Three Players Rangers Could Consider Trading at MLB Winter Meetings

The Texas Rangers have already made one seismic trade this offseason. The winter meetings will give them a chance to lay the groundwork for more.

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The Texas Rangers dealt Marcus Semien to the New York Yankees before Thanksgiving. The idea was to get younger and cheaper. The return, Brandon Nimmo, was younger. But he’s not that much cheaper.

The Rangers are attempting to remain a contender while trimming their payroll. That takes some doing, but between trading Semien and non-tendering four arbitration-eligible players, Texas has saved more than $20 million for 2026.

The next trade they make may be to add some catching to go along with Kyle Higashioka, another starter to supplement Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, or a reliever to bolster the bullpen. As the Rangers are not trying to add a lot of money, any trades they make would either be a true salary dump or a lower-level deal to acquire a player that truly makes them better in 2026.

Since the Rangers appear done with major salary dumps, the latter seems more appropriate. And, Texas will have to give up something to get something. Here are three realistic options on the 40-man roster that could either be dealt at the Winter Meetings, or the groundwork could be built to trade them afterward.

Josh Jung

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Jung has been floated as a trade possibility before. He’s a former first-round pick and he’s cheap as he enters his first year of arbitration. But he’s been an injury risk since he started his career and his 2025 left a lot to be desired. He slashed .251/.294/.390 with 14 home runs and 61 RBI, but he required a reset at Triple-A Round Rock.

His future in Texas hinges on a couple of factors. First, can he be counted on to stack back-to-back healthy seasons, which he hasn’t done as a professional? Second, is he one of the players suffering from the dreaded “ballpark effect” that has hampered the offense the past two seasons at Globe Life Field? If Texas doesn’t like the answers, it could use him as a trade chip for relief help or to acquire an innings-eating starter.

Ezequiel Duran

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Duran thrives when he gets playing time at a set position, as he did in May of 2023 when he filled in at shortstop for Corey Seager. He batted .300 during that stretch and flashed the bat that intrigued the Rangers enough to get him included in the Joey Gallo trade in 2021. But his bat thrives less in the utility role that has become Josh Smith’s.

Now, with Semien gone, there’s a clear path for one of them to be the everyday second baseman. Smith seems like the favorite. He has an elite glove, and his bat has grown the past two years, though he’s been prone to late-season fades. There are enough candidates for Texas to entertain using Duran as a trade chip and enough promise left for trade partners to see him as an above-average everyday player. But if he loses the second base job that promise goes away.

Evan Carter

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His ceiling could be enormous. He’s a left-handed hitting center fielder who runs like a gazelle, has an above-average glove and likely has 20-home run power in his bat. But he can’t stay healthy. His back injury in 2024 was bad enough to require an offseason ablation procedure and could be something he has to deal with his entire career.

The good news in 2025 was that his back wasn’t the issue. The bad news is that it was everything else — his quad and a freak wrist fracture. He only missed 10 days with back spasms. His heroics in 2023 are a memory, but they haven’t faded enough for Texas to dangle him to an outfield hungry team with a backup catcher or reliever that can help them now.