The Rangers and Marlins have reportedly agreed to a deal that’ll ship nook infielder Jake Burger to Texas for a trio of prospects. Miami receives infielders Max Acosta and Echedry Vargas in addition to pitching prospect Brayan Mendoza.
Burger provides an reasonably priced bat to deepen the Texas lineup. The Rangers surprisingly struggled to provide offense this 12 months. Texas had a .238/.305/.380 workforce batting line that slotted within the backside third of the league. They completed 18th in scoring. It was a far cry from the 2023 lineup that mashed its option to a championship.
The 28-year-old Burger can step into the center of the order. He popped 29 residence runs with a .250/.306/.460 slash line over 579 plate appearances. The previous first-round choose mixed for 34 longballs between the White Sox and Marlins in 2023. His 63 homers over the previous two seasons ties him with José Ramírez and Corey Seager for fifteenth in MLB.
Burger, a righty hitter, is extra of a one-dimensional slugger than lots of his friends on the high of the house run leaderboard. He’s a .250/.305/.488 hitter over the past two years. Burger strikes out the next than common charge and doesn’t draw many walks, however he has gotten to his enormous energy towards pitchers of both handedness. He’s a profession .244/.298/.496 hitter towards lefty pitching and carries a .253/.308/.478 slash versus right-handers.
A 3rd baseman for many of his profession, Burger divided his time pretty evenly between the infield corners in 2024. He’s a poor defender on the sizzling nook, the place his 6’2″, 230-pound body limits his mobility. Burger posted roughly common defensive marks at first base in practically 500 innings. Whereas he doesn’t mission because the starter at both place in Arlington, he’s insurance coverage at each spots. Third baseman Josh Jung has battled a litany of accidents. Nathaniel Lowe has a powerful sturdiness monitor document, however he’s not assured to stay on the roster all 12 months. The Rangers may take into consideration buying and selling Lowe, who’s projected for a hefty $10.7MM arbitration wage, in the event that they’re working with a decent finances after committing to a $25MM annual wage to retain Nathan Eovaldi.
In the event that they maintain Lowe, Burger would mission as the highest choice at designated hitter. That’d permit the Rangers to maintain Wyatt Langford in left discipline, whereas Evan Carter may slide to heart discipline and push Leody Taveras to the bench. That’s seemingly a objective for GM Chris Younger and his employees. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning Information wrote on Wednesday night that Texas had been in touch with free agent DH Joc Pederson. That’s a far much less seemingly match now that Burger is within the fold.
Burger is underneath workforce management for 4 seasons. He completed 5 days shy of the cutoff to qualify for early arbitration as a Tremendous Two participant. He’ll be paid near the league minimal for another season earlier than getting his first wage of significance subsequent offseason. That’s of clear attraction to a Texas workforce that has a projected luxurious tax quantity round $219MM (courtesy of RosterResource), a little bit greater than $20MM shy of the bottom threshold. With a reported want to keep away from the tax and a number of holes within the bullpen they nonetheless want to handle, Burger’s affordability is a giant plus.
From Miami’s perspective, it’s one other transfer to form the roster extra to the liking of second-year baseball operations chief Peter Bendix. Former basic supervisor Kim Ng made the transfer to amass Burger on the ’23 deadline. It’s potential Bendix was by no means enamored with the profile, as he comes from a Rays entrance workplace that positioned numerous emphasis on infield protection and flexibility.
Acosta, 22, steps onto Miami’s 40-man roster. Texas chosen his contract final month to maintain him out of the Rule 5 draft. The Venezuelan-born infielder hit .288/.353/.425 with eight homers over 434 plate appearances at Double-A Frisco. He’s a sophisticated contact hitter with minimal energy. Acosta has expertise at each center infield positions and could possibly be a utility choice within the close to future.
Vargas, who turns 20 in February, spent your complete season at Low-A Down East. He popped 14 homers and stole 29 bases in 97 video games with a .276/.321/.454 slash line. Vargas has a really aggressive plate method however there’s a good quantity of upside within the power-speed mixture for a participant who has performed shortstop up to now in his profession.
Mendoza, a 6’0″ lefty from Venezuela, had a pleasant 12 months within the low minors. The 20-year-old mixed for a 2.32 earned run common by means of 101 innings. He struck out 26.3% of batters confronted whereas limiting his walks to a 6.4% clip. Whereas Mendoza hasn’t gotten a lot public prospect fanfare, he has the look of a possible pichability lefty.
Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the Rangers have been buying Burger for 3 prospects. Robert Murray of FanSided was first with Acsota’s inclusion. Christina De Nicola of MLB.com had the Vargas component, whereas Alden González of ESPN was first on Mendoza. Picture courtesy of Imagn.