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The arms race in Major League Baseball is heating up and teams all over the league are looking to improve their rosters ahead of spring training and the 2025 season. The Texas Rangers, who won the World Series in 2023 but came crashing down to Earth with a 78-84 season in 2024, are no different.
On Tuesday night, the Rangers made a big move. They acquired big-hitting infielder Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins in exchange for a couple of prospects and a pitcher, according to Alden González of ESPN.
“Source: The Marlins are getting two prospects, Echedry Vargas and Max Acosta, and a lefty starter, Brayan Mendoza, from the Rangers in exchange for 1B/3B Jake Burger,” González reported on X, formerly Twitter.
Burger is a big addition to the lineup for the Rangers, both literally and figuratively. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound slugger can play both first and third base and has a big bat to go along with a great name. Burger has mashed 63 home runs and racked up 156 RBIs over the last two seasons. He has huge power from the middle of the lineup and can change a game with one swing at any time.
Of course, like many big hitters do, Burger has had problems with strikeouts. He has been sat down on strikes 299 times in the last two seasons, but that is a trade off that the Rangers are clearly willing to take as they add another dangerous power hitter to the middle of a very strong lineup.
Burger's defense is also a slight concern, but the Rangers can also use him as a designated hitter if they find a pair of capable defenders on the corners to play over him. That would limit some of the downsides of having Burger in the lineup and allow him to just focus on what he does best: crushing baseballs.
On the Marlins side, they get a trio of minor leaguers to add to their farm system as they attempt to regroup after a disappointing season. After reaching the playoffs in 2023, they are already looking at another long-term rebuild.
