Rangers were interested in Lars Nootbaar before the October operation

The Rangers are in the market for several new bats because, as GM Ross Fenstermaker indicated at the end of the season, they want to improve their on-base percentage and contact skills. Newly installed manager Skip Schumaker has already talked about finding a new offensive identity. One potential target that had appeared on the Rangers’ radar according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatchwas an outfielder for Cardinals Lars Nootbaar. Goold writes that the Cardinals are open to what other clubs have to offer at Nootbaar, adding that the Rangers and at least one other AL club had expressed interest in the 28-year-old outfielder. However, that came before the public revelation that Nootbaar underwent surgery on both heels to address this Haglund deformities.

At this time it is not yet clear whether Nootbaar will be ready for Opening Day. Chaim Bloom, the Cardinals’ new president of baseball operations, said two weeks ago that Opening Day is neither definitively off the table nor a guarantee for Nootbaar. His readiness (or lack thereof) is still up in the air and depends on the speed of his recovery. It’s also not clear to what extent (if any) the proceedings have cooled Rangers’ interest.

Even if Texas is completely after Nootbaar, the team’s interest in him is telling in some ways. On paper, the Rangers appear to have a full outfield. Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter And Adolis Garcia It is currently projected that they will line up from left to right. However, García is coming off two consecutive bad seasons and is expected to earn more than $12 million in what will be his final journey through the arbitration process. Given his recent struggles, rising price tag and the Rangers’ desire to improve their basic and contact skills, García is listed as a trade or non-tender candidate. The interest in Nootbaar, whose best defensive qualities are in right field — the same position García occupies in Texas — at least supports the idea that García is on somewhat shaky ground.

Nootbaar’s projected salary of $5.7 million in arbitration is less than half of García’s. He also has one of the lowest chase rates on balls outside the strike zone, according to Statcast: 26th lowest of (21.5%) among the 215 major league hitters to have at least 400 plate appearances in 2025. García, on the other hand, has the 26th highest pursuit rate of no less than 35.1%. Nootbaar’s strikeout rate of 20.4% isn’t that far south of league average, but it is several ticks lower than García’s. Additionally, Nootbaar’s contact rate is about four percentage points higher than average, while his swinging-strike rate is about 3.5 percentage points lower than average.

There’s little point in getting too heavy into any one individual target, but the interest in Nootbaar supports the idea that the Rangers, who as a team had the 10th-highest chase rate in the MLB and the eighth-worst walk rate, are looking for a different kind of approach at the plate. Nootbaar, like García, scores strong defensive points for his corner work in the outfield. He lacks the raw power of García, but still makes hard contact at plus level.

The salary difference between the two players is also notable. When the president of baseball operations announced at the end of the season that Bruce Bochy would not return as manager of the Rangers, he said that when Bochy was hired in 2022, the team had “a little more certainty on the payroll side” before adding, “We don’t have that right now” (link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News).

That doesn’t necessarily mean Texas will cut payrolls in an extreme manner this winter, but Nootbaar’s salary is much more palatable than the projected $12.1 million for García. Texas finished the 2025 season with a payroll north of $224 million and is currently projected to have a payroll of $198 million in 2026 (per RosterResource) before making a single offseason move.