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Rangers Option Ezequiel Duran Amid Series of Roster Moves

By Leo Morgenstern and Steve Adams | June 26, 2024 at 11:17am CDT

The Rangers announced a series of roster moves today, most notably optioning utility player Ezequiel Duran to Triple-A Round Rock. The team selected outfielder Derek Hill to take Duran’s place on the active roster, while designating right-hander Yerry Rodríguez for assignment to open a space on the 40-man. The team also activated Justin Foscue from the 60-day IL and optioned the 25-year-old infielder to Triple-A. To free up another spot on the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Cole Winn was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.

Duran, 25, was a productive hitter for last year’s World Series-winning squad, hitting .276/.324/.443 (107 wRC+) with 14 homers and eight steals while logging defensive time at all four infield positions and both outfield corners. He’s continued to bounce all over the diamond in 2024, but his offensive contributions have withered considerably. In 187 plate appearances, Duran is hitting .256/.294/.324 (74 wRC+) with just two homers.

Things have gone particularly poorly for Duran as of late. Since the calendar flipped to June, he’s turned in a miserable .211/.219/.296 batting line with just one walk in 73 plate appearances. While he’s actually cut his strikeout rate a bit from last season, the overall quality of Duran’s contact this season has plummeted. His ground-ball and infield-fly rates have both spiked, while his average exit velocity has dropped by nearly three miles per hour and his hard-hit rate has cratered (43.9% in 2023, 36.6% in 2024). The Rangers surely still view him as a potential long-term contributor — he’ll be controllable for four seasons beyond the current year (or five if he doesn’t return to the majors for at least 10 days) — but are taking the opportunity to give him a reset and get him back on track in the minors.

Hill will start this afternoon in center field against the Brewers. The former first-round pick (Tigers, 2014) signed a minor league deal over the winter and had a brief stint with Texas earlier this season, going 2-for-9 in limited action before being designated for assignment and outrighted to Round Rock. He’s putting up monster numbers in Triple-A, slashing .350/.415/.631 with eight homers, a dozen doubles, four triples and seven steals (in eight attempts).

The Rangers’ lineup has been reeling of late, with center fielder Leody Taveras (who’s out of minor league options and can’t be sent down without being designated for assignment himself) struggling in particular. After a very productive month in May, he’s hitting just .121/.194/.167 in June. Hill will start in his place today and could see further opportunities as Texas looks to inject some life into a struggling offense.

Rodriguez, 26, pitched 17 innings out of the Rangers’ bullpen  this season but has been rocked for a 6.88 ERA, due in no small part to a bloated 14.1% walk rate and massive 2.65 HR/9 mark. The 96.6 mph average on his heater this season is an impressive mark but nonetheless down from last year’s 97.2 mph mark in a season that also saw the righty struggle in a limited sample of innings.

In all, Rodriguez has totaled 31 2/3 innings for the Rangers over the past three seasons but been touched for a 7.11 earned run average. His lack of command has undercut the power of his arsenal, evidenced by the fact that he hasn’t missed nearly as many bats as one would think for a pitcher whose fastball lives in the upper 90s. Rodriguez has fanned only 18.9% of his big league opponents against a rough 11.5% walk rate. He’s regularly missed bats and racked up strikeouts in the upper minors, but skill hasn’t carried over to the big league level.

The Rangers will now either trade Rodriguez or place him on waivers within the next five days. Waivers would be an additional two-day process. Within a week’s time, he’ll know the outcome of his DFA. He’s in his final minor league option year, so a new club that acquires him could send Rodriguez to Triple-A without needing to first pass him through waivers themselves.

Foscue, the No. 14 overall pick in 2020, went 1-for-2 earlier this season in his MLB debut but has been out more than two months with an oblique strain. He’s a bat-first infield prospect who could eventually be called upon to help the lineup himself, but he’s still played in only four Triple-A contests during his rehab stint. He went 1-for-8 in that time and drew a hearty eight walks as well. He’s batted .263/.398/.462 in 595 Triple-A plate appearances dating back to 2023.

Winn, another former first-round pick, landed on the IL with shoulder discomfort last week and will now be out through at least mid-August. His prospect stock has faded as he’s struggled in the upper minors. Texas used him in a bullpen role earlier this season but saw the 24-year-old struggle with an ERA north of 7.00 in 17 1/3 innings.

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Texas Rangers Transactions Cole Winn Derek Hill Ezequiel Duran Justin Foscue Yerry Rodriguez

Marlins Select Valente Bellozo
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Brewers Select Dallas Keuchel, Eric Haase; Gary Sánchez Placed On IL
View Comments (14)
Post a Comment

14 Comments

  1. etex211

    1 year ago

    Gosh, there’s a lot to unpack here.

    2
    Reply
    • Dumpster Divin Theo

      1 year ago

      Yeah, he’ll have to pack then unpack

      Reply
  2. kscheer

    1 year ago

    Weird.

    Reply
  3. etex211

    1 year ago

    One thing is for certain: None of this will fix this anemic offense.

    3
    Reply
    • Baseball77

      1 year ago

      It certainly seems that 2024 is pitching’s answer to 2019

      5
      Reply
  4. GoGreen

    1 year ago

    The emergence of Josh Smith makes the Duran option not as surprising of a move as it might seem at first glance. It also makes me feel that Jung is coming back this weekend.

    1
    Reply
    • ButchAdams79

      1 year ago

      Yesterday’s word was jung was being shutdown again with wrist inflammation. With his injury history, I’d go slow with him or he just be right back on il

      3
      Reply
  5. CaseyAbell

    1 year ago

    Kind of surprised that Taveras is still around. He’s been worse than Duran, who at least provided a good glove. How long Taveras stays around is questionable, though.

    Sort of a wake-up call to the team. Start hitting or else.

    3
    Reply
  6. Dumpster Divin Theo

    1 year ago

    Guess Duran will not be patrolling the Rio Grande. If only he could have held out til Monday, a New moon scheduled

    1
    Reply
    • uvmfiji

      1 year ago

      I don’t want your glove to bring me down

      1
      Reply
      • uvmfiji

        1 year ago

        I don’t want your glove

        Reply
  7. CaseyAbell

    1 year ago

    The Rangers are truly snake-bit this season. Hill pulled a complete goof in center when he dove for ball that he should have let fall in front of him for a harmless two-out single. Instead it turned into a little league inside-the-park home run. Without that piece of idiocy the Rangers would have won 5-4. Instead they lost in extras 6-5. Ouch.

    3
    Reply
    • mlbnyyfan

      1 year ago

      Duran will be back solid player. I would glady take him back on Yankees to replace Torres. What’s it going to take? That Gallo trade goes down as one of Cashman biggest failures along with Montas

      Reply
      • uvmfiji

        1 year ago

        Cashman gave up four pieces of chewed bubblegum for Montas. Josh Smith for Gallo was a worthy flier. It’s not the trades but the horrific contracts that Cashman gives out that devastates.

        Reply

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