Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Texas Rangers Make Bold Move, Option One of Their Biggest Offseason Acquisitions

Rangers are calling up Blaine Crim

Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

In a surprising early-season move, the Texas Rangers are optioning struggling first baseman Jake Burger to Triple-A Round Rock, just four months after acquiring him in one of their headline trades of the offseason. The club has yet to make the move official, but multiple reports confirm Burger’s demotion, with sources indicating it’s intended to be a temporary reset.

Jake Burger hits the 4th @Rangers home run of the game! pic.twitter.com/xaOo1sCiWK
— MLB (@MLB) April 23, 2025

The Rangers’ front office had hinted at changes earlier this week. General manager Chris Young didn’t hide his frustration during a conversation with the Dallas Morning News, saying, “I’m edgy and rightfully so,” as Texas continued to underperform at the plate. Through Thursday, the Rangers ranked 28th in Major League Baseball in runs per game.

That offensive drought continued in Thursday’s 3-0 shutout loss to the Oakland Athletics.

Burger, 29, has been one of the most visible casualties of the team’s early-season slump. Acquired from the Miami Marlins on December 11 in a deal that sent three prospects the other way, Burger was expected to fill the power void left by the departure of Nathaniel Lowe, who was dealt to the Washington Nationals. Instead, he’s stumbled out of the gate, batting just .190 with a .561 OPS over 30 games.

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The Rangers had hoped Burger would replicate his recent power surge, he hit 34 home runs with an .827 OPS between the White Sox and Marlins in 2023, and followed that up with 29 homers and 76 RBIs last season in Miami. But so far in Texas, the pop hasn’t materialized.

To fill the void, the Rangers are calling up Blaine Crim, a 27-year-old first baseman whose bat has long made noise in the Minor Leagues. Drafted in the 19th round in 2019, Crim has slashed .296/.364/.515 across six MiLB seasons and is off to a blistering start at Triple-A this year. Through April, he’s hitting .313 with seven home runs and a .565 slugging percentage.

Crim’s call-up will be his first taste of the big leagues, and the Rangers will need to clear space on the 40-man roster to make room for him, a corresponding move expected Friday.

Jake Burger

Rangers

Mohsin Baldiwala

mlb

Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.