The Rangers got through the trade deadline without much drama, but that doesn’t mean the roster is in great shape. Texas made just two minor moves, landing Angels reliever Chase Silseth and Logan O'Hoppe and lefty reliever Adam Macko from the Blue Jays. The only major league player to actually lose his locker was utility man Josh Smith, whose mail is now headed to Toronto.
That still leaves a few veterans who managed to dodge deadline day but don’t look long for Arlington. With contracts that should be movable and production that hasn’t matched the job, three players stand out as offseason casualties waiting to happen.
Jake Burger is the clearest case. The power is real - he’s got 19 home runs and leads the Rangers with 68 RBIs - but the rest of the profile is hard to defend.
He also leads the club in strikeouts by 20, sitting at 124, and he’s been one of the worst hitters in the league in whiff percentage. That’s the kind of hitter who can pile up numbers and still leave you frustrated almost every night.
Burger’s OPS is .699, and for a first baseman with that much swing-and-miss, that just doesn’t cut it. He’s arbitration-eligible and relatively cheap, but the Rangers have other first-base options in Joc Pederson, Ezequiel Duran, and Justin Foscue.
Evan Carter’s spot feels even shakier. The Rangers keep giving him everyday run, but the bat hasn’t justified it.
In August, he’s 2-for-30 with no extra-base hits. July was his best stretch of the year, when he lifted his average from .172 to a season-high .207 by going 17-for-54.
Even after that bump, he’s back down to .192, and the source of the optimism - his defense in center field - can’t outweigh what he’s doing at the plate. He’s also unusable against left-handed pitching, which makes the roster spot harder to explain.
Wyatt Langford could move over, and Alejandro Osuna or Cameron Cauley could get a look instead.
Then there’s Danny Jansen, the expensive swing at catching help that hasn’t paid off. Chris Young took a shot by signing him to two years and $16 million, plus a club option in 2028, but the move has been a miss.
Jansen was hitting .172 when he landed on the IL three months ago, and he also brought defensive issues, including a subpar arm. The Rangers may have enough behind the plate with Kyle Higashioka and Elias Diaz or Logan O'Hoppe, but the bigger question is financial: they’ll need to see whether anyone will take on part of Jansen’s money in the offseason.
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