The Rangers hope to add some competition to the fifth starter slot – they signed Bruce Chen today to a minor league non-roster deal.
I like the idea of signing Chen, but not for the Rangers. He’s healthy, left-handed, and not quite 30. He posted a fine 3.83 ERA in the AL East as recently as 2005. However, the marriage of an extreme flyball pitcher and a ballpark that inflates homers by 12% doesn’t seem logical at first glance.
Digging deeper, I found that Ameriquest only inflates right-handed HRs by 2%. However, Chen is much better against righties despite his handedness. Teams can stack their lineups with left-handed sluggers against him. I still don’t get the signing.
