The Texas Rangers may have gone into the trade deadline thinking about the bullpen, a right-handed bat and maybe even another starter. Then Tuesday happened, and the catching situation suddenly looked like a much bigger problem.
Danny Jansen was already on the 10-day injured list with a right forearm injury. Then the Rangers put Kyle Higashioka on the 10-day IL with a flexor strain, leaving the club without the two catchers who opened the season as its tandem. To patch things together, Texas selected Austin Wynns’ contract on Tuesday.
That kind of injury can be messy. A flexor strain is no small thing, and former Rangers catcher Mitch Garver dealt with a more serious flexor tendon injury in 2022 that required surgery and ended his season before he returned in 2023.
For now, Elias Díaz is the stabilizing piece. He entered Tuesday’s game hitting .255/.267/.439, and the Rangers have already seen him handle regular playing time well enough to function as the starter. Wynns, meanwhile, brings a lifetime slash of .228/.273/.342.
The bigger issue is what comes next. Long term, Jansen is the only catcher signed for next season. Malcolm Moore, the Rangers’ 2024 first-round pick, has just reached Double-A Frisco and may not be ready until 2028.
That’s why Jeff Passan’s updated Top 100 trade deadline list on Tuesday felt so revealing. The Rangers were linked to a string of catchers, and the names at the top of the board make the point plain: Athletics All-Star Shea Langeliers, Colorado Rockies slugger Hunter Goodman and Baltimore Orioles back-stop Adley Rutschman.
All three are in the Top 25, and all three are under team control for at least one more year. Rutschman is a free agent after 2027, Langeliers after 2028 and Goodman after 2029.
So yes, the Rangers have a catching issue now. They may also have one beyond this season.
A trade could address both, but it would come at a price. And whether Texas is willing to pay it may depend on how much it can prove by the start of August.
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