The Texas Rangers struck in free agency with a Friday flurry of moves, agreeing to terms with a catcher and a pair of relievers in the span of one night.
The catcher, Danny Jansen, comes to the Rangers as a veteran with quite a few seasons under his belt.
Here are five things to know about the newest Rangers catcher.
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1. The basics
Name: Daniel Robert Jansen
Born: April 15, 1995
Hometown: Appleton, Wis.
Position: Catcher
Hits/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6-1, 240 pounds
2. Fills a big need
Having already non-tendered longtime starting catcher Jonah Heim this offseason, the Rangers began the winter with a serious need behind the dish. The only viable option the team had before Jansen was Kyle Higashioka, and at 35 years old, he’s not exactly an everyday catcher.
Jansen is no spring chicken — he’ll turn 31 in April — but reckons to offer a cost-friendly second half for Higashioki and a dependable major league battery option.
3. Jansen’s journey
After spending the first six and a half seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, Jansen has become something of an MLB journeyman.
He was traded from Toronto to Boston at the 2024 deadline in his final year with the Blue Jays. He signed as a free agent with the Rays that offseason, then at last season’s deadline he was on the move again. Tampa Bay sent him to Milwaukee, where he’d provide an offensive spark behind the plate for the Brewers amid their run to the NLCS.
4. Last season
Jansen saw a decent uptick in his numbers split between two teams last season and a bounce-back from when he struggled with injury in 2024.
He fractured his wrist at the very start of the 2024 season and ended up slashing just .205/.309/.349 between the Blue Jays and Red Sox.
After signing with the Rays, fully healthy, he bounced back last year with a .215/.321/.399 slashline in 2025. He hit 14 home runs last season, putting him in a tie for 17th among MLB catchers. His isolated power (ISO) of .184 is tied for 11th.
5. Swapped dugouts, made history
In June of 2024, Jansen played in a game for the Blue Jays against division rival Boston. The game was suspended due to rain in the second inning.
The game resumed on August 26, with a caveat: Jansen had been traded from the Jays to the Sox in the interim.
When Jansen took the field for the Red Sox in the resumed game, he became the first player in MLB history to play for both teams in the same game.
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