During a disappointing season for the Texas Rangers, injuries and former stars failing to live up to their potential necessitated all sorts of emergency acquisitions.
In early August, the Rangers decided they needed another catcher, as 2023 All-Star Jonah Heim had a brutal down year and backup Kyle Higashioka was only effective against left-handed pitching. So they signed 10-year veteran and former All-Star Omar Narváez, who had already been let go by two other teams earlier in the season.
As it turned out, the Rangers stuck with Heim and Higashioka for the entire season. And after just three months in the Rangers organization, it appears likely Narváez will seek greener pastures in the offseason.
On Thursday, Narváez elected minor-league free agency, according to the transactions log on his official roster page. He was one of 18 players on the season-end roster for the Triple-A Round Rock Express to hit the open market on the same day, and all will be hoping for opportunities to make it to the majors at some point next year.
In his 10th major league season, Narváez appeared in a career-low four games, all early in the year for the lowly Chicago White Sox. Once Chicago called up rookie Kyle Teel, the veteran became expendable, and he re-signed with the White Sox after getting designated for assignment, only to be released a month later on May 20.
Then, Narváez headed to the Houston Astros, and that stint lasted only two months and 27 games at Triple-A Sugar Land. He finished his year with 30 games with Round Rock, and batted a respectable .271 with a .758 OPS.
It’s not as though he should be expected to make it back to the All-Star Game, as he did in 2021 for the Milwaukee Brewers, but Narváez is entering his age-34 season, and could be a useful depth piece for another team looking to build in some insurance at the catching position. And technically, the door has not closed on the Rangers becoming that team.
More MLB: Tigers Veteran, Former 1st-Round Pick Elects Free Agency