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ARLINGTON – The Rangers' situation approaching the trade deadline is confusing enough, as is. One day they are in first place, the next out of the playoffs entirely and the next back in first. That's not hyperbole. That's this week.
They do not need any more issues to consider.
Certainly not one at the hardest spot to fill on the diamond: Catcher.
And, yet, here they are.
When Kyle Higashioka ended up on the IL Wednesday with an issue in the flexor mass near his right elbow, it put both Rangers opening day catchers on the shelf with elbow issues. Danny Jansen, in case you forgot him, hasn't played since early June and is trying to throw through some pain to ramp up his return.
All Higashioka knows at the moment is he won't throw for an "undetermined amount of time." Jansen needs to make a determination in the next "two to three weeks" on whether he can power through with his elbow or if he needs internal brace surgery. If he opts for the latter, the sooner he does it, the better, in order to have a chance to be ready for the start of 2027, you know, provided that goes off on time.
"I'm trying to ramp up, so we are trying to push through some pain and see how it responds," Jansen, in the first year of a two-year deal, told The Dallas Morning News Wednesday. "That's where I am right now. It hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows, but that's to be expected. We'll see what it can handle. Because I'm sick and tired of waiting around and all that, and the season's already kind of going by. And I don't want to miss any time next year."
So, where does that leave the Rangers? With Elias Diaz, who celebrated 10 full years of major league service time on Wednesday as the primary catcher and Austin Wynns as the backup. Both are 35. Both were DFA'd by their former teams.
Diaz has performed well while splitting time, but started for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, the first time he's played that many consecutive days behind the plate. Over his first 20 games with the Rangers, Diaz had an .882 OPS; since, as his playing time has crept up, it's .367. Schumaker acknowledged Diaz is the starter now, but it's worth asking if he can stand the burden of being essentially a full-time starter?
"I think so," Diaz said Thursday. "My body feels great. And playing every day is better for everyone, because you can make adjustments more quickly. As a baseball player we have to deal with the ups and downs of how you feel."
It puts the Rangers once again in a weird spot, wondering if they need to reinforce the catching position, but also unsure if they are going to be playing for something come Aug. 4. If they decide to buy, relief arms, a right-handed hitting outfielder and maybe a starter remain the priorities. Though filling all those holes with what appear to be meager financial resources and even less prospect capital seems more than challenging.
How do you add the most difficult spot on the diamond to that list, even if there are some potentially tantalizing guys out there, such as Keller's Shea Langeliers, currently with the Athletics and Baltimore's Adley Rutschman available? Available is also a relative term. They are only available to teams willing to add payroll and with legitimate prospects to offer.
More likely, if the Rangers are shopping for reinforcements, it's at a different counter entirely. Maybe St. Louis is willing to talk about 24-year-old Jimmy Crooks. Or maybe if things go bad over the next 10 days, the Rangers look to get ahead of next year, when Higashioka is free and no one is coming up behind him, by considering sending one of their starting pitchers to Los Angeles and asking for Dalton Rushing in a deal.
It all just highlights exactly where the Rangers are right now, which could best be described as Uncertain Texas. There is so much to consider and so many different ways this could go. And every day, it seems, another need turns up.
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