Pittsburgh Pirates should pursue this Rangers trade target in any Joey Bart deal

The Pittsburgh Pirates may move on from backstop Joey Bart this offseason. The Pirates’ catching depth chart is notably deep at the moment. Aside from Bart, they have Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, and trade deadline acquisition Rafael Flores. Plus, they drafted Easton Carmichael in the third round of the 2025 draft, and have two notable catching prospects in Omar Alfonzo and Axiel Plaz.

If the Pirates do end up moving Bart, the Texas Rangers are going to be their best suitor, and have outfield talent they could move for the catcher. The two teams should converge and make a deal that looks something like this:

Bart looked like he broke out in 2024, when he put up a 121 wRC+ and hit 13 home runs in only 82 games and 298 plate appearances. However, Bart struggled mightily through the first half of 2025. By the All-Star break, he was only batting .236/.333/.293 with a .289 wOBA and 82 wRC+. Bart had just a single home run through his first 219 plate appearances of the season. He also struck out 26.5% of the time, with his only significant contribution with the bat being his 11.5% walk rate.

However, after the break, Bart turned things around and slashed .289/.398/.436 with a .371 wOBA and 138 wRC+ over his final 113 plate appearances of the season. He was hitting for far more power, with three homers and a .160 isolated slugging percentage. Bart also upped his walk rate to 13.3%, but struck out much more frequently with a 31% K%. Bart can thank upping his fast swing rate for his second-half success. Still, that half didn't come without concerns; a .411 batting average on balls in play in a small sample size screamed "regression," and a still-solid .338 xwOBA represented a 33 percentage point drop.

Bart’s defense is also lackluster. While he graded out around average in terms of framing at -0.8 (and with the new ball-strike review system, this small of a difference may end up being negligible in 2026), he still had -6 defensive runs saved and -4 blocking runs. While Bart’s 84.2 MPH throw speed from behind the plate was above-average, he was only in the 28th percentile of poptime.

The Rangers make a great fit in a Bart trade because they are likely desperate for catching depth. As of right now, the Rangers’ only catcher on their 40-man roster who has played in more than 100 MLB games is Kyle Higashioka. They recently non-tendered former All-Star Jonah Heim, who has served as their primary backstop since 2022. The Rangers only have one catching prospect among their top 30 prospects on MLB Pipeline: Malcolm Moore, who just reached High-A this past season.

In return for Bart, the Pirates should target Alejandro Osuna. The outfielder entered 2025 as one of the Texas Rangers’ top 10 prospects on Baseball America. However, he struggled in his first taste of major league action, turning in a .212/.313/.278 triple-slash, .270 wOBA, and 72 wRC+ throughout his first 176 plate appearances in the big leagues. While his bottom line was not good, Osuna had some promising numbers under the hood.

Osuna only struck out 19.3% of the time with a whiff rate of 19.6%. He also drew walks at a solid 11.9% rate and had a chase percentage of 24.9%. His xwOBA of .340 indicated he got unlucky as well. Osuna’s 88.9 MPH exit velocity was also just under league average. As a defender, Osuna had +4 defensive runs saved with zero outs above average. Most of his playing time came in left field, but he also saw games in both right and center field. 

Even after non-tendering Adolis Garcia, the Rangers have plenty of outfield depth. 2023 first-round pick Wyatt Langford is penciled into left field for Texas. Evan Carter is slated to be their center fielder. They also acquired Brandon Nimmo from the New York Mets to solidify right field. Utility man Josh Smith has experience at all three outfield positions, and they also have Michael Helman, Sam Haggerty, and Ezequiel Duran as additional options for the outfield. 

Since 2025 was Osuna’s rookie season, he is still three full seasons away from his first year of arbitration. Meanwhile, Bart has two more seasons of arbitration control left. That could be the biggest potential snag in this deal. However, the Pirates need outfield help, and the Rangers need catching help. On paper, the two teams make sense for a potential trade, and possess clear solutions to the other club's primary problems.