Texas made two moves on Wednesday during the winter meetings. First, they acquired slugging corner infielder Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins in exchange for three minor league players. Then, the Rangers signed reliever Jacob Webb to a $1.25 million contract to strengthen their bullpen.
These moves came a day after the Rangers accomplished one of their main goals for the offseason by re-signing Nathan Eovaldi, who was the winning pitcher in the 2023 World Series.
Burger played 137 games for the Marlins last season, hitting .250 with 29 home runs and 76 RBIs. He struck out 150 times in 535 at-bats and walked 31 times. He started 59 games at third base and 50 games at first base. Burger, who is just five days short of qualifying for salary arbitration this offseason, will be eligible next winter and can become a free agent after the 2028 World Series.
Chris Young, the Rangers’ president of baseball operations, spoke about Burger’s fit with the team, saying, “He’s played third, he’s played some first, DH.
And I think that’s a pretty good fit in terms of building out our depth with our current lineup and adding an impact bat. We’ve said one of our goals is to get back to being a very good offense that we were in 2023. We think he helps us with that.”
In exchange for Burger, the Marlins received infielders Max Acosta and Echedry Vargas, along with left-handed pitcher Brayan Mendoza.
Webb, the 31-year-old reliever, made his MLB debut with the Atlanta Braves in 2019 and also played for the Los Angeles Angels. Last season, he set career highs with the Baltimore Orioles, recording 56 2/3 innings pitched and 58 strikeouts, finishing with a 3.02 ERA and two saves in 60 appearances. He has a 12-10 record with six saves and a 2.98 ERA over 192 career games.
Chris Young said about Webb, “A proven right-handed reliever, been on a winning team. Real competitor. We’ve got multiple needs in our bullpen, and we feel like he certainly raises the floor and gives us a reliable, solid option. It’s not a veteran per se, in terms of service time, but he’s a veteran in terms of being battle-tested.”
The signing of Burger follows the Rangers’ hiring of former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker as a senior adviser for baseball operations about a month ago. Luis Urueta, who was Miami’s bench coach for the past two seasons, also recently joined manager Bruce Bochy’s coaching staff for 2025.
Burger was originally drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the first round of the 2017 draft and debuted in 2021. He was traded to Miami during the 2023 season. Last year, he hit .250 with 34 home runs and 80 RBIs in 141 games.
Manager Bruce Bochy commented on Burger’s impact, saying, “He’s an aggressive hitter that makes hard contact, a lot of hard contact. We’re excited to have him. He’s going to make us a better offense and help get us back to where we were a couple of years ago, and be one of the elite offenses in the game, and he’ll be part of it.”
Burger hit 22 home runs from July 1 to the end of last season, ranking third in the National League behind Shohei Ohtani (28) of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Eugenio Suárez (24) of Arizona.
Last season, the Rangers had a .238 batting average and hit 176 home runs, averaging 4.2 runs per game. These numbers were lower than in 2023, when they averaged 5.4 runs per game, hit .263, and hit 233 home runs en route to their World Series championship.
Nathaniel Lowe, Texas’ primary first baseman, won a Silver Slugger in 2022 and a Gold Glove in 2023. Last season, he hit .265 with 16 home runs and 69 RBIs. Third baseman Josh Jung, who was an All-Star starter as a rookie in 2023, had a wrist injury in April and missed 102 games. He finished the season with a .264 average, seven home runs, and 16 RBIs in 46 games.
