The Texas Rangers thought they had been upgrading at first base after they traded Nathaniel Lowe to the Washington Nationals and later acquired Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins as the previous’s alternative over the winter.
That does not seem like the case anymore. At the least in the interim.
Burger is reportedly being optioned to Triple-A Spherical Rock for a “reset”, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. In his stead, the Rangers will name up minor league first baseman Blaine Crim.
It is actually a shock transfer out of Texas regardless of total hitting struggles in 2025. To that time, the Rangers have a mixed workforce OPS of .652, which is fifth-worst in all of MLB.
There is no doubt Burger has contributed to the offensive malaise in Arlington, with simply three residence runs and a .558 OPS to his title. The veteran first baseman has by no means been a lot of a contact hitter over his profession (.246 common), so if the facility is not there, Burger’s not a very helpful participant.
Additional complicating the problem round demoting Burger to Triple-A, nevertheless, is that the Rangers had a wonderfully stable first base incumbent in Lowe previous to buying and selling him to the Nationals.
The 29-year-old was an integral a part of the 2023 championship workforce and an above-average hitter by OPS (.791) and OPS+ (122) throughout his 4 years in Arlington.
In trade for Lowe, the Rangers acquired lefty reliever Robert Garcia from Washington, who admittedly has been good to date (2.03 ERA in 16 appearances). However was Lowe well worth the sacrifice for an honest reliever? The hitting statistics do not seem to validate that selection within the early going.
In the meantime, Lowe has continued his slugging methods in DC, with six residence runs and a .786 OPS in 2025. Not precisely a fantastic search for the Rangers.
When Jake Burger does return from his transient minor league project, the hope that he can not less than present comparable worth to what Texas traded away in Lowe.
For now, although, the choice to alter arms at first base hasn’t panned out.
