Texas Rangers Part Ways With Long-Time MLB Veteran

The Texas Rangers have designated catcher Austin Wynns for assignment, making room on the roster for Danny Jansen’s return from the injured list.

Jansen, who had been sidelined since early June with a right forearm strain, was activated from the 60-day IL after missing the team’s previous 64 games.

Wynns, 35, appeared in 14 games for Texas after the club selected his contract from Triple-A Round Rock on July 21. In that stretch he hit .276 (8-for-29) with one home run and one RBI.

His overall 2026 line, however, was far less productive after earlier stops with the Athletics and Atlanta Braves. Combined across those three organizations he batted .146 in 82 at-bats.

The move was straightforward roster math. Texas opened the season planning to pair Jansen with Kyle Higashioka. Injuries to both players forced the Rangers to turn to Elias Díaz and then Wynns as a veteran fill-in. With Jansen healthy again, the club will now use Jansen and Díaz as its catching tandem. Wynns, who is out of options, was the corresponding roster casualty.

Wynns has been a major-league catcher since June 5, 2018, when he debuted with the Baltimore Orioles. Over eight seasons he has played for eight different teams: the Orioles, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, Athletics, Braves and Rangers.

His career slash line sits at .230/.274/.344 with 20 home runs and 85 RBIs in 313 games. He has never been an everyday starter, instead carving out a niche as a reliable defensive backup known for blocking pitches in the dirt and throwing out baserunners at a better-than-30-percent clip.

The Rangers signed Wynns to a minor-league deal on June 23 after he became a free agent. He provided organizational depth while Higashioka dealt with a flexor strain and Jansen worked his way back from the forearm issue. His brief but respectable stretch in Texas showed why clubs continue to value him as insurance, even if his bat has never been a calling card.

Because the trade deadline has passed, Wynns will be placed on waivers in the coming days. If he clears, he can elect free agency thanks to more than five years of major-league service time. Another team in need of catching depth could still claim him, given the perennial demand for experienced backstops who handle the position well.

For Texas, the transaction simply restores the catching situation the club envisioned when it signed Jansen to a two-year contract last winter. Jansen hit just .171 before the injury but posted a .333 average in five rehab games at Round Rock and threw out both attempted stealers he faced.

The Rangers, sitting at 62-64 and second in the AL West, now turn their attention to the remainder of a homestand that began Tuesday against the Washington Nationals.

Wynns’ latest DFA is another chapter in a journeyman career that has taken him from Baltimore to eight organizations in nine years. At 35 he remains a known commodity: a defense-first catcher who can fill a roster spot when needed.

Whether that next opportunity comes via a waiver claim or another minor-league deal will be decided in the next week.