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Rangers Release Sandy Leon

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The Rangers have granted catcher Sandy León his release, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The veteran backstop requested to be let go after losing his spot on the MLB roster last week.

It’s a quick turnaround. León accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Round Rock over the weekend after clearing waivers. He didn’t make another appearance there before looking for other opportunities instead. That León just went unclaimed makes it seem unlikely he has another MLB job lined up, but perhaps he’s receiving interest from a club with a clearer path to playing time than would’ve been available in Arlington.

León, 34, started the season in Round Rock. Texas called him up just four games into the season. He played in 22 MLB games as a depth option, struggling to a .146/.186/.195 line while striking out in 20 of 44 plate appearances. The switch-hitter obviously hoped for better than that, but he has rarely been an offensive threat. Aside from a BABIP-driven 2016 campaign with the Red Sox, León has been a well below-average MLB hitter. Going back to the start of 2020, he owns a .168/.255/.245 mark in 431 plate appearances over four teams.

Despite the tepid offense, León has gotten plenty of opportunities on the strength of a strong defensive reputation. He’s well-regarded for his receiving skills and has thrown out a solid 29.5% of basestealers over the course of his career. He shouldn’t have any issues finding another minor league opportunity as a result.

Jonah Heim, Mitch Garver and Sam Huff comprise Texas’ 40-man catching group and are each on the major league roster. Neither Matt Whatley nor Miguel Ojeda Jr. — the two catchers on Round Rock’s active roster — has played in the majors. Grant suggests the Rangers could look for a veteran backstop willing to sign a non-roster deal to add some upper minors experience now that León is looking elsewhere.

Rangers Re-Sign Ian Kennedy To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have brought back Ian Kennedy on a minor league contract, the club informed reporters (including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). He’ll join their top farm team in Round Rock tomorrow.

Kennedy spent a month on the open market after being designated for assignment by Texas in early May. He’d cracked the Opening Day roster after an offseason minor league deal, marking his second stint in Arlington. While Kennedy was an excellent high-leverage arm for the Rangers back in 2021, he had less inspiring results this time around. Despite a quality 13:3 strikeout-to-walk tally through ten innings, he surrendered ten runs on 11 hits.

The 17-year MLB veteran has had a couple strong seasons since moving to the bullpen four years back. He has struggled going back to the start of the 2022 campaign, posting a 5.36 ERA through 50 1/3 frames for the Diamondbacks last season. Aside from injury rehab stints, Kennedy hasn’t pitched in Triple-A since 2009.

He’ll look to make his stay in Round Rock brief by recapturing a spot in the Texas bullpen. Rangers relievers rank 22nd in MLB with a 4.31 ERA on the year, though they’ve posted a serviceable 3.92 mark within the past month.

Rangers Outright Sandy Leon

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  • The Rangers announced earlier this afternoon that catcher Sandy Leon had accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Round Rock. Leon had been designated for assignment by the club earlier this week. It’s great news for the Rangers, as Leon is a well respected defensive catcher and game caller. While he slashed just .146/.186/.195 in 21 games with the Rangers this season that translates to an abysmal wRC+ of 2, Leon’s presence at Triple-A will provide the Rangers with catching depth behind their current trio of Jonah Heim, Sam Huff, and Mitch Garver while also providing the club’s young pitchers at the level with a veteran catcher who could aid in their development.

Rangers, Ryan Tepera Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Rangers are in agreement with veteran reliever Ryan Tepera on a minor league deal, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. He’ll report to Triple-A Round Rock.

Tepera sticks in the AL West, where he’s spent the past year-plus with the Angels. The right-hander signed a two-year, $14MM free agent contract with Los Angeles coming out of the lockout. He’d had a quality run between the Chicago clubs from 2020-21. The Halos surely envisioned something approximating the 3.07 ERA he posted over 86 contests during those two seasons.

Things didn’t play out that way. Tepera didn’t find his footing in Anaheim. He pitched to a 3.61 ERA over 57 1/3 innings last season. That’s solid enough run prevention, but his strikeout rate fell from an excellent 31.9% clip between 2020-21 to a modest 20.3% last season.

His struggles carried into the first month of this season. Tepera allowed nine runs (seven earned) on 15 hits in 8 2/3 frames over ten outings. His average fastball velocity sat at 91.7 MPH, down a tick relative to last season and nearly two miles per hour below his 2020-21 level. His slider lost a similar amount of speed. The Halos designated him for assignment a month ago and released him a few days later.

Tepera is making $7MM this season. The Angels are on the hook for that money; if Texas adds him to the MLB roster, they’d owe him only the prorated portion of the $720K league minimum. There’s no financial downside for the Rangers in giving Tepera a look to see if he can more closely approximate his peak numbers in a new environment.

Texas’ bullpen has been the roster’s relative weak point. The Rangers sit at 41-25, three and a half games clear of the Astros in the AL West. The relief corps has struggled, though, ranking 24th with a 4.57 ERA.

Rangers Announce Four Roster Moves

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The Rangers announced a quartet of roster moves, including the news that top pitching prospect Owen White has been optioned to Double-A after making his Major League debut.  Texas also activated right-hander Joe Barlow from the 15-day injured list and called up catcher Sam Huff from Triple-A, while catcher Sandy Leon was designated for assignment.

White threw two relief innings in yesterday’s 7-3 loss to the Angels, essentially piggybacking off of the 4 1/3 innings thrown by starter Cody Bradford.  Since Jon Gray was a late scratch due to a blister problem, the Rangers had a bit of a scramble to fill innings, including a quick recall of Bradford (who was working on three days’ rest since his last Triple-A outing).

With three runs allowed in those two innings, it wasn’t exactly the most auspicious debut for White, who was charged with the loss.  Still, with one cup of coffee in the bigs now on his resume, White will return to Double-A and continue to prepare for what the Rangers hope will be a much longer and more productive stint in the majors down the road.  A consensus top-100 prospect, White has yet to reach Triple-A ball, but figures to get the promotion to Round Rock in the relatively near future.

As one top prospect heads back to the minors, another makes his return to the majors as Huff will again be part of the Rangers’ active roster.  Huff has appeared in 59 games since the start of the 2020 season (including five this season), but Jonah Heim has seemingly eclipsed him as the Rangers’ catcher of the future.  Today’s move indicates that Texas will stick with three catchers on the roster, as Heim figures to get most of the work behind the plate and Huff and Mitch Garver will either work in a backup capacity or Garver will continue to get DH at-bats.  Garver only recently returned from a two-month stint on the IL due to a left knee sprain, so with Garver being eased back into catching duty, the Rangers wanted the flexibility of an extra catcher.

Leon’s minor league contract was selected to the MLB roster when Garver was hurt, and while Leon has never been much known for his bat, he produced only a .146/.186/.195 slash line over 44 plate appearances.  If the veteran backstop clears DFA waivers, he has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, if Leon prefers to join a team whose catching depth chart is a little less crowded.  Known as a defensive specialist and expert game-caller, Leon could garner some interest on the DFA wire given how teams are constantly on the lookout for catching help.

Barlow was placed on the 15-day IL on May 29 due to kidney stones.  The right-hander posted a 2.81 ERA over 64 relief innings for Texas in 2021-22, but blister problems brought an early end to his 2022 season, and Barlow then struggled in Spring Training this year.  After starting the season at Triple-A, Barlow had only appeared in five games for the Rangers before hitting the IL.

Rangers Promote Owen White

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3:15pm: The Rangers have now announced the moves, recalling both White and Bradford. In corresponding moves, left-hander Cole Ragans and right-hander Yerry Rodríguez were optioned to Round Rock.

12:55pm: The Rangers are promoting pitching prospect prospect Owen White, according to Ken Rosenthal and Sam Blum of The Athletic. White is already on the 40-man roster but will need a corresponding move to get onto the active roster.

White, 23, is generally considered to be one of the top 100 prospects in the league. Baseball America currently has him at #83, MLB Pipeline at #47 and FanGraphs at #30, while preseason rankings had him at #87 at ESPN and he was in the #70 spot on the listing from Keith Law of The Athletic.

Selected in the second round of the 2018 draft, his professional debut was delayed by Tommy John surgery in early 2019 and then the pandemic canceling the minor leagues in 2020. In 2021, he suffered a broken hand but was able to throw 35 1/3 innings between the Complex League and Single-A ball, posting a 3.06 ERA before adding another 28 1/3 frames in the Arizona Fall League. Last year was split between High-A and Double-A, with White able to post a combined 3.59 ERA over 80 1/3 innings between those two levels. He struck out 31.7% of opponents while walking just 7%.

He has a four-pitch mix that features a mid-90s fastball that can get up to 98 mph, along with a slider, curveball and changeup. Beyond the stuff, White is often praised for his ability to control and command that arsenal. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.

The Rangers are now skipping White over Triple-A, though it doesn’t seem it’s a situation where he has forced their hand with a dominant performance. Here in 2023, he’s been back at Double-A, having tossed 53 1/3 innings over 11 starts. He has a 3.54 ERA, though with diminished peripherals thus far including a 21.1% strikeout rate, 10.3% walk rate and 46.1% ground ball rate.

The promotion seems to have been spurred by some challenges the club is facing in patching a rotation together in the short term. Jacob deGrom is out for the rest of the season due to elbow surgery, leaving them with Jon Gray, Martín Pérez, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney and Dane Dunning. Gray was supposed to start today’s game but was scratched with a blister issue. With pitchers like Jake Odorizzi and Glenn Otto out with their own injuries, the Rangers will recall Cody Bradford to start tonight’s contest. Bradford has already made a couple of spot starts this year but just tossed 99 pitches over eight innings in a Triple-A game on Friday. He’ll be taking the ball on just three days rest tonight and will likely have some restrictions because of it.

With the club having used five relievers in last night’s 12-inning game against the Angels, it’s not the best time to be sending out a starter with a short leash. White last pitched on Wednesday and could perhaps take on a bulk role behind Bradford, if necessary.

The club’s plans going forward will likely depend on how today goes and how Gray’s blister reacts in the coming days. If he heals up quickly, perhaps Bradford or White or both will end up back in the minors in short order, though that will remain to be seen. Either way, it seems there’s a chance that Rangers’ fans and baseball fans in general will have a chance to see one of the best pitching prospects in the league take on major league hitters tonight.

Even if White were to somehow end up staying in the big leagues for the rest of the year, he would come up short of a full year of service time. The latest collective bargaining agreement gives him the ability to earn a full year anyway since he was on at least two of the top 100 lists at BA, ESPN and MLB Pipeline, but he would have to finish in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting. With the season already nearing the midway point, he would have a tough hill to climb, having to chase guys like Hunter Brown or Josh Jung who already have a headstart on tallying stats for the year.

Image courtesy USA Today Sports.

MLBTR Trade Rumors Podcast: Elly De La Cruz, Manoah’s Demotion and Surgery for DeGrom

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Episode 10 of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:

Plus, we answer your questions, including:

  • If Kevin Kiermaier can stay healthy and remain productive, what kind of contract is he looking at in free agency? (22:20)
  • Could Corbin Burnes realistically be traded by the deadline? If so, what teams would likely make a push for him? (26:50)
  • What could the Cubs do with Marcus Stroman? (30:45)

Check out our past episodes!

  • The Wide-Open NL Wild Card Race, Returning Pitchers and Cast-Off Veterans – listen here
  • The Mets are turning things around, and how serious are the Mariners, Marlins and Diamondbacks? – listen here
  • The Cardinals’ U-Turn on Willson Contreras, Mitch Keller’s breakout, and the state of the Padres – listen here

Rangers To Release Rafael Ortega

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The Rangers are granting veteran outfielder Rafael Ortega his release from their Triple-A club, MLBTR has learned. The 32-year-old will head back to the open market in search of a better opportunity with a clearer path to big league playing time.

Ortega, 32, drew some attention in Yankees camp this spring and was viewed as a candidate to make the Opening Day roster late in camp. That didn’t happen, as the Yankees pivoted and signed Franchy Cordero while releasing Ortega, who quickly caught on with Texas.

Through 44 games and 199 plate appearances with Triple-A Round Rock this season, Ortega is hitting .226/.333/.381 with five home runs, 11 doubles and eight stolen bases. After a poor first month of the season, he’s logged a more palatable .247/.349/.427 slash with more walks (14) than strikeouts (12) over the past month (107 plate appearances). Overall, Ortega has walked at a hefty 13.6% clip against a better-than-average 17.1% strikeout rate.

Even with that recent uptick, the overall results haven’t been strong enough to compel the Rangers to find room for Ortega on the big league roster. That’s understandable, given a huge performance from right fielder Adolis Garcia, a breakout year at the dish for center fielder Leody Taveras, and solid contributions from a combination of Robbie Grossman, Travis Jankowski, Josh H. Smith and Ezequiel Duran in left field.

Ortega’s overall performance this year in Triple-A doesn’t stand out much, but he had a productive 2021-22 run with the Cubs, batting a combined .265/.344/.408 with 18 home runs and 24 stolen bases in 701 Major League plate appearances. He paired that slash with a strong 10.6% walk rate and a 20.5% strikeout rate that clocked in a couple percentage points lower than the average MLB hitter.

Ortega has ample experience at all three outfield spots both in the big leagues and in the minors. He’s lined up in all three spots with Round Rock this season but most frequently slotted in as the center fielder for the Express. Metrics like Defensive Runs Saved, Outs Above Average and Ultimate Zone Rating agree that Ortega has been a solid corner option in recent seasons at the MLB level but was below average (-5 DRS, -2 OAA) in 944 innings of center field work.

Jacob deGrom To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Grant clarifies in a second tweet that the full extent of the surgery will be determined once the surgery begins. That leaves open the possibility of the internal brace procedure, which is slightly less severe in nature, but the righty is looking at an absence of at least a year either way.

The news is obviously terrible news for deGrom, the Rangers and the baseball world at large. deGrom, who turns 35 later this month, had established himself as arguably the best pitcher alive with the Mets in his career. From 2014 to 2020, he tossed 1169 2/3 innings with a 2.61 ERA, 29.2% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 45.1% ground ball rate. He won back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019, tossing over 200 innings in each campaign with a 1.70 ERA in the former and a 2.43 mark in the latter.

The narrative since that time, however, has been dominating by concerns around his health. In 2021, he had a miniscule 1.08 ERA through 15 starts but landed on the injured list due to some forearm tightness. There seemed to be some disagreement about the nature of his injury, as Mets president Sandy Alderson said that deGrom had been dealing with a low-grade tear in the UCL in his pitching elbow, though deGrom insisted his ligament was “perfectly fine.”

That was a concerning set of statements in its own right, but especially so considering that deGrom had previously undergone TJS as a prospect. He didn’t return at any point in that 2021 season but seemed to be healthy coming into 2022. He then suffered a stress reaction in his scapula during Spring Training and missed more time but was eventually able to return in August of last year. He made 11 starts for the Mets down the stretch and another in the postseason, finishing the season healthy. He had a 3.08 ERA in those regular season starts, striking out 42.7% of opponents against a walk rate of just 3.3%.

deGrom still had one year and $30.5MM remaining on his contract, as well as a club option for 2024, but had long maintained that he intended to trigger his opt-out and test free agency. He did just that and eventually landed a five-year, $185MM deal with the Rangers. He made six starts for the club here in 2023 with a 2.67 ERA but landed on the injured list at the end of April due to elbow inflammation. He was transferred to the 60-day IL yesterday, which didn’t necessarily portend doom since he had already been out of action for over a month. But now the full truth has been revealed and it was an ominous sign after all.

The Rangers are off to a great start here this year, currently 39-20 and leading the American League West. Still, they were undoubtedly hoping to have deGrom’s elite skills back on the roster for a late-season playoff race and theoretical postseason appearance. But they will now have to proceed without him in those plans. Currently, the rotation consists of Martín Pérez, Andrew Heaney, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray and Dane Dunning. Today’s likely increases the chances that they look for rotation upgrades this summer, though their ultimate appetite for a move like that will depend on the health and performance of the remaining members.

For deGrom, this news will have an impact on his contract, specifically related to the conditional option for 2028. The contract states that, if he undergoes Tommy John surgery or has an elbow or shoulder injury that leads to an absence of 130 days in a single season or a full calendar year absence over multiple seasons, a club option will kick in. It’s valued at $20MM but could jump to $30MM if deGrom has a top five finish in Cy Young voting at any point or tallies 625 innings over the course of the deal. It would go up to $37MM if he gets in the top five of Cy Young voting three times or gets to 725 frames. If he didn’t have a significant injury, he could have vested that $37MM figure by tossing just 160 innings in 2027 and getting a top five finish in Cy Young voting that year.

Now the major question for deGrom will be how he bounces back in 2024 and beyond. Coming back from a Tommy John surgery and succeeding isn’t unprecedented, even for a relatively older pitcher like deGrom. Just last year, Justin Verlander came back from the procedure and had Cy Young-winning season for the Astros at the age of 39. deGrom will be turning 35 in about two weeks and will therefore be about 36 when he’s attempting to come back. That makes him a couple of years younger than Verlander was but it’s not exactly the same situation since that was Verlander’s first TJS and this will be a second for deGrom, which tends to have a lower success rate at returning pitchers to their previous states.

In time, more information will surely be forthcoming about deGrom’s progress and how the Rangers plan to proceed without him. But the unavoidable fact of today is that one of the best pitchers in baseball will be out of action for at least a year and possibly even longer.

Upcoming Club Option Decisions: AL West

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Last week, MLBTR took an early look at offseason option decisions facing teams in the National League. We’re continuing our division by division series moving through the Junior Circuit. To round out the series, we move to the AL West. There are only five players in the division whose contracts contain options but they’re spread among every team aside from the Mariners.

Previous posts: NL East, NL Central, NL West, AL East, AL Central

Houston Astros

  • Hector Neris: $8.5MM club option ($1MM buyout); converts to player option with 40 appearances in 2023

Neris’ option is presently a club provision, but it’s not likely to be for much longer. His free agent deal with the Astros allowed him to convert the third-year option into a player provision in a few ways — one of which was by making a combined 110 appearances between 2022-23. The bullpen workhorse pitched 70 times last year, leaving him just 40 shy of the mark entering 2023. (As is common for provisions like these, he’ll also have to pass a physical at season’s end.)

Manager Dusty Baker has already called upon Neris 25 times this season. He needs just 15 more outings to turn this into a player provision. That’s a lock barring a major injury, with Neris potentially triggering the mark by the All-Star Break.

That could prove lucrative, as he’s building a strong case for another multi-year free agent deal. Neris carries a 1.13 ERA over 24 frames. While he’s obviously not going to keep preventing runs at quite that pace, he’s fanning over 31% of opponents and picking up swinging strikes on a huge 15.4% of his offerings. Even nearing age 34, Neris could push for a two-year deal in the $15-20MM range, where the likes of Joe Kelly and Chris Martin have landed in recent seasons.

Los Angeles Angels

The Halos signed Loup to a two-year, $17MM free agent deal over the 2021-22 offseason. He was effective enough in year one, though the Angels probably expected better than a 3.84 ERA with a 20% strikeout rate over 58 2/3 innings. That’d be a marked improvement over Loup’s early results this year, however. The 35-year-old has allowed 12 runs (10 earned) with 11 strikeouts and six walks over 13 1/3 frames. Los Angeles looks likely to take the buyout.

Oakland A’s

Oakland took a low-cost flier on Rucinski last winter. They signed him to a $3MM guarantee with a promised rotation spot after he’d been an effective starter in South Korea for four seasons. The 34-year-old righty hasn’t had a chance to get on track. He began the year on the injured list with a hamstring strain. He returned to make four starts and was tagged for 22 runs with a ghastly 6:14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 18 innings. Rucinski went back on the IL a few weeks ago with an illness. It’s been a disastrous first couple months and the option is trending towards a declination.

The A’s acquired Piña as a veteran complement to Shea Langeliers in the Sean Murphy trade. He’d been limited to five games last year thanks to a left wrist injury that required surgery. Complications with the wrist flared up in Spring Training and he’s spent this season on the IL as well. The A’s are likely to cut him loose at year’s end.

Texas Rangers

At his best, Leclerc looks like a quality high-leverage reliever. He misses tons of bats and routinely pushes or exceeds a 30% strikeout rate. Yet he’s paired those whiffs with plenty of free passes. Control has become especially problematic this year, as he’s dished out walks to almost 16% of opponents. Leclerc is carrying a sub-3.00 ERA but benefitting from a .256 average on balls in play.

Leclerc started slowly last season after working back from Tommy John surgery. He caught fire down the stretch, leading Texas to exercise a $6MM option for 2023. There’s still time for him to repeat that pattern but he’ll have to dial in the strike-throwing to do so.

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