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Nick Solak

Rangers Interested In Signing Kevin Plawecki After Release From Red Sox

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5:45pm: Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News confirms the Rangers’ interest while relaying that the corresponding move would be placing infielder/outfielder Nick Solak on the injured list. Solak was recently diagnosed with a season-ending foot fracture. However, the transaction won’t happen right away, as Rob Bradford of WEEI relays that Plawecki can’t officially sign until 1:00pm on Wednesday.

5:30pm: The Red Sox have released catcher Kevin Plawecki, per Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. Plawecki had been designated for assignment on Friday. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports on Twitter that the backstop will be signing with a new team “imminently.” Robert Murray of FanSided reports that the Rangers are expressing “serious interest” in signing Plawecki.

Plawecki, 31, has been with the Red Sox since signing with them in January of 2020. He spent much of the past few years serving as the backup behind Christian Vazquez, getting into 24 games in the 60-game 2020 season, followed by 64 last year and 61 here this year. He had a decent showing at the plate in the first two of those years but has slumped here in 2022, hitting just .217/.287/.287, wRC+ of 62.

With the Sox sliding out of contention and Plawecki heading into free agency at season’s end, it made logical sense to give more playing time to Reese McGuire and Connor Wong, since both of them come with years of control beyond the current campaign. However, it was reported yesterday that certain players on the team didn’t see it quite so simply, lamenting the loss of Plawecki as a veteran clubhouse leader.

Regardless of Plawecki’s reputation among his fellow players, he wasn’t likely to be claimed off waivers given his tepid performance and $2.25MM salary for this year. It seems that he has indeed cleared waivers and become a free agent, leaving Boston on the hook for the remainder of that contract. For whoever ends up grabbing Plawecki, they would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount being subtracted from what the Sox pay.

For the Rangers, they currently have Jonah Heim as their primary catcher with Sam Huff as the backup. Huff has options and can thus be sent down to the minors if the club prefers to have Plawecki on the roster, or they could also carry three catchers given the expanded September rosters.

Nick Solak Suffers Season-Ending Foot Fracture

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Rangers infielder/outfielder Nick Solak is out for the rest of the season due to a right foot fracture, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. He will be placed on the injured list on Tuesday, due to the club having an off-day tomorrow.

Solak, 27, fouled a fall of his foot a few days ago and has been out of the lineup since then. It appears that the injury is significant enough to prevent him from returning this year, with just over two weeks remaining on the schedule. This will put an end to an uneven season for Solak, who has been shuffled around in a few different ways this year.

Last year, Solak got into 127 games for the Rangers, exclusively at second base. He provided solid glovework and stole seven bases but produced a batting line of .242/.314/.362. That offensive production was 12% below league average by measure of wRC+. This past offseason, the Rangers decided to spend aggressively to start digging themselves out of their rebuild, focusing on the infield in particular. They gave mega deals to Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, which pushed Solak into more outfield work.

This year, he’s only been able to play a single inning at second base at the MLB level, with the rest of his time being spent in left field. He’s also been optioned a few times, spending more of this season in Triple-A than in the majors. He’s fared well with Round Rock, hitting .278/.371/.489 for a wRC+ of 114 in 57 games. But after 35 major league contests, he’ll finish 2022 with a line of .207/.309/.329, wRC+ of 89.

With the breakout of Nathaniel Lowe and the promotion of prospect Josh Jung to take third base, the path to infield playing time seems closed to Solak going forward. An injury could always change that, but it seems like Solak’s best chance at getting a regular MLB gig is in the outfield. Even in the minors this year, the club only used him on the grass. Right now, the majority of the big league playing time in the outfield is going to Adolis Garcia, Leody Taveras and Bubba Thompson, with the club potentially bringing in outside reinforcements this winter. Since Solak will still have one option remaining next year, it’s possible he’s ticketed for another season of depth duty.

Rangers Select Jesus Tinoco

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The Rangers announced they’ve selected reliever Jesús Tinoco onto the major league roster. Outfielder Nick Solak has also been recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to take the two active roster spots created by September expansion. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, Texas transferred righty Josh Sborz from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.

Tinoco signed a minor league deal with Texas over the offseason. The hard-throwing righty has spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A, although he did join the MLB club as a temporary replacement while they navigated some COVID-19 issues in June. He appeared in five games, working 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball while averaging 96.4 MPH on his fastball, before heading back to Round Rock. That brief showing marked his fourth consecutive year logging some MLB action. Previously a Rockie and Marlin, Tinoco owns a 4.88 ERA over 51 2/3 career innings.

The 27-year-old has yet to establish himself in a big league bullpen, but he’s had a strong 2022 campaign in the minors. Through 44 Triple-A frames, he owns a 3.27 ERA in a hitter-friendly league. He’s backed up that run prevention with an above-average 28.5% strikeout rate and an elite 58.7% ground-ball percentage. Tinoco will now get another opportunity to try to carry that over against big league hitters as he looks to stake a claim to a spot in next year’s bullpen. He’s out of minor league option years, however, so the Rangers have to keep him in the majors or expose him to waivers now that he’s earned a 40-man spot.

Solak has bounced on and off the MLB roster on a couple occasions this year. A former well-regarded hitting prospect, he hasn’t managed to find much in the way of consistent success against big league arms. Since a strong 2019 rookie season in limited action, Solak has posted below-average numbers at the plate. He’s also fallen down the defensive spectrum, moving to the corner outfield after struggling as a second baseman. Those issues on both sides of the ball have kept the 27-year-old primarily in Triple-A this season, but he’s responded to the demotion well to earn another look. Through 259 plate appearances with the Express, Solak is hitting .278/.371/.489 with ten home runs and a robust 11.6% walk rate.

Sborz just landed on the IL a couple days ago with an elbow sprain. He’s now officially shut down for the season. He’ll finish the campaign with a 6.45 ERA over 22 1/3 innings of relief, although he did strike out an excellent 32% of batters faced.

Rangers Option Nick Solak, Release Matt Carpenter

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The Rangers announced this afternoon that catcher Mitch Garver is returning from the 10-day injured list. To open space on the active roster, corner outfielder Nick Solak has been optioned to Triple-A Round Rock. Texas also announced that veteran infielder Matt Carpenter has been released from his minor league contract, making him a free agent.

Garver returns after a minimal IL stint because of a muscle strain in his forearm. Texas acquired the power-hitting backstop in a key offseason deal with the Twins, and he’s thus far appeared in 22 games with his new team. Garver is off to a relatively slow start, hitting .205/.292/.346 with a trio of homers in 89 trips to the plate. Backup catcher Jonah Heim has been excellent all season, though, and he and Garver figure to share a fair bit of time behind the dish and at designated hitter.

Solak is a former second-round pick and highly-regarded prospect. Texas acquired him from the Rays in July 2019 for reliever Pete Fairbanks, hoping they’d landed their long-term second baseman. The right-handed hitter had put up excellent numbers in the Yankees and Rays farm systems before the deal, which continued down the stretch at Texas’ top affiliate. Solak made his MLB debut late that season and hit .293/.393/.491 through his first 33 games, a continuation of the offensive upside he’d shown in the minors.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t managed to build off that early success. Solak didn’t hit for much power during the shortened 2020 season, and he stumbled to a .242/.314/.362 line over a personal-high 511 plate appearances last year. He also rated poorly defensively at the keystone, echoing concerns about his glovework that have persisted since his days as a prospect. After Texas signed a new double-play tandem of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, they bumped Solak off the dirt entirely. He’s played exclusively left field and designated hitter to this point in 2022.

Falling further down the defensive spectrum only raises the pressure on the 27-year-old to hit. He got off to a strong start this year, primarily on the short side of a platoon. He hasn’t performed in May, however, and Texas will now send him back to the minors for more regular run. Through his first 75 plate appearances (more than half of which have come against left-handed pitching), Solak owns a .209/.293/.313 line.

Depending on how long he’s in the minors, the optional assignment could have an impact on Solak’s service trajectory. He’s on pace to hit free agency after the 2025 season, having entered the season with two years and 28 days of service time. Spending more than a month in the minors would jeopardize his ability to reach the three-year threshold after this season, although Solak will eventually need to perform better for the Rangers to tender him contracts throughout his arbitration years anyhow. With a .253/.327/.372 career line and currently squeezed off the active roster, Solak may find himself as a change-of-scenery candidate over the next couple months.

Carpenter, meanwhile, signed a non-roster deal during Spring Training. It marked a homecoming for the former TCU star, who had previously spent his entire career with the Cardinals. A three-time All-Star and two-time top ten finisher in MVP balloting in St. Louis, Carpenter saw his production turn sharply downwards by 2019. He had significant struggles in both 2020-21 and didn’t land an MLB roster spot after the Cards bought him out last fall.

The 36-year-old spoke over the offseason about the necessity to overhaul his hitting mechanics to rediscover his production at the plate. The early results have been encouraging, as Carpenter hit .275/.379/.613 and popped six homers in 21 games for Round Rock. Texas didn’t feel they had big league at-bats to offer, however, and the sides mutually agreed to part ways, relays Levi Weaver of the Athletic. It stands to reason there’ll be other teams willing to offer Carpenter a new minor league deal after his strong start for the Express.

Rangers Select Nick Snyder

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The Rangers announced they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Nick Snyder and recalled infielder Nick Solak. Righty Joe Barlow has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a blister on his right index finger, and lefty John King was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Additionally, utilityman Charlie Culberson has been placed on the COVID-19 IL. Culberson has flu-like symptoms, relays Levi Weaver of the Athletic, but he has not tested positive for the coronavirus.

Snyder joined the Rangers as a 19th-round draft choice in 2017 out of a Florida junior college. He’s worked exclusively in relief as a professional, posting strong performances at every level up through Double-A. Snyder has compiled a 3.05 ERA across 105 career innings in the minors, punching out a strong 29.6% of batters faced while walking a tiny 6.7% of opponents. Entering this season, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs noted that Snyder works in the 93-96 MPH range with his fastball. He’s been dominant with Double-A Frisco this season, working 16 1/3 frames of 1.65 ERA ball, but has very little in the way of Triple-A experience.

Solak began the year as Texas’ regular second baseman. After a strong start to the season, his bat tailed off considerably. He was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock in late July, carrying a subpar .225/.295/.353 line for the year. Solak has earned himself another look with a strong .353/.409/.459 showing over 93 plate appearances with the Express. The rebuilding Rangers figure to give the 26-year-old another regular look, as Solak was one of the more promising offensive players in the organization during his time as a prospect.

King’s injured list placement was backdated to July 7, and today’s move rules him out for sixty days from that date. He’ll be eligible to come back in early September after missing a couple months with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. The southpaw has been on a rehab assignment with Round Rock but recently felt some unexpected soreness, as Kenndi Landry of MLB.com wrote this week. The expectation still seems to be that King will make it back next month, and today’s transfer gives him a little extra recovery time while opening up 40-man roster space.

Rangers Option Nick Solak, Designate John Hicks

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The Rangers announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of minor league first baseman Curtis Terry (as previously reported) and opened a spot on the 40-man roster by designating catcher John Hicks for assignment. Texas also reinstated catcher Jose Trevino from the 10-day injured list and, perhaps most notably, optioned struggling infielder Nick Solak to Triple-A Round Rock.

Hicks, 31, smacked four home runs in 10 games for the Rangers prior to his DFA but was squeezed out by Trevino’s return. He’s 8-for-31 on the season with those four dingers and has also posted a .275/.352/.440 slash in 122 Triple-A plate appearances.

Of course, Hicks has had numerous chances in the Majors prior to the 2021 season and has yet to establish himself as a consistent MLB presence. He made his big league debut with the Mariners back in 2015 and then saw action in parts of four straight seasons with a rebuilding Tigers club. He’s a career .236/.279/.401 hitter with a 32 percent caught-stealing rate but more questionable marks in the pitch framing and pitch blocking departments. Texas will have a week to trade him, place him on outright waivers or release him.

Solak, 26, opened the season as the primary second baseman in Arlington and got out to a blistering start. He carried an OPS north of .900 as far into the season as early May, but his production has been in a rapid tail spin since that time. Over his past 255 plate appearances, Solak is hitting just .190/.256/.273. It’s been nearly a month since he logged multiple hits in a game, and since that two-hit night back on June 29, he’s posted a .149/.216/.191 batting line.

Given those struggles, it’s plenty understandable that the Rangers feel it’s in his best interest to get something of a reset. It’s unlikely that this will impact Solak’s service time or general path to free agency. He entered the season with a year and 41 days of service time and would remain on track for free agency post-2025 so long as he accumulates a total of 131 days of service in 2021. He’s already at 113 days of service time this year, so unless he remains in the minors through season’s end, he’ll accumulate the necessary service to sustain that trajectory.

Pitching Notes: Greene, Ynoa, Braves, Twins, Kuhl

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Shane Greene’s long free agent wait ended yesterday when he re-signed with the Braves on a one-year deal worth a prorated $1.5MM.  “It seemed early on that a return to the Braves was his preference,” SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson writes (Twitter link), as Wolfson notes that the Twins were willing to offer Greene more money.  This focus on Atlanta could explain why it took until May for Greene to land a contract, as David O’Brien of The Athletic estimated back in mid-March that the Braves were only willing to spend in the neighborhood of $1MM on Greene — given the prorated nature of Greene’s contract, he’ll end up earning around $1.1 or $1.2MM.

More pitching-related items from around baseball…

  • Another Braves/Twins link is explored by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, regarding how Atlanta acquired breakout star Huascar Ynoa from Minnesota back in 2017.  The Braves wanted to move Jaime Garcia at the trade deadline, and initially discussed a trade with the Yankees that would have sent Garcia to the Bronx for then-Yankees prospect Nick Solak.  Once those talks fell through, Atlanta pivoted and sent Garcia to Minnesota, and the Braves “did not do as much diligence on Ynoa as they normally would on a prospect” since their top priority was just to dump the rest of Garcia’s salary.  In fact, Ynoa wasn’t even Atlanta’s first ask from the Twins’ farm system, as Nick Burdi was initially part of the proposed trade.  From being a rather anonymous rookie ball pitcher and an apparent “plan C” type of pickup for the Braves, Ynoa has become an unexpected stalwart of the Atlanta rotation in 2021.  The righty has a 2.23 ERA/3.19 SIERA and an above-average 28.4% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate over 40 1/3 innings, plus Ynoa has augmented that pitching production with two home runs and a 1.267 OPS over 15 plate appearances.
  • Pirates right-hander Chad Kuhl threw a live batting practice on Saturday as he continues to recover from right shoulder discomfort.  In a radio interview on 93.7 FM (hat tip to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington said Kuhl will return “before too long” but will first require a minor league rehab assignment.  Kuhl has struggled in his first four starts of the year, posting a 6.32 ERA with more walks (16) than strikeouts (14) over 15 2/3 innings.

Quick Hits: Rangers, Infield, Rays, Ozuna, Braves, Freeman

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Isiah Kiner-Falefa was so impressive in his Gold Glove winning season at the hot corner that the Rangers plan on bumping him further up the defensive hierarchy in 2021. He’ll be their starting shortstop, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, which means an open competition to fill his spot at third. Oddly enough, Elvis Andrus seemed to have the inside track on the job before being traded to the Texas Rangers today. Instead, his long-time double play partner Rougned Odor may be an option, or they could see a replacement from outside the organization. The Rangers prefer that youngsters like Josh Jung and Sherten Apostel spend more time in the minors, Landry notes.

  • Marcell Ozuna and Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos were all laughs today as they spoke to reporters, including the Athletic’s David O’Brien, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, and Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Though the two sides certainly took their time to come together on a new contract, the deal itself was actually finished over the course of a single day. The Rays had made an offer to Ozuna, but after one season in Atlanta – a year Ozuna described as the best year of his career – the slugging outfielder told his representation at CAA Sports that he wanted to hear from the Braves. The takeaway here is that clarity, communication, and a little pressure exerted from the outside go a long way to helping two sides come together.
  • The jolly atmosphere included a playful reference to the future negotiation of Freddie Freeman’s extension, tweets Janes. Anthopoulos certainly didn’t seem all that worried about potentially losing their franchise first baseman, who is a free agent after the 2021 season. For his part, Freeman doesn’t seem particularly likely to test his options elsewhere. The 31-year-old was handed the keys to the franchise from the legendary Chipper Jones, and there’s little reason to doubt his plans to stay behind the wheel in Atlanta. Coming off an MVP season and three consecutive NL East division titles, the partnership clearly works. As with Ozuna, the Braves and Freeman could be as much as a conversation away from keeping the California native on the East Coast, a sentiment the Athletic’s David O’Brien has shared for some time.

Latest On Willie Calhoun

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Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels provided an update on outfielder Willie Calhoun to media members including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (links to Twitter) and Scott Miller of Bleacher Report (via Twitter). The 25-year-old suffered a fractured jaw yesterday when he was struck by an errant pitch.

Calhoun’s jaw repair seems to have gone as well as could’ve been hoped. He did require the insertion of a plate but the jaw did not need to be wired shut. Just what that might mean for his rehabilitation isn’t yet clear, but it would appear to be better than the alternative.

Fortunately, Calhoun appears to have avoided any neck or brain injury. That’s certainly welcome news given the severity of the impact. Calhoun will still need to be fully assessed for a possible concussion after he has fully recovered from sedation.

It’s great to hear that Calhoun already seems to be on the road to recovery. Though it is disappointing for both him and the team that he’ll require an early absence, perhaps there’s hope for a relatively quick return.

In the meantime, it seems that Nick Solak will be called upon to fill in for Calhoun. As Grant writes, Solak could be in line for regular duties in left field — at least until Calhoun is back on the MLB roster.

Rangers View Danny Santana As Primary Center Fielder

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Rangers manager Chris Woodward said today that long-time utilityman Danny Santana will see most of the action in center field to open the year, as MLB.com’s TR Sullivan reports on Twitter.

That’s hardly surprising, as the team has long signaled this arrangement after the offseason dust settled. But there was some new uncertainty when the Rangers began running Nick Solak up the middle.

So, does this mean the end of the Solak experiment? Not necessarily. Woodward says the hitter in search of a position has actually looked fairly comfortable since trying out the new spot.

Solak, 25, has limited professional experience on the outfield grass, with most of that coming in the corners. But the Rangers are looking for creative ways to get him into the lineup — quite understandably, given that he has a nice track record of hitting in the minors and posted a .293/.393/.491 slash in his first 135 MLB plate appearances last year.

The switch-hitting Santana was also long a middle infielder before increasingly shifting into outfield duties. He appeared all over the place in a breakout 2019 season, all while slashing a robust .283/.324/.534. Whether he can sustain that outburst remains to be seen. Santana was similarly productive as a rookie back in 2014 but had a long dry spell in the interim.

In the aggregate, it probably doesn’t matter all that much how the Rangers sort things to begin the season. Both Santana and Solak come with some upside and some desirable flexibility. They each also have questions to answer. No doubt the team’s plan is to adapt as the season unfolds.

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