31st. To open a 40-man spot for Ahlstrom, left-hander Robert Garcia has been transferred to the 60-day IL. MLBTR covered the Ahlstrom move earlier today.
Martin will celebrate his 40th birthday while on the injured list, as he hits that milestone tomorrow. Despite his age, he has remained an effective reliever, or at least he had until recently. Last year, he made 49 appearances for the Rangers with a 2.98 earned run average. Though he had previously said 2025 would very likely be his last season, he signed up for another campaign, with Texas giving him a $4MM guarantee.
The results have been far worse this time, with the shoulder probably playing a notable role. This is already his second IL stint for a shoulder impingement this year, the first one spanning a little over a month from mid-April to mid-May. Around the IL stints, he has made 12 appearances but has been lit up for a 7.84 ERA. He hasn’t been helped by a .417 batting average on balls in play but his 14.3% strikeout rate and 30.8% ground ball rate are both well south of last year, when he punched out 24.7% of opponents and induced grounders on 42.6% of balls in play.
The Rangers haven’t yet provided any info about how long they expect Martin to be out of action. Ideally, this second IL stint will result in more proper healing, which could lead to better results once he is back on the mound.
As for Garcia, he was placed on the 15-day IL over a month ago, on April 20th. His 60-day count is retroactive to that date, so he will be eligible for reinstatement in a few weeks. A couple of days ago, manager Skip Schumaker said that Garcia is still weeks away, per Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. Whenever Garcia is healthy, he can start a rehab assignment, even if he’s still within that 60-day window. Rehab assignments for pitchers can last as long as 30 days.
Photo courtesy of Jim Cowsert, Imagn Images