The Texas Rangers have claimed outfielder Dairon Blanco on waivers from the Kansas City Royals, the team announced today. To make room on the 40 man roster, the Rangers have placed pitcher Jordan Montgomery on the 60 day injured list.
Blanco is a righthanded hitting outfielder who turns 33 in April. Originally from Cuba, Blanco played in the Cuban National Series until defecting in 2016. Blanco signed with Oakland, and was traded to the Kansas City Royals at the 2019 trade deadline in a deal that sent Jake Diekman to the A’s.
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Blanco made his major league debut in 2022, and spent most of 2023 and 2024 in the majors before getting just 8 plate appearances in the bigs in 2025, with the bulk of his time spent at AAA. Blanco is very fast but not a real good defender, with the bulk of his playing time coming in left field in the majors. Blanco has a career .257/.312/.416 slash line in 284 plate appearances, though with 59 steals in 73 attempts. he slashed .253/.332/.405 for Omaha in AAA last year.
Blanco has two options remaining per Fangraphs, so if he doesn’t lose his 40 man spot in the interim, the Rangers will be able to send him to the minors at the beginning of the season.
Montgomery going to the 60 day injured list was an inevitability, as he will miss the first couple of months of the season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.