ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers addressed their lack of big-league-ready catcher depth Sunday and signed veteran backstop Omar Narváez to a minor league contract.
Narváez, 33, has a career .252/.335/.373 slash line in 681 major league games spread across 10 seasons. He was a National League All-Star with the Milwaukee Brewers four years ago and has also played for the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and New York Mets.
New York Mets’ Omar Narváez celebrates with teammates after hitting a walkoff single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field, Sunday, May 26, 2024, in New York.
Seth Wenig / AP
He played in four games for the White Sox this season and was released on May 20. The Houston Astros signed him to a minor league contract in June but released him last week. The Rangers assigned him to Triple-A Round Rock.
Rangers
The signing helps shore up a lack of catcher depth in the Texas system. The Rangers have only two — Jonah Heim and Kyle Higashioka — on their 40-man roster. Cooper Johnson, a 27-year-old former sixth-round draft pick, is currently the only catcher on Round Rock’s roster and has slashed just .229/.340/.392 in the minor leagues this season.
Tucker Barnhart, a former Gold Glove winner whom the Rangers signed to a minor league deal, served as the club’s third-string catcher this year before he was released (and, later, retired) in June.
Texas used premium draft capital on catchers last summer and selected Stanford backstop Malcolm Moore in the first round. Moore, the club’s second-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has played the majority of this season at High-A Hub City and is still likely multiple years away from major league consideration.
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.