The Rangers have a deadline coming fast, and it could force a tough call on Jake Burger.
By Nov. 20, Texas has to decide whether to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players and others under team control.
The club is sitting at 37 players on its 40-man roster, so this is not about clearing space. It’s about money, fit and where the roster is headed.
That’s why Burger stands out as the one player who could be squeezed out.
He turned in a solid rebound season in 2026, hitting .228/.302/.421 with 28 home runs and 90 RBI after an injury-hit 2025. But the numbers underneath the surface are harder to ignore. Burger struck out a career-high 167 times, and even though he drew a career-best 56 walks, his on-base percentage still fell short of the .355 mark he posted with the Chicago White Sox and the Miami Marlins.
Texas also appears to be moving in a different direction offensively. The Rangers are shifting toward a lineup that prizes on-base ability and versatility more than pure slugging.
That’s a change from when they acquired Burger before the 2025 season, when his power profile fit what they wanted. Now, not as much.
And there’s the price tag. MLB Trade Rumors projects Burger at $6.9 million in arbitration.
That’s not a massive number in a vacuum, but the Rangers may need every dollar. President of baseball operations Chris Young said earlier this week that Texas is expected to keep a flat payroll in 2027, around $190 million, based on what it spent in 2026.
That means the front office has to hunt for savings wherever it can find them.
More than $90 million is tied up in Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Corey Seager, and Young may try to move one or more of them. But all three have no-trade clauses, which makes that easier said than done. If those contracts stay put, the Rangers may have to trim elsewhere.
Burger is one of the few places where a cut would make sense. Letting him go would free up money and could open first base for a cheaper option that better matches the roster’s new priorities.
Justin Foscue is one possibility and would cost far less, perhaps under $1 million. Texas could also shift Ezequiel Duran to first and use Foscue at second.
There is a trade path here too, but a non-tender feels like the more realistic route if the Rangers decide to move on.
Not every arbitration-eligible player is in the same bucket. The Rangers need left-hander MacKenzie Gore in the rotation.
Josh Jung, Duran, Logan O’Hoppe and Wyatt Langford all fit areas of need. Closer Jacob Latz is a no-brainer.
Evan Carter, despite the injury history, is projected to be so inexpensive that non-tendering him would be an overreaction to his 2026 season - especially since he’s injured.
Burger is the one case where Texas could let a player walk and still have a backup plan that fits the organization’s push to get younger and more athletic.
The Rangers can non-tender pre-arbitration players too, but none of them would make more than $1 million, and with the club trying to keep payroll flat, that route seems unnecessary.
Even so, this doesn’t feel like a slam dunk. Burger was one of the few power bats producing runs for Texas in 2026, and with better on-base pieces around him, he could still drive in plenty more. For a team watching every dollar, $7 million on a one-year deal is still cheap enough to keep around.
So the most likely outcome may not be a non-tender at all. A trade is more likely, and keeping Burger for 2027 remains the safest bet - the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don’t.
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A low-cost fit has surfaced in Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes, a versatile defender whose profile lines up with what Texas needs under the current collective bargaining agreement. The interest makes sense because the Rangers are staring at uncertainty in center field while Evan Carter works through hip surgery, and they need some insurance as they map out the rest of the winter. Lukes would not solve everything, but he could be the kind of practical move that lets Texas keep its bigger options open. [Read more 🡒]