Headlines

  • Nationals Designate Nathaniel Lowe For Assignment
  • Cubs To Promote Owen Caissie For MLB Debut
  • Astros Place Josh Hader On Injured List Due To Shoulder Strain
  • Mets To Promote Nolan McLean
  • Pohlad Family No Longer Pursuing Sale Of Twins
  • Felix Bautista, Zach Eflin Done For The Season
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rangers To Release Rafael Ortega

By Steve Adams | June 7, 2023 at 11:43am CDT

The Rangers are granting veteran outfielder Rafael Ortega his release from their Triple-A club, MLBTR has learned. The 32-year-old will head back to the open market in search of a better opportunity with a clearer path to big league playing time.

Ortega, 32, drew some attention in Yankees camp this spring and was viewed as a candidate to make the Opening Day roster late in camp. That didn’t happen, as the Yankees pivoted and signed Franchy Cordero while releasing Ortega, who quickly caught on with Texas.

Through 44 games and 199 plate appearances with Triple-A Round Rock this season, Ortega is hitting .226/.333/.381 with five home runs, 11 doubles and eight stolen bases. After a poor first month of the season, he’s logged a more palatable .247/.349/.427 slash with more walks (14) than strikeouts (12) over the past month (107 plate appearances). Overall, Ortega has walked at a hefty 13.6% clip against a better-than-average 17.1% strikeout rate.

Even with that recent uptick, the overall results haven’t been strong enough to compel the Rangers to find room for Ortega on the big league roster. That’s understandable, given a huge performance from right fielder Adolis Garcia, a breakout year at the dish for center fielder Leody Taveras, and solid contributions from a combination of Robbie Grossman, Travis Jankowski, Josh H. Smith and Ezequiel Duran in left field.

Ortega’s overall performance this year in Triple-A doesn’t stand out much, but he had a productive 2021-22 run with the Cubs, batting a combined .265/.344/.408 with 18 home runs and 24 stolen bases in 701 Major League plate appearances. He paired that slash with a strong 10.6% walk rate and a 20.5% strikeout rate that clocked in a couple percentage points lower than the average MLB hitter.

Ortega has ample experience at all three outfield spots both in the big leagues and in the minors. He’s lined up in all three spots with Round Rock this season but most frequently slotted in as the center fielder for the Express. Metrics like Defensive Runs Saved, Outs Above Average and Ultimate Zone Rating agree that Ortega has been a solid corner option in recent seasons at the MLB level but was below average (-5 DRS, -2 OAA) in 944 innings of center field work.

Share 0 Retweet 14 Send via email0

Texas Rangers Transactions Rafael Ortega

D-backs GM Mike Hazen On Trade Deadline Needs
Main
Nationals To Designate Erasmo Ramirez For Assignment
View Comments (10)
Post a Comment

10 Comments

  1. solaris602

    2 years ago

    Something tells me he’ll be back in pinstripes reeeeeeal soon

    3
    Reply
    • PoisonedPens

      2 years ago

      As soon as they can give Franchy a plane ticket and a coffee for the road…

      4
      Reply
  2. dudeman40

    2 years ago

    Who knew he was even here

    Reply
  3. trog

    2 years ago

    Good. No sense in stealing playing time from the Rangers AAA outfield of Bubba Thompson, JP Martinez, Elier Hernandez and Sandro Fabian … the latter two of who are not significant prospects, but having solid seasons. Now it’s time to send Yoshi Tsutsugo on his way too.

    2
    Reply
  4. golga333

    2 years ago

    Buyers beware — this man runs the bases like he has a tootblan incentive in his contract.

    1
    Reply
    • solaris602

      2 years ago

      Which in itself sets off another alarm. He reaches base so infrequently that you’d think he’d relish his status as a base runner. Despite this, he’ll have another contract before the week is out.

      Reply
  5. User 3595123227

    2 years ago

    Good. Now he will have more time to work on his taco seasoning mix.

    Reply
  6. Rsox

    2 years ago

    Back to the Yankees? Can’t be any worse than having IKF play CF

    Reply
  7. Unclemike1525

    2 years ago

    Codero-Ortega. Flip a coin. Heads-Bad. Tails- Bad. ?

    Reply
  8. gotigers68

    2 years ago

    Here ya go Detroit Tigers, he’s a better hitter than anyone else on the team !!

    1
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Nationals Designate Nathaniel Lowe For Assignment

    Cubs To Promote Owen Caissie For MLB Debut

    Astros Place Josh Hader On Injured List Due To Shoulder Strain

    Mets To Promote Nolan McLean

    Pohlad Family No Longer Pursuing Sale Of Twins

    Felix Bautista, Zach Eflin Done For The Season

    Shane McClanahan Undergoes Season-Ending Arm Procedure To Address Nerve Problem

    2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: August Edition

    Write For MLB Trade Rumors

    Red Sox Extend Roman Anthony

    Buxton: Still No Plans To Waive No-Trade Clause

    Rob Manfred Downplays Salary Cap Dispute With Bryce Harper

    Tanner Houck To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Yankees Release Marcus Stroman

    Cubs Release Ryan Pressly

    Cubs To Host 2027 All-Star Game

    MLB Trade Tracker: July

    Padres Acquire Mason Miller, JP Sears

    Astros Acquire Carlos Correa

    Rays, Twins Swap Griffin Jax For Taj Bradley

    Recent

    Blue Jays Reinstate George Springer From Injured List

    Orioles Select Dylan Beavers, Designate Greg Allen

    Hector Neris Elects Free Agency

    Giants Place Matt Chapman On 10-Day Injured List

    Mets To Designate Paul Blackburn For Assignment

    Angels Re-Sign Shaun Anderson To Minor League Deal

    Poll: Can The Padres Hold Onto The NL West?

    Diamondbacks Teammates Reportedly Frustrated With Ketel Marte

    Dodgers To Place Max Muncy On IL With Oblique Strain, Claim Buddy Kennedy

    Padres Place Michael King On Injured List

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version