ARLINGTON — Unable to find a trade partner willing to part with a prospect, the Rangers are willing to cut ties with Leody Taveras if someone will simply pick up the remainder of his contract.
The Rangers placed Taveras on outright waivers on Sunday, three MLB officials familiar with the waiver wire and process confirmed with The Dallas Morning News. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first posted the move on X.
Confirming @Ken_Rosenthal tweet that Rangers have placed OF Leody Taveras on outright waivers. Will have a story shortly on the ramifications of it.
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) May 4, 2025
Any team can place a claim for Taveras by simply being willing to take on the remainder of his $4.75 million salary. There is about $3.25 million remaining. The Rangers had attempted to trade him last week, but found no teams willing to make a straight trade that would involve exchanging players and taking on the remainder of the contract.
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If a team claims Taveras, it would save the Rangers the remainder of his contract, which is not insignificant since the team was butting up against the $241 million luxury tax threshold and the 50% tax that comes with it. Tyler Mahle, off to a great start, has $5 million in innings-pitched related performance bonuses in his contract, which the Rangers must navigate.
If nobody claims Taveras over the 48 hours starting Monday morning, the Rangers could remove him from the 40-man roster and send him outright to Triple-A Round Rock. Taveras could elect free agency at that point, but would then forfeit the remainder of his contract, which would also give the Rangers the financial savings.
Taveras, 26, has played in 504 games for the Rangers since 2020, compiling a .661 OPS over 1,825 plate appearances. He is slashing .241/.259/.342/.601 this season and had recently lost playing time in center field. Taveras has started just five of the Rangers’ last 13 games.
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Evan has covered the Rangers since 1997. He has twice been named one of the top 10 beat writers in the country by the AP Sports Editors. His passions outside of covering baseball are his wife, Gina, his two step kids, two crazy dogs & barbecue. Let’s not discuss the cat. Evan graduated from Georgia State University, but oddly is a Georgia fan.
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