ORLANDO, Fla. -- When finishing up his daily session with local writers on Tuesday evening, Rangers general manager Ross Fenstermaker joked that the club’s 40-man roster was far from full. That, in turn, could lead to an active final day of the annual Winter Meetings.
Instead, the Rangers were relatively quiet.
The Rangers still have a lot of needs to be addressed over the course of a long winter. But like everyone else, they are at the mercy of a slow-paced market.
“I think it was an extremely productive week in terms of conversations with agents, with clubs and with our own people, in terms of mapping out different paths and courses that we're going to take,” said president of baseball operations Chris Young. “It wasn't a big splash. We had that a few weeks ago, but I think it was extremely productive. So we're in a good spot.”
BIGGEST REMAINING NEEDS
1) Catcher: Catcher remains the Rangers’ biggest need with Kyle Higashioka as the only experienced option on the 40-man roster to this point. Higashioka hit .241/.291/.403 across 94 games in 2025, catching 71 of them. The Rangers aren’t married to keeping that workload the same, but it’s worth noting that he is going to be 36 in April.
Higashioka is also a free agent after 2026, so a controllable catcher would make for an even better situation.
“Some of that's dictated by the market, but we're going to explore all avenues,” Fenstermaker said. “If there's an opportunity to get somebody who is controllable for the foreseeable future, we will explore that. That's a lot of the conversations we've been having. If it's free agency or something that's maybe shorter term, we'll explore that as well. We can do both concurrently.”
2) Bullpen: In 2025, the Rangers fully built a bullpen from scratch, leading to a 3.62 ERA, good for fifth in the Majors. Most of those relievers were veterans on one-year deals. Now, Texas has to attempt to repeat the process.
It also wouldn’t hurt to add a shut-down closer after going 37-for-66 in save opportunities in 2025.
“We're looking for the right fits for the Texas Rangers, guys that we feel maybe have more to offer than maybe what they provided in this past year or years prior,” Fenstermaker said. “Our pitching group does a tremendous job of identifying opportunities for us to optimize and getting the most out of our pitchers.”
3) Starting pitching depth: You can never have enough starting pitching. Nothing more needs to be said.
HE SAID IT
Weeks before the Winter Meetings, the Rangers traded All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien in a one-for-one deal that netted them outfielder Brandon Nimmo from the Mets. Though new manager Skip Schumaker had limited time to interact with Texas’ unofficial captain, he did acknowledge the importance of Semien’s presence to the clubhouse, both on and off the field.
That being said, the Nimmo acquisition will provide additional offensive production, as well as a steady presence in the clubhouse with the Rangers’ reshaped roster coming into form.
“He's very intentional,” Schumaker said of Nimmo. “He has a lot of substance behind whatever topic we're talking about. I think there's a couple of things that are needed for us to win. He's definitely a big part of that equation. He's definitely a positive part of the clubhouse culture that we're trying to create.”
DRAFT LOTTERY
The Rangers dropped two spots from No. 14 to No. 16 in the 2026 MLB Draft. They had the 11th-best odds for the No. 1 pick, with just a 1.34% chance. In MLB Pipeline’s first mock draft, Jim Callis had the Rangers taking Jackson Flora, a right-handed pitcher out of UC Santa Barbara. He’s the No. 14-ranked Draft prospect going into the 2026 college baseball season.
RULE 5 DRAFT
The Rangers did not make a selection in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 Draft. They were expected to fill in their catching depth from the Rule 5 pool, but opted out. One catcher was taken in the Major League portion, with the Twins selecting Daniel Susac, the A's No. 11 prospect per MLB Pipeline, before trading him to the Giants.
Instead, Texas traded for right-hander Carter Baumler -- who was picked by the Pirates in the Rule 5 Draft -- adding him to the 40-man roster to bring it up to 35. Baumler posted a 2.04 ERA in 39 innings across three levels of the Minors in Baltimore’s system last season. He will likely compete for a spot in the bullpen during Spring Training.
Texas is sending right-hander Jaiker Garcia and cash considerations to Pittsburgh.
MORE FROM THIS WEEK
• After trading Marcus Semien, the Rangers will likely fill second base internally. Is the position Josh Smith's to lose? Read more >>
• The Rangers have a solid outfield with the newly acquired Brandon Nimmo, along with Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter. Now they must figure out how to align them. Read more >>
GM’S BOTTOM LINE
The Winter Meetings are always full of rumors. As rumors swirled about the Red Sox having “discussions” with the Rangers about superstar shortstop Corey Seager, Texas didn’t have much to say back.
“The reality is, every team is looking for great players, and there have been a number of teams that have checked in on a number of our great players,” Young said. “The reality is we are not motivated to move Corey Seager. We are trying to win a championship in 2026 and in order to do that, we need great players. Teams do their diligence in trying to find out who's available and who's not. But I can't say there's any substance. Checking in is normal operating procedure for this time of year. Every team does it.”