The Rangers announced they’ve acquired corner outfielders Billy McKinney and Zach Reks from the Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations. Both players were designated for assignment by Los Angeles last Friday, as many teams cleared roster space for prospects whom they didn’t want to leave eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Texas’ 40-man roster tally is up to 39.
McKinney has bounced around the league a fair amount this year. He opened the season with the Brewers but landed with the Mets via minor trade a few weeks into the season. After two months in Queens, McKinney was designated for assignment and traded to the Dodgers. The 27-year-old finished out the season in Southern California.
Between the three clubs, the left-handed hitting McKinney tallied exactly 300 plate appearances. It was a career-high in playing time, but the former first-rounder didn’t consistently perform at the plate. While he had a solid run with the Mets, McKinney struggled badly with the Brew Crew and Dodgers and ultimately managed a meager .192/.280/.358 season line with nine home runs. His 10.7% walk rate was solid, but McKinney also fanned at a higher-than-average 26.3% clip and didn’t hit for a ton of power. He’s out of minor league option years, so he’ll need to either break camp with Texas in 2022 or again be made available to the rest of the league.
Reks has essentially no big league body of work to speak of, with just ten MLB plate appearances under his belt. The 28-year-old is an accomplished minor league hitter, though, with a career .295/.383/.487 line on the farm. That includes a .282/.382/.529 showing across 764 plate appearances with the Dodgers’ top affiliate in Oklahoma City, where Reks has shown a promising combination of patience and power.
He’s a defensively-limited player with strikeout concerns, but there’s little harm for the Rangers in adding him for nothing more than cash considerations. The left-handed hitting Reks still has a pair of options remaining, so he can shuttled up and down between Arlington and Triple-A Round Rock through the end of the 2023 campaign if he sticks on the 40-man roster.
With the addition of DJ Peters last year, the Rangers now have a full outfield of Dodger retreads.
i was just about to say that.
Chris Taylor coming soon…?
Had to reread this twice
And Sbortz and Santana for the pen along with Woodward as manager
Willie Calhoun as well.
He never played for the Dodgers major league squad.
Reeks follows Odor, Rangers sure smell things up.
Good luck with that, Rangers.
Why?more minor league crap
Rangers gonna Ranger.
Hectir.thats what I’m afraid of.
Seems like Billy McKinney has been around forever, yet still just 26. Guys that are out of options and teams that have 40 man roster space.
Should have picked up Billy McMillon instead.
McKinney is Drew Stubbs/Ryan Langerhans 2.0. Fleet outfield defender who couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat.
Local Dallas area is McKinney. Plano West hs ⚾️
Boy that Billy sure gets around . I was so pissed when my A’s drafted Billy in the fist round , because I wanted a second chance at Aaron Judge . A’s passed on Judge who they drafted before , and get some bony Billy ????? Real mad I was .
Even if the A’s had drafted Judge; they’d have traded him the moment his arbitration total went over $10mm. You’d have hardly known him.
No guarantees he develops the same either
THE HOT STOVE IS COOKIN
Rangers looking to acquire Terrance Gore, Trace Thompson, and Scott Van Slyke… Probably
Don’t forget andrew toles
I feel sorry for Toles. If you haven’t seen his recent story, please check it out.
Agree, hope Toles gets better, they said Dodgers have him under contract so he can keep health benefits.
Andrew Toles story kind of hit me in the feels as well. The Dodgers demonstrated some class when they didn’t remove him from their system so he could still have access to medical assistance.
Gore was on back to back championship teams where he never appeared in a game
Billy McKinney now with his 8th organization since being drafted in 2013. He has less than 3 years of service time.
Great acquisitions. Both are going to have monster years next year and lead the Rangers to the championship!
AAA Championship!
Where is Mrlol
4 former Dodger OFs now
Don’t mind taking a flier on Reks, but don’t want McKinney. He adds no value and we have enough other OFs as is (before making a big splash at the position like Suzuki or Marte or Castellanos)
I’m still trying to understand why they grab 2 outfielders, leave Thompson unprotected and keep White to probably non-tender him here shortly. I get Reks and McKinney have some MLB experience so not bad for depth and bench but I’d rather have Thompson on the 40 to at least see how he develops over the next couple years than lose him for basically nothing.
Thompson has had years to develop. He looks more like a nice AAA player than a legit Big Leaguer.
I mean he may end up being that but this is the first year he had been healthy and did well enough I thought to at least buy a little more time. A team like the Pirates or Baltimore will probably take a chance on him.
This trade is a breath of fresh air for the Dodgers, but it reeks for the Rangers.
Pretty much.
He said in a interview there was no place like the nY meats
I think you butchered the spelling.
That’s definitely true, but not in a good way.
This is the type of move typical of a rebuilding club, like the Rangers should be. Not spending big money before the young players are up.
Something for nothing. Rangers quickly becoming my favorite AL team with all the old Dodgers
Reks might have some upside left, but hard to see McKinney having any at all. I guess the defense will make him a backup OF candidate.
The Dodgers are sending the Rangers all their old Reks.
McKinney is serviceable.
Zach Reks = 80-grade baseball name.
I liked Mckinney on the Mets. I think hes a good hitter that needs consistent playing time to do well instead of being used here and there. If hes shuffled around it affects his hitting
The Dodgers gave him plenty of play, mostly at first. Maybe why he struggled getting on base, again.
Rangers on to something here. They once had De gaus with Santana, Sborz and Cotten in the bullpen with an outfield of Reks, Peters and Mckinney. Calhoun at DH and Culberson on the bench.. Dodgers gonna pay for there mistakes
Not mistakes, just loaded. I like most of these names and not surprised to see some upside with Rangers.
A yes, Billy McKinney, the guy who was sooooo good for a month that some around here had anointed him the Mets’ starting corner outfielder. Derp.
Dodgers always end up on the rangers
Maybe the Rangers have developeda way to stack these guys together and create a Mega Ex-Dodger
The Dumpster Diving Rangers. It really the only strategy they seem to have. They come up empty on the draft, scouting and player development. The NY Jets of MLB.