Rangers Sign Luke Jackson
The Rangers announced Monday that they’ve signed righty Luke Jackson to a one-year, major league contract. Righty Josh Sborz was placed on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Sborz is recovering from November shoulder surgery. Jackson, who is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council, is reportedly guaranteed $1.5MM plus performance bonuses.
Jackson, 33, returns to the organization that originally selected him with the No. 45 overall pick in the 2010 draft. Texas traded Jackson to the Braves in 2016, receiving pitchers Brady Feigl and Tyrell Jenkins in return. Neither wound up throwing a major league pitch for the Rangers, while Jackson eventually emerged as a valuable setup man for the Braves, with his best year coming during the team’s 2021 World Series campaign.
Tommy John surgery cost Jackson the 2022 season — his final year of control with Atlanta before becoming a free agent. He landed a two-year, $11.5MM pact with the Giants in free agency, pitching well in year one of the deal (33 1/3 innings, 2.97 ERA in his return from surgery) before struggling in year two. He went back to the Braves alongside Jorge Soler in a salary-driven deadline swap. Jackson posted a 4.50 ERA in 18 innings with the Braves but also walked 13% of his opponents.
Jackson’s 5.09 ERA in 53 innings last season isn’t encouraging, but he posted a 1.98 ERA and that 2.97 mark on either end of his elbow surgery. Between those two seasons, he totaled 97 innings with a 2.32 ERA, 28% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate. He worked plenty of high-leverage spots, particularly with Atlanta in 2021, when he racked up a career-best 31 holds.
That’ll be the form the Rangers hope to capture in 2025. Jackson’s 94.7 mph average fastball this past season was down noticeably from his 96.1 mph peak, but he averaged only 94.4 mph in 2023, so there’s evidence to suggest he can succeed even if his heater never quite bounces back to pre-surgery levels. Jackson also induced chases off the plate at a solid 31.8% clip and recorded a strong 13.5% swinging-strike rate. His command has never been great and has been particularly problematic since his elbow troubles arose, but he can still miss bats and pile up grounders — as evidenced by last year’s 50.7% clip.
Jackson becomes the incredible seventh new addition to a completely rebuilt Rangers bullpen this offseason. Texas saw Kirby Yates, David Robertson, Jose Leclerc and Andrew Chafin become free agents at season’s end. With the team’s priority being to re-sign Nathan Eovaldi and add some bats who could help remedy last year’s struggles versus fastballs, the bulk of their offseason spending went to a three-year deal, $75MM for Eovaldi and a two-year, $37MM deal for Joc Pederson. Ownership has been steadfast in its desire to drop back under the luxury tax, leaving president of baseball operations Chris Young to take a volume-based approach to rounding out the relief corps rather than doling out pricey eight-figure deals to keep Yates, Leclerc and Robertson (who’s still unsigned but will presumably land an eight-figure deal himself, or at least close to it).
Chris Martin‘s $5.5MM guarantee is the most expensive commitment Texas has made to a reliever this winter. The Rangers have also signed Hoby Milner ($2.5MM), Jacob Webb ($1.25MM), Shawn Armstrong ($1.25MM) and Luis Curvelo ($750K) to big league contracts. Lefty Robert Garcia was acquired from the Nationals in a trade that sent first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and his own eight-figure salary to Washington, thereby creating some flexibility for relatively big-money signings of Eovaldi and Pederson.
Texas was only about $7MM from the luxury tax threshold before agreeing to terms with Jackson. It stands to reason that he’s inking a similarly cost-effective deal to the ones signed by Milner, Webb and Armstrong. Unlike that trio, he does have a fair bit of high-leverage experience, which could give him a leg up when it comes to auditioning for setup or even closing work. If the Rangers want to leave some powder dry for in-season acquisitions, they might not have much capacity left for adding further big league free agents between now and Opening Day.
Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 reported the $1.5MM guarantee.
Joc Pederson Taking First Base Reps In Rangers Camp
The Rangers intend to get Joc Pederson work at first base this spring, manager Bruce Bochy said (link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). While the Rangers still plan to use him primarily as a designated hitter, they could get him occasional first base work over the course of the season.
Pederson was a full-time DH with the Diamondbacks last season. He’s never been a good defender, but that was the first time in which a team kept him off the field entirely. Pederson had played regularly in the outfield before that. He broke in as a center fielder with the Dodgers but had moved more or less to a corner role by 2019.
Bochy downplayed the chance of using Pederson in the outfield at Globe Life Field. “I would imagine he could go out there, but I think the focus is more at first base right now, to help out a little bit. I don’t envision needing more depth in the outfield,” the veteran skipper told Grant and other reporters. “He hasn’t been over there very much, so I imagine he’s got a little rust on him. But he’s taken some ground balls already and we’ll make a call later. We think it’s going to work.”
Pederson has played 154 major league innings at first base. He made a pair of late-game appearances there for the Giants two seasons ago. His only 19 career starts as a first baseman came with Los Angeles back in 2019. He committed six errors in 149 innings, leading to very poor defensive metrics in that tiny sample. It’s an unfamiliar position, but it’s not uncommon for corner outfielders to log occasional first base action.
Texas should have a strong defensive outfield. They’re lined up with Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter and Adolis García as their starting trio. Leody Taveras is on hand as a quality fourth outfielder who can step into everyday center field work if Carter has any kind of recurrence of last year’s injury issues.
First base is a little less established. The Rangers traded Nathaniel Lowe to Washington for reliever Robert Garcia. That came on the heels of acquiring corner infielder Jake Burger from Miami. He’s lined up for the majority of playing time at first base. Burger doesn’t have great on-base skills but brings a lot of right-handed pop. He has respectively hit 34 and 29 homers over the past two years. While he divided his playing time equally between the corner infield spots for the Fish, he’s unlikely to play much third base on a team that has Josh Jung and Josh Smith.
Pederson will work primarily as a designated hitter against right-handed pitching. Burger has had neutral platoon splits for his career. He’ll play frequently against righties, but there’s little harm in testing if Pederson can adequately step in on occasion. That’d also give Bochy some flexibility to get García or Langford off their feet at times, potentially drawing Taveras into the lineup on days when Texas wants a stronger defensive outfield.
Rangers Notes: Gray, Martin, Garcia
Last weekend, reports surfaced that the Rangers had some “internal discussions” about moving Jon Gray from the rotation to the closer’s role, in a creative way to address both their need for a closer and an on-paper surplus of starting pitchers. However, it doesn’t appear as though the concept advanced beyond the speculative phase, as both manager Bruce Bochy and president of baseball operations Chris Young told reporters (including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News) that they both viewed Gray as assuming his usual starter role this season.
Gray said that he also hadn’t been approached about the idea, even if he was broadly open to closing if it meant helping the team. But, he also set some lofty targets for his 2025 season, saying that he was “looking to eat a lot of innings. I’d hopefully like to get to that 200-strikeout mark. That would be cool. The swing-and-miss and strikeout rate is something I really want to improve and I think it’s headed in the right direction.”
Gray’s career high in strikeouts is 185, set back in his first full MLB season in 2016 when the righty was still with the Rockies. His personal best for innings is 172 1/3 frames in the 2018 season, and he has topped the 150-inning threshold in four of his 10 big league seasons. Most recently, Gray tossed 102 2/3 innings last year, as he twice hit the injured list due to groin strains, and he underwent season-ending surgery in early September to remove a neuroma on the middle toe of his right foot.
“I’m happy with the way the surgery went and had a really good offseason,” Gray said, noting that the neuroma had been bothering him for almost a year, and likely contributed to his groin problems. The injuries clearly hampered Gray’s performance, as he posted a 4.47 ERA and the lowest full-season strikeout rate (19.6%) of his career.
Beyond his natural competitive spirit in rebounding from a down year, Gray has even more incentive to bounce back since he is set to hit free agency next winter. Gray is in the final season of the four-year, $56MM deal he signed with Texas during the 2021-22 offseason, and there was some speculation that the Rangers could look to trade Gray this winter in order to clear some money off the books. No such deal happened, and thus the 33-year-old Gray is now looking for a nice platform year as he approaches the open market once more.
If Gray isn’t the closer or another reliever isn’t brought into the fold, Chris Martin looks like the favorite for saves, assuming that Texas even sticks with a set ninth-inning option. Bochy told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry and other reporters that “it can be by committee…So by no means are we getting locked in on any roles right now. I think we’re going to stay flexible with that.”
To this end, Bochy said he hasn’t talked to Martin specifically about working in a closing capacity, but the skipper feels his relievers are “fine with not having a defined role. They’re used to it, including Chris….They all have great attitudes. They’re like, ‘Hey, we’re there to get outs and use us where you need us to help win a ballgame.’ And that’s how that works.”
Martin has amassed only 14 saves over his nine MLB seasons, though he pointed out to Landry that he had 22 saves over his two seasons in Japan with the Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2016-17. Getting some sustained run as a closer might be a fun way for Martin to wind up his career, but he plans to take the same approach no matter how he is utilized out of the Rangers’ bullpen.
“With closing, you still gotta get three outs,” Martin said. “It’s just the last three of the game, so it can be a little more nerve wracking, but I’ve been around a bit now and I understand it’s just another three outs, whatever the run situation is.”
Robert Garcia is another newly-acquired reliever ticketed for high-leverage innings, as the Rangers acquired Garcia from the Nationals in return for Nathaniel Lowe in December. The left-hander has yet to properly kick off his first Spring Training with his new team, however, due to some nerve irritation in his forearm. The issue doesn’t seem too serious, as Bochy told Landry that Garcia is slated to throw his first bullpen session of the spring on Tuesday.
Rangers Sign Joe Barlow To Minor League Deal
The Rangers announced this morning that they’ve signed right-hander Joe Barlow to a minor league deal. The contract includes an invitation to big league Spring Training.
Barlow, 29, was an 11th-round pick by the Rangers back in 2016 and spent parts of three MLB seasons with the club from 2021 to 2023. He shared closing duties with veteran Ian Kennedy in his rookie season and took over as primary closer for the club the following year, though he ultimately lost the role midway through the 2022 campaign. His removal with the closer role coincided with a severe nosedive in performance. The righty sported a phenomenal career 2.15 ERA with a 22.6% strikeout rate and a 3.79 FIP across 54 1/3 innings when he recorded his final save as the Rangers’ closer in June of 2022, but since then he’s struggled badly with a 5.59 ERA, and 5.96 FIP and a strikeout rate of just 14.6% in 19 1/3 big league innings.
Given those disastrous numbers over the course of nearly a year between him losing the closer job and the trade that brought Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton to Texas at the 2023 trade deadline, it wasn’t exactly a surprise when the Rangers designated Barlow for assignment to make room for the incoming duo on the 40-man roster. Barlow was claimed off waivers by the Royals shortly thereafter but did not make an appearance with the club, pitching in the minors until he was once again designated for assignment in early September. He was eventually outrighted to the minors and signed a minor league deal with the White Sox last year, though he did not receive a call-up to the major leagues.
Barlow’s struggles after being removed from the closer role may have been health-related. He made multiple trips to the injured list due to blisters on his right index finger during the 2022 campaign after losing his job in the ninth inning, and ultimately ended up undergoing offseason surgery to correct two tendons in his right wrist that were causing the blisters. Barlow then made a trip to the IL in early 2023 due to kidney stones. Upon joining the White Sox last season, Barlow spent nearly the whole 2024 campaign on the injured list with just 12 total appearances at Triple-A. In 30 innings of work at Triple-A with Chicago and Kansas City since departing Texas, Barlow has been torched to the tune of an 8.40 ERA with a 10.7% walk rate against a 23.1% strikeout rate.
Barlow will now have the opportunity to prove he’s healthy and work his way back towards the majors in a familiar environment. The Rangers, meanwhile, will hope he can recapture the form he flashed early in his big league career. Even that wouldn’t be enough to close on a team with playoff aspirations like the Rangers have become, but Barlow could still join the deep group of arms the club has added this winter to help in the middle innings like Jacob Webb and Shawn Armstrong.
Rangers Sign JT Chargois To Minor League Deal
The Rangers announced this morning that they’ve signed veteran reliever JT Chargois to a minor league deal and invited him to spring training. The Wasserman client will compete for a spot in a vastly overhauled Texas bullpen. Just Baseball’s Aram Leighton first reported the agreement.
Chargois, 34, has pitched in seven big league seasons, appearing for five different clubs. Originally a second-round pick by the Twins in 2012, he’s also bounced to the Dodgers, Mariners, Rays and Marlins. The Rice University product is coming off a nice 2024 campaign between Miami and Seattle, wherein he pitched 36 1/3 innings with a combined 2.23 earned run average. That mark overstates his effectiveness, as it was buoyed by a microscopic .189 average on balls in play and colossal 98% strand rate.
Chargois’ 20.5% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate were both passable but a bit worse than league average, and he gave up plenty of hard contact. He averaged 94.9 mph on his sinker, which is certainly above-average — but also a notable dip from the 96.3 mph he’d averaged across the five prior seasons. That may have been tied to the neck spasms that plagued him in 2024 and at one point landed him on the 60-day IL.
The Mariners could’ve retained Chargois this offseason via arbitration, as he’s only at 5.101 years of MLB service. They opted to non-tender him despite a reasonable $1.7MM projected salary, however (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz).
Looking at the broader scope of Chargois’ career, he’s frequently been an effective reliever but has also too often been hobbled by injuries. In the past three years alone, he’s missed time with neck spasms, a ribcage strain and two separate oblique strains. He’s also had nerve and elbow injuries in his right arm.
Chargois has only reached 50 innings in one of his seven MLB campaigns. He’s also posted an ERA of 3.61 or better in five of those seasons. On the whole, he’s tallied 231 1/3 innings with a 3.35 ERA, 23.3% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 50.2% grounder rate. He’s usually kept the ball in the yard (0.97 HR/9), though last year’s 1.49 HR/9 mark is a bit of a red flag.
The Rangers have already formally bid farewell to Kirby Yates and Jose Leclerc. David Robertson and Andrew Chafin remain unsigned but seem likely to sign elsewhere as well. In place of that quartet, Texas has traded for Robert Garcia and signed free agents Chris Martin, Hoby Milner, Jacob Webb and Shawn Armstrong to major league deals. Chargois joins Jesse Chavez as the most experienced non-roster arm in camp and will compete for a spot in Bruce Bochy’s new-look relief corps.
Rangers Have Had “Internal Discussions” About Jon Gray As Closer
The Rangers are poised to enter Spring Training this year with a dilemma that they haven’t had in recent years: no experienced closers on their roster. Kirby Yates, David Robertson, and Jose Leclerc had a combined 313 saves under their belts when they departed Texas for free agency back in November after serving as the Rangers’ late-inning relief corps in 2024, and the year prior to that lefty Will Smith closed games for the Rangers despite a shaky 4.40 ERA thanks in part to the two 30+ save seasons he had under his belt before he arrived in Texas. This year, however, the club has no such experienced closer to lean on in the ninth inning.
Veteran reliever Chris Martin has the dominant relief numbers often associated with the closer role, but has just 14 career saves and has not recorded more than four in a single season before. Those 14 saves are still enough to make him the most experienced ninth-inning arm in the Rangers’ new-look bullpen, which added interesting pieces like Robert Garcia, Hoby Milner, and Jacob Webb who have pitched well in the past but never been used as a closer. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News noted that it’s possible the club won’t have clearly defined roles in the bullpen entering the season due to the lack of a clear top closing option, though he added that there have been at least “internal discussions” about the possibility of using veteran starter Jon Gray in the ninth inning.
Grant emphasizes that as things currently stand, Gray appears to be more valuable to the club as a starter given the innings he can provide. 2024 was the first 162-game season of Gray’s career where he posted less than 20 starts and 110 innings of work since his nine-start cup of coffee with the Rockies as a rookie back in 2013, and with 1216 2/3 innings of work (including 387 1/3 in a Rangers uniform) under his belt Gray is valuable source of steadiness in a Texas rotation mix filled with aging, oft-injured, or young and unproven arms. Given that, it would hardly be a surprise to see the club simply stick with Gray in the rotation and use Martin for the lion’s share of save chances, or perhaps simply play matchups in the ninth inning without anointing a closer at all.
Even so, the idea of Gray as a reliever is a somewhat intriguing one. Gray was used out of the bullpen four times in 2024, the most he’s ever pitched in relief in his career to this point. While Gray’s seven innings of work out of the bullpen are much too small of a sample size to draw any major conclusions from, his brief work in the role was nothing short of dominant: Gray pitched to a 1.29 ERA in those four appearances with a phenomenal 37% strikeout rate against a 7.4% walk rate. Those are the kind of numbers that could be truly game-changing for a Rangers club that has struggled to find production in the bullpen in recent years, making a potential role change for Gray at least worth considering.
While it seems unlikely that the Rangers would move Gray to the bullpen to start the season, perhaps it could become a more feasible option as the season develops. The Rangers have very little certainty in their rotation, but huge amounts of upside. Top draft picks Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter figure to try and force their way into the rotation with the club this year, and healthy seasons from Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle would be able to turn the club’s starting five from a question mark to a major strength quite suddenly. If things are looking up for the club in the rotation this summer, perhaps Gray’s 4.70 ERA in 19 starts last year becomes less attractive as a steady, back-end option and the club decides to see what the 33-year-old can do as a full-time reliever.
Poll: Who’s Winning The Offseason In The AL West?
The calendar has flipped to February and the start of spring is just a matter of days away. While some notable free agents (including seven of MLBTR’s Top 50) remain unsigned, most clubs have already done the heavy lifting in terms of preparing their roster for the 2025 season. In the coming days, we’ll be taking a look around the league at which clubs have had the strongest offseason to this point. After the Mets, Cubs, and Dodgers have decisively won the polls covering the National League’s three divisions, the focus now shifts to the American League starting with the AL West.
The junior circuit’s west coast teams have been busy for the most part, perhaps reflecting the division’s tightly contested nature. A three-way race for the AL West came down to the final day of the 2023 season, and despite the Astros’ division title, the Rangers were the ones to be crowned World Series champions. In 2024, Houston’s long reign over the division started showing signs of cracks as they struggled out of the gate, won “just” 88 games (down by their standards) and were bounced from the playoffs in the AL Wild Card Series.
Which team has done the best job setting themselves up for 2024? Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record:
Houston Astros
The winds of change are blowing through Houston, and they’ll enter 2025 with a significantly reshaped roster. The most notable move this winter was to ship star outfielder Kyle Tucker to Chicago ahead of his final season under team control. Losing a player of Tucker’s caliber is always a brutal blow, but Houston did fairly well in the trade. They not only added a new top prospect in third baseman Cam Smith, but they also managed to bring in All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes and bolster their rotation depth with right-hander Hayden Wesneski.
The additions of Paredes and Wesneski have patched holes left by the departures of Alex Bregman and Justin Verlander in free agency, though the club has apparently not completely closed the door on a reunion with Bregman. Meanwhile, the need at first base caused by Jose Abreu‘s dramatic decline was filled by the addition of three-time Gold Glove winner Christian Walker. Solid as those moves have been, though, the Astros have subtracted more than they’ve added. Ryan Pressly, Yusei Kikuchi, and Jose Urquidy are no longer with the club, and the Astros’ replacement for Tucker as a left-handed outfield bat to this point appears to be a reunion with journeyman Ben Gamel.
Seattle Mariners
Seattle has had the quietest offseason in the division despite typically being one of the most active teams on the trade market. Rumors of a Luis Castillo deal have not come to fruition, and trade targets to bolster the club’s lackluster infield such as Nico Hoerner, Alec Bohm, and Triston Casas have all remained with their current teams. The Mariners’ lack of activity on the trade market has led them to make mostly ancillary moves. As ownership has scaled back the budget substantially, the Mariners have re-signed Jorge Polanco and added Donovan Solano for a combined $11.25MM. Their only other additions have been minor trades for players with minimal big league experience like Austin Shenton and Miles Mastrobuoni.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers’ front office has had a tall order placed in front of them this winter: navigate under the luxury tax while supplementing an offense that struggled last year and completely rebuilding a pitching staff that saw seven major pieces reach free agency. They’ve most succeeded in those goals. Robert Garcia, Chris Martin, Jacob Webb, Shawn Armstrong, and Hoby Milner were all brought in to help patch up one of the league’s weaker bullpens. The club parted with first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to bring Garcia into the fold, but his bat has been effectively swapped out for free agent pickup Joc Pederson and trade acquisition Jake Burger in trade.
Meanwhile, the club added some pop behind the plate by pairing Kyle Higashioka with Jonah Heim after Heim struggled through a down season offensively last year. The Rangers managed to keep Nathan Eovaldi on a three-year deal despite the soaring cost of starting pitching. Whether these additions will be enough to make up for the losses of Lowe, Kirby Yates, David Robertson, Jose Leclerc, Andrew Heaney and Max Scherzer remains to be seen.
Athletics
After shuttering the Coliseum and departing Oakland for a temporary stay in West Sacramento, the A’s have begun to spend more aggressively than they have in years. The club locked up breakout slugger Brent Rooker for the next five seasons on a $60MM extension and has been active both the trade and free agent markets. The A’s signed Luis Severino to a club-record three-year, $67MM deal while also agreeing to deals with third baseman Gio Urshela, former Rangers closer Jose Leclerc and lefty T.J. McFarland. On the trade market, they added southpaws Jeffrey Springs and Jacob Lopez in a deal with the Rays that saw them surrender Joe Boyle, their Competitive Balance Round A pick, and two prospects.
Los Angeles Angels
After narrowly avoiding the first 100-loss season in franchise history, the Angels were heavily active in the early stages of the offseason. They acquired slugger Jorge Soler in a trade with the Braves on day one of the offseason, surrendering only non-tender candidate Griffin Canning. They added Scott Kingery in a cash swap with the Phillies shortly thereafter. The early days of free agency brought deals for Yusei Kikuchi, Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Hendricks, and Kevin Newman.
Things have been mostly quiet in Anaheim since that flurry of moves back in November, and it will surely take a strong, healthy season from Mike Trout in addition to steps forward for multiple youngsters if the Angels are going to contend for the postseason in 2025.
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The AL West appears to have moved towards parity somewhat this winter. The Astros have sacrificed maximizing their immediate odds at continued dominance in the name of longer-term stability. The Mariners opted to keep their elite rotation together rather than risk breaking up the group to strengthen a mediocre lineup. The Rangers have been very active in reshaping their roster in hopes of recapturing the glory of 2023, while the fourth- and fifth-place A’s and Angels have been surprisingly aggressive in their efforts to separate themselves from the AL’s cellar dwellers.
Of the five AL West clubs, which one has had the strongest offseason so far? Have your say in the poll below:
Which AL West team has had the best offseason so far?
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The Athletics 30% (2,576)
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Texas Rangers 28% (2,391)
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Houston Astros 19% (1,601)
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Los Angeles Angels 15% (1,242)
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Seattle Mariners 8% (643)
Total votes: 8,453
Rangers Sign Matt Festa To Minor League Deal
The Rangers announced that they have signed right-hander Matt Festa to a minor league deal. The Beverly Hills Sports Council client will be in camp as a non-roster invitee. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported the deal prior to the official announcement.
Festa, 32 in March, spent the latter half of the 2024 season with the Rangers. He was selected to the roster in August and tossed 22 2/3 innings for them in what remained of the schedule, allowing 4.37 earned runs per nine. His 25% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate were both a bit better than average.
Despite that decent showing, he was bumped off the roster last month, getting designated for assignment when Texas signed Chris Martin. He was flipped to the Cubs for cash but only lasted a few weeks with that team. The Cubs gave him the DFA treatment to open a roster spot when they acquired Ryan Pressly.
Festa cleared waivers and was outrighted by the Cubs to Triple-A Iowa. Players with at least one previous career outright, such as Festa, have the right to reject another outright assignment in favor of free agency. It appears that he did indeed elect free agency and has circled back to the Rangers.
He now has 117 1/3 major league innings under his belt with a 4.60 ERA. His 10.3% career walk rate is a tad high but he has paired that with a strong 25% strikeout rate. The Rangers have been trying to bolster their bullpen on the cheap this winter. They lost Kirby Yates, David Robertson, José Leclerc and Andrew Chafin to free agency at season’s end. That gave them a lot of work to do but they have had a clear goal of avoiding the competitive balance tax this winter.
They acquired Robert Garcia, who has not yet qualified for arbitration, in the Nathaniel Lowe deal. They have signed Martin, Jacob Webb, Shawn Armstrong and Hoby Milner to one-year deals, each worth less than $6MM. They have given minor league deals to Jesse Chavez, Codi Heuer, Patrick Murphy and now Festa. If Festa gets added to the roster at any point, he is out of options but has just over two years of service time, meaning he hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration.
Rangers Sign Nick Ahmed To Minor League Deal
The Rangers announced that they have signed veteran infielder Nick Ahmed to a minor league deal. The Excel Sports Management client will be in big league spring training as a non-roster invitee.
At this point, clubs know what to expect from Ahmed, who turns 35 years old in March. He’s not going to provide much at the plate but he’s one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. Last year, he did a tour of the National League West, suiting up for the Giants, Dodgers and Padres throughout the year. He got into 71 games and hit .229/.267/.295.
Most of his career was spent with another NL West club, as he was with the Diamondbacks from 2014 to 2023. His 80 Defensive Runs Saved in that stretch were second among big league shortstops, behind only Andrelton Simmons. Ahmed’s 110 Outs Above Average in that span was also second among all shortstops, with Francisco Lindor at the top in that category.
The offense has never been as impressive. He has a career .234/.287/.371 batting line, which translates to a 71 wRC+. His best stretch was from 2018 to 2020, as he hit .248/.307/.421 for an 89 wRC+ over those years. When combined with his excellent shortstop defense, FanGraphs credited him with 4.0 wins above replacement in the first of those three years, followed by 3.4 fWAR in 2019 and 1.5 fWAR in the shortened 2020 season.
His production at the plate has dipped since then, as he has hit .221/.271/.327 for a 62 wRC+ over the past four seasons. Still, his glovework has been enough to keep him employed in part-time roles over time. Though he’s mostly lined up at short, he has a bit of experience at second base as well.
The Rangers have Corey Seager as their everyday shortstop, though he has a checkered injury history. Over the past four seasons, he has only once played more than 123 games. Josh Smith got a lot of the shortstop playing time late last year when Seager was hurt but his defensive metrics aren’t strong at the position. Ezequiel Durán has played a bit of short but has spent far more time at other positions. Second baseman Marcus Semien is a workhorse but is now 34 years old. If the need for some middle infield help arises, Ahmed gives them an experienced glove-first option they could potentially call upon.
Players Who Could Move To The 60-Day IL Once Spring Training Begins
Most of the clubs in the league currently have a full 40-man roster, which means that just about every transaction requires a corresponding move these days. Some extra roster flexibility is on the way, however. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the World Series but comes back when pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
Per R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports, most clubs have a report date of February 12th or 13th. The Cubs and Dodgers are a bit earlier than most, on the 9th and 11th, respectively. That’s due to the fact that those clubs are heading to Tokyo, with exhibition games in mid-March, followed by regular season games against each other on March 18th and 19th. All the other teams have Opening Day scheduled for March 27th.
It’s worth pointing out that the 60 days don’t start being counted until Opening Day. Although a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL quite soon, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until end of May or later. A team also must have a full 40-man roster in order to move a player to the 60-day IL.
There are still plenty of free agents still out there, including big names like Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso, as well as Nick Pivetta, Andrew Heaney, David Robertson, Randal Grichuk, Kenley Jansen, Harrison Bader, Lance Lynn, Jose Quintana and many more. Perhaps the extra roster flexibility will spur some deals to come together in the next week or so. It could also increase the ability of some clubs to make waiver claims or small trades for players who have been designated for assignment.
Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time and could find themselves transferred soon.
Angels: Robert Stephenson
Stephenson underwent a hybrid Tommy John surgery with internal brace in late April. Given the 14-plus months required to recovery from such a procedure, he’s not likely to be ready in the early parts of the 2025 season.
Astros: Cristian Javier, J.P. France, Bennett Sousa
Javier underwent Tommy John surgery in June and is targeting a return in the second half of 2025. France is recovering from shoulder surgery and hoping to return in July. Sousa’s timeline is less clear but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in April. Other possibilities include Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr., who are expected to start the season on the IL but returning in April or May still seems possible.
Athletics: Luis Medina, Ken Waldichuk
Medina underwent Tommy John surgery in August and Waldichuk in May. Medina might miss the entire season while Waldichuk is likely to miss a few months at least.
Blue Jays: Angel Bastardo, Alek Manoah
The Jays grabbed Bastardo from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft in December, even though he had Tommy John surgery in June. Manoah also had Tommy John around that time and is hoping to be back by August.
Braves: Joe Jiménez
Jimenez had knee surgery in November with a timeline of eight to twelve months, so he might miss the entire season. Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. are also possibilities, though those will be more borderline. Strider had internal brace surgery in April, so returning in May is somewhat possible. Acuña is recovering from a torn ACL last year and it’s possible he’ll miss the first month or so of the season. Given how important both of those players are, Atlanta probably won’t put them on the 60-day IL unless it’s 100% certain that they can’t come back in the first 60 days of the season.
Brewers: Robert Gasser
Gasser had Tommy John surgery in June and will be looking at a late 2025 return even in a best-case scenario.
Diamondbacks: Kyle Nelson
Nelson’s timeline is unclear, but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in May and missed the remainder of the 2024 season.
Dodgers: Gavin Stone, Brusdar Graterol, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Emmet Sheehan
Stone underwent shoulder surgery in October that will cause him to miss the entire year. Graterol also underwent shoulder surgery and isn’t expected back until the second half of 2025. Each of Ryan, Hurt and Sheehan required Tommy John surgery in 2024: Ryan in August, Hurt in July and Sheehan in May.
Guardians: Sam Hentges, David Fry, Shane Bieber, Trevor Stephan
Hentges required shoulder surgery in September, with an expected recovery timeline of 12 to 14 months. Fry underwent UCL surgery in November with a more fluid timeline. He won’t be able to throw at all in 2025 but could be cleared for designated hitter action six to eight months from that surgery. Bieber is perhaps a borderline case, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in April. Given his importance, the Guards may not transfer him to the 60-day IL until it’s assured that he won’t be back in the first 60 days of the season. Stephan underwent Tommy John surgery in March and perhaps has a chance to avoid the 60-day IL, depending on his progression.
Mariners: Matt Brash, Jackson Kowar
Brash underwent Tommy John surgery in May. Given the typical 14-month recovery timeline from that procedure, he would be looking at a midsummer return. However, it was reported in November that he’s ahead of schedule and could be back by the end of April. That’s an optimistic timeline but the Mariners will probably hold off moving him to the 60-day IL until the door is closed to an early return. Kowar underwent Tommy John in March, so an early return in 2025 is possible for him, depending on how his recovery is going.
Marlins: Braxton Garrett, Eury Pérez
Garrett just underwent UCL surgery last month and is going to miss the entire 2025 season. Pérez underwent Tommy John surgery in April of last year and will miss at least part of the beginning of the 2025 campaign.
Mets: Christian Scott
Scott required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in September and will likely miss the entire 2025 season.
Nationals: Josiah Gray, Mason Thompson
Gray required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in July, meaning he’ll miss most or perhaps all of the 2025 season. Thompson required Tommy John surgery in March, so he has a better chance to make an early-season return if his recovery is going well.
Orioles: Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells
Bradish and Wells each required UCL surgery in June, so they’re both slated to miss the first half of the upcoming campaign.
Padres: Joe Musgrove
Musgrove had Tommy John surgery in October and will therefore miss the entire 2025 season. However, the Padres only have 36 guys on their 40-man roster at the moment, so they’ll need to fill those spots before moving Musgrove to the 60-day IL.
Pirates: Dauri Moreta
Moreta required UCL surgery in March, so an early-season return is possible if his rehab is going well, though he could end up on the 60-day if the club goes easy with his ramp-up or he suffers any kind of setback.
Rangers: Josh Sborz
Sborz underwent shoulder surgery in November and is expected to miss the first two to three months of the upcoming season.
Rays: Nate Lavender, Ha-Seong Kim
The Rays took Lavender from the Mets in the Rule 5 draft, even though he had Tommy John in May and will miss the start of the season. Kim’s status is more up in the air after he had shoulder surgery in October. Various reports have suggested he could return anywhere from April to July. The Rays made a sizable investment in Kim, their largest ever for a position player, so they probably won’t shelve him until they get more clarity on his status.
Red Sox: Patrick Sandoval, Garrett Whitlock, Chris Murphy
Sandoval had internal brace surgery in June of last year and should miss the first half of the season. Whitlock had the same surgery in May, so he could have a bit of a better chance to return in the first 60 days of the season. Murphy underwent a fully Tommy John surgery in April and will certainly miss the beginning of the upcoming season. Another possibility is Lucas Giolito, who had internal brace surgery in March, though he expects to be ready by Opening Day.
Reds: Julian Aguiar, Brandon Williamson
Aguiar underwent Tommy John surgery in October and Williamson in September, so both are likely slated to miss the entire 2025 season.
Tigers: Sawyer Gipson-Long
Gipson-Long underwent internal brace surgery in April. On top of that, he underwent left hip labral repair surgery in July, with the club hoping to address both issues at the same time. It seems likely that he’ll miss some of the early 2025 schedule, but his IL placement will depend on how he’s been progressing.
White Sox: Jesse Scholtens
Scholtens underwent Tommy John surgery in early March. Whether he goes on the 60-day IL or not will depend on how he’s progressed since then and when the White Sox expect him back.
Yankees: Jonathan Loáisiga
Loáisiga underwent internal brace surgery in April, so he could potentially be back on the mound early in the 2025 season. It was reported in December that the Yankees are expecting him to be in the bullpen by late April or early May, so he’ll only end up on the 60-day IL if he suffers a bit of a setback.