News Rangers Team Notes

[Texas Rangers]

Check out the latest news on your Texas Rangers.

 

[Texas Rangers]

Joc Pederson Sends Warning To AL West Division

(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

The Texas Rangers followed up their World Series title in 2023 by missing the playoffs in 2024 after finishing with a record of 78-84.

After a disappointing year following a World Series title, the Rangers made some moves this offseason to try to return to the postseason in 2025.

One of those moves was adding Joc Pederson from the Arizona Diamondbacks after he signed a two-year deal with the Rangers.

Pederson sent a warning to the rest of the American League West division after he signed with the Rangers.

“It’s time for us to take over the AL West,” Pederson said via B/R Walk-Off on ‘X.’

Joc Pederson calling his shot in a new division

pic.twitter.com/qaUpctogdh

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) December 31, 2024

Pederson is an 11-year MLB veteran who came into the league with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014 and the Rangers will be his sixth different team that he’s played for.

In 2024 with the Diamondbacks, Pederson played in 132 games where he batted .275 with 23 home runs, 64 RBIs, and a .908 OPS.

The 32-year-old slugger proved that he still has some pop left in his bat, and he will try to boost this Rangers offense to get back into the playoffs next season.

Even though the Rangers won the World Series in 2023, they haven’t won an AL West title since 2016, mainly due to the Houston Astros’ dominance in the division.

The Rangers also added infielder Jake Burger via trade with the Miami Marlins to boost their offensive power.

With an Astros team that appears to be losing some of its best weapons, the door to the AL West title may be open come the 2025 season.

The post Joc Pederson Sends Warning To AL West Division appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Source: https://www.thecoldwire.com/joc-pederson-sends-warning-to-al-west-division/

 

[Texas Rangers]

Analyst Names The ‘Best Value’ MLB Signing This Offseason

(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)

The Texas Rangers missed the postseason in 2024 after finishing with a record of 78-84 and finishing in third place in the American League West.

After winning the World Series in 2023, the Rangers experienced a bit of a championship hangover as they failed to make the postseason in their title defense year.

While injuries likely played a part in a down year for the Rangers, they have added some key pieces to their roster this offseason to try and make it back to the postseason in 2025.

The most recent acquisition involves a reported two-year deal with slugger Joc Pederson.

MLB Analyst Russell Dorsey revealed what he thinks of Pederson.

“Joc Pederson might be the best value on this year’s market,” Dorsey said via MLB Network on ‘X.’

"Joc [Pederson] might be the best value on this year's market."@Russ_Dorsey1 reacts to the Rangers' reported deal with the lefty slugger on #MLBNHotStove. pic.twitter.com/CCbJN058UO

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 23, 2024

Pederson is 32 years old and came into the league in 2014 with the Los Angeles Dodgers where he played for seven seasons before bouncing around to different teams the last few seasons.

In 2024 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Pederson played in 132 games and batted .275 with 23 home runs, 64 RBIs, and a .908 OPS.

Dorsey mentions that Pederson played his first year solely as a designated hitter last year, and it allowed him to be productive for the entirety of the season.

The Rangers have only made the postseason once in the last eight seasons, but that one appearance led to their first World Series title in franchise history.

With the addition of Pederson, the Rangers lineup appears to be solid as they prepare for the 2025 season and seek their second World Series title in the last three seasons.

The post Analyst Names The ‘Best Value’ MLB Signing This Offseason appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Source: https://www.thecoldwire.com/analyst-names-the-best-value-mlb-signing-this-offseason/

 

[Texas Rangers]

Jack Leiter Continues A Nightmare Start To The Season

(Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

Texas Rangers fans were excited to see the debut of former Vanderbilt star and No. 2 overall pick Jack Leiter this season, but his transition to the majors has been bumpy, to say the least.

Leiter has been pushed to the big leagues following injuries to Nathan Eovaldi and Dane Dunning, while Jacob deGrom is still recovering from Tommy John surgery as well, and if things don’t improve, it won’t be long before he gets sent back down to get a little more seasoning.

Leiter made his third start of the season last night and took a step back, giving up three hits and three walks that led to six runs in just 1.2 innings of work in a 7-4 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.

Jack Leiter had a disastrous outing, recording 1.2 IP with 6 ER, 3 H, 1 K, 3 BB

Although his slider and fastball graded out well, Leiter's command was all over the place. He struggled to locate his pitches and allowed a lot of hard contact

It's been a rough rookie season pic.twitter.com/eqh6iV3NPf

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) May 15, 2024

This was his first start at home, so it was a brutal debut for Leiter who had looked slightly better in his second start than he did in his first one, but the wheels fell off quickly last night and he didn’t make it out of the second inning.

In the post above shared by analyst Thomas Nestico, he highlighted how Leiter’s command was the main issue, as he was all over the place despite his fastball and slider grading out well.

You can get away with great stuff and shaky command in college and the minors, but big-league hitters will make you pay for mistakes regardless of how quality the stuff is.

Leiter is too talented not to figure it out, as he had a rough transition to the minors as well before finding his groove.

The post Jack Leiter Continues A Nightmare Start To The Season appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Source: https://www.thecoldwire.com/jack-leiter-continues-a-nightmare-start-to-the-season/

 

[Texas Rangers]

Rangers See A Familiar Face Return In Trade

(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

It’s always fun to see fan favorites return to their former teams, and it seems that you see it happen in baseball a little more often than you do in other sports.

Texas Rangers fans will now get to experience this after the front office just made a nice early-season trade to bolster the outfield.

The Rangers officially announced that they have acquired outfielder Robbie Grossman from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for right-handed pitcher Anthony Hoopii-Tuoionetoa.

Welcome back, Robbie!

We've acquired OF Robbie Grossman from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for RHP Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa. pic.twitter.com/OVh6m1E741

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) May 8, 2024

It was not a long stay in Chicago for Grossman, as he spent all of 2023 with the Rangers and won a World Series ring before he signed a minor league deal with the White Sox this past offseason.

Grossman hit 10 homers and drove in 49 runs for the Rangers last season and was off to a poor start to this season in Chicago with just a .211 batting average in 71 at-bats.

Texas is currently sitting atop the AL West and has scored the 4th-most runs in the league so far, but the Rangers aren’t getting much offensive production out of their outfield spots outside of Adolis Garcia.

Evan Carter is hitting .222 with a .749 OPS, Wyatt Langford is hitting .224 with just a .588 OPS and one home run, and Leody Taveras has a .685 OPS.

Rotational outfielder Travis Jankowski isn’t hitting either, so bringing in some familiar help at the plate is a wise move.

It remains to be seen how many at-bats Grossman will get, but if he can even repeat his performance from last year, it will help this offense right now given the struggles of the young guys.

The post Rangers See A Familiar Face Return In Trade appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Source: https://www.thecoldwire.com/rangers-see-a-familiar-face-return-in-trade/

 

[Texas Rangers]

Jacob deGrom Has Reached An Important MLB Milestone

(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Reaching MLB is insanely difficult: for every player who actually makes his debut, there are dozens who had to drop out in high school, college, or the minor leagues.

Actually staying in the league for 10 years is something reserved for the most talented and persistent ballplayers in the world.

The 10-year service-time threshold has long been one of the most respected and coveted among players.

There is a financial reason behind that, but we will get there in a minute.

The most recent player to reach that milestone is Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom.

“This past week, Jacob deGrom received 10 years of MLB service time,” Dan Bartels tweeted.

This past week, Jacob deGrom received 10 years of MLB service time. pic.twitter.com/slgGjZbwp9

— Dan Bartels (@DanBartels2) May 6, 2024

The 10-year service time threshold unlocks a yearly pension for players after they are retired.

According to JustBallGloves.com, “any player, coach, manager, or trainer that has worked within the league for at least 10 years will receive a pension payout for the rest of their life.”

Starting at age 45, those who have completed 10 years of service time will be allowed to withdraw $68,000 per year.

If the player elects to wait until he is 62, he will be able to get up to $220,000 annually.

deGrom has likely earned financial security for life through his contracts: the last one was worth $185 million over five years, and was signed before the 2023 campaign.

It’s always nice, especially for those who can’t score such a hefty contract over their playing careers, to have such a nice financial cushion for their golden years.

deGrom is now a proud member of the 10-year service-time club and it should be celebrated.

Currently on the injured list, he is expected back around August.

The post Jacob deGrom Has Reached An Important MLB Milestone appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Source: https://www.thecoldwire.com/jacob-degrom-has-reached-an-important-mlb-milestone/

 

[Texas Rangers]

Jack Leiter Has A Rough Outing In MLB Debut

(Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

The Texas Rangers gave star pitching prospect Jack Leiter the opportunity of his life.

They called him up from Triple-A, where he had been performing well in the early stages of the 2024 campaign, to start on Thursday against the Detroit Tigers.

The results of his first MLB outing were not satisfactory, though.

He was roughed up for seven runs (all earned) and couldn’t get out of the fourth inning.

“Jack Leiter’s final line in his MLB debut: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 K on 85 pitches,” Talkin’ Baseball tweeted.

Jack Leiter's final line in his MLB debut:

3.2 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 K on 85 pitches pic.twitter.com/S2IDByIaMG

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 18, 2024

Leiter conceded eight hits and walked three batters: the heavy traffic on the basepaths ended up affecting him.

While he didn’t give up any home runs, he did allow some hard contact and it wasn’t a good afternoon, overall.

Thankfully for Leiter, he is with a top organization that just won the World Series last year.

He has good coaches and some of his teammates in the rotation are experienced veterans, All-Stars, and even Cy Young award winners.

He has a strong support system to come back another time and perform much, much better than he did on Thursday.

Nobody knows if he will make another start (or more) or if he will be sent back to Triple-A, but this won’t be his last MLB start.

He has the talent, and requires patience.

Prior to this game, he had a 3.77 ERA in Triple-A with a really good 25/3 SO/BB ratio.

The tools are there for Leiter to be great one day: it just takes a bit of time to make the necessary adjustments in many cases.

The post Jack Leiter Has A Rough Outing In MLB Debut appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Source: https://www.thecoldwire.com/jack-leiter-has-a-rough-outing-in-mlb-debut/

 

[Texas Rangers]

Rangers Set To Call Up Top MLB Prospect

(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

The Texas Rangers are one pitcher away from fielding an entire starting rotation on the injured list.

As of Tuesday, they have Cody Bradford, Tyler Mahle, Max Scherzer, and Jacob deGrom on the shelf.

Nathan Eovaldi (2.92 ERA) has been his usual reliable self, but outside of Michael Lorenzen and his tiny workload so far (five scoreless innings), the rest of the staff has an ERA over 4.30: Jon Gray (4.38), Dane Dunning (4.50), and Andrew Heaney (6.75).

The reigning World Series champions are looking for more talented arms to contribute to the rotation, so they decided to bring up one of their top pitching prospects.

“The Texas Rangers are calling up right-hander Jack Leiter, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft. In 14.1 innings at AAA this season, he has struck out 25 and walked three while allowing four home runs. He’ll start the final game of their series against Detroit on Thursday,” MLB insider Jeff Passan tweeted.

The Texas Rangers are calling up right-hander Jack Leiter, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft. In 14.1 innings at AAA this season, he has struck out 25 and walked three while allowing four home runs. He'll start the final game of their series against Detroit on Thursday.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 16, 2024

Leiter, the second overall pick of the 2021 MLB Draft after Henry Davis, had shown a difficulty to control and command his pitches in his first couple of seasons in the minor leagues.

He had a 5.54 ERA in 92.2 Double-A innings in 2022, and he repeated the level in 2023 and posted an equally mediocre 5.07 ERA in 81.2 frames.

It took him two years, but he finally made some strides throwing strikes consistently in 2024.

In 14.1 innings this year in Triple-A, his ERA stands at 3.77, but his SO/BB ratio is a brilliant 25/3.

The sample is very small, but the Rangers are willing to give him a shot on Thursday to see how he looks.

Then, they will go from there and let his performance decide the next steps.

Leiter has always been capable of missing bats, but control held him back.

If he is truly behind those issues, 2024 could very well be a breakout year for him.

The post Rangers Set To Call Up Top MLB Prospect appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Source: https://www.thecoldwire.com/rangers-set-to-call-up-top-mlb-prospect/

 

[Texas Rangers]

MLB Announcer Couldn’t Believe An Umpire’s Call On Friday

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

The Houston Astros Vs. Texas Rangers game was heavily one-sided on Friday, with the Rangers hanging on to win 12-8 after the Astros put up five runs in the bottom of the 7th inning.

The Rangers were up 8-1 in the 4th inning and threatening to score a lot more with the bases loaded and one out before one umpire who fans have grown progressively more disappointed with decided to remind everyone why his name gets brought up so often.

In a 2-2 count, J.P. France struck out Wyatt Langford looking with a cutter that was well off the plate and into the left-handed hitter’s batter’s box, to which Rangers announcer Dave Raymond exclaimed, “you have got to be kidding me, what in the world?!”

Game was getting boring, Angel had to step in pic.twitter.com/4DAMVW5j8s

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 13, 2024

The two previous pitches were very similar to this one and were well off the plate outside, and Hernandez called both of them strikes as well.

The Rangers wound up scoring four runs in the inning anyway, but they could have scored a lot more if Langford walked like he should have.

Fans of all teams have been calling for Hernandez to be fired for years now, as he continues to generate headlines seemingly every game with calls like this one.

Every call Hernandez makes like this just applies more pressure on the league to implement robotic umpires, at least for calling balls and strikes.

To make a call like this with the bases loaded is inexcusable, and Hernandez did it three times in a row.

The post MLB Announcer Couldn’t Believe An Umpire’s Call On Friday appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Source: https://www.thecoldwire.com/mlb-announcer-couldnt-believe-an-umpires-call-on-friday/

 

[Texas Rangers]

Rangers Insider Reveals Latest Josh Jung Update

(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

The Texas Rangers received some bad news when Josh Jung had to depart Monday’s game after suffering an injury when he swung and missed a pitch.

He was subsequently placed on the injured list, and the Rangers called up top prospect Justin Foscue to replace him.

More details on the procedure and Jung’s timetable became public on Wednesday, and they confirm a rather long absence for the talented corner infielder.

“On Josh Jung, based on post surgery report, Rangers are operating on 8-10 week time frame. Repair a little bit more involved than appeared to be on x ray,” Rangers insider Evan Grant tweeted.

On Josh Jung, based on post surgery report, Rangers are operating on 8-10 week time frame. Repair a little bit more involved than appeared to be on x ray

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) April 3, 2024

The diagnosis was a right wrist fracture.

Those are delicate and require a lot of time on the shelf, not to mention that they have the potential to sap the player’s power for some time upon his return.

It’s possible we won’t see Jung’s true power ceiling until 2025, but he could defy the odds and make a complete recovery in a few months.

He should be able to return before the All-Star break if all goes well, though.

He will be missed, as we was having an amazing start of the season before going down.

Jung was hitting .412/.474/.941 with a double, a triple, and two homers.

His OPS was a cool 1.415.

He showed the world a glimpse of his power last year, when he hit 25 doubles and 23 home runs in just 122 games.

The Rangers need him because things are tight between them, the Houston Astros, and the Seattle Mariners for the AL West.

The post Rangers Insider Reveals Latest Josh Jung Update appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Source: https://www.thecoldwire.com/rangers-insider-reveals-latest-josh-jung-update/

 

[Texas Rangers]

Rangers Top Prospect Makes Opening Day Roster

(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

The Texas Rangers are one of the best teams in baseball.

They are the reigning World Series champs, and they still have help on the way in the form of young players and top prospects.

Sure, there is a strong core with Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Nathaniel Lowe, Adolis Garcia and others; but the Evan Carter, Josh Jungs, and Leody Taveras represent the next generation.

You can go ahead and officially add another name to the mix of young contributors, with Wyatt Langford breaking camp with the team.

“Welcome to the Show, Wyatt Langford! @MLBPipeline‘s No. 6 prospect, will be on the @Rangers Opening Day roster,” MLB Network posted.

Welcome to the Show, Wyatt Langford!@MLBPipeline's No. 6 prospect, will be on the @Rangers Opening Day roster. pic.twitter.com/y7MqcPk5gi

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 22, 2024

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told the media on Friday that his star prospect is making the team.

He is not much of a defender, but as long as he hits like he has in the minor leagues and spring training, Texas will find a spot for him.

He hit .333/.453/.644 in 24 games in High-A last year; .405/.519/.762 in 12 Double-A contests, and .368/.538/.526 in five games in Triple-A.

He had nine homers and 11 steals in just 41 games between the three levels.

This year, he is slashing an incredible .388/.446/.796 in 17 spring training games, with six long balls.

As you can see, he still doesn’t know what it feels like to fail at a specific level.

MLB will obviously represent an increase in difficulty level, but he is well-equipped to be an above-average hitter and a key cog in the Rangers roster for the present and the future.

The post Rangers Top Prospect Makes Opening Day Roster appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Source: https://www.thecoldwire.com/rangers-top-prospect-makes-opening-day-roster/

 

[Texas Rangers]

Rangers Notes: Teodo, Bullpen, Leiter

Rangers pitching prospect Emiliano Teodo is making a strong impression early in camp. The 24-year-old righty struck out the side to earn the save in today’s exhibition win against Cincinnati. He’s up to 3 1/3 scoreless frames with five punchouts, a pair of saves, and a hold. His fastball has reached triple digits in short stints.

While it’s far too small a sample on which to draw real conclusions, Teodo’s stuff has caught the attention of Bruce Bochy. “You don’t know, he could break spring with us. To be honest, yeah, he’s probably on the outside looking in, but that’s how much we think about him,” the veteran manager said on Monday (link via Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News). “The stuff works, he’s been starting, I like him coming from the ‘pen too. There’s not a lot of arms like this.”

Teodo, whom the Rangers added to the 40-man roster over the offseason, doesn’t have a real shot to start the season in the big league rotation. The Rangers have Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Tyler Mahle and Jon Gray lined up for their top four spots. Cody Bradford and Kumar Rocker are vying for the fifth starter job. There may be an opportunity in the bullpen. Texas has built its relief corps with a handful of low-cost free agent pickups and the trade for Robert Garcia. Teodo might have as good of raw stuff as anyone in that group, but breaking camp would require him to make the jump directly from Double-A.

Working as a starter with Double-A Frisco last season, Teodo turned in a 1.98 earned run average across 86 1/3 innings. He punched out 30.7% of opponents against a huge 14% walk rate. While the high-octane stuff has translated into a lot of whiffs, Teodo has yet to throw strikes consistently. Baseball America ranked him the #4 prospect in the system. They credit him with the potential for three plus or better pitches — headlined by a huge fastball-slider combination — but his control could point to a bullpen future. If Texas believes that’s the likeliest outcome regardless, there’s an argument for seeing how his stuff plays in relief on Opening Day.

Jack Leiter has had a similar combination of whiffs and walks in the minor leagues. The former second overall pick fanned a third of opponents with a 10.6% walk rate over 17 Triple-A appearances last season. The strikeout rate dropped to 17.9% as he surrendered nearly a run per inning over his first 35 2/3 MLB frames. Leiter has a pair of minor league options remaining and seems likely to work out of the Triple-A rotation to open the season.

The 24-year-old righty told reporters he’s tinkering with his pitch mix (link via Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). Leiter said he’s working on a two-seam fastball that he picked up over the offseason. More interestingly, he said he adjusted the grip on his changeup late last year after a conversation with reliever Matt Festa. Leiter said he feels the new grip gets more downward action but that he didn’t feel comfortable using it frequently in games last year because it was difficult to command. Spring Training is an opportune time for pitchers to experiment with new offerings. Leiter has tossed five innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts and one walk thus far in camp.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/03/rangers-notes-teodo-bullpen-leiter.html

 

[Texas Rangers]

Adolis Garcia Avoids Major Injury, Expected To Be Ready For Opening Day

March 5: Bochy tells the Rangers beat that Garcia suffered only a “mild” strain that’s “not quite” severe enough to be even classified a Grade 1 strain (via Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). The current expectation is that Garcia will require less downtime than Langford has so far and that he’ll be ready for Opening Day.

March 4: Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia was scratched from today’s Cactus League game after reporting some discomfort in his left oblique. He’s headed for an MRI, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The team will have further updates once that imaging is performed. For now, manager Bruce Bochy has conceded that Garcia will “miss a little bit of time,” though he added that the team is hopeful it won’t be too lengthy an absence. Fellow outfielder Wyatt Langford sustained an oblique injury of his own 11 days ago and has yet to appear in a spring game. The Rangers haven’t yet ruled out Opening Day for either player.

Garcia, who just turned 32 over the weekend, enters the 2025 season in search of a rebound at the plate. He played a vital heart-of-the-order role for the Rangers in their 2023 World Series run, slashing .245/.328/.508 with 39 homers during that eventual championship-winning season for Texas.

The 2024 season brought a downturn in virtually every category of note. Garcia hit .224/.284/.400 with 25 homers. His strikeout rate remained nearly identical (27.7% in 2023, 27.8% in 2024), but his walk rate fell by more than three percentage points and he saw notable declines in exit velocity, hard-hit rate and barrel rate. Garcia also hit fewer fly-balls and saw a greater percentage of his fly-balls (12%, compared to 7.2% in ’23) result in harmless infield flies; he popped out to the infield an ugly 21 times on the year. Garcia also chased off the plate more and saw his contact rate on pitches within the zone dip. He was placing himself in pitchers’ counts far too often.

Most confounding, perhaps, was Garcia’s struggle to hit fastballs. While he batted only .197 against four-seamers in that terrific 2023 season, he often did maximum damage when making contact. Garcia pounded 16 big flies off four-seamers in 2023 but went deep on only five four-seamers in 2024. He hit .197/.276/.490 on plate appearances ending with a four-seamer in ’23; that line fell to .184/.251/.310 in 2024.

Garcia is in line to again serve as the Rangers’ everyday right fielder, though a strain of any note could impact his readiness for the season. Oblique strains can often take upwards of a month to rehab, and the Rangers’ season starts in just over three weeks.

With Langford also ailing, there’s some murkiness about how Texas might line up in the outfield on March 27. Evan Carter and Leody Taveras are both healthy. Utilitymen Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran have experience in the outfield. Designated hitter Joc Pederson could feasibly play left field in the short term, though he was exclusively a DH in Arizona last year (and has also been working out at first base this spring). Other options in camp include prospect Dustin Harris and veteran Kevin Pillar, who signed a minor league deal with a non-roster invitation last month.

On the back of that sensational 2023 season, Garcia signed a two-year, $14MM deal covering his first two arbitration seasons. He’s being paid $7MM this year and is under club control through the 2026 campaign. He’ll be arbitration-eligible for the final time next winter.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/03/rangers-adolis-garcia-injury-oblique-strain-mri.html

 

[Texas Rangers]

AL Notes: Slater, Garcia, Canterino

White Sox outfielder Austin Slater was scratched from yesterday’s game with a left oblique strain, with Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times among those to relay the information. The club hasn’t provided any details about how long they expect Slater to be out but oblique strains are notoriously pesky.

The Sox have taken a few hits to their outfield mix recently. Andrew Benintendi suffered a fracture in his hand after being hit by a pitch and is slated to be out of action for four to six weeks. Michael A. Taylor has been undergoing scans due to some elbow inflammation.

The club isn’t planning on being competitive this year but has made an effort to bolster the roster. They signed Slater, Taylor and Mike Tauchman to join an outfield/designated hitter mix alongside Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. The idea was seemingly to add some veteran presence to a young roster while also giving the club some potential midseason trade candidates. With some more playing time opening up, perhaps young guys like Dominic Fletcher or Oscar Colás could seize roles. The club also has Joey Gallo, Brandon Drury and Corey Julks among their non-roster invitees.

Some more notes from around the Junior Circuit…

• Rangers left-hander Robert Garcia hopes to be a closer someday, telling Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News as much. He also believes now is a good time to take a shot at it with Texas not having a set closer yet. Garcia had a 4.22 earned run average last year but his 29.9% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate were quite strong. A .329 batting average on balls in play and 57.2% strand rate pushed that ERA up, which is why he had a 2.38 FIP and 2.71 SIERA. He doesn’t yet have a save in his career but has 17 holds. His main competition could come from veteran Chris Martin, who has plenty of good numbers on his track record but more as a setup guy than a closer. Martin has 14 career saves in the majors and 106 holds, though he did have a 21-save season in Japan in 2016.
• Twins right-hander Matt Canterino has been shut down due to a right shoulder strain, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune. He’s awaiting a second opinion with no current timetable for his return. It’s another unfortunate setback for a righty who has had many. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 season and then a rotator cuff strain prevented him from getting back on the mound last year, meaning he hasn’t pitched in official game action since 2022. Thanks to the pandemic and some other injuries, he only tossed 85 innings from 2019 to 2022. He had an excellent 1.85 ERA and 39.2% strikeout rate in that time, prompting the Twins to protect him from the Rule 5 draft by giving him a roster spot in November of 2022. But since then, he has burned through two of his option years without throwing an official pitch and is now hurt again.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/03/al-notes-slater-garcia-canterino.html

 

[Texas Rangers]

Rangers Notes: Outfield, Garcia, Duran

The Rangers have faced plenty of questions about their outfield mix throughout the spring, as both Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia have been slowed by oblique issues. While both avoided a serious injury, Langford has only recently returned to game action and Garcia is further behind. Fortunately, Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News reported earlier today that Garcia resumed swinging a bat today, putting both players in position to be ready for Opening Day on March 27.

That leaves the outfield corners more or less settled, with Langford and Garcia expected to patrol left and right field on a regular basis respectively. Center field remains something of a question mark, however. The club has both Evan Carter and Leody Taveras on the roster as solid options, and given his prospect pedigree it seems likely that Carter would have a leg up when it comes to regular playing time. With that being said, the club’s plans for center field remain very much up in the air due primarily to both Carter and Taveras struggling against left-handed pitching. Carter has hit just .081/.150/.081 against southpaws to this point in his young MLB career, and the switch-hitting Taveras’s .189/.270/.244 line last season wasn’t much more inspiring.

Without a clear option in center field against lefties, it seems increasingly likely the club could look to find a way to get either Kevin Pillar or Sam Haggerty onto the roster. Both Pillar and Haggerty are in camp as non-roster invitees but have solid track records against left-handed pitching and an ability to handle center. Pillar has plenty of experience as a glove-first outfield option over his 12 year MLB career, and even entering his age-36 season he retains the ability to mash opposite-handed pitching with a .310/.352/.500 line against lefties last year. Meanwhile, Haggerty has never had a regular role in the majors but is a career .263/.355/.452 hitter against southpaws, even better than Pillar’s career numbers. With that said, Haggerty has primarily played the outfield corners throughout his career to this point while Pillar is much more experienced in center.

Regardless of whether Pillar or Haggerty ultimately makes the roster, adding either to the mix would squeeze the club’s roster. One possible route could be optioning Carter to the minor leagues, where he has just eight games at the Triple-A level under his belt. That would cleanly allow the club to maximize its versatility while using a platoon of Taveras and either Pillar or Haggerty in center field but it would also mean further delaying the potential impact of Carter, who was a consensus top-5 prospect in the sport entering last season. If the Rangers want Carter on the roster for Opening Day, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News suggests that utility man Ezequiel Duran could be headed to Triple-A to start the season.

Duran, 25, had a brilliant season for the Rangers in 2023 but struggled badly last year with a 74 wRC+ last year. While a right-handed hitting utility player like Duran could seem like an obvious platoon partner for Carter or Taveras in center, he hit just .209/.250/.244 in 46 games against lefties last year. That work totaled just 92 plate appearances, so perhaps it should be taken with a grain of salt, but more pressing that Duran’s vanishing bat against southpaws last year is his lack of experience in center. He’s made just 16 professional appearances in center field throughout his career, and only one inning of that work came at the big league level. That could make Duran the odd man out on the club’s current roster, with fellow utility man Josh Smith potentially in line to take on additional duties in his stead.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/03/rangers-notes-outfield-garcia-duran.html

 

[Texas Rangers]

Salary Details For Several Minor League Deals

Every offseason, the primary focus for baseball fans is on trades and free agent activity. Naturally, major league free agent signings garner the majority of the attention and generate the most buzz. Minor league signees come with less fanfare, typically with good reason. They tend to be older veterans who are looking to extend their playing careers or perhaps younger names looking to rebound from an injury or a disappointing showing the prior season (sometimes the prior few seasons).

As spring training progresses, we’re seeing an uptick in minor league signings. Free agents who’ve lingered on the market and felt their leverage in negotiations dry up begin to concede and accept non-guaranteed pacts to get to camp in hopes of winning a roster spot.

Salary details for minor league signees isn’t as prominently reported on as it is for players signing guaranteed big league deals. The Associated Press just published a list of free agent signings throughout the winter, including within salary details for a handful of (mostly) recent minor league signings. Many of the salaries reported by the AP were already known and reflected here at MLBTR, but the report does include more than two dozen previously unreported base salaries for players on minor league deals. Here’s a quick rundown (player salary links point back to prior MLBTR posts detailing that minor league signing):

Blue Jays: Jacob Barnes, RHP, $1.4MM | Ryan Yarbrough, LHP, $2MM

Braves: Curt Casali, C, $1.25MM | Buck Farmer, RHP, $1MM

Brewers: Manuel Margot, OF, $1.3MM | Mark Canha, 1B/OF, $1.4MM

Cubs: Brooks Kriske, RHP, $900K | Travis Jankowski, OF, $1.25MM | Chris Flexen, RHP, $1.5MM

Diamondbacks: Garrett Hampson, INF/OF, $1.5MM | Scott McGough, RHP, $1.25MM

Dodgers: Luis Garcia, RHP, $1.5MM

Giants: Lou Trivino, RHP, $1.5MM

Mariners: Shintaro Fujinami, RHP, $1.3MM | Trevor Gott, RHP, $1.35MM

Padres: Yuli Gurriel, 1B, $1.35MM ($100K higher than initially reported)

Rangers: Nick Ahmed, SS, $1.25MM | Jesse Chavez, RHP, $1.25MM | David Buchanan, RHP, $1.375MM | Kevin Pillar, OF, $1MM

Red Sox: Matt Moore, LHP, $2MM

Royals: Luke Maile, C, $2MM | Ross Stripling, RHP, $1.75MM

White Sox: Brandon Drury, INF/OF, $2MM | Mike Clevinger, RHP, $1.5MM

A few things bear emphasizing. First, this is clearly not a comprehensive list of minor league signings throughout the league — nor is it even a comprehensive list of the listed teams’ non-roster invitees to camp. Secondly, many of these sums are of little consequence to the team. They’re not even guaranteed, after all, and even if a player makes the Opening Day roster and earns the full slate of his minor league salary, most of these salaries aren’t going to carry significant payroll ramifications.

That’s not true across the board, though. For instance, the Rangers are fully intent on remaining under the $241MM luxury tax threshold. At present, RosterResource projects them at $235.7MM of luxury obligations. Opting to select the contract of Buchanan or Chavez rather than allocating those innings to pre-arbitration players who’s being paid at league-minimum levels (or a few thousand dollars north of it) would inch the Rangers’ CBT number forward. They’re not going to hit the tax line even in if they wind up adding multiple NRIs to the actual roster, but selecting their contracts will further narrow the resources president of baseball ops Chris Young will have at his disposal for midseason dealings.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, are effectively seated right at the tax threshold. RosterResource has them with $241.4MM of luxury considerations. Team president Sam Kennedy said after signing Alex Bregman that he expects his team will be a CBT payor in 2025. As things stand, the Sox could duck back under that threshold, but selecting the contract of Moore, Adam Ottavino (also $2MM) or another prominent NRI would further signal ownership’s willingness to return to luxury tax status for the first time since 2022.

There’s probably no getting back under the tax line for the Blue Jays, who currently have a $273.3MM CBT number. However, the front office would presumably like to avoid reaching $281MM in tax obligations, as that’s the point at which Toronto’s top pick in the 2026 draft would be dropped by ten spots. In-season trades will have more of an effect on their tax number than decisions on NRIs like Barnes, Yarbrough, Eric Lauer and others, but it bears mentioning that the Blue Jays are around $8MM shy of what many clubs consider to be the most detrimental impact of straying to deep into CBT waters.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/salary-details-for-several-minor-league-deals.html

 

[Texas Rangers]

Rangers Notes: Rocker, Eovaldi, Langford

Rangers righty Kumar Rocker made his Spring Training debut today against the Royals. The results weren’t good — he allowed four runs in his inning of work — but that’s inconsequential this early in camp.

As Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News writes, manager Bruce Bochy and GM Chris Young have left open the possibility for Rocker to break camp. That might require an injury elsewhere in the rotation, however, as it seems Rocker enters Spring Training sixth on the depth chart. Texas has a veteran top four: Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Tyler Mahle and Jon Gray. The fifth spot could come down to a battle between Rocker and left-hander Cody Bradford — with the latter potentially having the leg up.

“We’re going to see where we come out of camp, where we are from a medical standpoint, who’s healthy, how guys have thrown the ball, but (Rocker is) certainly one that is in our plans,” Young said. “We just can’t tell you exactly how at this point.” The third overall pick in the 2022 draft, Rocker earned a brief debut last September. He started three games, allowing six runs (five earned) through 11 2/3 innings. The 6’5″ righty recorded 14 strikeouts with an excellent 13.3% swinging strike rate. It’s an exceedingly small sample, but he looks capable of missing bats at the highest level.

Rocker averaged 96 MPH on his heater, while opponents had few answers for his slider. The latter pitch may already be one of the game’s top breaking balls. Baseball America graded the slider as a plus-plus offering (70 on the 20-80 scale) while ranking Rocker among their top 20 prospects. The 25-year-old will certainly be a factor at some point this season, though it remains to be seen how the Rangers want to handle his workload. Rocker underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 and has all of 19 professional appearances under his belt. He has tallied fewer than 30 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. Rocker carved up minor league hitters upon returning from the surgery, working to a 1.96 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 36 2/3 frames over 10 appearances.

The 27-year-old Bradford has almost the polar opposite approach. He’s a soft-tossing lefty who relies on a plus changeup and elite command. Despite lacking huge stuff, Bradford turned in a 3.54 ERA with a solid 22.7% strikeout rate over 76 1/3 innings last season. A back injury cost him three months, but he was a quietly productive starter when healthy. Both Rocker and Bradford have minor league options remaining. While Dane Dunning remains on hand as well, he’s likelier to pitch in long relief after a rough ’24 season.

There’s no doubt about Eovaldi’s role. He’ll be back in the top half of the rotation after re-signing on a three-year, $75MM free agent deal. The 13-year MLB veteran has been incredibly consistent, turning in a sub-4.00 ERA in five straight seasons. That hasn’t stopped him from using exhibition play to tinker with his arsenal.

Eovaldi told reporters last week that he has been working on a two-seam fastball throughout the offseason (link via Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). The righty confirmed that he used it a few times in his Spring Training debut on Friday against Kansas City. Brooks Baseball tracked five of his pitches as sinkers (which is the two-seam fastball) over two innings. Eovaldi has had a five-pitch mix for most of his career: four-seam, splitter, cutter, curveball and a slider that he only throws against right-handed hitters. He told Landry and other reporters that he’ll continue to work on the two-seam, which he wants to run up and in against righty batters to keep them off the splitter lower in the zone.

One player who has yet to get his exhibition season underway: second-year left fielder Wyatt Langford. Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports was among those to report last week that Langford was being held back from baseball activities for a few days after being diagnosed with a mild oblique strain. Bochy maintained that the Rangers consider this a minor setback and anticipate that Langford will be ready for Opening Day. He’ll look to build off a solid rookie season in which he hit .253/.325/.415 with 16 homers across 557 plate appearances.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/rangers-notes-rocker-eovaldi-langford.html

 

[Texas Rangers]

Rangers Scratch Tyler Mahle Due To Forearm Discomfort

The Rangers scratched right-hander Tyler Mahle from today’s scheduled Cactus League start with what the team termed “forearm soreness,” per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Rangers called the move precautionary, but forearm discomfort is always an ominous development for a starting pitcher — particularly one who’s still working toward his first full season since 2023 Tommy John surgery. At this time, the team has not planned an MRI, per Victory’s Jared Sandler.

Mahle, 30, started five games for the Twins in 2023 and pitched quite well before an elbow impingement and flexor strain prompted a four-week shutdown. Not even two weeks later, Minnesota announced that Mahle would require Tommy John surgery, ending his 2023 campaign.

Mahle became a free agent at season’s end, and the Rangers signed him to a two-year, $22MM deal. It’s a backloaded contract — $5.5MM in 2024, $16.5MM in 2025 — reflecting the idea that the hope was for Mahle to pitch a bit late in 2024 and be a full-fledged member of the 2025 starting staff. It was a heavier commitment than is typical for starters who sign two-year deals while they’re on the mend from UCL reconstruction in the first place, and the fact that Mahle pitched only 12 2/3 frames last year makes the commitment all the more substantial.

At his best, Mahle was an underrated mid-rotation arm with an air of further upside. Home runs plagued him frequently during his early days with the Reds, and it comes as no surprise that his splits away from the launching pad known as Great American Ball Park were far more encouraging than his output at home. Mahle showed plenty of ability to miss bats and posted roughly average walk rates for most of his career.

A healthy Mahle would slot into the middle of a boom-or-bust Texas rotation that’s rife with talented arms and even more packed with questions. Jacob deGrom was baseball’s most dominant arm until injuries derailed his mid-30s. He’s pitched 197 1/3 innings since 2021. Nathan Eovaldi was excellent in his first two seasons with the Rangers but has already had a pair of Tommy John procedures in his career. Jon Gray has been on the injured list in each of the past six seasons. Cody Bradford missed about half of the 2024 season with a back injury. Jack Leiter, who started in place of Mahle today, is a former No. 2 overall pick who has struggled immensely in the big leagues (8.83 ERA, 35 2/3 innings) and through much of his pro career in the minors. Former Vanderbilt teammate Kumar Rocker has surpassed Leiter in terms of prospect stature, but he’s less than two years removed from Tommy John surgery himself.

If Mahle ultimately needs some downtime, the Rangers can still go with a rotation including Eovaldi, deGrom, Gray, Bradford and one of Leiter/Rocker. Prospect Emiliano Teodo is also on the 40-man roster but the club intrigued by the possibility of him in a relief role, while non-roster candidates in camp include Adrian Houser, David Buchanan, Dane Acker and Caleb Boushley.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/03/rangers-scratch-tyler-mahle-forearm.html

 

[Texas Rangers]

Rangers Prospect Alejandro Rosario Likely To Miss 2025 Season With Elbow Injury

Right-handed Rangers pitching prospect Alejandro Rosario is likely to miss the 2025 season due to an elbow injury, president of baseball operations Chris Young told reporters (including Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). Rosario will require surgery, though Young was reluctant to offer any concrete details.

“It’s likely UCL,” Young said, as relayed by Landry. “I don’t want to officially say, but yeah, it’s elbow and will probably require Tommy John.”

The 23-year-old was a fifth-round pick by the Rangers in the 2023 draft. It’s a brutal blow for the righty, who was nothing short of sensational in his first season as a pro in 2024. He split the year between Single-A and High-A, pitching to a sterling 2.24 ERA overall with 88 1/3 innings of work. He struck out an incredible 36.9% of opponents faced in total last year while walking just 3.7% of batters. It was a massive leap forward for a player who never posted an ERA below 5.00 during his collegiate career.

Unfortunately, that incredible breakout will be put on hold for the 2025 campaign. While specifics of what exact procedure Rosario will undergo have not yet been made public, even an internal brace procedure comes with about a year of rehab time, with full Tommy John requiring a longer rehab that would likely stretch into the 2026 season. Rosario appeared on track to either start 2025 at Double-A or earn a promotion to the level early in the campaign, but those plans will have to be scuttled for the year. That seems likely to delay his big league debut until 2027 at the earliest, surely a disappointing development for both the Rangers and the righty himself.

Fortunately for Texas, they’re hardly short on starting pitching options for the 2025 campaign. Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle, and Cody Bradford currently project as the club’s starting five on Opening Day, with Dane Dunning also on the roster as a potential swing man. That roster is supplemented by a handful of young prospects, including former first-round picks Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter. Both of them made their big league debuts in 2024; Leiter struggled through 35 2/3 innings of work with an 8.83 ERA, though he did pitch to a 3.51 ERA in 77 innings of work at the Triple-A level. That’s a particularly impressive figure given the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League and his excellent 33.3% strikeout rate.

Rocker, meanwhile, showed out in a three-start cup of coffee late in the year with a 3.86 ERA and 3.68 FIP. He was even better in the minors, with just three earned runs allowed across seven starts between the Double- and Triple-A levels last year after returning from Tommy John surgery earlier in the year. The presence of Leiter and Rocker, as well as other youngsters like Emiliano Teodo, should help the Rangers to weather Rosario’s delayed big league timeline even as Gray and Mahle head for free agency after the 2025 season.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...ly-to-miss-2025-season-with-elbow-injury.html

 

[Texas Rangers]

Rangers Sign Hunter Strickland To Minor League Deal

The Rangers announced Wednesday that they’ve signed veteran right-handed reliever Hunter Strickland to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp. The All Bases Covered client will be reunited with his first big league skipper, Bruce Bochy, who managed him as a rookie with the 2014 Giants.

Strickland, 36, has had a rollercoaster run in terms of year-to-year performance recently, but he’s coming off a strong season with the Angels. Last year, the right-hander tossed a career-high 73 1/3 innings for the Halos and recorded a tidy 3.31 earned run average in that time.

Strickland’s 19.4% strikeout rate was lower than average and the 22.2% mark he carried into the 2024 campaign, but he turned in a solid 8.2% walk rate and did a nice job avoiding hard contact. Opponents averaged 88.9 mph off the bat against him and logged a 35.5% hard-hit rate. Strickland has long been adept at inducing harmless infield flies, and that continued in 2024 when 16% of his fly-balls were of the infield variety. That’s a good bit higher than the league-average 10% and generally tracks with Strickland’s career rate dating back to 2017 (15.7%).

While Strickland has had some rough seasons throughout his career, he’s been good far more often than he’s been ineffective. He touts a 3.40 ERA in his career and a 3.61 mark across the past three seasons. His heater has dropped a good bit from the 98 mph he averaged early in his career, sitting at 94.5 mph in Anaheim last year, but Strickland has generally remained a solid middle relief arm.

The Rangers have completely overhauled their bullpen this offseason, bidding farewell to Kirby Yates, Jose Leclerc, Andrew Chafin and, presumably, David Robertson. While Robertson remains unsigned, the Rangers are about $4.5MM shy of the luxury tax threshold, per RosterResource, and ownership appears loath to cross that mark once again.

In place of that departed quartet, Texas has acquired Robert Garcia from the Nationals (in exchange for Nate Lowe) and signed free agents Chris Martin, Hoby Milner, Shawn Armstrong, Jacob Webb and Luke Jackson to small big league deals ranging from $5.5MM guaranteed (Martin) to $1.25MM (Webb, Armstrong).

Strickland will compete with fellow non-roster vets like Jesse Chavez and JT Chargois as he vies for a spot in Bochy’s bullpen. He’s an Article XX(b) free agent (i.e. six years of service, finished the prior season on a major league roster/injured list), meaning that his minor league deal will have three uniform opt-out dates included by default: five days before Opening Day (March 22), May 1 and June 1.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/03/rangers-sign-hunter-strickland-to-minor-league-deal.html