The Rangers announced today that they have released veteran reliever Cody Allen. His spot in the 60-man player pool will go to lefty John King.
Allen, 31, has had a rough go of things since he hit a wall in the 2018 season. His effort to bounce back last year with the Angels fell short and he’s now struggling to earn his way back to the majors.
The 25-year-old King is now in a position to clamor for his first call to the majors. He still hasn’t appeared above the High-A level, but was quite effective there last year. Over 71 frames, the former tenth-round pick turned in a 2.03 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9.
That should about do it for Cody Allen, he just to much velocity to be effective anymore.
How quickly did Cody Allen fall?
Indians fans will tell you that there were signs in 2017, and 2018 he was mostly getting results by smoke and mirrors. That he was immediately ineffective with LA was by no means a surprise to us.
I think Tito really just wore out Allen, Shaw and Miller via overuse. And it looks like Hand is next.
I know this is going to be the third post in a row (from the time of this writing) that ruminates on Allen’s fall from grace but man, he used to be one of the best relievers you could have in your pen. Not just because of good numbers but because he was so consistent and that is really difficult to find in a reliever.
Maybe reuniting with Mickey Calloway can help
What’s the status of Joe King ??
Maybe Trevor Bauer can recruit him to the Reds.
Allen needs to try to sign with a worse team like the Orioles, Royals, Tigers or go to the NPB.
Cody Allen needs to take the year off to work on his body / arm strength. He’s too talented to completely lose it like he did. A full year off from pitching could really help him make a comeback in 2021. He’ll only be 32 years old (about the same age as deGrom), so hopefully he can do this and come back as a Comeback Player of the Year candidate.