Jeffrey Springs

Rays Place Wander Franco, Kevin Kiermaier, Jeffrey Springs Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | July 10, 2022 at 9:00am CDT

July 10: The Rays have officially announced that Franco and Kiermaier have been placed on the 10-day IL, while lefty Jeffrey Springs has been placed on the 15-day IL due to right lower leg tightness. Righty Calvin Faucher was also optioned to Triple-A Durham. To take over those four spots on the roster, they have indeed recalled Raley and Aranda, as well as lefty Josh Fleming and righty Phoenix Sanders.

July 9: The Rays have lost two regulars to the 10-day injured list, as Wander Franco and Kevin Kiermaier have both been sidelined. As reported earlier, Franco left today’s game due to an injury in his right hand and wrist area, and manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) that the initial diagnosis is that the injury is related to Franco’s hamate bone. Franco will visit doctors on Monday to determine the extent of the problem, and if surgery is required, he could miss roughly 6-8 weeks.

Franco had to be removed after his very first at-bat, a first-inning strikeout against Hunter Greene. On the second-last pitch of the plate appearance, Franco looked shaken up after fouling off a Greene fastball, and he was replaced in the field for the bottom of the inning.

Kiermaier played most of Saturday’s 5-4 loss to the Reds, as the center fielder was replaced for a pinch-runner after singling in the ninth inning. During the game, however, Kiermaier experienced more discomfort in his left hip — that same issue forced Kiermaier to the IL in late June, though he missed only the minimum 10 days before being activated.

Given the recurring nature of the hip problem, it seems likely that Kiermaier will miss more than 10 days, though the upcoming All-Star break could cover four days of that IL stint. Unless the Rays want to monitor Kiermaier to ensure that the hip soreness is entirely behind him, Kiermaier could be activated as early as July 22, when the Rays kick off their second half with a series in Kansas City.

Even if Franco can avoid surgery, he’ll still need at least a few weeks of recovery time. The second-year star has hit .260/.308/.396 over 247 plate appearances this season — still above-average (1o4 wRC+) production, but naturally a letdown given the high expectations created by Franco’s top-prospect status and excellent 2021 rookie season. Franco got off to a great start before quad injuries hampered his play in May, and that quad problem eventually sent him to the IL for four weeks.

Topkin writes that outfielder Luke Raley and infielder Jonathan Aranda are likely to be called up to replace Franco and Kiermaier on the active roster. Aranda made his MLB debut in cup-of-coffee fashion earlier this season, playing in two games. He’ll likely step into Taylor Walls’ utility infield role, as Walls will probably resume everyday shortstop duty (as he did during Franco’s last IL stint).

Raley is also a left-handed hitting outfielder, so in that sense, he’s an easy replacement for Kiermaier in Tampa Bay’s outfield mix. However, there’s obviously no way to easily replace Kiermaier’s all-world defense, though backup Brett Phillips is a solid defender in his own right (even if right field is Phillips’ best outfield position from a glovework standpoint). Phillips and Josh Lowe are the likeliest candidates to handle center field while Kiermaier is out, and Vidal Brujan also figures to chip in up the middle. Manuel Margot is out until at least late August due to a patellar tendon strain, and while the Rays are optimistic Margot will play again in 2022, anything he can contribute going forward might be seen as a bonus.

While neither Franco or Kiermaier have excelled at the plate this season, their twin absences will likely only intensify the Rays’ already clear need for more hitting help at the deadline. Especially if Franco is sidelined until September, Tampa will need more consistent production from the lineup if the team is going to both qualify for the postseason and then be legitimate contenders in October. As usual, the Rays aren’t likely to break the bank on a new acquisition, but position-player depth (whether an everyday name or a multi-positional part-timer) certainly seems like a priority.

Rays Announce Several Roster Moves

By Steve Adams | June 30, 2022 at 12:37pm CDT

The Rays have selected the contract of right-hander Javy Guerra and recalled righty Phoenix Sanders from Triple-A Durham, per a team announcement. They’ll take the roster spots of left-hander Brooks Raley and righty Ryan Thompson, who have been placed on the restricted list in advance of the Rays’ road series in Toronto.

Tampa Bay also announced that left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who had been slated to start tonight’s game in Toronto, has been scratched and placed on the family medical emergency list. Matt Wisler is instead serving as an opener tonight, and lefty Ryan Yarbrough has been recalled from Triple-A in his place. He’ll be an option to work the bulk of tonight’s innings behind Wisler.

This will be the second stint of the season for Guerra with the Rays. Once a top shortstop prospect with Boston, Guerra moved to the mound during his time in the Padres’ minor league system and has since had brief big league stints as a reliever with Friars and Rays. He pitched 7 1/3 innings for Tampa Bay earlier this season but was rocked for nine runs on 11 hits and four walks with four strikeouts during that brief spell.

Guerra, however, has been lights-out in Triple-A, where he owns a 1.29 ERA with a huge 32.1% strikeout rate against an 8.3% walk rate in 21 innings this season. Half the balls put in play against him have been grounders, and although Guerra served up three long balls in the Majors earlier this season, he’s yet to yield a round-tripper with Durham. While he’s being selected to the roster out of necessity at the moment, it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t earned another look anyhow with that standout performance.

The 27-year-old Sanders made his MLB debut with the Rays earlier this year and has pitched well both in the big leagues (1.80 ERA in 10 frames) and in Durham (3.38 ERA in 18 2/3 innings). The Rays’ 2017 tenth-round pick, Sanders only had his contract selected to the Majors this season, so he’s in the first of what can be three minor league option years for Tampa Bay.

Yarbrough, 30, was the Rays’ innings leader from 2019-21 but has seen his results trend in the wrong direction dating back to the 2021 season. He was optioned for the first time in three years earlier this season and has since pitched 19 innings of 4.74 ERA ball in Durham. He won’t have an easy task, returning to face a righty-heavy Blue Jays lineup at the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre, but an impressive showing could help him to pitch his way back into the big league plans.

Rays Place Jeffrey Springs On Covid-IL, Reinstate Yandy Diaz

By Darragh McDonald | April 24, 2022 at 9:57am CDT

The Rays have placed left-handed pitcher Jeffrey Springs on the Covid-related injury list due to a close contact situation, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll swap places with Yandy Diaz, who comes off the Covid-IL after just a day.

The virus seems to be floating around the Rays team, as some staff members have tested positive in recent days. That was followed by catcher Francisco Mejia testing positive on Friday, which landed him on the injured list. Diaz was placed on the injured list yesterday after experiencing some symptoms. However, he must have tested negative due to his quick return.

As for Springs, the 29-year-old is off to a great start this year. He’s thrown seven scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the Rays, with a 34.6% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate. Until he returns, the club will have Brooks Raley, Colin Poche and Jalen Beeks as the available lefties in their bullpen.

Diaz is off to a fairly standard start to the year for him, hitting for contact but not a lot of power. His .275/.383/.326 line adds up to a 127 wRC+, with his 10.6% strikeout rate well below his career rate of 16.2%, which was already better than league average.

Rays Sign David Robertson

By Steve Adams | August 16, 2021 at 1:12pm CDT

The Rays are adding some big-name bullpen depth for the final six weeks of the season, announcing on Monday that they’ve signed right-hander David Robertson to a Major League contract. Robertson, who just pitched for Team USA during the Summer Olympics, will head to Triple-A for a tune-up for the time being. Left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who’d been out with a knee sprain, has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Robertson, 36, will be aiming to return to a big league mound for the first time since early in the 2019 season. He reached free agency for the second time of his career on the heels of a strong season with the Yankees in 2018 and wound up inking a two-year, $23MM deal to serve as the Phillies’ closer. He was entering his age-34 season at the time and had been the game’s most durable reliever in the nine prior seasons — averaging 65 appearances and 65 innings per year without ever incurring a major arm injury.

As has so often been the case with relievers acquired by the Phillies in recent years, however, things simply didn’t go according to plan. The ultra-durable Robertson hit the injured list early in the 2019 campaign, and by season’s end it was clear that he’d require Tommy John surgery. He missed the entire 2020 campaign as well and ultimately only pitched 6 2/3 frames as a member of the Phils.

Robertson received some interest from clubs during Spring Training but opted not to sign prior to the season. Instead, he wound up as one of a handful of highly recognizable veterans who pitched for the United States during the Olympic Games this summer, eventually earning a Silver Medal. Robertson tossed three innings during tournament play and yielded a pair of runs — not ideal results, but the event also served to demonstrate his health for contenders in need of bullpen depth.

From 2010-18, Robertson was one of the game’s most consistent and most successful relievers. He racked up 583 innings between the Yankees and White Sox in that time, pitching to a 2.72 ERA with a brilliant 32.6 percent strikeout rate and a 9.3 percent walk rate. He served as a setup man for Mariano Rivera for much of that time but eventually stepped up as the Yankees’ closer in their first post-Rivera season before inking a four-year, $46MM deal to serve as the White Sox’ closer.

Time will tell what type of form Robertson is in at this juncture of his career, but for the Rays there’s no reason not to take a look and see if Robertson can recapture some of his old form. If he’s able to do so, he’d not only be a major boost to the team down the stretch but also in pivotal postseason games. Tampa Bay currently leads the American League East by three games.

As for Springs, it’s an unfortunate outcome for the 28-year-old southpaw, who’d had a career year in Tampa Bay. Acquired in a deal that sent former top catching prospect Ronaldo Hernandez to Boston, Springs worked to a 3.43 ERA in 44 2/3 frames with the Rays before going down with a knee sprain. While he said at the time of the injury that he hoped to be back in a matter of two to four weeks, it seems the damage was either worse than initially expected or perhaps worsened during Springs’ rehab efforts. He underwent surgery to repair an ACL tear today, which will end his season and call for a rehab process that could potentially linger into 2022.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported the move (Twitter link).

Rays Notes: Springs, Johnson, McHugh, Archer

By Darragh McDonald | August 1, 2021 at 5:32pm CDT

The Rays have placed Jeffrey Springs on the IL with a knee sprain, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Topkin also says Springs is relieved that it’s just a sprain and not something involving structural damage. Springs gives his own recovery timeline as 2-4 weeks. Acquired in an offseason deal with the Red Sox, the lefty has become a key contributor in the Rays’ bullpen this year, throwing 44 2/3 innings with an ERA of 3.43 with an excellent strikeout rate of 35.2%, though his walk rate is a tad high at 7.8%. Getting him back within that injury timeline will allow him to rejoin the club for what figures to be a tight pennant race. The Rays are now sitting atop the AL East, but just half a game ahead of the Red Sox, whom they are hosting tonight.

Rays Acquire Chris Mazza, Jeffrey Springs From Red Sox

By Steve Adams | February 17, 2021 at 9:19am CDT

9:19am: The teams have officially announced the four-player trade. Tampa Bay placed lefty Jalen Beeks, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. The Red Sox, notably, announced that backup catcher Kevin Plawecki has been placed on the Covid-19 related injured list (which can be done either for positive cases or for players who have been exposed to positive cases).

9:00am: The two sides have agreed to the trade of Mazza, Springs and cash for Hernandez and Sogard, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

8:09am: The Rays and Red Sox are moving toward a trade that would send recently designated-for-assignment pitchers Chris Mazza and Jeffrey Springs from Boston to Tampa Bay in exchange for minor league catcher Ronaldo Hernandez and another Rays farmhand, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter thread). MLB.com’s Adam Berry tweets that 23-year-old Nick Sogard, the Rays’ 12th-round pick in 2019, is the other player going to Boston in the deal.

Hernandez ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects as recently as the 2018-19 offseason, so it’s a bit of a surprise to see the Rays deal him and another minor leaguer in exchange for a pair of recently DFA’ed arms. Hernandez’s prospect stock has tumbled in recent seasons, however, and the Rays are likely aiming to stockpile as much optionable pitching depth as possible to get them through a 2021 season when most pitchers will be on limited workloads.

Mazza, 31, has spent time in the Majors with the Mets and Red Sox across the past two seasons but hasn’t matched his strong Triple-A results. In 46 1/3 big league innings, he’s posted a 5.05 ERA and 4.96 SIERA with sub-par strikeout (21.3), walk (11.0) and ground-ball (35.4) percentages. Mazza does carry a 3.72 ERA in 92 Triple-A frames and a 3.24 mark in 283 2/3 Double-A innings, but he’s been with five MLB organizations (Twins, Marlins, Mariners, Mets, Red Sox) and hasn’t carried those results to the big leagues yet.

The 2020 season was Springs’ first with the Red Sox, and it proved to be a struggle. In 20 1/3 frames, the former Rangers southpaw was tagged for a 7.08 ERA. He struck out 28 percent of his opponents against just a seven percent walk rate, but five of the 99 opponents Springs faced took him deep. He has a 5.42 ERA and 4.66 FIP in 84 2/3 innings at the Major League level between the Texas and Boston organizations.

Mazza limited hard contact reasonably well in 2020, while Springs showed plenty of aptitude for missing bats even if he yielded too many long balls. Both figure to be shuttled back and forth between the Rays’ Triple-A club in Durham and their MLB roster throughout the season. The Rays surely believe they can coax more out of both players as well, either by tinkering with their pitch mixes or altering their approach with the existing arsenals of Mazza and Springs.

The trade also illustrates the volatility of prospects and serves as a reminder not to be too beholden to prospect lists, which are typically just a snapshot in time anyhow. Hernandez posted big numbers in Rookie ball and had a strong full-season debut in 2018 when he slashed .284/.339/.494 with 21 homers in 109 games. His 2019 season in Class-A Advanced, however, resulted in a lackluster .265/.299/.397 showing, though he did rebound with a good showing during 11 games of Arizona Fall League action.

Hernandez still ranked 13th among Tampa Bay prospects, per Baseball America, but perhaps the Rays’ internal evaluations vary. It’s tougher than ever to evaluate prospects right now after they didn’t have a minor league season in 2020 and weren’t as widely accessible for scouts. The Rays may feel that Hernandez’s stock is more diminished than the general public consensus. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, meanwhile, knows Hernandez quite well from his time as a Rays vice president and was likely more than content to roll the dice on a prospect at an organizational position of need when the cost was a pair of arms the Sox determined to be fringe 40-man contributors.

Boston will also pick up Sogard, a utility-infield type who is devoid of any power but can move around the diamond with a contact-driven skill set at the plate. Sogard hit all of two home runs in his NCAA career and slashed .290/.405/.313 in 63 games for the Rays’ short-season Class-A affiliate following the draft. He walked nearly as often as he struck out that year — a trend which aligns with his college days at Loyola Marymount.

Red Sox Sign Hirokazu Sawamura, Designate Jeffrey Springs

By Steve Adams | February 16, 2021 at 11:25am CDT

The Red Sox on Tuesday announced the signing of right-handed reliever Hirokazu Sawamura to a two-year contract with a dual club/player option for the 2023 season. Lefty Jeffrey Springs was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Sawamura, a veteran of 10 seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, is represented by JBA Sports.

Reports over the past week have indicated that Sawamura and the Sox were discussing an affordable two-year pact, which The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal recently pegged at $3MM in guaranteed money. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Sawamura will earn a $1.2MM base salary in both years of the contract, though his 2022 base salary can reach $1.7MM based on his performance in the contract’s first year. The Red Sox also hold a club option valued at $3-4MM depending on performance escalators and milestones. Should they decline their half, Sawamura would have a player option valued between $600K and $2.2MM. The contract also contains $250K of annual incentives. All in all, Rosenthal suggested the contract can top out at $7.65MM over three years.

Sawamura, 33 in April, pitched nine and a half seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan before being traded to the Chiba Lotte Marines early in 2020. He’d gotten out to a rough start with his longtime club, erving up nine runs in his first 13 1/3 frames, but Sawamura turned things around with the Marines. In 21 innings down the stretch, he pitched to a pristine 1.71 ERA while striking out 29 of the 82 batters he faced (35.3 percent). Sawamura walked 10 in that time (12.1 percent) — far more than has been characteristic throughout his NPB career, but the promising finish likely assuaged some concerns from MLB clubs about a potential decline.

Overall, Sawamura has logged 868 1/3 innings in his NPB career and worked to a 2.77 ERA with a 22.1 percent strikeout rate and a 7.3 percent walk rate. He began his career as a starter before becoming the Giants’ closer in 2015 — a role he’d hold for two years.

Sawamura racked up 73 saves as the Giants’ primary ninth-inning option from 2015-16 before missing the 2017 season due to a shoulder issue. That missed season came after a bizarre scene in which a lesser shoulder issue was mistreated, leading to broader nerve troubles that sidelined him for months. The team’s president, GM and medical staff all reportedly apologized to Sawamura after the incident. Since his return in 2018, he’s worked as a setup man. He’s pitched mostly in a setup capacity since returning in 2018.

Sawamura has been healthy since that regrettable sequence and gives the Red Sox an intriguing hurler who could eventually emerge as a late-inning option. The right-hander has a fastball that can reach 97 mph, a low-90s splitter that functions as his primary out pitch, and a lesser-used slider to round out a three-pitch arsenal.

If that $3MM is indeed the final guarantee, that will represent a $1.5MM luxury-tax hit for the Red Sox, regardless of how those dollars are paid out. Such a commitment narrowly fits within a rapidly shrinking window between Boston’s overall luxury ledger and the $210MM tax threshold.

Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez now has them with a bit less than $2MM of breathing room, which makes additional dealings unlikely unless the Sox suddenly abandon their preference to stay south of the barrier, put together another trade to reduce their financial obligations or cut one of their arbitration-eligible players during Spring Training. (Unless specifically bargained otherwise, arbitration deals are only partially guaranteed up until Opening Day.)

Turning to the 28-year-old Springs, he’ll now be available to other clubs either via outright waivers, a trade or a simple release. The Red Sox have a week to make a decision as to which route they’ll choose. The 2020 season was Springs’ first with the Red Sox, and it proved to be a struggle. In 20 1/3 frames, the former Rangers southpaw was tagged for a 7.08 ERA. He struck out 28 percent of his opponents against just a seven percent walk rate, but five of the 99 opponents Springs faced took him deep. He has a 5.42 ERA and 4.66 FIP in 84 2/3 innings at the Major League level between the Texas and Boston organizations.

Red Sox Select Jonathan Lucroy, Dylan Covey

By Steve Adams | July 23, 2020 at 11:59am CDT

The Red Sox announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contracts of catcher Jonathan Lucroy and right-hander Dylan Covey. Recent signee Zack Godley didn’t make the cut, nor did right-hander Chris Mazza, but both will report to the organization’s alternate training site. The Red Sox also recalled righties Colten Brewer and Phillips Valdez as well as southpaws Matt Hall, Josh Osich and Jeffrey Springs.

Lucroy, 34, gives the Sox another catching option alongside Christian Vazquez and Kevin Plawecki. He’s not the All-Star-caliber player he once was, but he’ll give the club plenty of experience to help out with a patchwork pitching staff.

The 2019 season marked the third consecutive year of what has been a precipitous decline for Lucroy. Once arguably the game’s best all-around catcher, Lucroy batted just .232/.305/.355 between the Angels and Cubs last season and has posted a tepid .248/.315/.350 slash in 1263 plate appearances since Opening Day 2017. His formerly vaunted pitch-framing skills have taken a nosedive and now rate below the league average, and Lucroy’s caught-stealing rate has dipped since peaking at 39 percent in 2016.

Covey, 28, has pitched 250 1/3 innings in the big leagues but has never cemented himself as a consistent contributor. He got out to a sharp start with the ChiSox in 2018, tossing 40 1/3 innings with a 2.90 ERA and a 35-to-16 K/BB ratio, but his results quickly went south and haven’t rebounded since despite several opportunities. All told, he has a career 6.54 ERA and 5.56 FIP in the big leagues.

Still, Covey was at one point a first-round pick and lasted less than two weeks as a free agent this winter when the White Sox cut him loose. Covey quickly caught on with the Rays, with whom current Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom worked his way from intern to senior VP of baseball operations. Bloom was already with the Red Sox when Covey landed in Tampa Bay, but it seems likely that the Rays had some interest in the righty dating back to Bloom’s days with the team.

Optioned Players: Red Sox, Twins, Astros, Rangers, Cubs

By Connor Byrne | March 27, 2020 at 12:46am CDT

What was supposed to be Opening Day across baseball may as well have been called Optioning Day. As seen on this site, several teams cut down their rosters Thursday. Here are several that we haven’t covered yet:

The Red Sox made their minor league signing of utilityman Yairo Munoz official, assigning him to Triple-A Pawtucket, and sent down pitchers Colten Brewer, Chris Mazza, Matt Hall and Jeffrey Springs. Brewer’s the most notable name among the pitchers. The 27-year-old ranked fifth among Red Sox relievers last season in innings (54 2/3). Brewer recorded a passable 4.12 ERA with 8.56 K/9 and a 50.3 percent groundball rate along the way, but he also walked 5.6 batters per nine.
The Twins optioned right-handed reliever Sean Poppen and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr., Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets. Poppen had a rough 8 1/3-inning major league debut last year, but he logged solid production as a member of Triple-A Rochester, with which he pitched to a 3.84 ERA, struck out just over 10 hitters per nine and induced grounders at a 57 percent clip. The disciplined Wade impressively drew more walks than strikeouts at both the Triple-A and big league levels last season, though low batting averages and a lack of power limited his impact.
The Astros optioned infielder Jack Mayfield, catcher Garrett Stubbs and lefty Blake Taylor to Triple-A Round Rock, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Mayfield and Stubbs posted subpar production last year during their MLB debuts, though they only combined for 104 plate appearances. Taylor, 24, spent most of 2019 as a member of the Mets’ Double-A affiliate, with whom he managed an excellent 1.85 ERA with 10.38 K/9, 2.77 BB/9 and a 50.5 percent GB rate in 39 innings. He joined the Astros in the package they received for outfielder Jake Marisnick over the winter.
The Rangers sent down southpaw Taylor Hearn and outfielder Scott Heineman. The 25-year-old Hearn endured an injury-limited 2019, but he was seen as one of the Rangers’ top pitching prospects before then. While Heineman raked in Triple-A ball (.340/.412/.553 in 182 plate appearances), he slumped to a .213/.306/.373 line in 85 PA with the Rangers.
The Cubs optioned hard-throwing reliever Dillon Maples to Triple-A Iowa, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Despite great strikeout totals, the 27-year-old righty has gotten knocked around to the tune of an 8.06 ERA in 22 1/3 frames as a Cub since 2017. Walks have been a major problem for Maples, who has doled out almost 8.5 free passes per nine in the bigs. He wasn’t much better in that department in Triple-A last year, when he walked more than 7.5 hitters per nine. Nevertheless, thanks in large part to a whopping 16.53 K/9 and a tremendous GB percentage of 62.1, Maples pitched to a respectable 3.77 ERA in 43 innings.

Red Sox, Rangers Swap Sam Travis For Jeffrey Springs

By Steve Adams | January 15, 2020 at 4:06pm CDT

The Rangers have acquired first baseman Sam Travis from the Red Sox in exchange for left-hander Jeffrey Springs, the teams announced. Boston has designated left-hander Bobby Poyner to make room on the 40-man roster.

Both Travis and Springs were recently designated for assignment, though Travis had already cleared waivers and been outrighted off Boston’s 40-man roster. Springs, meanwhile, was only designated earlier this afternoon. The Rangers will now pick up Travis’ rights without needing to dedicate a 40-man roster spot to the former prospect. The Red Sox, meanwhile, clearly feel they’re upgrading their left-handed bullpen depth in going with Springs over Poyner.

Travis, 26, was a second-round pick back in 2014 and frequented Red Sox prospect rankings as he rapidly ascended through the lower minors. However, while he hit well up through the Double-A level, Travis saw his bat stall in Triple-A and, despite a series of looks in the Majors, never made good at the game’s top level, either. In all, he’s a .267/.339/.392 hitter in nearly 1200 Triple-A plate appearances and just a .230/.288/.371 hitter in 278 MLB trips to the plate.

That said, the Rangers aren’t exactly teeming with quality first base options. Former top prospect Ronald Guzman hasn’t distinguished himself in his own MLB tryouts to date, and the club is intent on playing Joey Gallo in the outfield. Newly signed Todd Frazier could certainly handle first base if the Texas organization adds a more prominent option at third base, but there’s little harm in stashing Travis as a depth piece in hopes that a change of scenery brings out some of his yet-untapped potential.

The 27-year-old Springs, meanwhile, struggled to a 6.40 ERA with 32 strikeouts against 23 walks in 32 1/3 innings with Texas in 2019. He’s posted huge strikeout numbers in the upper minors and enjoyed better success with the Rangers in 2018 than in 2019, but he’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher with below-average velocity who saw his opponents’ hard-hit rate soar in 2019. Springs does have three minor league option years remaining, so he’ll be an optionable piece of depth for the Sox for the foreseeable future — assuming he sticks on the roster.

Poyner, meanwhile, has a minor league option of his own remaining. Like Springs, he’s a 27-year-old who posted solid numbers in 2018 but struggled in 2019. The similarities don’t stop there, as Poyner saw his hard-hit rate and opponents’ exit velocity both jump in 2019. However, he doesn’t have Springs’ gaudy strikeout totals and averages just 89.8 mph on his heater to Springs’ 91.7 mph. Boston will have a week to trade, outright or release Poyner.

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