ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka was among the players ESPN’s Jeff Passan listed Thursday as future free agents, part of Passan’s projection that every mutual option in Major League Baseball will be declined this offseason. Higashioka’s option for 2027 is worth $7 million and carries a $1 million buyout.
A right flexor strain has kept Higashioka out of the Rangers’ lineup since July 20. The same outlook said a lockout is expected shortly after free agency begins, with the current collective bargaining agreement running through Dec. 1.
Kyle Higashioka’s Right Flexor Strain and Rehab Assignment
The Rangers put Higashioka on the 10-day injured list July 21, an hour before first pitch against the Chicago White Sox. The injury is close to the same right elbow that required Tommy John surgery in 2013, when Higashioka was in the New York Yankees’ minor league system. He first noticed something in the elbow during a game in Atlanta, and the surgery history concerned him. The elbow is “not really an area you want to start hurting,” Higashioka told reporters that day, MLB.com reported.
Triple-A Round Rock started Higashioka on a rehab assignment Sept. 4, and he went 1-for-5 with a single and 3 strikeouts in his first game with the Express, according to MLB.com’s injury tracker. Once he is back on the active roster, Higashioka will be limited to pinch-hitting and designated hitter work because of the injury, MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry reported. The Rangers’ 28-man September roster includes three catchers.
Kyle Higashioka’s Contract And 2027 Mutual Option
Texas and Higashioka agreed to a two-year, $13.5 million deal on Dec. 2, 2024. The deal paid him $5.75 million in 2025 and pays him $6.75 million this season.
When he got hurt, Higashioka was slashing .218/.306/.370 with 7 home runs and 18 RBIs across 58 games. In 2025, his first season with the Rangers, he started 68 games behind the plate. He missed 12 games that year with a left intercostal strain he suffered April 29. Higashioka, 36, set career highs with 17 home runs and 45 RBIs in 84 games for the San Diego Padres in 2024. He spent his first seven major league seasons with the Yankees, who drafted him in the seventh round in 2008. While with New York, Higashioka was behind the plate for a no-hitter against the Rangers at Globe Life Field on May 19, 2021.
After a 4-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, Texas is 72-75 and three games back of the Houston Astros in the American League West. Next up for the Rangers is a three-game series at Chase Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with first pitch Friday at 8:40 p.m. CT.
