Chris Young and the word “miss” haven’t exactly gone together throughout his tenure as the Rangers GM.

Young constructed the Rangers’ first World Championship team committing to free agents such as Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jacob deGrom, and others who have brought in a cultural shift in Arlington.

Despite all of the immense front office success, one area that the Rangers seemingly haven’t been able to hit on is backup catcher.

This offseason, it will be key for the Rangers front office to finally find the right backup backstop after the struggle that Jonah Heim endured in 2024.

Since the start of the 2022 season, Jonah Heim has caught 389 games which is the 6th most in MLB over that span. Not to mention the 16 playoff games in 2023 and that total swells to 405.

Heim’s workload was likely a pretty big factor in his offensive struggles in 2024. In the same number of games played, Heim’s batting average decreased by 38 points while he slugged 5 fewer home runs and knocked in 36 fewer runs from 2023-2024.

With the Rangers looking for their third backup catcher in as many seasons, the pressure is on to try and find the right guy to help keep Heim fresh.

Over the past few years, the Rangers have tried multiple guys to back up Heim but haven’t been able to find any consistency.

Throughout 2022 and 2023, Mitch Garver was the primary backup but caught just 51 games in the two seasons combined.

Prior to 2024, Texas brought in Andrew Knizner to try to provide Heim with some relief, but after he hit just .167, the Rangers designated him for assignment in August.

At the trade deadline, the Rangers brought in Carson Kelly in one of two moves Chris Young struck with the eventual AL Wild Card wonder Detroit Tigers.

Kelly played 31 games with the Rangers and hit .235 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI while getting on base at a .291 clip.

With Kelly hitting free agency this winter, the Rangers are once again left searching for the right guy to back up Jonah Heim.

Free Agency in general will be a complicated obstacle course for the Rangers front office this offseason.

Ray Davis and ownership would like to get the team’s payroll under the $241 million luxury tax. Being under that mark would allow the Rangers to reset their tax bracket and avoid the at least 50% penalty for being three straight years over the tax.

With that being said, the Rangers’ budget this offseason may be around only $25 million with the roster constructed as is.

Texas who needs to add two or three relievers and at least one more starter, will likely have just 1-2 million to find a backup catcher.

This means the likes of Travis d’arnaud and Danny Jansen are far out of the budget. Reunions with Kelly or 2023 World Series champion Austin Hedges could be more likely. Non-former Rangers like Jacob Stallings or Curt Casali among others could also fit within the budget.