Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Dylan Carlson To Be Placed On Injured List; Cardinals To Select Victor Scott II

By and | at

Cardinals center fielder Dylan Carlson has been diagnosed with a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder following a collision with right fielder Jordan Walker during yesterday’s Grapefruit League game, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak announced to reporters Tuesday (X link via Bob Nightengale of USA Today). He’ll open the season on the injured list. In his place, the Cardinals will select the contract of outfield prospect Victor Scott. He’ll open the season in center field.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Carlson’s absence will be measured in weeks, not months. As such, while the Cardinals will need to open a 40-man roster spot for Scott, placing Carlson on the 60-day IL seemingly won’t be a consideration when determining a corresponding move.

It’s an unfortunate blow for both Carlson and the Cardinals. The club came into camp with a planned outfield of Walker in right, Tommy Edman in center and Lars Nootbaar in left. Edman and Nootbaar are each going to start the season on the IL, Edman due to lingering soreness in his wrist after last year’s arthroscopic surgery, Nootbaar due to rib fractures suffered while attempting to make a catch.

That opened the door for Carlson, who was himself been frequently beset by injuries. After a breakout season in 2021, he missed time in 2022 due to a left hamstring strain and left ankle sprain, getting capped at 128 games. Last year, the ankle issues resurfaced and he only got into 76 games, eventually requiring surgery on that ankle.

He seemed to be in good form this spring, having hit .271/.340/.521. Just as he was about to open the season with a starting center field job, a brutally timed collision will send him to the injured list once again. He will hopefully be able to get healthy and rejoin the club in just a few weeks, but it’s also possible that Edman and/or Nootbaar will be back in the mix by that point.

Carlson’s misfortune will be an opportunity for Scott. He was a fifth-round draft pick of the Cards in 2022 and came into professional baseball with strong grades for his speed and defense but concerns about his bat.

Last year, he did a lot to quiet those concerns. He played 132 games between High-A and Double-A, hitting just nine home runs and walking at just a 7.4% rate, but he also limited his strikeouts to a 15.7% clip. His combined batting line of .303/.369/.425 translated to a wRC+ of 118. He also stole a tremendous 94 bases in 108 attempts on the year.

That vaulted Scott onto prospect lists coming into 2024. Both Baseball America and FanGraphs gave him the #83 slot on their respective top 100 lists coming into this year. Keith Law of The Athletic had him up at #55, though Scott didn’t crack the lists at either MLB Pipeline or ESPN.

He has been performing well this spring, hitting .316/.409/.368 and swiping four bags. The Cards probably didn’t plan on Scott jumping to the big leagues, since he was drafted less than two years ago and has no Triple-A experience thus far, but the string of injuries suffered by their other outfielders has forced their hand. Whether Scott sticks around or is merely a placeholder until the other guys get healthy will likely depend on his performance.

Despite some decent prospect hype, Scott won’t qualify for the prospect promotion incentive of the current collective bargaining agreement. It only applies to players that are on two of three top 100 lists at BA, ESPN and MLB Pipeline. Since Scott only made the BA lists of those three, he doesn’t make the cut and won’t be able to provide the Cards with an extra draft pick via his placement in awards voting.

Orioles Sign Tony Kemp, Designate Nick Maton

By | at

The Orioles announced that they have signed infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp to a major league contract, with infielder/outfielder Nick Maton designated for assignment in a corresponding move. Kemp will make a salary of $1MM, per Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner, a bit north of this year’s $740K league minimum.

Kemp, 32, is coming off a decent stretch with the A’s over the past four years. His 11.7% strikeout rate was quite low and he drew walks at a solid 10.5% clip. He didn’t provide much thump when putting the bat on the ball, as he hit just 20 home run in his 1,488 plate appearances in that time. But his .240/.330/.345 batting line was still close to average, translating to a 97 wRC+.

Unfortunately, the most recent season of those four was the worst, as he hit just .209/.303/.304 in 2023. He settled for a minor league deal with the Reds this winter and had a nice spring, slashing .333/.391/.619, though in a tiny sample of 23 plate appearances. Despite that good form, he wasn’t going to make the roster of a Reds club that has a fairly crowded position player mix, so he returned to the open market. He had an opt-out on his minor league deal and he either triggered it or the Reds simply let him go to explore other opportunities.

The Orioles are also loaded with position player talent but will find a way to squeeze Kemp in somehow. They seem to have opted to get some of their talented youngsters more playing time at the Triple-A level, with guys like Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo, Kyle Stowers and Heston Kjerstad all being optioned or reassigned last week.

While those guys are getting regular playing time on the farm, Kemp will take on a multi-positional bench role with the major league club. He’s not really an option at shortstop, with just two career innings there, but he has plenty of experience at second base and left field.

Kemp has fairly neutral platoon splits in his career, 100 wRC+ versus lefties and 93 against righties, but Ramón Urías and Jordan Westburg are both right-handed. Since Urías and Westburg will likely be covering second and third base in some combination, Kemp can provide a lefty-swinging complement. Left fielder Austin Hays and first baseman/designated hitter Ryan Mountcastle are also right-handed, which perhaps provides another path for Kemp to factor into the club’s plans.

He also had double-digit stolen bases in each of the past two years, which could allow him to serve as a pinch-runner at times. His left field defense has been considered around league average though the metrics are split on his work at the keystone, with seven Outs Above Average but -17 Defensive Runs Saved.

The O’s were seemingly deciding between Tyler Nevin and Nick Maton for a bench/utility role, as both are out of options and were acquired from the Tigers in separate cash deals this offseason. Nevin hit .333/.367/.474 this spring while Maton hit just .000/.207/.000.

That poor performance has seemingly cost Maton his roster spot. The O’s will now have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers. He has struggled in the majors, with a .208/.306/.361 batting line thus far, but he’s naturally been better in the minors. He’s hit .274/.383/.440 on the farm over the past two years for a 118 wRC+ while spending time at all four infield positions and the outfield corners.

That could lead to him finding some interest from other clubs, but since he’s out of options and the season is about to begin, he might get squeezed by the fact that many clubs are making tough roster cuts right now. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the O’s as non-roster depth.

What remains to be seen is exactly how Baltimore will structure its bench before Opening Day. James McCann will have one spot as a backup catcher, with Kemp and Jorge Mateo serving as infield/outfield pieces. That leaves just one spot for Nevin or Colton Cowser, the latter of whom is still optionable.

Rockies Extend Ezequiel Tovar

By | at

March 26: The Rockies have formally announced Tovar’s extension. Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post, the 2031 option has a $23MM salary and $2.5MM buyout

March 24: The Rockies and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar have agreed to a long-term contract extension that will run through at least the 2030 season. The 22-year-old Tovar will earn $63.5MM over the seven guaranteed years of the deal, and the Rockies hold a club option on his services for the 2031 season that could bring the total to $84MM if triggered. Tovar is represented by the Rimas Sports Agency, and the extension will be official once the shortstop passes a physical.

Tovar was already under club control through the end of the 2028 season, and this next extension will now add at least two and maybe three more years to his time in Colorado. Due to Tovar’s young age, he’ll still be in his prime when eligible for free agency, as he’ll either be 29 or 30 years old at the end of the deal depending on whether or not the Rox exercise their club option.

Tovar entered the 2023 season as a consensus top-25 prospect in the sport. The youngster made the club’s Opening Day roster as the starting shortstop last year but got off to a difficult start before heating up towards the end of April. Tovar managed to carry that hot streak into the All Star break, hitting a solid .283/.314/.479 with nine home runs during that 65 game stretch. Unfortunately, however, Tovar struggled in the second half and hit a paltry .246/.277/.386 the rest of the way. While Tovar’s 66 extra-base hits hinted at real power potential, the youngster struck out in 27% of his trips to the plate while walking just 4.1% of the time. That undisciplined approach left him with a wRC+ of just 70, 30% below league average and fourth-worst among all qualified hitters in the majors last year.

Difficult as Tovar’s rookie season may have been, his age and prospect pedigree make it easy to imagine him finding another gear offensively in the coming years, and his glove is already nothing short of elite. Tovar’s defense at shortstop was worth a whopping 16 Outs Above Average last year, which ranks in the 99th percentile of all MLB fielders per Statcast. Fielding Bible’s Defensive Runs Saved was similarly impressed with Tovar’s work in the field, as his +12 DRS ranked behind only Anthony Volpe, Wander Franco, and Dansby Swanson among major league shortstops last year.

Glovework of that caliber can be a carrying tool that allows players to remain productive overall in the majors leagues even if they struggle at the plate. That’s particularly true at shortstop, where strong defensive players can put together star-level production with even average offensive contributions. For the Rockies, that leaves this deal as a somewhat less risky arrangement than it might seem on the surface; after all, the deal is somewhat similar to the eight-year, $70MM pact the Pirates and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes agreed to on the heels of a 2021 campaign that saw Hayes post a 85 wRC+ in 96 games. That deal maxes out at $82MM over nine years if Pittsburgh exercises its club option, a similar commitment to the $84MM over eight years Tovar will earn if his club option is exercised by the Rockies.

For Tovar, meanwhile, the deal locks in life-changing money while still affording him the opportunity to hit the open market in his prime. Of course, in signing the deal he also forgoes the opportunity to hit free agency in his mid-20s, a route which has led other players such as Bryce Harper and Manny Machado to massive paydays worth $300MM or more. On the other hand, Tovar would surely have to break out and become at least an above-average hitter in the majors to command a deal of that sort of caliber. While such an improvement with the bat can’t be ruled out, it’s certainly understandable for the 22-year-old to prioritize financial security, particularly on a deal that will still offer him a second bite of the apple following his age-29 season.

With Tovar now locked up for at least the next seven seasons, the Rockies have now set into place a clear building block for the club’s future. On the heels of the first 100-loss season in franchise history, the club spent cautiously in free agency with short-term agreements for players such as Daniel Hudson, Cal Quantrill, and Charlie Blackmon. That approach leaves little optimism for a 2024 club that appears to be buried behind four highly competitive teams in the NL West. Even so, with Tovar and another emerging youngster in Nolan Jones under long-term team control and a farm system rife with exciting prospects like Amael Amador and Chase Dollander, it’s certainly possible that brighter days lie ahead for the Rockies. With the club’s longest extension since the one afforded to Nolan Arenado prior to the 2019 season now in place, Tovar is now all but certain to be a major part of that future.

Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. first reported the extension, the seven-year term, and the total value of the contract if the club option is exercised. MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. reported the extension’s $63.5MM value over the seven guaranteed years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Jose Ureña Makes Rangers’ Opening Day Roster

By | at

Veteran right-hander Jose Ureña has made the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’s in camp as a non-roster invitee to spring training, so he’ll need to be selected to the 40-man roster. Texas currently has a full 40-man roster and will need to open spots for both Ureña and top prospect Wyatt Langford. That can be accomplished by shifting righties Tyler Mahle and Max Scherzer to the 60-day IL — fellow injured righty Jacob deGrom has already been moved to the 60-day IL — but they’ll need to create further space if they’re to bring any more non-roster players (e.g. Jared Walsh) north for Opening Day.

Ureña, 32, has had a strong spring with the Rangers, tossing 16 innings with a 2.25 ERA, 20.9% strikeout rate, 4.5% walk rate and 40% ground-ball rate. He has ample starting experience in the majors and can give Texas a back-of-the-rotation option or some bullpen length early in the season.

Earlier in his career, Ureña was a solid starter in Miami, pitching 343 2/3 innings of 3.90 ERA ball over the life of 59 starts from 2017-18. He’s posted an ERA north of 5.00 in each of the five subsequent seasons, however.

Ureña has had his share of ups and downs in recent years. He caught on with the Rockies midway through the 2022 season and ate innings at a decent enough rate that Colorado re-signed him to a one-year, $3.5MM deal in the 2022-23 offseason. That pact blew up quickly in 2023, however, when Ureña was shelled for 20 runs in just 18 1/3 innings to begin the season. The Rockies released him after just five starts. He’d go on to sign with the White Sox on a minor league deal, resurfacing in the majors late in the season and showing well down the stretch: five starts, 26 1/3 innings, 4.10 ERA, 18.2% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate, 50% grounder rate.

The Rangers are slated to open the season with a rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Dane Dunning, Andrew Heaney and Cody Bradford. Right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who signed a one-year deal last week, will join the rotation at some point but will first need to stretch out in a game setting. Ureña adds some depth and some length to the staff, whether the plan will be for him to start or perhaps piggyback with Lorenzen while he gets stretched out.

Tigers Release Donny Sands

By | at

The Tigers have released catcher Donny Sands, tweets Evan Woodbery of MLive.com. He was outrighted off the 40-man roster earlier this winter and will now depart the organization entirely.

The 27-year-old Sands was one of three players Detroit acquired in the trade sending Gregory Soto and Kody Clemens to the Phillies. Utilityman Nick Maton and third baseman/outfielder Matt Vierling both came to the Tigers in that swap as well.

Sands hasn’t panned out as hoped since that swap. He spent the bulk of the 2023 season in Triple-A Toledo, where he slashed .225/.318/.353 in 371 plate appearances. Those struggles were pronounced enough that Detroit opted to go outside the organization rather than call up Sands when they cut backup catcher Eric Haase last summer; the Tigers instead signed Carson Kelly to a big league deal that included a club option which has since been exercised.

Kelly will be the backup to Jake Rogers, who’s hit .225/.291/.457 (102 wRC+) with plus defense over the past two seasons — a strong enough showing to cement his status as the starting backstop in Detroit. Kelly’s contract was always going to ensure him of a roster spot, but he hit .289/.372/.553 in 43 spring plate appearances, which only reinforced his positioning ahead of Sands on the depth chart.

Sands only logged 10 spring plate appearances and went 1-for-8 with a walk in that tiny sample. His release should get former second-round pick Dillon Dingler even more playing time in Toledo this year. Dingler struggled through 106 plate appearances in his first look at Triple-A last year, but he’s hit well in Double-A and had a decent spring at the plate.

From a defensive standpoint, Sands has drawn decent framing numbers in the upper minors and turned in a 24% caught-stealing rate this past season. His 2023 struggles notwithstanding, Sands is a lifetime .261/.352/.403 hitter in parts of three Triple-A campaigns. He has also has a minor league option year remaining. He could latch on as a depth piece with another club that’s thinner behind the plate than the Tigers at the moment.

Rockies To Select Alan Trejo

By | at

Utility infielder Alan Trejo has made the Rockies’ Opening Day roster, manager Bud Black announced this morning (X link via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). He’s a non-roster invitee in camp and will thus need to be selected to the 40-man roster. Colorado has a full 40-man at the moment. Left-hander Lucas Gilbreath is recovering from Tommy John surgery performed in March of 2023 and could be a 60-day IL candidate. Otherwise, the Rox will likely need to free up a spot by way of a DFA.

Black also announced that first baseman/outfielder Michael Toglia has made Colorado’s roster. Outfielder Sean Bouchard has been optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque to begin the season. Toglia figures to step in as the team’s primary right fielder, as first base will be occupied by Kris Bryant in 2024.

Trejo, 27, has appeared in the majors with the Rockies in each of the past three seasons. He’s logged 402 plate appearances and put together a .243/.292/.367 slash (65 wRC+) with nine homers, 19 doubles, six steals (in nine tries), a 6% walk rate and a 24.1% strikeout rate. He’s been far better in Triple-A, evidenced by a .292/.338/.261 slash in 710 plate appearances there, and he’s had a decent performance this spring: .244/.327/.488, three homers in 49 trips to the plate.

Defensively, Trejo has played each of second base, shortstop and third base. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average grade him as a sharp defender at second base and third base but a sub-par option at shortstop. Trejo should serve as a backup for second baseman Brendan Rodgers, shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and third baseman Ryan McMahon. He’s a right-handed hitter who’s been far better against fellow righties than against lefties to this point in his still fairly young career.

Trejo is out of minor league options, so if the Rockies wish to make a change at any point, they’ll need to designate him for assignment. He can’t be sent down to the minors without first clearing waivers. That’s true of Colorado’s entire bench, in fact. Backup catcher Jacob Stallings has enough service time that he can’t be optioned without his consent, and none of Trejo, corner infielder/DH Elehuris Montero, or newly acquired outfielder/first baseman Jake Cave have minor league options remaining.

As for Toglia, he turned in a hefty .259/.333/.593 slash and clubbed five homers in 60 spring plate appearances. That performance came with at least one notable red flag, as he also went down on strikes in 31.7% of his plate appearances, but it was enough to beat out the 27-year-old Bouchard, who hit just .205/.308/.341 in a similar amount of playing time this spring. Toglia will join center fielder Brenton Doyle and left fielder Nolan Jones in the Rockies outfield most days.

The 25-year-old Toglia was the No. 23 overall pick by the Rockies back in 2019. He’s never drawn the sort of top-100 fanfare many other first-round picks garner but has long ranked as one of the better prospects in a thin Rockies system — climbing as high as No. 2 on Baseball America’s rankings two offseasons ago. Toglia hasn’t hit well in the majors in either 2022 or 2023, with just a .187/.246/.325 slash and 34.6% strikeout rate through 272 plate appearances. He’s been a fine hitter in the upper minors, but scouts have questioned his hit tool throughout his pro career, even as his plus raw power has been on display (e.g. a 32-homer season in 2022).

Mets Release Luke Voit

By | at

The Mets have released first baseman Luke Voit, as indicated on his player page at MLB.com. He’s once again a free agent.

Voit inked a minor league pact with the Mets back in February. While he doesn’t have the requisite service time to qualify as an Article XX(B) free agent and thus secure a standard opt-out date five days prior to the start of the season, his minor league contract included an opt-out this past weekend.

The 33-year-old Voit had a tough go of it in Mets camp, tallying 41 plate appearances but batting just .118/.220/.235 with a homer, a double and 14  strikeouts (34.1%). That performance, coming off a down season in which he hit just .221/.284/.265 in a small sample of 74 plate appearances with the Brewers made it difficult to envision the former Yankee slugger winning a spot on the roster in Queens.

Voit led all of Major League Baseball with 22 homers in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season — part of a brief peak with the Yanks where he performed like one of the game’s top offensive first basemen. From 2018-20, Voit turned in a combined .278/.371/.541 slash with 58 big flies in 905 plate appearances. He was strikeout-prone (26.7%) but drew plenty of walks (11.6%) and had more than enough thump in his bat to offset the penchant for punchouts.

Injuries have since derailed that promising trajectory. Voit tore the meniscus in his left knee during spring training 2021 and underwent surgery. Two weeks after being activated in May, he suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain. Voit seemed to rush back from that injury, returning in under a month, and just weeks later was back on the shelf with pain in his surgically repaired knee. He returned again in August but headed back to the injured list with continued knee troubles the following month. Voit had a healthy but middling season at the plate in 2022 between the Padres and Nationals. His 2023 campaign was slowed by a neck injury.

It feels like longer than three years ago that Voit was a prime-aged slugger coming off a league-leading home run total, but that’s to be expected for a hitter who’s gone through the extensive set of injuries he’s experienced. His spring showing didn’t lend much credence to the idea of a rebound, but Voit demolished Triple-A pitching in limited action last year, hitting .263/.420/.615 (153 wRC+) with 15 homers in just 200 plate appearances between the Brewers and Mets organizations. That at least showed that there’s still some life in his bat, and between that performance and his track record with the Yankees, he should be able to latch on with a new minor league deal elsewhere.

Marlins Release Curt Casali

By | at

The Marlins have released veteran catcher Curt Casali, reports Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. He was informed over the weekend that he wouldn’t make Miami’s roster but was said to be weighing an opt-out in his contract — presumably versus heading to Triple-A with the Marlins organization. It seems he opted for the former and will now head back to the open market in search of a new opportunity. The Fish will start the season with Christian Bethancourt and Nick Fortes as their catching tandem.

The 35-year-old Casali has batted .201/.311/.315 over the past three big league seasons — a 78 wRC+ in 503 plate appearances. He also had a rough showing in camp with the Marlins, going just 1-for-17 with a double. He drew a pair of walks and only fanned twice in 19 trips to the plate, but it’s easy to see why the Marlins went another direction.

From 2017-20, Casali was a solid hitter, turning in a combined .262/.348/.444 line in 498 plate appearances between the Rays and Reds. That marked the most productive stretch of his career. Now in his mid-30s and coming off three straight sub-par seasons at the plate, Casali can’t necessarily be expected to replicate that level of production.

Defensively, Casali remains sound. He posted a 32% caught-stealing rate (6-for-19) that was well above the league average in a 2023 season that saw stolen bases spike due to new rules limiting attempted pickoffs and slightly increasing the size of the bases. Statcast pegged Casali as above-average in terms of blocking pitches in the dirt last year, and Defensive Runs Saved credited him as a positive defender as well (+3). He drew only slightly below-average marks for his framing skills as well.

Offseason In Review: Texas Rangers

By | at

After spending big in the previous two offseasons, the Rangers took a much more conservative approach this winter due to concerns over their broadcasting revenues.

Major League Signings

2024 spending: $24.525MM
Total spending: $46.025MM

Option Decisions

Extensions

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

The Rangers were one of the 14 teams whose games were aired on the Bally Sports regional sports networks owned and operated by the Diamond Sports Group, until DSG filed for bankruptcy last year.  The situation manifested itself in a few different ways for the various teams involved, but for the Rangers, Guardians, and Twins, it wasn’t until late January that the three clubs reached one-year agreements with Diamond to continue airing games on Bally Sports for the 2024 season.  The three teams will reportedly earn roughly 85% of what they previously received annually from DSG in the pre-existing contracts, which in Texas’ case represents around $94.35MM rather than $111MM.

It remains to be seen if Diamond Sports Group or Bally Sports will even exist in its current form by 2025, as the fate of the company may hinge on a restructuring deal that includes an investment from Amazon.  However, as it currently stands, the Rangers don’t know where their games will be airing once the 2024 season is over, and figuring out that future is arguably the organization’s key goal this year, much more so than anything that happens on the field.

With this uncertainty in mind, the Rangers’ first World Series title was even more of a relief for the long-suffering fan base — if Texas had lost the Series to the Diamondbacks, imagine the compounded frustration if the Rangers had followed up that loss with a low-key set of offseason moves.  This isn’t to say that the Arlington faithful are entirely thrilled with how the winter has played out for their team, and yet comparatively speaking, there were fewer holes to be filled on what was already a championship roster.

GM Chris Young was up front with his team’s plans in late November, telling media that the focus was on “looking for additions to kind of shore up” what was already “a great returning core group.”  Acknowledging the TV revenue uncertainty and “a responsibility to be financially prudent,” Young said that the Rangers “expect to be active in free agency, but probably not spending at the level that we have spent in previous offseasons.”

Considering that Texas spent roughly $846.35MM on free agents during the 2021-22 and 22-23 offseasons, some kind of step back was maybe inevitable even in a world where the broadcast rights situation was more stable.  And, it isn’t as if the Rangers reduced payroll — RosterResource estimates Texas has a current payroll of around $224.1MM and a luxury tax number of $247MM, both up slightly from their $214MM payroll and $237.1MM tax figure in 2023.

The largest expenditure came on a pitcher who probably won’t be making his Rangers debut until after the All-Star break.  Texas signed free agent Tyler Mahle to a two-year, $22MM contract that is largely backloaded, as a nod to how Mahle will miss the bulk of the coming season rehabbing from his Tommy John procedure from May 2023.  Obviously the Rangers are pretty comfortable in Mahle’s ability to recover on a normal timeline and then contribute to rotation down the stretch, even if there is some uncertainty about the fact that Texas is expecting the same from several members of the pitching staff.

Max Scherzer will be sidelined until at least June and probably closer to the start of July after undergoing back surgery in December.  Like Mahle, Jacob deGrom also had a Tommy John surgery last year and is projected to return by the second half.  If all three recover as planned, this is quite the set of reinforcements coming for the pennant race, yet that is also admittedly a best-case scenario considering how deGrom, Mahle, and (to a lesser extent) the 39-year-old Scherzer have all been hampered by injuries in recent years.

The in-house quintet of Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning, and Cody Bradford will try to hold the fort until the injured trio are ready, and even a second-choice version of the Texas rotation is still pretty solid.  The Rangers added to this mix just within the last week by signing Michael Lorenzen to a one-year, $4.5MM deal and ending the right-hander’s long sojourn in free agency.

Lorenzen will probably need some time in extended Spring Training to get fully built up after going so long without a proper offseason camp, yet it wouldn’t be surprising to see the veteran supplant Bradford as the fifth starter.  Lorenzen’s return to starting pitching in 2022 saw him amass 97 2/3 innings with the Angels, and he far surpassed that total by tossing 153 frames with the Tigers and Phillies in 2023.  His quality first half with Detroit resulted in an All-Star berth, though Lorenzen seemed to wear down after being traded to the Phillies, and he ended up relegated to the bullpen during Philadelphia’s postseason run.

Jose Urena, Adrian Sampson, and Danny Duffy were among the starter/swingman types added for even more depth on minor league contracts, though Duffy could potentially opt out of his deal since he won’t be on the Opening Day roster.  Prospects Owen White, Cole Winn, or Jack Leiter could also factor into the picture, but the bottom line is that Texas should have enough pitching to at least make do until the team gets more clarity on when deGrom, Mahle, and/or Scherzer will all be ready to roll.

This isn’t to say that the Rangers didn’t at least test the waters on some other bigger-name pitchers over the winter.  Texas reportedly discussed a Dylan Cease trade with the White Sox before Cease was dealt to the Padres, and they also had interest in Yariel Rodriguez and Clayton Kershaw before the two pitchers respectively signed with the Blue Jays and Dodgers.  In Kershaw’s case, he’ll also be out of action until around midseason after undergoing shoulder surgery, yet the Rangers’ interest in the local product has been a running storyline for the last few years, though Kershaw has continually re-signed with Los Angeles on a series of short-term contracts.

The biggest pitcher on the Rangers’ radar was, of course, postseason hero Jordan Montgomery.  After being acquired from the Cardinals at the deadline, Montgomery had a 2.79 ERA over 67 2/3 regular-season innings and then a 2.90 ERA over 31 innings during the playoffs.  Montgomery’s huge role in the Rangers’ championship boosted his stock considerably heading into free agency, yet the left-hander still remains unsigned at the time of this post.  As of early March, Montgomery and his representatives at the Boras Corporation were reportedly still seeking a seven-year deal, and the most recent reports indicate that some “long-term” offers are still a possibility.

Montgomery, Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, and Matt Chapman became known as “the Boras Four” this offseason, as the Scott Boras clients all had extended stints in free agency that (for the latter three) concluded in short-term deals with opt-outs after the 2024 season.  It isn’t yet clear if Montgomery will also end up signing such a contract, yet this might be the only realistic chance at a reunion between Montgomery and the Rangers.  The Lorenzen signing may hint that Texas has simply moved on from Montgomery, but until the southpaw puts pen to paper with another team, the Rangers can’t be completely ruled out given their successful shared history last fall.

Texas won its World Series despite a relief corps that was shaky at best for much of the season, so it isn’t surprising that Young targeted the relief market.  Aroldis Chapman, Will Smith, and Chris Stratton all departed in free agency, and the Rangers were linked to such names as Hector Neris, Robert Stephenson, Ryan Brasier, and Jordan Hicks.

The search for relief help ended with the signings of David Robertson and Kirby Yates to one-year deals, though Robertson’s contract has a (rarely-exercised) mutual option attached for 2025.  The veterans are each coming off solid, if unspectacular, 2023 campaigns, and Robertson in particular brings a wealth of playoff experience.  Robertson and Yates will be slotted in as set-up men behind closer Jose Leclerc, whose $6.25MM club option was unsurprisingly exercised by the team.

Much like with the rotation, the Rangers are relying more on depth and quantity of arms rather than true elite quality to carry the bullpen.  It wouldn’t be surprising if Texas again makes relief pitching a priority at the deadline, though if the injured starters return at midseason, Dunning or Bradford could then be bumped to help out the bullpen.

Though Mitch Garver had a big year at the plate in 2023, his injury history and increasing limitations as a DH-only player rather than as a catcher kept the Rangers from issuing a qualifying offer as Garver entered free agency.  This decision might come back to haunt Texas if Garver helps the Mariners take a run in the AL West, yet the Rangers instead addressed their catching situation by signing Andrew Knizner as Jonah Heim’s new backup.  Garver and defensive specialist Austin Hedges were let go in free agency, and Sam Huff and minor league signing Andrew Knapp are likely the top depth options at Triple-A.

Continuing with the position player mix, the Rangers didn’t do much to tinker with an already powerful lineup.  Travis Jankowski was re-signed to continue in his role as the Rangers’ primary backup outfielder, while Robbie Grossman and Brad Miller departed in free agency since the club is seemingly pretty comfortable with letting younger players (i.e. Ezequiel Duran and Josh Smith) handle part-time or bench roles.

Then again, some early-season injury concerns could open the door to more playing time.  Nathaniel Lowe is likely going to start the year on the 10-day IL due to an oblique strain, while Corey Seager (sports hernia surgery) and Josh Jung (calf strain) have only just started playing their first Spring Training games.  Seager and Jung might need just minimal 10-day IL stints to get them fully recovered and ramped up, and Lowe isn’t expected to miss too much of April, even if oblique injuries are sometimes hard to gauge.  Lowe’s injury in particular might open the door for minor league signing Jared Walsh to make the roster as a first base fill-in, and Texas also added former Reds top prospect Jose Barrero on a waiver claim just in case Seager or Jung can’t go by Opening Day.

Multiple players could take turns rotating through the DH spot, yet Wyatt Langford might end up getting the bulk of those at-bats as part of his meteoric rise to the majors.  Langford was the fourth overall pick in last year’s amateur draft and he amassed only 200 total plate appearances in the Rangers’ farm system last season.  However, Langford was shredding opposing pitching to such an extent that he was promoted all the way to Triple-A by the end of his first pro season, and the Rangers have already announced that the phenom will be part of the Opening Day roster.

There’s no guarantee that the 22-year-old will continue his exceptional hitting now that he’s facing big league hurlers, but Langford has already engendered such trust from the Texas player development staff that he is already considered ready for the challenge this early in his professional career.  If Langford is able to even somewhat replicate his minor league numbers, the Texas lineup will be even more dangerous.

For as much money as the Rangers spent to build their World Series team, the contributions of homegrown prospects (i.e. Jung, Leclerc, Evan Carter, Leody Taveras) and unheralded acquisitions (such as Adolis Garcia) have been just as critical as the higher-priced free agents.  The Rangers’ confidence in its pipeline might be another reason why the team was comfortable in dialing back the spending, as Texas might already have enough to make a run at a second consecutive title.

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

hide arrows scroll to top