Rangers add more pitching, catching reinforcements with a pair of minor league deals

After a quiet Winter Meetings, the Texas Rangers have added five new faces in four days as missing spots fill up and roster starts taking shape.

Beginning on Friday, the Rangers added catcher Danny Jansen, pitcher Tyler Alexander and pitcher Alexis Diaz. Then, as the week kicked off on Monday, free agent pitcher Anthony Veneziano and catcher Jose Herrera reportedly agreed to minor league deals.

While this are rather small deals, it starts giving fans a clearer picture of where the Rangers' mindset is and the potential makeup of the 2026 roster.

All of a sudden the Rangers have a catching battle

What a difference a couple of days can make in during the MLB offseason as the Rangers now have a plethora of catchers to choose from and put on display when camp rolls around next spring.

Coming into 2026, the Rangers will lean toward Higashioka taking majority of the catching reps after already having one season with the organization and pitching staff under his belt. However, the Rangers now have Jansen and Herrera to battle it out for the backup role.

Herrera, 28, has spent all four years of his professional career with Arizona appearing in 187 career games. A .200 career hitter with just three career home runs and 42 RBIS, his value comes on the defensive side of ball as an above-average blocker, average caught stealing and frame rate.

Rangers' bullpen received three veteran arms who need a lot of work

We already discussed what Alexander and Diaz bring to the table and the struggles they've had in the past few seasons. On Monday, one more face joined that list with the signing of left-hander Veneziano.

Veneziano, 28, has three years of big league experience but has spent those years splitting time with the Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals. In 25 innings of work last season, he had a 4.68 ERA, 25 strikeouts and 11 walks with Miami and St. Louis.

What likely led to the lefty's signing is his experience with Rangers' manager Skip Schumaker, who spent 2024 with Miami when Schumaker was the team's skipper.

While yes, these names technically take up a roster spot, they are far from finished products. Diaz and Alexander are two with the highest potential while Veneziano is more of an experiment. This can't be the end for their bullpen reconstruction, still desperately needing veteran presences that could be answered by a couple of former Rangers in Shawn Armstrong, Josh Sborz or Chris Martin.