All of a sudden catchers are falling out of the sky for the Rangers.
Barely three days after agreeing to a two-year deal with veteran Danny Jansen, the Rangers agreed to a minor league deal with veteran José Herrera Monday as an insurance policy to their catching platoon, a person with knowledge of the talks confirmed to The Dallas Morning News. The deal will include an invitation to major league spring training. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase first reported the agreement.
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The Rangers also announced the formal signing of Jansen on Monday night after he completed his physical. Also, reliever Tyler Alexander’s deal was formalized. The Rangers are still awaiting Alexis Díaz’s physical before announcing that deal.
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Herrera, who turns 30 in February, has spent his entire professional career in the Arizona organization and has started at least 30 games behind the plate in each of the last four seasons.
He has not proven to be a strong offensive player, compiling just a .544 in 562 career MLB plate appearances. He was a bunting maniac in 2025, attempting bunts 12 times for the small-ball-loving Diamondbacks.
He was neutral in 2025 in pitch framing and below average in throwing, according to MLB’s Statcast system. But he has experience and can handle the position for 15-20 games in the event that Kyle Higashioka or Jansen were to head to the IL for a short stint. He would likely pair with waiver claim Willie MacIver at Triple-A Round Rock as the Rangers’ depth options. MacIver has minor league options remaining.
Since neither Jansen nor Higashioka is expected to catch half of the team’s 162 games, the Rangers need a veteran backup who could drop in for two weeks or so. In 2025, the 35-year-old Higashioka started 61 games and Jansen started 82, the most he’s started since 2019. The Rangers don’t expect more than those numbers from either catcher, leaving them a hole of about 20 games to fill.
Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant
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