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Billy McKinney

Rangers Select Billy McKinney

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The Rangers announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Billy McKinney. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow outfielder Wyatt Langford, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain. Outfielder Sam Haggerty has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for McKinney.

Langford has been battling side tightness for a few days now. He didn’t play on Friday or Saturday, before returning to the lineup Sunday. He then departed yesterday’s game, again due to side tightness. The Rangers were officially eliminated from playoff contention last night, meaning there’s no longer any need to try to stay on the field. Langford will therefore spend the final few days of the season on the IL.

That gets McKinney back onto the Rangers’ roster. He spent a few days with the club in July, getting into two games and stepping to the plate eight times. He went 1-7 with a walk. He was then designated for assignment and elected free agency before re-signing with the club on a new minor league deal.

He has been playing decently in the minors but that’s nothing new for him. He has always performed well on the farm, which has gotten him plenty of big league chances that he hasn’t been able to capitalize on. He has spent time with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, Athletics, Pirates and Rangers, getting in 323 big league games. In his 951 plate appearances, he has a .208/.283/.384 batting line, which translates to a 79 wRC+. He can be retained for 2026 via arbitration but is probably just up to cover for a few days and will likely be removed from the roster in some fashion in subsequent weeks.

As for Haggerty, he landed on the 10-day IL in mid-August due to left ankle inflammation. He started a rehab assignment over a week ago but only got into two games, so he has presumably hit some sort of snag. He’ll finish the season on the 60-day IL. Like McKinney, he can be retained for next year via arbitration but is a non-tender candidate.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Rangers Re-Sign Billy McKinney To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers re-signed Billy McKinney to a minor league contract, reports Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News. The lefty-hitting outfielder had elected free agency yesterday after going unclaimed on outright waivers.

McKinney was very briefly on the MLB roster. Texas selected his contract last Tuesday when Evan Carter was on bereavement leave. He played twice during Carter’s three days away before being designated for assignment once the younger outfielder returned. McKinney was ripping the ball before his promotion. He hit .295/.433/.487 with 17 walks and 22 strikeouts through 97 plate appearances with Triple-A Round Rock. It’s a marked improvement over his .184/.285/.307 showing with the Mets’ top affiliate earlier in the year.

A former first-round pick and top prospect, McKinney has appeared in parts of eight MLB seasons. Texas is his eighth club, as he has only appeared in more than 50 games for one franchise (the Blue Jays). He’s a career .208/.283/.384 hitter in 951 big league plate appearances. McKinney has logged over 1500 trips to the dish in Triple-A, where he owns a .268/.358/.487 slash line.

Billy McKinney Elects Free Agency

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3:55pm: McKinney has elected free agency, per an announcement from the Rangers.

3:06pm: The Rangers have sent outfielder Billy McKinney outright to Triple-A Round Rock, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency but the log doesn’t indicate whether or not he will do so.

McKinney, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers at the end of May after being released from a minor league deal with the Mets. Texas added him to the roster but his stint in the majors was predictably brief. He was added to give the club an extra outfielder while Evan Carter was on the bereavement list. Carter returned three days later and McKinney was bumped back off the roster. As he’s out of options, McKinney had to be bumped off the 40-man, not just the active roster.

In that short window, McKinney got into two games and stepped to the plate eight times, recording one single, one walk and one strikeout. He now has a career batting line of .208/.283/.384 in 951 plate appearances dating back to his 2018 debut, with that production translating to a wRC+ of 79.

His minor league production this year was enticing but also nothing new for him. He slashed .295/.433/.487 for a 136 wRC+ in 24 games for the Express before being called up. Dating back to 2018, the year he first made it to the big leagues, he has a combined .259/.364/.471 line and 116 wRC+ on the farm. That had led to plenty of big league chances, with McKinney having spent time with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, Athletics, Yankees again, Pirates and then the Rangers.

He hasn’t been able to translate his big league chances into much success, which has led to him exhausting his option years, thus propelling him into journeyman status. If he elects free agency this week, he can see what other opportunities are out there for him. If he decides to report to Round Rock, he could hope for big league playing time later in the year. An injury could pop up at any time and Adolis García is a plausible deadline trade candidate.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Rangers Designate Billy McKinney For Assignment

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With Evan Carter returning from the bereavement list today, the Rangers have designated Billy McKinney for assignment. It was a quick stint in Arlington for the 30-year-old outfielder.

McKinney signed a minor league contract with the Rangers in May after he was released by the Mets. Following a strong month at Triple-A Round Rock, he got the call to the majors earlier this week when Carter was placed on the bereavement list. He went 1-for-7 with a walk and a run in two games. While he didn’t get much of a chance to prove himself for Texas, his .295/.433/.487 slash line and 137 wRC+ for Round Rock might be enough to convince a team in need of outfield depth or a lefty bench bat to take a chance on him via trade or a waiver claim.

A first-round pick in 2013, McKinney has never been able to live up to that billing. He has, however, carved out a legitimate major league career for himself. He has appeared in the majors each year since 2018, suiting up for the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, Athletics, Pirates, and Rangers. He also spent time in the Cubs’ minor league system early in his career. Over the past eight years, he has appeared at all three outfield spots as well as first base and DH, playing a total of 323 MLB games. He will look to increase that number once his DFA is resolved.

As for the Rangers, they are surely pleased to have Carter’s hot bat back in their lineup and his glove back in center field. The 22-year-old has an .816 OPS and a 133 wRC+ this season, and a .965 OPS and 173 wRC+ over the past month. He has also compiled 2 DRS and 3 OAA in center field and has yet to make an error all season. Even better, the Rangers are also hoping to have Wyatt Langford back from the injured list this weekend. Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News notes that Langford is eligible to return tomorrow and reports that the young outfielder is already back in the clubhouse ahead of today’s game.

Rangers Select Billy McKinney, Transfer Tyler Mahle To 60-Day IL

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The Rangers have selected the contract of outfielder Billy McKinney and placed outfielder Evan Carter on the bereavement list, per a team announcement. Injured righty Tyler Mahle moves from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. That move was largely a formality in the wake of the revelation that Mahle will be sidelined beyond the July 31 trade deadline due to his current rotator cuff strain. Texas also recalled righty Dane Dunning from Triple-A Round Rock and and optioned fellow righty Cole Winn to Round Rock in his place.

McKinney, 31 next month, is a former first-round pick and top prospect who has moved into a journeyman phase of his career. He opened the season on a minor league deal with the Mets but was released in mid-May after some considerable struggles with their Triple-A club in Syracuse. He caught on with the Rangers and has clobbered Triple-A pitching in his new environs, slashing .295/.433/.487 in 24 games and 97 plate appearances in the organization.

The Rangers, McKinney’s eighth big league team, represent a homecoming opportunity for McKinney. He’s not only a Texas native but a graduate of Plano West High School, located just about 30 miles northeast of Globe Life Field. It could be a short stay with his hometown club, as Carter is eligible to be reinstated as soon as Friday.

McKinney has also played with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Mets, Brewers, Dodgers, A’s and Pirates. He’s appeared in 321 major league games and tallied 943 plate appearances, slashing .209/.284/.386 with 34 homers, a 9% walk rate and a 26.8% strikeout rate in that time.

Mahle hasn’t pitched since June 10, when he yielded four runs against his former Twins teammates. He’s had a strong season in terms of bottom-line run prevention numbers, with a 2.34 ERA in 77 frames. However, Mahle’s subpar 18.2% strikeout rate, .253 average on balls in play, 4.6% homer-to-flyball rate and 82.3% strand rate all point to some potential regression; his 4.61 SIERA is more than two runs higher than his actual ERA.

Regardless, Mahle was a dependable arm for the Rangers when healthy and would either have been a key member of the rotation in the season’s second half or a trade chip of some note heading into the deadline — depending on which direction the Rangers choose. It’s still possible he’ll be traded if the Rangers sell off, given his status as a free agent at season’s end, but the injury creates plenty of uncertainty surrounding his status and hampers Texas’ ability to extract a return of much note.

Rangers Sign Alan Trejo, Billy McKinney To Minor League Deals

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

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

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

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

Mets Release Billy McKinney

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The Mets have released outfielder Billy McKinney from his minor league contract with the club, as noted by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. McKinney signed a minor league deal with the club back in March.

Selected 24th overall by Oakland back in 2013, McKinney was once a consensus top-100 prospect who was included in two major trades before making his big league debut: first he was part of the package (headlined by Addison Russell) that the Cubs received in return for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the A’s, and then just two years later he was part of the package (headlined by Gleyber Torres) that Chicago sent to the Bronx in exchange for Aroldis Chapman. After that whirlwind of trades, McKinney finally settled in with the Yankees long enough to make his big league debut during the 2018 season.

Unfortunately, by that point McKinney’s top prospect shine had already worn off. He made it into just two games with the Yankees before being traded once again, this time to the Blue Jays alongside Brandon Drury in exchange for J.A. Happ. He spent three years with Toronto in total and got into a combined 122 games during that time while slashing .230/.291/.439. He was DFA’d by the Jays following the 2020 season, however, and spent 2021 bouncing between multiple clubs. He ultimately appeared in a career-high 116 games that year but hit just .192/.280/.358 across 300 plate appearances with the Brewers, Mets, and Dodgers before being non-tendered by the Rangers that November.

A return to Oakland on a minor league deal in 2022 did not go well, but McKinney’s return to the Bronx in 2023 injected some life back into his career when he hit a solid .227/.320/.406 after being selected to the roster in June of that year following an injury suffered by Aaron Judge. McKinney’s roughly league average performance did not keep him on the club’s 40-man roster throughout the offseason, however, and he was outrighted off the 40-man and elected free agency that November. He initially re-signed with the Yankees on a minor league deal but was traded to the Pirates shortly thereafter. He hit .299/.406/.460 at the Triple-A level for the Pirates before being called up to the majors in August, though his lackluster 52 wRC+ in ten games wasn’t close to enough to earn him a more stable role with the organization.

After being outrighted last September and once again electing free agency, McKinney found himself unsigned until late March, when he landed with the Mets on the aforementioned minor league pact. Now in his age-30 season, McKinney struggled even with the club’s Syracuse affiliate this year, hitting just .184/.285/.307 across 130 trips to the plate in 33 games at the Triple-A level. That was enough for the Mets to decide to part ways with McKinney, and he’ll now return to free agency in search of a fresh opportunity elsewhere. As a depth option with the ability to handle first base and all three outfield spots, it’s not hard to imagine a club bringing him in on a fresh minor league deal, whether that’s to see if they can tap into the potential that made him a top prospect a decade ago or simply to fill out their Triple-A depth chart.

Mets To Sign Billy McKinney To Minor League Deal

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The Mets and outfielder Billy McKinney have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. The Boras Corporation client had been spotted in camp earlier today by Tyler Boronski.

McKinney, 30, is a former first-round pick and top 100 prospect. That has led to many big league chances but he hasn’t hit enough to take advantage of them, which has pushed him into journeyman mode. He has appeared in each of the past seven seasons, suiting up for the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, Athletics and Pirates. He only once played more than 84 games in a season, which was 2021, a year in which he played roughly 40 games for three different clubs.

That’s a reflection of his lack of production. Overall, he’s had 943 big league plate appearances. His 9% walk rate is solid but he also has a high strikeout rate of 26.8%. His .209/.284/.386 batting line translates to a 79 wRC+, indicating he’s been 21% below league average overall.

He has continued to produce in the minor leagues, however. Over the past three seasons, he has hit .288/.398/.500 on the farm for a 128 wRC+. That performance, combined with his previous prospect pedigree, has kept him floating around.

Cracking the big league roster with the Mets will be a challenge. Their outfield mix consists of Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo, Jose Siri, Tyrone Taylor, Jesse Winker and Starling Marte. Once healthy, Jeff McNeil could be in that group as well, depending on what happens at second base. The Mets also have Alexander Canario and José Azocar on the roster at present, though both are out of options and might get squeezed in the coming days.

McKinney will give them some non-roster depth alongside Rafael Ortega, Gilberto Celestino and Travis Swaggerty. Even if he doesn’t have a great path to Queens, playing for Syracuse will give him a chance to showcase himself for the other 29 clubs.

Photo courtesy Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

34 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.

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Pirates Outright Billy McKinney

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Sept. 9: McKinney went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, per the Pirates’ transaction log at MLB.com. He can either elect free agency now or accept the assignment and become a minor league free agent at season’s end.

Sept. 6: The Pirates designated outfielder Billy McKinney for assignment Friday, per a team announcement. His spot on the roster will go to catcher Joey Bart, who’s been reinstated from the injured list.

McKinney was traded from the Yankees to the Pirates over the winter in exchange for international bonus pool space. He’s spent the bulk of the season with Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate where he’s missed time with injury but posted a sound .295/.396/.450 batting line in 154 plate appearances when healthy. Pittsburgh selected him to the 40-man roster late last month, and he’s appeared in 10 games, hitting .200/.286/.240 in that small sample.

A 2013 first-round pick by the A’s, McKinney has found himself involved in plenty of notable trades over the years. He went from Oakland to the Cubs as part of the Jeff Samardzija trade in 2014, then was flipped from Chicago to New York as part of the 2016 Aroldis Chapman blockbuster. The Yankees eventually traded McKinney to Toronto as part of their deal for veteran lefty J.A. Happ.

McKinney has gotten looks with seven different big league organizations but never topped 276 plate appearances in a single big league season with one team. He’s played in 321 MLB games and picked up 943 plate appearances, batting .209/.284/.386 in that time. The former top prospect has appeared in parts of seven Triple-A seasons and slashed .274/.359/.504 with 56 homers in 1304 plate appearances at that level.

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