The Rangers were busy Tuesday. First, they brought back Nathan Eovaldi, their best pitcher the last two seasons and a main catalyst in their World Series run, on a three-year deal. Then, late in the night, they went out for a Burger.

That’s Jake Burger, a corner infielder they acquired from the Marlins for three minor leaguers.

While Rangers fans might not be familiar with Burger, they are very familiar with Eovaldi. He’s a two-time All-Star—once with the Rangers, once with the Red Sox—in his thirteen big league seasons. He certainly wasn’t the flashiest name on the free agent list, but he was the anchor of the Rangers rotation and just seemed to be the stabilizing influence they need. 

With Eovaldi back in the fold, the Rangers rotation now has eight candidates: Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray, Cody Bradford, Tyler Mahle, Kumar Rocker, Dane Dunning, and Jack Leiter. There are a lot of injury-prone arms there, but it’s a very formidable rotation.

In Jake Burger, the Rangers picked up a twenty-eight-year-old former White Sox first rounder who hits with power. He played his first two seasons with Chicago, ’21 and ’22, then was traded to the Marlins at the trade deadline of 2023. 

Only Corey Seager hit more home runs than Burger’s 29 last year. Defensively, Burger played 69 games at first and 59 at third last year. It would appear this is setting up a Nathaniel Lowe trade, but maybe not. The Rangers lacked a DH last year, and Burger is the legitimate run producer they were missing. Plus, how many games can they expect to get out of porcelain third baseman Josh Jung before his annual long excursion to the injured list?

This gives the Rangers a potential lineup of: Seimein 2B, Seager SS, Langford LF, Garcia RF, Jung 3B, Burger DH, Lowe 1B, Carter CF, Higashioka/Heim C.

Not bad for a team that’s constructing a competitive roster on the cheap.