Rangers Place Jose Leclerc On 15-Day Injured List
The Rangers have placed right-hander Jose Leclerc on the 15-day injured list due to a sprained right ankle, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The IL placement is retroactive to June 21. Right-hander Yerry Rodriguez is getting the call from Triple-A to take Leclerc’s spot on the active roster.
Leclerc has a 3.42 ERA over 23 2/3 innings this season, on the strength of some very strong soft-contact numbers, an above-average 25.3% strikeout rate, and an elite 34.3% whiff rate. However, Leclerc’s work has been undermined by his 15.2% walk rate, which ranks among the worst in the league. The metrics more or less match up with Leclerc’s numbers over his past full Major League seasons, with the lack of control limiting his ability to be a truly reliable high-leverage arm in the Texas bullpen. As such, Will Smith took over closing duties from Leclerc earlier this season.
The Rangers signed Leclerc to a four-year, $14.75MM extension in March 2019 in the hopes that he would develop into a top-tier bullpen arm, and that extension got off to a bad start given that Leclerc missed almost all of the 2020 and 2021 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. Texas has two club option years attached to the deal, beginning with a $6MM option ($750K buyout) on Leclerc’s services for the 2024 season. For now, the team’s only concern is on getting the righty back on the mound, as there isn’t yet any indication if Leclerc could be facing a minimal absence or if his sprain is a longer-term concern.
After struggling earlier in the season, the Rangers’ bullpen has stabilized to some extent, even though the relief corps is still a relative weak link on a team that has been otherwise firing on all cylinders. With Texas leading the AL West and looking like strong contenders to return to the postseason, relief pitching figured to be at the top of the Rangers’ wishlist heading into the trade deadline even prior to Leclerc’s injury.
Yoshi Tsutsugo Opts Out Of Deal With Rangers
Corner infielder Yoshi Tsutsugo opted out of a minor league contract with the Rangers, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Texas allowed him to hit free agency rather than add him to the MLB roster.
The Rangers took a non-roster flier on Tsutsugo over the offseason. He didn’t get a big league look, instead spending the entire season with Triple-A Round Rock. He hit .249/.380/.432 over 280 trips to the plate. The left-handed hitter drew free passes at a huge 17.3% clip but went down on strikes over 28% of the time. He connected on six home runs, nine doubles and a pair of triples — fine but unexceptional power production for a bat-first player in the Pacific Coast League.
Tsutsugo will now look elsewhere in search of an MLB opportunity for what’d be the fourth consecutive season. He struggled early upon signing with the Rays and fared even worse in a cup of coffee with the Dodgers. Tsutsugo caught fire late in the 2021 season with the Pirates, though, popping eight homers in only 43 games.
Pittsburgh re-signed him in hopes he’d approximate that production over a full schedule. That didn’t happen, as he hit .171/.249/.229 in 50 contests last year before the Bucs released him. A late-season Triple-A run with the Blue Jays didn’t result in another MLB look. Tsutsugo heads back to the market with a career .197/.291/.339 line over 182 big league contests.
Tsutsugo has primarily played first base and designated hitter at the major league level. The Rays gave him a few looks at third base back in 2020. He didn’t see any time at the hot corner from 2021-22 but started 13 games there with Round Rock (in addition to 22 starts at first base and 16 outings as the DH).
MLBTR Trade Rumors Podcast: Exciting Youth Movements in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, Bad Central Divisions and the Dodgers Want Pitching
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:
- the Pirates promote Henry Davis (1:20)
- the scorching-hot Reds designate Wil Myers for assignment (7:35)
- Guardians promote Gavin Williams (10:40)
- White Sox want to sell rental pieces only (16:20)
- Dodgers need pitching (19:15)
Plus, we answer your questions, including:
- Do you think the Cubs will deal Christopher Morel at the deadline? (22:45)
- What are the chances the Diamondbacks promote Jordan Lawlar later this season? (25:50)
- If Rangers make a blockbuster trade who would you think it would be? Obviously bullpen is a need but what is something blockbuster worthy? (29:45)
Check out our past episodes!
- Marcus Stroman Lobbies for Extension, Mets’ Woes and Astros Seeking Bats – listen here
- Elly De La Cruz, Alek Manoah’s Demotion and Surgery for Jacob deGrom – listen here
- The Wide-Open NL Wild Card Race, Returning Pitchers and Cast-Off Veterans – listen here
Rangers Release Sandy Leon
The Rangers have granted catcher Sandy León his release, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The veteran backstop requested to be let go after losing his spot on the MLB roster last week.
It’s a quick turnaround. León accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Round Rock over the weekend after clearing waivers. He didn’t make another appearance there before looking for other opportunities instead. That León just went unclaimed makes it seem unlikely he has another MLB job lined up, but perhaps he’s receiving interest from a club with a clearer path to playing time than would’ve been available in Arlington.
León, 34, started the season in Round Rock. Texas called him up just four games into the season. He played in 22 MLB games as a depth option, struggling to a .146/.186/.195 line while striking out in 20 of 44 plate appearances. The switch-hitter obviously hoped for better than that, but he has rarely been an offensive threat. Aside from a BABIP-driven 2016 campaign with the Red Sox, León has been a well below-average MLB hitter. Going back to the start of 2020, he owns a .168/.255/.245 mark in 431 plate appearances over four teams.
Despite the tepid offense, León has gotten plenty of opportunities on the strength of a strong defensive reputation. He’s well-regarded for his receiving skills and has thrown out a solid 29.5% of basestealers over the course of his career. He shouldn’t have any issues finding another minor league opportunity as a result.
Jonah Heim, Mitch Garver and Sam Huff comprise Texas’ 40-man catching group and are each on the major league roster. Neither Matt Whatley nor Miguel Ojeda Jr. — the two catchers on Round Rock’s active roster — has played in the majors. Grant suggests the Rangers could look for a veteran backstop willing to sign a non-roster deal to add some upper minors experience now that León is looking elsewhere.
Rangers Re-Sign Ian Kennedy To Minor League Deal
The Rangers have brought back Ian Kennedy on a minor league contract, the club informed reporters (including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). He’ll join their top farm team in Round Rock tomorrow.
Kennedy spent a month on the open market after being designated for assignment by Texas in early May. He’d cracked the Opening Day roster after an offseason minor league deal, marking his second stint in Arlington. While Kennedy was an excellent high-leverage arm for the Rangers back in 2021, he had less inspiring results this time around. Despite a quality 13:3 strikeout-to-walk tally through ten innings, he surrendered ten runs on 11 hits.
The 17-year MLB veteran has had a couple strong seasons since moving to the bullpen four years back. He has struggled going back to the start of the 2022 campaign, posting a 5.36 ERA through 50 1/3 frames for the Diamondbacks last season. Aside from injury rehab stints, Kennedy hasn’t pitched in Triple-A since 2009.
He’ll look to make his stay in Round Rock brief by recapturing a spot in the Texas bullpen. Rangers relievers rank 22nd in MLB with a 4.31 ERA on the year, though they’ve posted a serviceable 3.92 mark within the past month.
AL West Notes: A’s, McCullers, Leon
While the Athletics seem more likely than ever to relocate to Las Vegas after Nevada’s governor signed a bill providing $380MM in public funding for an MLB stadium in the state’s biggest city, Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the club will remain in Oakland through the end of their lease at the Coliseum, which expires after the 2024 season. As Akers notes, no discussions have taken place regarding the A’s leaving Oakland ahead of the 2024 campaign, as the 2024 MLB schedule is already set and poised to be released later this summer.
Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, however, Akers notes that there are a variety of options being explored for the club’s temporary home until the Athletic’s planned ballpark in Las Vegas is ready, which isn’t expected to happen until 2028. Options Akers mentions for the A’s are Sacramento, Reno, and even alternative sites in the Bay Area. Most interestingly, Akers points out that the A’s have an agreement in place with Howard Hughes Corp, the owner of the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas, to use the Aviators’ 10,000 seat ballpark while construction of the permanent ballpark is underway.
Of course, there’s still much to do before the club’s planned relocation is official, to say nothing of the steps necessary to finalize a temporary home ballpark. The Athletics will need to have their relocation effort approved by 75% of MLB owners, and the MLB Players Association would have to give its approval for the club’s temporary home ballpark before any plans could be finalized. Still, Akers’s report nonetheless provides some a window into the options at the club’s disposal as they prepare to depart Oakland, their home for more than half a century.
More from around AL West…
- Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. underwent flexor tendon surgery earlier this week that will keep him out of action for the rest of the season. While that’s surely a bitterly disappointing development for both McCullers and fans in Houston, the situation could have gone far worse, as The Athletic’s Chandler Rome notes in a recent article that McCullers and Dr. Neal ElAttrache entered operating room prepared for the possibility that the right-hander would require a second Tommy John surgery rather than the flexor tendon surgery he ultimately needed. Such a procedure would have left McCullers unavailable for at least twelve months, but the 29-year-old righty could begin throwing again toward the end of the 2023 campaign or shortly after the season’s conclusion. Unfortunately, that does little to assist an Astros rotation that has also lost Luis Garcia and Jose Urquidy to injury so far this season.
- The Rangers announced earlier this afternoon that catcher Sandy Leon had accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Round Rock. Leon had been designated for assignment by the club earlier this week. It’s great news for the Rangers, as Leon is a well respected defensive catcher and game caller. While he slashed just .146/.186/.195 in 21 games with the Rangers this season that translates to an abysmal wRC+ of 2, Leon’s presence at Triple-A will provide the Rangers with catching depth behind their current trio of Jonah Heim, Sam Huff, and Mitch Garver while also providing the club’s young pitchers at the level with a veteran catcher who could aid in their development.
Rangers, Ryan Tepera Agree To Minor League Contract
The Rangers are in agreement with veteran reliever Ryan Tepera on a minor league deal, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. He’ll report to Triple-A Round Rock.
Tepera sticks in the AL West, where he’s spent the past year-plus with the Angels. The right-hander signed a two-year, $14MM free agent contract with Los Angeles coming out of the lockout. He’d had a quality run between the Chicago clubs from 2020-21. The Halos surely envisioned something approximating the 3.07 ERA he posted over 86 contests during those two seasons.
Things didn’t play out that way. Tepera didn’t find his footing in Anaheim. He pitched to a 3.61 ERA over 57 1/3 innings last season. That’s solid enough run prevention, but his strikeout rate fell from an excellent 31.9% clip between 2020-21 to a modest 20.3% last season.
His struggles carried into the first month of this season. Tepera allowed nine runs (seven earned) on 15 hits in 8 2/3 frames over ten outings. His average fastball velocity sat at 91.7 MPH, down a tick relative to last season and nearly two miles per hour below his 2020-21 level. His slider lost a similar amount of speed. The Halos designated him for assignment a month ago and released him a few days later.
Tepera is making $7MM this season. The Angels are on the hook for that money; if Texas adds him to the MLB roster, they’d owe him only the prorated portion of the $720K league minimum. There’s no financial downside for the Rangers in giving Tepera a look to see if he can more closely approximate his peak numbers in a new environment.
Texas’ bullpen has been the roster’s relative weak point. The Rangers sit at 41-25, three and a half games clear of the Astros in the AL West. The relief corps has struggled, though, ranking 24th with a 4.57 ERA.
Rangers Announce Four Roster Moves
The Rangers announced a quartet of roster moves, including the news that top pitching prospect Owen White has been optioned to Double-A after making his Major League debut. Texas also activated right-hander Joe Barlow from the 15-day injured list and called up catcher Sam Huff from Triple-A, while catcher Sandy Leon was designated for assignment.
White threw two relief innings in yesterday’s 7-3 loss to the Angels, essentially piggybacking off of the 4 1/3 innings thrown by starter Cody Bradford. Since Jon Gray was a late scratch due to a blister problem, the Rangers had a bit of a scramble to fill innings, including a quick recall of Bradford (who was working on three days’ rest since his last Triple-A outing).
With three runs allowed in those two innings, it wasn’t exactly the most auspicious debut for White, who was charged with the loss. Still, with one cup of coffee in the bigs now on his resume, White will return to Double-A and continue to prepare for what the Rangers hope will be a much longer and more productive stint in the majors down the road. A consensus top-100 prospect, White has yet to reach Triple-A ball, but figures to get the promotion to Round Rock in the relatively near future.
As one top prospect heads back to the minors, another makes his return to the majors as Huff will again be part of the Rangers’ active roster. Huff has appeared in 59 games since the start of the 2020 season (including five this season), but Jonah Heim has seemingly eclipsed him as the Rangers’ catcher of the future. Today’s move indicates that Texas will stick with three catchers on the roster, as Heim figures to get most of the work behind the plate and Huff and Mitch Garver will either work in a backup capacity or Garver will continue to get DH at-bats. Garver only recently returned from a two-month stint on the IL due to a left knee sprain, so with Garver being eased back into catching duty, the Rangers wanted the flexibility of an extra catcher.
Leon’s minor league contract was selected to the MLB roster when Garver was hurt, and while Leon has never been much known for his bat, he produced only a .146/.186/.195 slash line over 44 plate appearances. If the veteran backstop clears DFA waivers, he has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, if Leon prefers to join a team whose catching depth chart is a little less crowded. Known as a defensive specialist and expert game-caller, Leon could garner some interest on the DFA wire given how teams are constantly on the lookout for catching help.
Barlow was placed on the 15-day IL on May 29 due to kidney stones. The right-hander posted a 2.81 ERA over 64 relief innings for Texas in 2021-22, but blister problems brought an early end to his 2022 season, and Barlow then struggled in Spring Training this year. After starting the season at Triple-A, Barlow had only appeared in five games for the Rangers before hitting the IL.
Rangers Promote Owen White
3:15pm: The Rangers have now announced the moves, recalling both White and Bradford. In corresponding moves, left-hander Cole Ragans and right-hander Yerry Rodríguez were optioned to Round Rock.
12:55pm: The Rangers are promoting pitching prospect prospect Owen White, according to Ken Rosenthal and Sam Blum of The Athletic. White is already on the 40-man roster but will need a corresponding move to get onto the active roster.
White, 23, is generally considered to be one of the top 100 prospects in the league. Baseball America currently has him at #83, MLB Pipeline at #47 and FanGraphs at #30, while preseason rankings had him at #87 at ESPN and he was in the #70 spot on the listing from Keith Law of The Athletic.
Selected in the second round of the 2018 draft, his professional debut was delayed by Tommy John surgery in early 2019 and then the pandemic canceling the minor leagues in 2020. In 2021, he suffered a broken hand but was able to throw 35 1/3 innings between the Complex League and Single-A ball, posting a 3.06 ERA before adding another 28 1/3 frames in the Arizona Fall League. Last year was split between High-A and Double-A, with White able to post a combined 3.59 ERA over 80 1/3 innings between those two levels. He struck out 31.7% of opponents while walking just 7%.
He has a four-pitch mix that features a mid-90s fastball that can get up to 98 mph, along with a slider, curveball and changeup. Beyond the stuff, White is often praised for his ability to control and command that arsenal. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.
The Rangers are now skipping White over Triple-A, though it doesn’t seem it’s a situation where he has forced their hand with a dominant performance. Here in 2023, he’s been back at Double-A, having tossed 53 1/3 innings over 11 starts. He has a 3.54 ERA, though with diminished peripherals thus far including a 21.1% strikeout rate, 10.3% walk rate and 46.1% ground ball rate.
The promotion seems to have been spurred by some challenges the club is facing in patching a rotation together in the short term. Jacob deGrom is out for the rest of the season due to elbow surgery, leaving them with Jon Gray, Martín Pérez, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney and Dane Dunning. Gray was supposed to start today’s game but was scratched with a blister issue. With pitchers like Jake Odorizzi and Glenn Otto out with their own injuries, the Rangers will recall Cody Bradford to start tonight’s contest. Bradford has already made a couple of spot starts this year but just tossed 99 pitches over eight innings in a Triple-A game on Friday. He’ll be taking the ball on just three days rest tonight and will likely have some restrictions because of it.
With the club having used five relievers in last night’s 12-inning game against the Angels, it’s not the best time to be sending out a starter with a short leash. White last pitched on Wednesday and could perhaps take on a bulk role behind Bradford, if necessary.
The club’s plans going forward will likely depend on how today goes and how Gray’s blister reacts in the coming days. If he heals up quickly, perhaps Bradford or White or both will end up back in the minors in short order, though that will remain to be seen. Either way, it seems there’s a chance that Rangers’ fans and baseball fans in general will have a chance to see one of the best pitching prospects in the league take on major league hitters tonight.
Even if White were to somehow end up staying in the big leagues for the rest of the year, he would come up short of a full year of service time. The latest collective bargaining agreement gives him the ability to earn a full year anyway since he was on at least two of the top 100 lists at BA, ESPN and MLB Pipeline, but he would have to finish in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting. With the season already nearing the midway point, he would have a tough hill to climb, having to chase guys like Hunter Brown or Josh Jung who already have a headstart on tallying stats for the year.
Image courtesy USA Today Sports.
MLBTR Trade Rumors Podcast: Elly De La Cruz, Manoah’s Demotion and Surgery for DeGrom
Episode 10 of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:
- The promotion of Elly De La Cruz (2:05)
- The demotion of Alek Manoah (9:15)
- Tommy John surgery for Jacob deGrom (14:40)
- Our new series highlighting the best recent trade returns on rental players (19:10)
Plus, we answer your questions, including:
- If Kevin Kiermaier can stay healthy and remain productive, what kind of contract is he looking at in free agency? (22:20)
- Could Corbin Burnes realistically be traded by the deadline? If so, what teams would likely make a push for him? (26:50)
- What could the Cubs do with Marcus Stroman? (30:45)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Wide-Open NL Wild Card Race, Returning Pitchers and Cast-Off Veterans – listen here
- The Mets are turning things around, and how serious are the Mariners, Marlins and Diamondbacks? – listen here
- The Cardinals’ U-Turn on Willson Contreras, Mitch Keller’s breakout, and the state of the Padres – listen here