Rangers Sign Alan Trejo, Billy McKinney To Minor League Deals

The Rangers signed Alan Trejo and Billy McKinney to minor league contracts. Both moves were initially reflected on the MiLB.com transaction log, and they’ve each already appeared for Triple-A Round Rock.

It’s the second Texas stint of the season for Trejo. The glove-first utility player signed with the Rangers over the offseason. He spent a month in Round Rock before the Rockies expressed interest in calling him up. Texas dealt him to Colorado for cash considerations to facilitate the promotion. Trejo spent a few weeks on the Rox’s MLB roster while they navigated injuries to Ezequiel Tovar and Tyler Freeman. He appeared in 13 games and hit .175 with a pair of doubles.

A former 16th-round draft choice, Trejo has appeared in parts of five MLB seasons. All of that time has come in Colorado. He’s a lifetime .224/.269/.325 hitter against big league pitching. Trejo has spent time in the Dodgers system plus his brief early-season stint in Round Rock but hasn’t gotten to the majors with any team besides the Rockies. He’s hitting .211/.247/.352 in 19 Triple-A games this year. He won’t provide much at the plate but can competently cover any infield position.

McKinney, 30, was released from a minor league deal with the Mets last week. He’s a left-handed hitting first baseman/corner outfielder who has played at the big league level with seven different clubs. McKinney carries a .209/.284/.386 batting line in a little under 1000 MLB plate appearances. He’d been out to a rough start for the Mets’ top farm team, hitting .184/.285/.307 with 34 strikeouts over 33 games. McKinney has a much more solid .266/.354/.487 slash in parts of eight Triple-A seasons. He’ll try to find that form in the Pacific Coast League.