Marlins trade Burger to Rangers for 3 prospects

The Texas Rangers added another power bat to their lineup.

Texas acquired first baseman Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins for infield prospects Echedry Vargas and Max Acosta, in addition to left-handed starter Brayan Mendoza, the clubs announced Wednesday.

Burger is one of the more underrated sluggers in MLB. He's homered 63 times across 278 games over the last two seasons - the third-highest mark among first basemen over that span.

The 28-year-old is coming off a year in which he hit .250/.301/.460 with 29 home runs, 23 doubles, and 150 strikeouts in 137 games. He spent 69 contests at first base and also appeared in 59 games at third.

While Burger does have over 200 outings defensively at third base under his belt, he grades as a poor defender and will likely see the majority of time at first moving forward. He could serve as the right-handed hitting part of a first-base platoon with Nathaniel Lowe or spend time as a designated hitter. Burger posted a .799 OPS against right-handed pitchers last season and a .678 OPS against lefties.

Burger isn't arbitration-eligible until next offseason and is under team control through 2028.

It's the second significant move at the winter meetings for the Rangers, who also reportedly re-signed starter Nathan Eovaldi to a three-year, $75-million deal.

Vargas was the Rangers' No. 17 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. The 19-year-old shortstop hit .276/.321/.454 with 14 homers and 29 stolen bases in 97 appearances in Single-A last season.

Acosta is a 22-year-old middle infielder and was not ranked in the Rangers' top 30 prospects. He slashed .288/.353/.425 with eight home runs, 23 doubles, and 26 stolen bases in 104 games with Double-A Frisco in 2024.

Mendoza, 20, spent last season between two levels in Single-A. He posted a 2.32 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 109 strikeouts over 101 innings (19 starts).