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Rangers Fire Offensive Coordinator Donnie Ecker

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The Rangers announced that offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker has been fired after three-plus seasons in his role.  No replacement was named, as the press release announcing the move stated that “the structure of the club’s hitting staff is expected to be addressed in the coming days.”

“After lengthy discussions and deliberations, we feel now is the appropriate time to provide our hitters with a new voice as we pursue goals of winning the division and reaching the postseason,” Texas president of baseball operations Chris Young said in the press release.  “We are extremely grateful to Donnie for all that he has accomplished here with the Rangers, including his role in the club’s 2023 World Series championship.  We wish him the best.”

The news comes in the aftermath of the Rangers’ 8-1 win over the Mariners today, which marked just the third time this season that Texas had scored eight or more runs in a game.  The Rangers entered today’s action ranked near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories, and carried a team-wide .224/.280/.357 slash line and 82 wRC+ prior to today’s breakout against Seattle.

Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia are two of the most prominent under-performing regulars, while offseason signing Joc Pederson has a hard-to-fathom 2 wRC+ through his first 91 plate appearances in a Rangers uniform.  Infielder Jake Burger was another offseason pickup who has struggled badly, and Texas already optioned him to Triple-A earlier this week.  Leody Taveras has usually been a glove-first player anyway, but the Rangers chose to put the outfielder on outright waivers today.

These are a few of the major weak links that undermined a few hot starts within the lineup (i.e. Wyatt Langford, Corey Seager, Josh Smith, Jonah Heim), and more pressingly, a fantastic early showing from the Texas rotation.  Even with so little from the offense, the Rangers have still managed an even 18-18 record thanks in large part to the outstanding starting pitching.

As always, it is unfair to point the finger at one particular coach (or coordinator, in this case) for a team’s performance.  As Young noted in his own statement, criticism of Ecker’s work should also acknowledge the fact that the Rangers were an offensive powerhouse less than two years ago when Texas won the first World Series title in franchise history.  That said, the 2024 Rangers followed up that championship season with a 78-84 record.  Inconsistent pitching was the biggest issue last year, yet the offense also slumped to a 95 wRC+, ranking 22nd of 30 teams.

Ecker is only 39 years old, yet he already has a lengthy resume with multiple teams.  He was a minor league hitting coach with various Cardinals and Angels affiliates from 2015-18, and he then moved to the big leagues as the Reds’ assistant hitting coach for the 2019 season.  Ecker was one of two hitting coaches employed by the Giants in 2020-21 before he came to Texas as both a bench coach and the “offensive coordinator” role that focused on shaping the team’s overall offensive philosophy.

The bench coach duties changed this past offseason, as Ecker became just the offensive coordinator when Luis Urueta was hired as the Rangers’ new bench coach.  Will Venable had previously been the Rangers’ associate manager before he was hired to manage the White Sox, so Urueta has apparently taken over the chief lieutenant role behind manager Bruce Bochy.  Texas also made a change at hitting coach, as Justin Viele was hired while assistant hitting coach Seth Conner was retained.

As noted by Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News, this marks the first time in Bochy’s long managerial career that one of his coaches has ever been replaced during a season.  In general, in-season coaching changes have become relatively rarer throughout baseball, since one particular coach is just one of several voices contributing to what has become an increasingly organization-wide approach to game-planning and preparation.

In the most basic sense that a coaching change can shake a team up, results have been mixed over the years.  For every instance where a team is sparked by a change (i.e. the Mariners heating up after Dan Wilson was hired as manager and Edgar Martinez was hired as hitting coach last August), you can cite another where a staffing change didn’t get a club back on track.

Since it is also just May 4, it can be argued that we’re also still in “slow start” territory, with still a relatively small sample size of evidence that something is drastically wrong with the Texas offense.  Of course, Ecker’s dismissal obviously means the Rangers didn’t feel the same way, given the abrupt and somewhat surprising nature of the firing.  It will be intriguing to see how the team responds to the change, and whether or not the Rangers fill Ecker’s role from within the organization or with a new hire.

Nick Ahmed Elects Free Agency

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Shortstop Nick Ahmed has elected to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, the team announced.  Texas designated Ahmed for assignment earlier this week.

The Rangers signed Ahmed to a minor league deal during the offseason, released him prior to Opening Day, and then brought him back on a fresh minors contract midway through April.  This latter deal paid off with some time on the big league roster, as Ahmed had his contract selected when regular shortstop Corey Seager was on the injured list.  Ahmed started three of his five games in a Rangers uniform, with one hit in 10 plate appearances.

With more than 10 years of Major League service time on his resume, Ahmed had more than enough experience to turn down outright assignments in favor of free agency, and he has taken this route multiple times over the last two seasons during past DFAs.  After spending his first 10 big league seasons with the Diamondbacks, Ahmed has bounced around to the Giants, Padres, Dodgers, and Rangers since February 2024, getting at least a bit of MLB action with all four of those teams.

The 35-year-old Ahmed might opt to re-sign with Texas again once he checks out the market, or he could seek out another opportunity with a new club.  In any case, Ahmed is likely ticketed for a glove-first depth role wherever he signs on another minor league deal.

Rangers Activate Corey Seager, Outright Dane Dunning

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The Rangers announced this afternoon that they’ve activated star shortstop Corey Seager from the injured list. Jonathan Ornelas was optioned to Triple-A in order to make room for Seager’s return to the roster. In addition, the Rangers announced the righty Dane Dunning has cleared waivers and been given an outright assignment to Triple-A.

Seager, 31, was shelved with a hamstring strain on April 23 and returns after a minimum stay on the IL. For the time being, however, he’s in the lineup at DH with Josh Smith continuing to cover shortstop for Seager. That seems to suggest that Seager is healthy enough to hit at this point but not fully recovered from his hamstring strain, so the Rangers are planning to be careful with him when it comes to fielding. Struggling DH Joc Pederson remains in the lineup today at first base, with newly-promoted first baseman Blaine Crim headed to the bench to make room for Seager. It’s unclear how long the Rangers intend to use Seager in a DH-only capacity, but for however long that lasts it seems Pederson and Crim will need to battle for playing time.

Regardless of how the first base situation plays out or when Seager returns to his short, his return is welcome news for a beleaguered Rangers lineup. Texas has sported one of the league’s weakest offenses this year thanks in large part to the struggles of Pederson, Marcus Semien, and Jake Burger. Seager’s recent absence didn’t help matters, and with him back in the lineup and Burger at Triple-A for a reset it’s possible the changes could help the club’s lineup get going. Seager’s trademark power hasn’t shown itself much so far this year, but the Rangers’ star hitter has still managed a 131 wRC+ while hitting .286/.345/.468 overall in 21 games this year.

Going to Triple-A to make room for Seager is Ornelas. The 24-year-old has been an up-and-down depth piece for the Rangers over the past three seasons and has appeared in just 30 MLB games total. A career .184/.245/.224 hitter in the microscopic sample, he went hitless in six plate appearances with a walk and three strikeouts during his brief time up with the big league club this year. He’ll head back to the team’s Round Rock affiliate and wait for his next opportunity, though his lackluster .146/.269/.146 slash line at Triple-A to open the year will need to improve in a big way for Ornelas to get a more serious look in the majors than his current role as an emergency depth piece.

As for Dunning, it’s the second time the right-hander has cleared waivers this year. He came up for a single three-inning appearance in the majors earlier this week but was cut from the roster immediately thereafter, leaving him to head back to the minors with a 6.00 ERA on the year. Dunning could theoretically choose to reject an outright assignment and test free agency, though in doing so he would forfeit the remainder of his $2.66MM salary this year. That makes the most likely outcome that Dunning will once again accept his outright assignment and pitch for Round Rock until he gets another opportunity in the majors.

Rangers Option Jake Burger

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May 2: The moves have now been officially announced by the Rangers. As reported, Crim has been selected and Ornelas recalled, with Ahmed designated for assignment and Burger optioned.

May 1: The Rangers are demoting Jake Burger to Triple-A, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. First baseman Blaine Crim will be promoted to the majors in his place, according to Rosenthal. Burger has one minor league option remaining, so the Rangers will not need to pass him through waivers in order to send him to Triple-A. Crim is not yet on the 40-man roster and will need to have his contract selected. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that the swap from Burger to Crim will be paired with the club designating shortstop Nick Ahmed for assignment to open up a 40-man roster spot for Crim. That will create a new vacancy on the roster’s bench, which Grant suggests could go to utility infielder Jonathan Ornelas.

According to Rosenthal, Burger’s demotion to the minor leagues could be a fairly short one. He reports that the Rangers’ plan is to allow Burger an opportunity to “reset” in the minor leagues before bringing him back up to the majors in the near future. At the very least, the 29-year-old will report to Round Rock for the next ten days before he can be considered for a return to the majors. That’s the minimum stay for a player optioned to the minor leagues before they can be promoted back to MLB.

Even a short stay in the minors demonstrates how difficult Burger’s start to his Rangers career has been. Acquired from the Marlins back in December in exchange for infield prospects Maximo Acosta and Echedry Vargas as well as pitching prospect Brayan Mendoza, Burger was brought in to replace Nathaniel Lowe at first base on the heels of a year-and-a-half stint with the Marlins where he slashed .265/.315/.472 with a 112 wRC+ across 190 games. Last year’s production was less impressive, however, as he posted a 106 wRC+ overall. While he slugged 29 homers in 137 games, he struck out in 25.9% of his plate appearances and got on base at a lackluster .301 clip. Still, it was an above-average profile overall and the power intrigued the Rangers enough to invest in the slugger, who will remain under team control for three more seasons after this one.

Burger is only 29 games into his career with the Rangers, but the early returns on that investment have not exactly impressed. In 105 plate appearances this year, Burger has hit just .186/.229/.330 with a well below-average wRC+ of just 55. He’s struck out at a worrisome 30.5% clip, walked in just 2.9% of his plate appearances, and has so far failed to generate the trademark power that has become his carrying tool over the years. That all came together to leave Burger with the fifth-worst season among qualified first basemen this year by wRC+ and the sixth-worst by fWAR. Perhaps a more successful team would be more willing to display patience with a newly-acquired player, but the Rangers are currently 16-16 and have fallen to fourth place in the AL West behind the Mariners, Astros, and Athletics.

Those woes can largely be attributed to a lackluster offense. There have been some major bright spots; Wyatt Langford is looking like a potential superstar, Jonah Heim, Josh Jung, and Josh Smith have all been impressive, and Corey Seager looks like his typical star-level self when healthy. Unfortunately, Seager is currently on the injured list and other key pieces of the offense expected to help carry the load in his absence like Marcus Semien, Joc Pederson, and Burger have been disappointing in the early going. Given the veteran statuses of Semien and Pederson, Burger was the only one of that struggling trio who could be optioned to the minors and therefore by far the easiest to remove from the lineup for a temporary reset.

That makes Burger’s demotion in some ways about circumstances as much as it’s about performance. After all, while Burger’s plate discipline numbers early in the season have been worrying as he’s made worse swing decisions while whiffing inside the strike zone more often as compared to last year, underlying metrics actually paint quite a rosy picture about his expected power production. The slugger’s 13.4% barrel rate is higher than last year, and the same can be said for a 49.3% hard-hit rate that actually matches his breakout 2023 season with the Marlins and White Sox. Combine Burger’s expected slugging percentage of .411 (more than 80 points higher than his actual production) and his artificially low .234 BABIP, and it’s easy to see how Burger could turn things around in relatively short order.

He’ll need to fight his way back up to the majors in order to do that, however. In the meantime, the Rangers will turn to well-regarded prospect Blaine Crim to handle first base. Crim is nearly 28 years old, making him older for a prospect, and he was drafted by the Rangers all the way back in 2019 during the 19th round of that year’s draft. Despite that age and lack of pedigree, Crim is now in his third consecutive season with impressive results at the Triple-A level, where he has a career .286/.373/.486 slash line across 308 games. Crim’s been even more impressive so far this year, with a .313/.365/.565 slash line across 126 plate appearances. If he can come up to the majors and prove he can hit at the highest level, it would hardly be a surprise to see Crim remain in the mix even after Burger returns to action. After all, Pederson typically sits against left-handed pitching, and a right-handed bat like Crim could offer the Rangers a solid platoon partner for their struggling slugger going forward.

As for Ahmed, the 35-year-old is now in his 12th season in the majors and has appeared in just four games for the Rangers this year. He’s yet to record a hit in eight trips to the plate this year but does have a walk and a run scored to go with three strikeouts. Assuming he does get designated for assignment to make room for Crim, the Rangers will have one week to either attempt to pass Ahmed through waivers or work out a trade sending him elsewhere. Should Ahmed clear waivers, he would then have the opportunity to either accept an outright assignment to the minor leagues or elect free agency instead.

Rangers Sign Ty Blach To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have signed southpaw Ty Blach to a minor league deal, MLBTR’s Steve Adams reports. The veteran elected free agency shortly after the 2024 regular season came to a close abut is now set to join a new organization for just the fourth time in his career. He’s represented by Sports Pro Services.

Blach, 34, has pitched in the majors in parts of seven MLB seasons. A fifth-rounder drafted by the Giants all the way back in 2012, the lefty didn’t make his big league debut until the 2016 campaign. That initial cup of coffee went extremely well, as Blach pitched to a 1.06 ERA and 3.62 FIP in 17 innings of work across two starts and two relief appearances. He took on a much larger role with the Giants over the next two years and turned in slightly below-average results as the club’s primary swingman. From 2017 to 2018, Blach pitched to a pedestrian 4.56 ERA (89 ERA+) despite a 4.18 FIP but made up for that lack of impressive rate production with volume. He threw 282 1/3 innings total while splitting time between the rotation and bullpen, making 37 starts and 44 relief appearances in total.

The southpaw started the 2019 season with San Francisco as well, but he was designated for assignment and found himself claimed off waivers by the Orioles not long after. Unfortunately, Blach’s time in Baltimore did not go especially well and he finished the year with a 12.00 ERA in 27 innings of work between his two clubs. That lackluster performance led the Orioles to outright him off their 40-man roster following the 2019 season but he re-signed with the organization on a minor league deal ahead of the 2020 season. Between the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and Tommy John surgery that summer, Blach wound up not pitching for the Orioles at all in his second season with the organization.

After rehabbing in the minors with the Orioles during the 2021 season, Blach latched on with the Rockies on a minor league deal entering the 2022 campaign. It was in Colorado that he’d make his return to the majors, and he wound up spending three years in the organization on minor league deals, shuttling between Triple-A and the majors as dictated by the Rockies’ pitching needs. Blach didn’t exactly take well to pitching with the Rockies in that up-and-down role, and he’s struggled to a 6.14 ERA in 193 2/3 innings at the big league level since first signing with the Rockies prior to the 2022 season. Lackluster as that figure is, it should be noted that it’s nearly half a run higher than Blach’s FIP. On the other hand, Coors Field may not have been as big of an issue for Blach as one might expect given that his road ERA was higher than his ERA at Coors in all three of his seasons with Colorado.

Whether he’ll be able to improve in a new organization with more pitcher-friendly conditions in the majors remains to be seen, but the Rangers appear to be betting on just that by bringing him into the fold. At the very least, he should be a serviceable non-roster depth option for the club, helping to back up a rotation that’s currently relying on Patrick Corbin as its fifth starter due to injuries suffered by Kumar Rocker, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford. That starting depth took a potential additional hit earlier this week when the club designated Dane Dunning for assignment, though Dunning has already cleared waivers previously this year. Even if Blach isn’t being brought in as a potential replacement for Dunning on the depth chart, he’s still a useful arm to have in the mix in case fo further injuries in the majors.

Rangers Trade Daniel Robert To Phillies

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The Rangers have traded right-hander Daniel Robert, whom they’d recently designated for assignment, to the Phillies in exchange for minor league right-hander Enrique Segura, per announcements from both clubs. The Phillies optioned Robert to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Robert, 30, made his MLB debut with the Rangers in 2024 and pitched quite well in a small sample. He tossed 5 2/3 innings, holding opponents to two runs (3.18 ERA) on six hits and a pair of walks. He averaged just under 95 mph on his four-seamer, dodged hard contact of nearly any sort, and fanned six of his 26 opponents (23.1%).

It’s a tiny sample, of course, but Robert has also pitched well in the upper minors. It took several passes through Triple-A — he struggled there in 2022 and logged pedestrian numbers in 2023 before thriving in 2024 — but the recent results are impressive. Last year, Robert tossed 43 1/3 innings and notched a tidy 2.70 ERA. He punched out a weighty 31% of his opponents against a lower-than-average 7.7% walk rate. He’s picked up right where he left off so far in 2025, firing 11 2/3 frames with a 1.54 ERA, 34% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate.

Overall, Robert has a 2.45 ERA, 31.7% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 43.3% ground-ball rate in his past 55 Triple-A innings. That comes on top of his solid MLB debut in ’24. He’s averaged better than 95 mph during during that pair of Triple-A seasons and recorded a swinging-strike rate of nearly 14%. It’s been a nice run for the former 21st-round pick — who’s in the second of three minor league option years — making his DFA something of a surprise in the first place.

Given that recent run, it’s not a surprise that the Rangers were able to acquire a prospect in exchange for Robert — as opposed to the more common cash swaps we see involving players who’ve been designated for assignment. Segura entered the 2025 season ranked 21st among Phillies prospects, per FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen. He’s coming off a season in which he pitched well for six games with the Rangers’ Rookie-level club before moving up to Class-A at just 19 years old (about three years younger than the average player in that league).

Segura was hit hard in A-ball, as one might expect, but he’s been more effective there so far in 2025, his age-20 campaign. He posted a combined 5.76 earned run average in 75 minor league frames last year, all coming as a starter. This year, he’s tossed 17 innings with a 4.24 ERA, 25% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate. Those early rate stats represent modest gains over his 2024 levels (22 K%, 11.4 BB%).

Longenhagen highlights Segura’s projectable frame as reason to believe his stuff might play up as he continues to mature. That, paired with a smooth and repeatable delivery that is quite deceptive for right-handed opponents in particular, pushed him into the middle tiers of the Phillies’ prospect rankings at FanGraphs. Baseball America tabbed Segura 28th in Philadelphia’s system a couple years back, praising that same projectable build, his mechanics, and the potential for a plus slider.

Segura is a project, to be sure, but he’s a better prospect than most who are flipped in DFA trades, which seems reflective of the intriguing numbers Robert has posted over the past calendar year.

Rangers Select Tucker Barnhart, Designate Dane Dunning For Assignment

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6:12pm: Texas officially announced the Barnhart selection and Dunning’s DFA. They did not place Higashioka on the injured list tonight.

4:45pm: The Rangers are going to select catcher Tucker Barnhart to their roster, reports Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. That will give them some help behind the plate as Kyle Higashioka battles hamstring tightness. Right-hander Dane Dunning will be designated for assignment as the corresponding move. This will give the active roster a 14/12 split in terms of position players and pitchers, at least for now.

Higashioka played last night but it appears he hurt his hamstring in the process. Per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com and Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports, an injured list stint is possible but the MRI results are still pending. Whether he goes on the IL or not, it seems he might be unavailable for a day or two, so the club has brought up another backstop to support Jonah Heim.

Barnhart, 34, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers in the offseason. He has been playing for Triple-A Round Rock thus far, hitting .246/.354/.391 in 20 games for that club. He appeared in each big league season from 2014 to 2024, so this will be his 12th straight campaign if he gets into a game.

Broadly speaking, he’s been a glove-first catcher. He has a career .241/.318/.351 batting line, production which translates to a wRC+ of 78. He has tapered off a bit in recent years, with a .208/.286/.255 line and 58 wRC+ since the start of 2022, which is why he had to settle for a minor league deal.

Defensively, his framing marks have been subpar for his entire career, but better recently. With both Baseball Prospectus and Statcast, his early-career framing was considered poor, but closer to average over the past six years. His blocking and throwing have been more consistently strong. He’ll step in as Heim’s backup until Higashioka is ready to return to action.

Dunning, 30, was only added to the roster on Monday. The Rangers are in a patch of playing 13 straight games, leading to heavy use of the pitching staff. Caleb Boushley tossed two innings on Sunday, so the Rangers swapped Dunning in to take over as the club’s long man. Dunning entered last night’s game with the Rangers up 12-0 after six innings, relieving starter Jacob deGrom. Dunning absorbed the final three frames as they went on to win 15-2. He allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks.

He’ll now head into DFA limbo and will likely be placed on waivers. Back in March, he was passed through outright waivers unclaimed, which allowed the club to keep him as non-roster depth and bring him back this week.

He and the club avoided arbitration in November, agreeing to a salary of $2.66MM this year. No club was willing to claim him and take on that salary just over a month ago, not too surprising since he had a 5.31 earned run average last year. He posted a 5.40 ERA in five starts for Round Rock before being called up this week. Since he has more than three but less than five years of service time, he will have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers again. However, doing so would mean forfeiting what’s left of that money, so he would likely accept as he did last month.

Most clubs operate with the 13-pitcher maximum at all times but the Rangers should be okay at 12 for a short spell. Since Dunning was the only reliever to pitch last night, the rest of the bullpen got a night off. Perhaps another pitcher will be added if Higashioka goes on the IL. Or if he avoids the IL, Barnhart might be bumped off the roster for a fresh arm.

Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images

Guardians Acquire Matt Festa From Rangers

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1:57pm: Festa indeed had an opt-out opportunity in his minor league deal tomorrow, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. It seems likely the Guardians will bring him to the big leagues soon, though the team has not yet announced as much.

9:35am: The Guardians announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired right-hander Matt Festa from the Rangers in exchange for cash. Festa isn’t on the 40-man roster at the moment, although given the timing of the move, it’s fair to wonder whether this trade was prompted by an opt-out or upward mobility clause in his minor league deal with Texas. If that’s the case, he’ll likely be selected to the major league roster in the next day or two.

Festa, 32, has pitched in parts of five big league seasons between the Mariners, Mets and Rangers. He carries a career 4.60 ERA in 117 1/3 MLB frames, during which he’s punched out one-quarter of his opponents and issued walks at a 10.3% clip. Festa has shown promise at times, most notably with the 2022 Mariners, but he’s yet to find consistency in the majors. Injuries have played a notable role, particularly a 2020 Tommy John procedure that wiped out his entire season and sidelined him for most of the 2021 campaign as well.

Entering the 2024-25 offseason, Festa was on the Rangers’ 40-man roster. He lost his spot when Texas signed Chris Martin. The Cubs picked him up in exchange for cash following that DFA. Chicago ultimately designated Festa for assignment as well, after which he cleared waivers, elected free agency and returned to the Rangers on a minor league deal.

Festa is now Cleveland-bound and will head to the Guards on the heels of a dominant showing in Triple-A. The right-hander has rattled off 14 2/3 shutout innings, striking out 32.3% of his opponents against an 11.3% walk rate. Festa has kept the ball on the ground at a hearty 47.1% clip and done a terrific job avoiding hard contact (85.9 mph average exit velocity, 23.5% hard-hit rate). He hasn’t made any big changes to his arsenal or seen a noticeable change in velocity, but the results are impressive nonetheless.

Cleveland’s bullpen has been solid but not up to its usual level of excellence. Guardians relievers have combined for a 3.72 ERA, and that includes three rough innings from position players Austin Hedges and Will Wilson in mop-up work. However, former All-Stars Emmanuel Clase and Paul Sewald have both struggled, with each sporting an earned run average north of 6.00.

Quality contributions from Cade Smith, Joey Cantillo, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin and Jakob Junis have helped to offset those troubles, and Festa could soon get a crack at chipping in himself. The Guardians currently have veterans Vince Velasquez and Kolby Allard in the bullpen, both of whom signed minor league deals. Neither can be optioned to Triple-A, but their presence speaks to the unsettled nature of Cleveland’s final couple bullpen spots.

Poll: Should The Rangers Be Worried About Marcus Semien?

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On balance, Rangers fans are surely happy that the club signed Marcus Semien prior to the 2022 season. After all, his second year with the club saw him make the AL All-Star team, finish as a finalist for the AL MVP award for the third time in his career, and join the rest of the Rangers in hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy after bringing home the first World Series championship in franchise history. Flags fly forever, so in a sense that surprising seven-year, $175MM contract that Texas brass shelled out to convince Semien to join a team coming off a 102-loss season is already a resounding success.

Perhaps that’s a good thing, as Semien has shown some worrying signs as he enters his mid-thirties. Last season represented a notable step back from his star-level production thanks primarily to a down season at the plate. In 159 games for the Rangers last year, the veteran hit .237/.308/.391 with a 99 wRC+. It was a step back from the 126 wRC+ he had posted the previous year, but hardly out of the ordinary. 2024 was the seventh year in a row where Semien had alternated a relatively average offensive season with one where he mustered up enough offense to finish third in AL MVP voting. It’s a trend that stretched across three different teams, starting during his time in Oakland in 2018 with a pedestrian season that he followed up by crushing a then career-high 33 homers in 2019.

The trend continued when he suffered a down season during the 60-game 2020 campaign, though Semien came roaring back with a 45-homer season and 6.0 fWAR in 2021 as a member of the Blue Jays. That was the platform campaign Semien put together ahead of his decision to sign with the Rangers, and overall the first three years of that deal have been successful overall with a .254/.320/.433 (111 wRC+) with 14.8 fWAR. Despite his pedestrian season offensively last year, Semien still managed to piece together a four-win campaign thanks to him offering some of the most defensive value in the entire sport with his work at second base. Among all qualified players regardless of position last year, Semien’s +19 Outs Above Average were eclipsed by only fellow second baseman Andres Gimenez. His Fielding Run Value was similarly impressive, as his +14 figure was tied with Gimenez for the league lead among all infielders.

That sort of wizardry with the glove can make up for a pedestrian bat, but it can’t make up for the sort of numbers Semien has put up in 2025 so far. In Semien’s first 115 plate appearances this year, he’s hit a paltry .155/.226/.223, good for a 30 wRC+. That’s 70% worse than league average, and the third-weakest offensive performance in the majors among qualified hitters so far this year. That sort of offensive production is nearly impossible to make up for with the glove and on the bases, and that’s assuming Semien can replicate his elite defense from last year despite being just a few months shy of his 35th birthday. With three years and $72MM still remaining on his contract after this year, Semien’s age and brutal start to the season are clear causes for worry in Texas.

Fortunately, Semien’s underlying offensive numbers do provide reason for at least some optimism. Semien’s .175 BABIP won’t stay more than 100 points below his career mark (.281) all year long. In the power department, his 8.1% barrel rate is actually the highest he’s posted since his 45-homer campaign with the Blue Jays back in 2021, though his 31.7% hard-hit rate is the lowest its been in a 162-game season since 2017. The more concerning metrics are those regarding his plate discipline. While Semien’s 8.7% walk rate is largely unchanged from last year’s 8.9% figure, his strikeout rate jumped from 14.6% in each of the past two seasons to 20.0% so far in 2025.

That increase in strikeouts has been due to an increase in whiffs, especially outside of the strike zone. Semien’s swinging strike rate this year is up to 10.9%, a full two points higher than his career mark of 8.9% and the highest he’s posted since his 21-game cup of coffee with the White Sox back in 2013. When looking at pitches outside of the strike zone, Semien is making contact just 45.5% of the time, down more than ten points from last year. Even though Semien can expect some positive regression in the power and BABIP departments, his newfound issues with whiffs outside of the strike zone could limit his ability to be an above-average bat in the majors if not corrected.

How do MLBTR readers think Semien’s 2025 season will play out? A rebound on at least some level appears all but guaranteed, given that Billy Hunter of the 1953 St. Louis Browns is the last player to post a 30 wRC+ or lower while qualifying for the batting title. The real question appears to be whether Semien will be able to get his offense back to a level that would allow his defense to make him an above-average major leaguer. Have your say in the poll below:

Rangers Designate Daniel Robert For Assigment

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The Rangers announced that they have selected right-hander Dane Dunning and optioned right-hander Caleb Boushley, two moves that were reported earlier today. To open a 40-man spot for Dunning, right-hander Daniel Robert has been designated for assignment.

Robert, 30, was added to the club’s 40-man roster in July of last year. By the end of the season, he had made four appearances and logged 5 2/3 innings with two earned runs allowed. He has been on optional assignment for all of this year, so that is the totality of his big league experience to this point.

His work in the minors has been intriguing, though with some control issues. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has thrown 136 2/3 innings for Triple-A Round Rock. He has allowed 4.15 earned runs per nine innings with that club, who play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He had an 11.5% walk rate in that time but also punched out 28.7% of batters faced.

He’s been far better than that more recently. From the start of 2024 to the present, he has a 2.45 ERA in 55 Triple-A innings. His 31.7% strikeout rate is quite strong and he has only walked 7.8% of opponents.

Despite the strong minor league work, he has been nudged off the roster. Perhaps that’s because of his late-bloomer status. A two-way player in college who hardly pitched, his professional ascent was interrupted by the canceled 2020 season and a few injuries. When he made his major league debut in July of last year, he was on the cusp of his 30th birthday, which was in August.

Now that he’s been nudged off the roster, the Rangers will have one week to figure out his fate. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks will have to come together in the next five days. Given his strong minor league numbers and the fact that he’s still optionable for the rest of this season and one additional year, it’s possible he’ll garner some interest from other clubs.

Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images

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