There was some interesting news revealed on Monday that featured a player in the Texas Rangers organization.
According to Robert Murray of FanSided, veteran catcher Tucker Barnart is set to suddenly retire from professional baseball.
This news came as a bit of a surprise.
Barnhart, who was signed by the Rangers this past offseason and was called up to the big league roster on April 30 before getting designated for assignment on June 1, last played a minor league game with Texas’ Triple-A affiliate as recently as June 29.
After opting to become a free agent following his DFA, he decided to re-sign with the Rangers on a minor league deal. However, instead of continuing to play, his agent Steve Rath of the Ballengee Group told Murray that the 12-year Major League veteran has decided to call it a career.
Barnhart ends with two Gold Glove Awards to his name, honors he won when he played for the Cincinnati Reds in 2017 and 2020.
He spent the majority of his career with the Reds after getting selected by them in the 10th round of the 2009 draft, debuting five years later and becoming their everyday man behind the plate until he was traded to the Detroit Tigers following the 2021 season.
From there, Barnhart spent 2022 with the Tigers, 2023 with the Chicago Cubs, 2024 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and most recently a short stint with Texas this year.
Barnhart was known for his defense in comparison to his offense, but he still finished his MLB career with a .241/.318/.351 slash line, 53 homers, 131 doubles and 292 RBI.
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