The Rangers have signed catcher Tucker Barnhart to a minor league contract, FanSided’s Robert Murray reviews. The deal consists of an invite to the Rangers’ huge league Spring Coaching camp, and Barnhart will earn $1MM if he makes the Texas roster.
Barnhart is the second veteran catcher the Rangers have acquired within the final two weeks, after inking Kyle Higashioka to a two-year, $13.5MM deal. Jonah Heim continues to be the beginning backstop in Arlington, however Heim’s struggles in 2024 left the Rangers searching for extra depth, so Higashioka is predicted to get extra taking part in time than a traditional backup. With these two locked into catching duties on the MLB roster, Barnhart and Sam Huff may very well be Triple-A depth until an harm emerges.
A two-time Gold Glover from his days because the Reds’ beginning catcher, Barnhart’s glovework helped paper over some solely serviceable numbers on the plate. Nevertheless, Barnhart’s once-modest offensive manufacturing has continued to sharply decline, whereas his glovework dropped to below-average within the view of Defensive Runs Saved (-2) and Statcast’s Catcher Runs metric (-3).
It must be famous that these numbers got here in a restricted pattern dimension, as Barnhart appeared in solely 31 huge league video games with the Diamondbacks final season. Even when starter Gabriel Moreno was injured, the D’Backs most well-liked Jose Herrera for lots of taking part in time, and Barnhart was the one designated for task and finally launched after Moreno returned from the injured listing. Barnhart landed together with his previous crew in Cincinnati on a minors deal in August, however his return to the Reds didn’t end in any MLB taking part in time.
Barnhart has a .241/.318/.351 slash line in 3088 plate appearances throughout 11 seasons with the Reds, Tigers, Cubs, and Diamondbacks. Presumably his contract consists of the usual veteran opt-out clauses, so Barnhart may find yourself again on the open market once more if he doesn’t see a transparent path to taking part in time on the Rangers’ roster previous to Opening Day.
