"So deserving" - Austin Wells, Michael King, Tyler Wade, Gleyber Torres, Jameson Taillon react to Kyle Higashioka's excitement about joining Rangers
Former Padres and Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka has found a new home in Arlington. The Texas Rangers have signed him from free agency on a two-year contract for $12.5 million with a mutual option for $7 million in 2027. Higashioka took to social media to announce his latest move to the Globe Life Field.
The caption on his post read:
"Incredibly excited to begin this next chapter of my career as a Texas Ranger! So grateful for this opportunity and ready to make some more great memories in the great state of Texas! Let’s go Rangers!"
Kyle Higashioka's former Yankees and Padres teammates took the opportunity to congratulate the backstop.
Some of their comments on his post were as follows:
"Let’s go king!!!" - @awells
"Yeees Niñooo" - @gleyberdavid
"So deserving! Congrats Hig!!" - @jtaillon50
The 34-year-old catcher played the 2024 MLB season with the Padres after getting traded from the Yankees as one of the players in the Juan Soto blockbuster deal that happened last offseason.
Last year was also his final year in arbitration where he earned $2.18 million and was scheduled for an increase in salary heading into the 2025 MLB season.
Kyle Higashioka produced one of the best years of his MLB career in 2024 with the Padres. He registered a decent offensive stat line with a .220 batting average, 17 home runs, 45 RBIs, 54 hits and a .739 OPS.
Kyle Higashioka is happy with his move to Texas Rangers
After his deal was announced, Higashioka spoke highly of his new ballclub and emphasized playing any role that the team would require of him:
"This is a really good squad, obviously," Higashioka said via MLB.com. "I think everyone will probably say that they underperformed last year, but I think the team as a whole is a fantastic roster. Chris Young, this offseason, he made it very clear how committed they are to winning.
"It's my job to play well when I'm in there. Obviously [Bruce Bochy] is going to make the lineup. We’ve got Jonah here, who's a fantastic catcher. He's a guy that I really like watching play. So I think for me, it's about trying to make the team better in whatever way possible," he added.
Higashioka will be adding much-needed depth to the Rangers roster both in the offensive lineup as well as in the backstop role for MLB seasons to come.