The Rangers have announced that they’ve designated 1B/OF Mike Carp for assignment. The move clears space for Derek Holland to be activated from the 60-day DL. (The Rangers also recalled Robbie Ross and optioned Nick Tepesch to Triple-A Round Rock.) Carp had only made 46 plate appearances for the Rangers, who claimed him from the Red Sox earlier this month.
Carp, 28, had a breakout season in part-time duty with the Red Sox in 2013, hitting .296/.362/.523. But he never got untracked in 2014, hitting poorly in a small sample in Boston and then requesting a trade. The Red Sox designated him for assignment instead, and he hit even worse while playing first base in Texas, leading to a combined .175/.289/.230 line with no home runs in 145 plate appearances. He’s making $1.4MM in his first season of arbitration eligibility.
Holland, meanwhile, is set to make his 2014 debut after missing the entire season so far after an offseason knee injury and then struggling with back spasms. It will, obviously, be too little too late for a Rangers team whose season has gone south in more ways than it possibly could have imagined, but the standout lefty’s return will surely be a welcome one in Texas.
