Texas Rangers Acquire Detroit Tigers Catcher Carson Kelly For Two Minor Leaguers

Texas Rangers catchers Jonah Heim and Andrew Knizner have combined for 10 homers, 10 doubles, and 51 RBI in 2024.

Detroit Tigers catcher Carson Kelly (15) gets ready to take the field against Cleveland Guardians for the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Thursday, July 11, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Maybe the Texas Rangers are buyers?

The club has acquired catcher Carson Kelly in a trade with the Detroit Tigers for minor league catcher Liam Hicks and right-handed pitcher Tyler Owens.

Kelly, 30, is batting .240 with seven home runs, four doubles, a triple and 29 RBI in 60 games for Detroit in 2024. In 52 starts, he's thrown out 17 of 59 baserunners, which ranks fourth in the American League. The right-handed batter (and thrower) is batting .250 against left-handed pitchers and .238 against right-handers.

The MLB trade deadline is at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The Rangers were swept by the last-place Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend and start a three-game series in St. Louis on Monday. The Rangers trail the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners by 4.5 games in the American League West.

Kelly was a second-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012 out of Westview High School in Portland, Oregon. He made his MLB debut in 2016 and has batted .224 with 52 home runs, two triples, 66 doubles, and 199 RBI over parts of nine seasons, including 2016-18 with the Caridnals, 2019-23 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Tigers in 2023 and 2024. Since 2019, Kelly's 10.1% walk rate is 8th among qualified MLB catchers.

Owens, a 23-year-old right-hander for Double-A Frisco, was acquired by the Rangers in a January trade with the Atlanta Braves for outfielder J.P. Martínez. Owens is 2-0 with eight saves and a 2.80 ERA in 26 relief appearances for the Riders.

Hicks, 25, is slashing .260/.364/.353/.717 with four homers and 33 RBI in 80 games with Frisco. He was a ninth-round selection by the Rangers in the 2021 MLB Draft.

Jonah Heim, an All-Star and Gold Glover in 2023, is batting .231 with nine homers, nine doubles, and 42 RBI in 91 games in 2024. His backup Andrew Knizner, is batting .137 with a homer, a double, and nine RBI in 37 games.

Sam Huff is batting .249 with nine homers, 21 doubles and 51 RBI in 71 games for Triple-A Round Rock this season.

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