The Rangers will designate infielder Asdrubal Cabrera and catcher Tim Federowicz for assignment on Friday, according to multiple reporters (including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jose Trevino will be called up to take their roster spots, as per MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, with Kiner-Falefa playing third base and Trevino sharing catching duties with Jeff Mathis.
The moves will clear roster space for two veterans who, now that the trade deadline is passed, don’t have much more utility on a Texas squad that is largely looking ahead to 2020. Neither player had much trade value anyway, as Cabrera had only hit .235/.318/.393 over 368 plate appearances this season, while Federowicz was basically a stop-gap backup catcher only acquired in June.
Cabrera signed a one-year, $3.5MM deal with the Rangers last winter, holding down third base after Adrian Beltre retired. While Texas did well on quite a few of their veteran signings, Cabrera simply didn’t produce much offensively, as his production dropped off significantly after being an above-average bat for much of the last decade. Cabrera’s 23.1% strikeout rate this season is a career worst, while his .287 xwOBA ranks in the bottom 12th percentile of all qualified batters.
Between this subpar year and the fact that Cabrera turns 34 in November, the 13-year veteran may have a difficult time landing a Major League contract in the offseason. It could even be difficult for him to find another gig for the remainder of this season, though Cabrera has enough of a track record that he’ll certainly get a call if another team suffers an injury in the infield.
Federowicz signed a minor league contract with Cleveland in February and was then traded to the Rangers once Kiner-Falefa was placed on the injured list. The journeyman has appeared in parts of eight big league seasons, with a career .574 OPS over 439 PA.
Wtf
Wtf do you mean wtf
I think he’s confused it wasn’t Odor sent out.
odor has been play well of late
Even Mendoza had a hot streak once in a while. I hope he keeps getting everyday at-bats.
Odor seems to always give hope after the all star break to then suck the next spring.
They have both been black holes in the lineup, sucking up outs. I’m surprised it took this long…..
but the players they brought up are not going to be adding enough offense to matter and FedEx was better defensive catcher than Mathis and add more power than Mathis this was a dumb move Asdrubal was playing amazing defense felefa has been little weak at third
I know.
Kiner-Falefa is a solid young player who does a bit of everything. Trevino is a guy that needs his chance to sink or swim before the Rangers promising catchers like Huff, Florentino and Garcia get closer.
Both moves make sense to me.
Kiner-Falefa playing third base should have started at the beginning of the year. Good glove, strong arm. He did well there filling in for Adrian. Never understand rangers trading Robinson Chirinos. Now the question is can Kiner-Kalefa recover from being put behind the plate. I like Asdrubal Cabrera and he is a good ballplayer. I wish him the best.
I am about to make this worse for you, he wasn’t traded, they just didn’t pick up the option on Chirinos. They wanted Mathis for his defense and to work with the younger pitchers.
Teams are still allowed to trade dfa’d players now right? Even with new deadline rules?
Hope so and why wait to Friday to do these and didn’t acquire and future Bats at Deadline?
no you cant trade anymore
Is that for sure, can’t they still trade players that aren’t on the 40 man?
As of 2019, the July 31 Trade Deadline is the only trade deadline. Players may still be placed and claimed on outright waivers afterJuly 31, but trades will no longer be permittedafter that date.and ya u can do minor league trades
Nobody wants them!
DFA’d players can still be claimed directly through the waiver process, but they can’t be traded.
In other words: a team can acquire Cabrera but they cant offer IFA money or a lottery prospect to bypass the waiver system. And they can’t be swapped for another DFAd player, or any of the other stuff that used to happen in August. It’s basically giveaways only now.
Of course disclaimer that teams not worried about the playoffs can still do anything they want. The new deadline only affects playoff eligibility.
Jose Trevino and Isiah Kiner falefa called up but dang what does Scott Heineman have to do to get called up
right? the guy has murdered pitching at all levels of the minors.
Sounds like the guy belongs in the NFL
not be an OF… they have about 20 of them
Similar to the White Sox. They have had a revolving door of Suck and Injuries on the infield, but dont want to promote Danny Mendick, who has been a very solid player a AAA for them this year.
he been playing 1b
About time!
It’s frustrating not to see Scott Heineman promoted yet. The dude can hit like crazy, has good OBP, and speed
Federowicz spent some time with the Cubs in 2016. I’d like to see them sign him to a minor league deal and have him available in case of injury to Contreras or Caratini.
Contreras pulled a hamstring yesterday. Get Tim if he’s released.
confused why they wkuldny have given Guzman another shot and played Forsythe at 3b.
Forsythe stinks at third. Guzman hasn’t made adjustments at AAA. Heineman deserves a shot at 1B.
Kalifa has better glove and arm.