Texas Rangers Continue Collecting Former A's Players to Stash in the Minors

There will be a total of eight players that have been with the A's in Rangers camp this spring

Jul 26, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A hat and glove of a Texas Rangers player during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers have made some interesting additions to their roster this winter, which will make them a formidable foe in the AL West in 2026.

Arguably the two biggest moves the club has made was to bring in Brandon Nimmo in a trade with the New York Mets (trading away former A's shortstop Marcus Semien in the process), with the other being to bring in left-hander MacKenzie Gore to bolster an already solid rotation.

While those are the big ticket moves that will have a big impact on whether or not Texas makes a return to the postseason, the franchise has also been busy bringing in plenty of former Athletics players as depth options.

Their most recent addition, however, was bringing in Mark Canha on a minor-league free agent deal. The first baseman/outfielder was originally acquired by the A's during the Rule 5 Draft, and made his MLB debut with the club in 2015. From 2018-21 when the A's were contending for a spot in the postseason, Canha was an underrated piece of those clubs.

He has since played for the New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals over the past four seasons. With Kansas City last year he was valued at -1.0 bWAR in 46 games played, batting .212 with a .272 OBP and one home run for the run-challenged Royals.

Canha's deal with the Rangers includes an invite to camp, in what will be his age-37 campaign.

Former A's with the Rangers in 2026

The Rangers didn't waste any time this offseason, immediately adding both backup catcher Willie MacIver and relief pitcher Michel Otañez off the waiver wire after the A's had designated each of them for assignment in early November.

A couple of weeks later, former A's catcher Jonah Heim also elected free agency, and has recently signed on with the Atlanta Braves—another haven for former A's.

While he's not necessarily known for his time with the A's, Tyler Wade did take the field at the Oakland Coliseum during the 2023 campaign, and even took the A's 1973 World Series trophy from Reggie Jackson so that the legend could get out of the car that had driven him to the A's dugout. Wade and Jackson knew each other from Wade's days with the New York Yankees. He's a non-roster invite.

The Rangers brought in a new manager, Skip Schumaker, this winter, and after that change was made in the dugout, one of the moves that the front office made was to bring in Jonah Bride, another former A's player that made his MLB debut with the club. Bride and Wade were teammates in Oakland back in 2023.

The A's designated him for assignment before the 2024 season, and the Miami Marlins scooped him up and had him play in 71 games that season, with Schumaker as his manager. That also happened to be the best season he's had, batting .276 with a .357 OBP and 11 home runs in just 272 plate appearances.

The following year he struggled with the Marlins with Schumaker out of town, and after being DFA'd, was claimed by the Minnesota Twins. He elected free agency at the beginning of November, and signed with Texas in early December.

While this next one isn't a new addition necessarily, Richie Martin was a former first-round draft pick of the A's back in 2015, and was DFA'd by the club in 2018. He has been bouncing around since, and even made it to the majors in 2019, 2021-22 with the Baltimore Orioles, batting a cumulative .212 with a 261 OBP.

Last spring the Los Angeles Angels released Martin, and Texas brought him in at the end of May, getting into 79 games with Round Rock and batting .258 with a .348 OBP. He's also a non-roster invitee this spring.

Trey Supak is technically a former A's player, having spent 2023 in the minors with the club, but he has yet to make his MLB debut.

The final former A's player was actually another one that was directly given to Texas in the awful Elvis Andrus, Aramis Garcia and cash move that the A's made a few years back. The A's sent over over Heim, Khris Davis, and Dane Acker, in return. Acker is still with the Rangers, but hasn't made his debut, and is not in big-league camp.