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Rangers Enter Offseason With Question Marks Behind The Plate
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- Rangers Enter Offseason With Question Marks Behind The Plate
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
The Texas Rangers entered the 2026 season having moved off World Series hero Jonah Heim behind the plate.
Heim was the Rangers' primary catcher from the time he was acquired in 2021 until the club ultimately decided not to offer him a contract ahead of 2026.
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Texas decided to move forward with Heim's 2025 backup, Kyle Higashioka, and new free agent signing Danny Jansen as their tandem behind the plate.
Ultimately, neither Jansen nor Higashioka wound up being the Rangers' primary backstop in 2026 as they both spent significant time on the Injured List throughout the season.
In early June, Texas signed Elias Diaz, who ended up getting significant playing time behind the plate.
Now, as we head into the offseason, both Diaz and Higashioka are free agents, and the Rangers have multiple directions they could go behind the plate.
Jansen returns for next season for Rangers
For starters, it's important to establish the fact that Jansen will be back for his second year with Texas and it comes off the heels of a solid final month of 2026.
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Jansen was named the Rangers player of the month in September of this season after he hit .314 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 18 games during the month.
Texas will have to determine if they want to use Jansen as their primary backstop in 2027 or if they want to find someone else to add in front of him.
This season's free agent class features a couple of solid 1A catchers such as Ryan Jeffers, Carson Kelly, who played for Texas in 2024, and Tyler Stephenson.
However, we know that the Rangers aren't planning to be one of baseball's biggest spenders this offseason, and landing one of those guys would require them to splurge at the top of the backstop market.
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With that being said, to find someone to pair with Jansen, Texas could always use the trade market if they feel so inclined or shop at the mid to lower levels of the free agent pool, which includes players such as Gary Sánchez, James McCann, and Reese McGuire.
O'Hoppe a possible factor
Then there's the wild card that is Logan O'Hoppe, whom the Rangers acquired at the MLB Trade Deadline of last season.
O'Hoppe only appeared in 10 big-league games with Texas last season as he spent most of his time in the organization with Triple-A Round Rock.
The Rangers no doubt view O'Hoppe as a player with some upside, so there certinally is a world where they could view him as combining with Jansen to make up 2027's catching duo.
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Ultimately, to say Texas will have a big name starting for them behind home plate on Opening Day in 2027 is probably a stretch, but they will have to use this offseason as a time to figure out how they want to move forward at the position both next season and in the future.
