With the 2025 Texas Rangers season having come to an end, we shall be, over the course of the offseason, taking a look at every player who appeared in a major league game for the Texas Rangers in 2025.
Today we are looking at utility guy Donovan Solano.
Donovan Solano was just barely a Texas Ranger in 2025. Signed to a minor league deal in early September, after he had been released by the Seattle Mariners, Solano played in 10 games for Round Rock in September before their season ended.
One week later, Josh Smith went on the paternity list prior to the Rangers’ final series of the season, in Cleveland. Needing someone who could play the infield to round out the roster for the final three games, the Rangers selected Solano’s contract. To the extent there was any discussion about it at the time, it was about why the Rangers opted for him, rather than Justin Foscue, who was already on the 40 man roster.
Solano started at second base for the Rangers in Game 161, and went 0 for 3. He came into Game 162 in the bottom of the 9th, after Joc Pederson had pinch hit for starting second baseman Cody Freeman, and didn’t get a plate appearance.
Solano is currently, as I type this, a 38 year old free agent. He played for Colombia in the WBC in this year’s competition, going 1 for 10 with 7 walks and 4 strikeouts, giving him an entertaining .100/.471/.100 slash line.
Under the circumstances, it seems likely Solano’s professional career is over.
Solano has had an unusual career arc. Signed in 2005 by the St. Louis Cardinals, he never was added to their 40 man roster, and became a minor league free agent after the 2011 season. He spent a few years in a part-time role with the Marlins from 2012-14, primarily playing second base, then was released at the end of the 2015 season after a .189/.215/.244 slash line in 94 plate appearances.
Solano signed with the Yankees, but spent most of 2016 in the minors, getting just nine games in the bigs that year, and then spent all of 2017 and 2018 in AAA, with the Yankees in 2017 and the Dodgers in 2018. Solano, aged 31, was signed by the San Francisco Giants for the 2019 season, and it seemed then that he was probably done as a major leaguer, other than possibly the occasional cameo when there was a need for a short-term replacement.
Nonetheless, Solano’s 2019 was the start of an unexpected and surprising six year run as a useful major league role player. Called up by the Giants after six weeks in AAA, Solano slashed .330/.360/.456 in 228 plate appearances. He followed that up with a .326/.365/.463 slash line in 54 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, winning the Silver Slugger Award for second base.
Solano became eligible for free agency after 2021 — another solid year with the Giants — and he signed a one year deal with Cincinnati, followed by a one year deal with Minnesota for 2023. In 2024, Solano didn’t sign until mid-April, with the San Diego Padres, but once he did, he put up a 760 OPS in 309 plate appearances.
Solano shifted to play more first base and third base after he left San Francisco, and with the Mariners in 2025, he played almost exclusively first base. His .247/.291/.337 slash line wasn’t first base production, however, and especially once the M’s acquired Josh Naylor, Solano became superfluous, resulting in his ultimately being cut loose on September 1.
Father Time catches up with us all, and it looks like it has for Solano. Still, it is worth taking a moment to appreciate the unlikely, unexpected run he had from 2019-24, from age 31-36, when he put up a 7.6 bWAR and .294/.353/.415 slash line in 546 games. Pretty remarkable for a guy who had a 0.1 bWAR and .257/.306/.331 slash line in 370 games from age 24-28, and spent most of three years stuck in AAA as a major league veteran holding on for another chance.
Previously:
Gerson Garabito
Tyler Mahle
Kyle Higashioka
Adolis Garcia
Luis Curvelo
Alejandro Osuna
Blaine Crim
Jake Burger
Jacob Webb
Nick Ahmed
Jon Gray
Carl Edwards Jr.
Josh Jung
Leody Taveras
Dustin Harris
Marc Church
Luke Jackson
Danny Coulombe
Wyatt Langford
Dylan Moore
Michael Helman
Evan Carter
Cole Winn
Rowdy Tellez
Dane Dunning
Marcus Semien
Billy McKinney
Jose Corniell
Jonah Heim
Cody Freeman
Sam Haggerty
Jacob deGrom
Merrill Kelly
Caleb Boushley
Justin Foscue
Nathan Eovaldi
Chris Martin
Patrick Corbin
Joc Pederson
Phil Maton
Corey Seager
Tucker Barnhart
Jack Leiter
Ezequiel Duran
Robert Garcia
Kumar Rocker
Codi Heuer
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