Heim, Taveras avoid arbitration, agree to 2025 contracts

1:34 AM UTC

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers have come to terms with both of their remaining arbitration-eligible players at Thursday’s deadline to exchange salary numbers for a potential hearing: catcher and outfielder .

According to sources, the salaries are as follows:

  • Heim: $4.575 million
  • Taveras: $4.75 million

The Rangers have not gone to an arbitration hearing since 2000, which they won against first baseman Lee Stevens.

After earning an All-Star bid and Gold Glove Award in 2023, Heim had a down year on both sides of the field in '24. He slashed .220/.267/.336 this past season, while all of his defensive metrics struggled as well, but he made 110 starts behind the plate. Despite what the analytics said, both manager Bruce Bochy and catchers coach Bobby Wilson praised Heim for his game calling and handling of the pitching staff throughout the season.

Taveras played a career-high 151 games in 2024, but hit just .229 with a .641 OPS. He had 12 home runs, 44 RBIs and a team-leading 23 stolen bases, while tied for third in the American League with nine outfield assists. He received over $2 million more than he did in '23, though it’s unclear what his role will be this upcoming season if all outfielders -- Adolis García, Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford -- are healthy.

In November, Texas had already agreed to terms with a pair of arbitration-eligible players in Dane Dunning and Josh Sborz. Both agreed to one-year deals to avoid arbitration.

Dunning’s deal is for $2.66 million plus additional incentives, after being projected to make over $4 million, according to MLB Trade Rumors. The right-hander struggled to a 5.31 ERA in 95 innings in 2024 and was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Aug. 31, the first demotion of his time in Texas.

Sborz and the Rangers agreed to a one-year deal for $1.1 million plus incentives to avoid arbitration, though he will miss at least the first two months of the 2025 season after undergoing right shoulder surgery in November.

Sborz threw just 16 1/3 innings with a 3.86 ERA due to the nagging shoulder injury. He attempted multiple returns throughout the season, but never got fully right. That was coming after the right-hander threw a career-high 64 1/3 innings in 2023, including 12 postseason innings with a 0.75 ERA en route to a seven-out save in Game 5 of the World Series.