As general manager Ross Fenstermaker said late in the season, the Rangers are looking for several new bats to improve their on-base percentage and contact skills. New head coach Skip Shoemaker has spoken about finding a new offensive identity. One potential target that’s popped up on the Rangers’ radar is the Cardinals outfielder, per Derek Gould of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Lars Nootbar. The Cardinals are willing to listen to offers from other clubs for Notebar, Gould wrote, adding that the Rangers and at least one other American League club have shown interest in the 28-year-old outfielder. However, this was before it was publicly revealed that Nootbar was undergoing double heel surgery to address Haglund’s deformity.
At this time, it’s unclear whether Nootbaar will be ready for Opening Day. New Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said two weeks ago that Opening Day was neither completely ruled out nor a guarantee for Nootball. His readiness (or lack thereof) remains up in the air, depending on how quickly he recovers. It’s unclear to what extent, if at all, the process has dampened the Rangers’ interest.
Even if the Texans completely ruled out Notte Barr, the team’s interest in him is telling in some ways. On paper, the Rangers appear to have a complete outfield. Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter and Adolis Garcia Currently expected to line up from left field to right field. However, Garcia has had two poor seasons in a row and is expected to earn over $12MM in what will be his final trip through the arbitration process. Given his recent struggles, rising price tag and the Rangers’ desire to improve their on-base and contact skills, Garcia is a trade candidate or non-tender candidate. The interest in Nootbar at least supports the notion that Garcia’s position is somewhat shaky, with his best defensive performance coming in right field — the same position Garcia occupied at Texas.
Nootbaar’s projected salary in arbitration is less than half of García’s $5.7MM. He also has one of the lowest strike zone catch rates among players: Among major league hitters with at least 400 plate appearances in 2025, he ranks 26th out of 215 (21.5 percent), according to Statcast. Instead, Garcia has 26th highest The pursuit rate is as high as 35.1%. Nootbar’s 20.4% strikeout rate, while below league average, is several times lower than Garcia’s. Additionally, Nootbar’s contact rate is about 4 percentage points above average, while his swing-battling rate is about 3.5 percentage points below average.
There’s no point in focusing too much on a single target, but the interest in Notebar supports the idea that the Rangers, who have the 10th-highest chase rate and eighth-worst walk rate in Major League Baseball, are looking for a different type of offense. Nootbar, like Garcia, earned a strong defensive impression in corner outfield work. He lacks Garcia’s raw power but can still make hard contact at a high level.
The difference in salary between the two players is also worth noting. When it was announced at season’s end that Bruce Bochy would no longer be the Rangers’ head coach, the president of baseball operations said the team would have “a lot more certainty on the salary front” when Bochy is hired in 2022, then added, “We don’t have that certainty yet” (link via Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News ).
That doesn’t necessarily indicate Texas will take extreme payroll cuts this winter, but Nootbar’s salary is far more satisfying than the $12.1MM Garcia projected. Texas will end the 2025 season with a payroll of just over $224MM and is currently projected to hit $198MM in 2026 (per RosterResource) before making another offseason move.
