Recently DFA'd Texas Rangers Catcher Gets Claimed off Waivers by Giants

The Texas Rangers have lost some depth, with one of their young catchers getting claimed off waivers after he was designated for assignment.

May 12, 2023; Oakland, California, USA; Texas Rangers designated hitter Sam Huff (55) during the second inning against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Things are still happening for the Texas Rangers this offseason.

While they haven't made that major splash like they've done in past winters, the front office has done enough for this roster to contend in the AL West division and the league as a whole.

But, that also will only happen if they're able to stay healthy.

One of the major reasons why the Rangers missed the playoffs and weren't able to defend their World Series title last year was all the injuries their key contributors and star players racked up over the course of the long campaign.

Texas could never get going, and as a result, waived the white flag ahead of the trade deadline.

One way to avoid those issues, outside of good luck, is to have depth.

The Rangers addressed that by signing Kyle Higashioka to be their backup catcher, but in the aftermath of some moves they made this winter, their former seventh-round pick Sam Huff was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco Giants after he was previously designated for assignment.

C Sam Huff, who was designated for assignment by the Rangers on December 23, has been claimed on waivers by the San Francisco Giants.

— Texas Rangers PR (@TXRangersPR) January 8, 2025

The 26-year-old hasn't been a major factor for Texas since making his debut in 2020, only getting into 78 games from that point until this past season. But, his base numbers look good on paper with a .258/.313/.455 slash line, 10 homers, 19 extra-base hits and 20 RBI for an OOPS+ of 113.

Still, Huff became expendable after the Higashioka deal, and following the additions of Joc Pederson and Shawn Armstrong, the Rangers decided to designated him for assignment to clear roster space.

Losing Huff likely isn't debilitating since Jonah Heim has been durable since becoming the everyday catcher and Higashioka is a capable backup, but it's never fun for an organization to see one of their Major League-ready depth pieces get picked up by another team.