The Rangers have agreed to a minor league contract with infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports (via Twitter). He’s represented by PSI Sports Management.
Refsnyder, 29 in March, split the 2019 season between the Reds and D-backs organization but didn’t appear in a big league game. That marked the first time in five years that the versatile utilityman hadn’t appeared at the MLB level. Despite the lack of a big league call-up, Refsnyder was productive in the minors, batting a combined .312/.374/.492 with 10 homer, 22 doubles and a pair of triples across 88 games and 348 plate appearances.
At one point, Yankees fans had hope that Refsnyder could be a long-term piece at second base. Those days have long since passed, but Refsnyder has settled in as an up-and-down bench piece and an AL East veteran, logging big league time with both the Blue Jays and Rays in addition to his time with the Yankees. He’s a lifetime .218/.308/.302 hitter in 423 plate appearances as a Major Leaguer and has appeared at second base, first base, third base, left field and right field in the Majors.
The right-handed-hitting Refsnyder owns a career .296/.372/.436 line in parts of six Triple-A campaigns, making him a nice depth piece for Texas to have on hand. If the Rangers can strike gold with Refsnyder in the same manner they did with Danny Santana in 2019, he’d technically be controllable through the 2023 season.
Release him immediately. He sucks.
What kind of AAAA player can only hit 10 homers in the minors and hit for less than a .220 batting average in the majors. This guy is old and he is bad. With minor league contraction resulting in 25% less minor league roster spaces there is no room for someone like this. The Rangers made a mistake and need to bite the bullet and unconditionally release him immediately. He isn’t worth the roster space with the brand new minor league roster limitations. Send him packing.
Are you illiterate, ignorant, or both? Minor league deal means zero risk and no 40 man roster spot. Wish you could ban people for stupid comments.
Who in the rangers minor league system should play over him?????
Come on kscheer! Haven’t you ever had a few too many alcoholic drinks in the afternoon?
Is this guy a known troll or something? lol
Haha, Jorge. That was a good one. I have to give you that.
That’s not true Kscheer. They legally have to pay him some kind of salary. Even if it comes out to less than the $7.25 minimum wage it is too much for this guy. The Rangers (like every other team in baseball) were just forced to contract and get rid of about 25% of their players. If you want a replacement get one of those guys. If none of them work out go find an extremely fit 18 year old walking around on the street and spend 12 years teaching him how to hit for a batting average of exactly .220. That would be better than this guy because he is 30 and has already proven himself incapable of hitting .220.
The PROPOSED contraction is irrelevant to this conversation. It’s not a done deal and wouldn’t take place until after the 2020 season.
It’s only technically just “proposed.” The MLBPA got the courts to allow them legal right to sue MLB for a living wage. All major American sports leagues just function as if that is law because if they don’t they will be forced to open their financial books in court and they would rather fire 25% of the league and pay the other 75% a “living wage” than open their books. The MLB commisioner has already announced it. Heck, even Bernie Sanders has already made a point to let everyone know he realizes it is definitely going to happen. It doesn’t matter if it is legally enforced or not. MLB has already announced that they are going to do it so they don’t have to be forced to by the courts. When you raise wages it is great for the people that keep their jobs but terrible for the people that lose theirs as a result. This is economics playing out in real time. MLB is not going to open their books to fight it so 25% of minor league players are just going to lose their jobs instead. This is what the MLBPA wanted, right? If they didn’t see this coming they never actually read an economics book that was worth it’s ink.
Aw, StandUpGuy! Calm down! The Refster is not
worth the paper and ink you just used commenting on him. Let’s take a deep breath now buddy…..
Yeah… I’m sorry guys. I just knew I just didn’t like the guys face so I really didn’t want him signed. I mean… I never even saw the players face but I imagined it and didn’t like what I saw. Then I read his major league stats, minor league power and age. Then I considered the minor league contraction. In my mind, Refsnyder just had to go. a 30 year old that can’t hit 11 home runs in the juiced ball minor leagues with a career major league batting average of less than .220? I just couldn’t handle it. I’m sorry guys. I guess I was kind of a dikk. I guess I am just getting all this backlash because it happened to be the first comment? Maybe people think it set the tone or something. Sorry guys.
Bro its because its not that big a deal like he can rake in the minors, if he can help their AAA tran score runs whats the problem? Minor League deal. What if the rangers next year are last years yankees(injury-wise). Its probably better to send refsnyder out there than ‘some 20 year old you find on the street’, right?
Imagining a guy’s face as one that you naturally would not like and consequently not liking his newly inked minor-league deal is tight.
Maybe he’s a great clubhouse guy. Kind of like Zobrist but without the talent?
Agentx- I know… Right? I mean come on! You should try it. It’s the tightest thing ever.
Hmmm. The only person who used the slang “tight” was StandUpGuy, who likes to use it a lot, before agentx. Hmmmm.
That is true but I’m not agent-x. I was a little taken back by it myself. It could be PapiElf. He uses the word “tight” a lot to.
Sanchez for Refsnyder.
Which Sanchez?
Gary
What? It’s Denis Leary’s tour de force. Underrated Christmas gem.
every sanchez on earth isnt enough for the future HoF and most valuable trade chip Rob Refsnyder
Ref !!!
always good when you can get a future HoFer for that cheap
Beat me to it. Nearly word for word.
His bust has been moved to leave enough room for Bird’s….and Swihart’s.
He’s like the gift that never stops giving.
“I’ll take MLBTR for $400, Alex”
Answer: “Jeff Todd, Steve Adams, Conner Byrne, Rob Refsnyder”
Question: “Which 4 people are most responsible for MLBTR’s poularity?”
Hopefully the creator/owner/manager of the site sees this and bans you. Just kidding but still come on.
Their obsession with the Refstermeister is almost as inexplicable as working people still in love with the world leader who shall not be named…..
Was it it with you Yankee fans and RobRefdaSnide?
You guys have been dogging him for years!
Did he break your hearts
with his massive untapped
potential? I bet when the
Rangers turn him around
all your heads will explode!
Turn around what? He can’t major league pitching.
Is that supposed to be a poem? Takes up too much vertical space.
I do not give The Ref rave reviews.
Well he will be in Nashville all year
Why do guys like Rob Refsnyder and Dustin Garneau keep getting chances? They’re absolute garbage.
Because they are just minor league contracts. Crappy players get signed to minor league contracts all the time, i dont know why people are confused about things like this
I was just watching his Yankeeography..
Hope you watched until the end when all of the retired greats were there to unveil his Monument Park (Modell’s-sponsored) plaque.
Ladies and gentleman, your 2019-2020 offseason champs, the Texas Rangers
Stand back from the ledge. It’s a minor league deal. He’ll have a great Spring Training with Texas, make the team as an all-over defensive backup, go 3-for-28, get released. Rinse. Repeat.
I wonder if the Rangers with be willing to take Aaron Judge and perhaps a young pitcher in a trade?
Steve Adams, Rob Refsnyder is not a “versatile utilityman”. He’s a 4a player with no defensive position. Nice try. My laugh of the day.
Sounds like you need to get out more.
The dude has exxceptionally short legs. He looks funny when he runs.