Rangers swing deal with Tigers for catcher Kelly

ST. LOUIS -- As the Rangers hover over the buy or sell line before Tuesday's Trade Deadline, the first domino fell for the organization on Sunday night, when Texas made a trade to acquire catcher Carson Kelly from the Tigers on Sunday. They will send a pair of Minor Leaguers to Detroit in the deal: catcher Liam Hicks and right-hander Tyler Owens.

“A lot of the guys have welcomed me with open arms and from what I've heard, it's a great club,” Kelly said upon his arrival in the Rangers’ clubhouse on Monday. “It's a great team and I'm just excited to be here and be part of this.”

The Tigers signed Kelly last August with the idea of helping him rework his game from behind the plate and with the bat after the Diamondbacks released him. It couldn’t have worked out much better for both sides. Kelly switched his catching stance to a one-knee setup late last season and became a better receiver, then tweaked his swing in the offseason.

The latter took some time to pay off, but Kelly became a middle-of-the-order run producer in Detroit’s lineup by midseason, while splitting time with Jake Rogers behind the plate. He became the primary catcher for old Cardinals teammate Jack Flaherty in his rebound season. Additionally, Kelly has hit .240 with a .716 OPS this season, and could be an upgrade to the Rangers’ lineup whenever necessary.

“I just made some adjustments in the offseason, made some swing adjustments and catching adjustments,” Kelly said. “I'm just a student of the game and I want to continue to learn and I think this is going to be a great place to do it.”

The Rangers have 2023 All-Star and Gold Glove award winner Jonah Heim primarily behind the plate, but he’s struggled on both sides of the plate this season. He’s hit just .231 with a .620 OPS, while backup Andrew Knizner has been significantly worse offensively. Knizner has hit .167 in 37 games behind Heim this season.

Knizner was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Monday.

“He brings experience and he does a great job behind the plate,” manager Bruce Bochy said of Kelly. “He's been doing a nice job throwing out runners, I think 30%. He's having a good year offensively with nine home runs, so he'll help provide some offense too.”

The third catcher on the 40-man roster is Sam Huff, who was a Top 100 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, in 2020-21, and has had a few cups of coffee in the big leagues, but hasn’t had the opportunity to contribute consistently at the MLB level. He’s hit .258/.313/.455 in 78 games across four big leagues seasons for the Rangers since he was selected in the seventh round of the 2016 MLB Draft.

Texas has little depth in the catching ranks in the Minors, especially considering they are shipping off Hicks in the deal, but the club did select Malcolm Moore at No. 30 overall in this year’s Draft, assuring at least something in the coming years.

Kelly, who turned 30 years old on July 14, is making $3.5 million this season in his final year before free agency. He is the ideal veteran catcher to mix into a postseason contender alongside a more established backstop. His work with Detroit down the stretch last season showed an ability to learn a pitching staff quickly.

“I ask a lot of questions,” Kelly said. “Yeah, I definitely ask a lot of questions, hang out with a lot of pitchers and just try to soak up as much information as I can. And a lot of great guys have already [shared information] and we’ve talked a little bit, gone through some meetings. So a lot of information but now it's about processing it and putting it to use.”