Rangers Acquire Carson Kelly in Trade with Tigers

By Nate Miller

Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images

July 28, 2024

The Texas Rangers have acquired catcher Carson Kelly in a trade with the Detroit Tigers. The news of this development comes per a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. In exchange for Kelly’s services, the Rangers are sending catcher Liam Hicks and right-handed pitcher Tyler Owens to Detroit. Following Sunday’s transactions, the Rangers are at the 40-man limit on the club’s Major League roster, along with seven players on the 60-day Injured List. Those players include Cody Bradford, Carson Coleman, Jacob deGrom, Josh Jung, Tyler Mahle, Austin Pruitt, and Cole Winn.

Backup for Heim

Kelly, 30, has slashed .240/.325/.391/.716 (43-for-179) with seven home runs, one triple, four doubles, and 29 RBI in 60 games. He has made 52 starts behind the plate for the Tigers in 2024. He threw out 17 of 59 attempted base-stealers for a 38.8% caught-stealing percentage. That figure ranked fourth in the American League. It is also seventh in the majors with a minimum of 20 attempts entering play Sunday. A right-handed batter and thrower, Kelly is batting .250 (8-for-32) against left-handed pitchers and .238 (35-for-147) versus righties this season. He will likely be the primary backup to Rangers starting catcher Jonah Heim. Thus far, Andrew Knizner has been filling in as Heim’s backup, but he has struggled this year in limited playing time. In 2024, he is batting .167 (15-for-90) with one homer and nine RBI.

Carson Kelly was originally selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the second round of the 2012 Draft. He has batted .224 (333-for-1489) with 52 home runs, two triples, 66 doubles, and 199 RBI over parts of nine major league seasons. Since 2019, the backstop’s 10.1% walk rate ranks eighth among qualified major league catchers, while his 3,404 innings caught are 12th most in all of baseball in that span.

Hicks and Owens

The 23-year-old Owens has gone 2–0 with eight saves and a 2.80 ERA in 26 relief appearances for Double-A Frisco this season. This is his first year with the Rangers organization. He was acquired from the Atlanta Braves in a January 26, 2024 trade that sent outfielder J.P. Martinez to the Braves. Hicks, 25, has batted .260/.364/.353/.717 (76-292) with 4 home runs and 33 RBI over 80 games with Frisco in 2024.