Rangers agree to terms with two arbitration-eligible players
Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has agreed to terms on 2025 contracts with catcher Jonah Heim and outfielder Leody Taveras. Additionally, the Rangers have traded right-handed pitcher Matt Festa to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash considerations.
With today’s agreements, as well as the previous signings of right-handed pitchers Dane Dunning and Josh Sborz on November 22, the Rangers have now reached 2025 contract agreements with all arbitration-eligible players on the club’s Major League roster. The deadline for teams to exchange salary figures for the arbitration process was set for 7:00 p.m. CT tonight.
Heim, 29, batted .220/.267/.336/.602 (101-459) with 13 home runs and 59 RBI in 131 games for Texas in 2024, making a team-high 110 starts at catcher – the 4th most in the American League. 2024 marked his 4th consecutive campaign with at least 10 home runs (beg. 2021), joining Kansas City’s Salvador Perez and Seattle’s Mitch Garver as the only primary catchers in the A.L. to hit 10-or-more homers in each of the last 4 seasons. Heim owns a career .228 batting average with 57 home runs and 239 RBI over 484 MLB games with the Athletics (2020) and Texas (2021-24).
Taveras, 26, appeared in a career-high 151 games for Texas in 2024, batting .229/.289/.352/.641 (110-480) with 12 home runs, 44 RBI, and a team-leading 23 stolen bases. He made 138 starts in center field and ranked T4th in the American League with nine outfield assists. Originally signed by the Rangers as a non-drafted free agent on 7/2/15, Taveras owns a career .240 (383-1598) batting average with 38 home runs and 160 RBI in 475 games across five MLB seasons, all with Texas from 2020-24.
Festa, 31, was designated for assignment by Texas on Monday. The right-hander went 6-0 with a 4.37 ERA (11 ER/22.2 IP) over 18 relief appearances for the Rangers in 2024 and carries an 8-3 record, 2 saves, and 4.60 ERA (60 ER/117.1 IP) over 108 career MLB games/one start spanning five MLB campaigns with Seattle (2018-19, 2022-23), New York-NL (2024), and Texas (2024).