Rangers Rumors

Rangers Aren’t Ruling Out Max Scherzer For The Playoffs

By Leo Morgenstern | September 26, 2023 at 7:36pm CDT

When Max Scherzer landed on the injured list with a teres major strain, it seemed like his year was done. He was finished for the regular season, and his chances of pitching in the playoffs were slim. Yet now, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports that the 39-year-old is increasing his throwing program in an effort to strengthen his arm and get back on a mound. That doesn’t sound like a pitcher planning to take all offseason to get back in game shape.

Indeed, manager Bruce Bochy says he wouldn’t rule out Scherzer for the postseason. In an appearance on the K&C Masterpiece show, the veteran skipper said his ace seems “optimistic” and that the team has gotten good reports on his health. That’s far from a guarantee that Texas will have the three-time Cy Young winner back in time for the playoffs, but it’s undoubtedly a positive development. The Rangers will still need to prepare for the worst, but at least they can hope for the best.

There’s no denying this team could use Scherzer back in the rotation as soon as possible. Nathan Eovaldi has struggled in five starts since his return from the injured list, and now Jon Gray is dealing with tightness in his wrist. Dane Dunning has remained healthy this season, but he has slowed way down after a hot start. That leaves trade deadline acquisition Jordan Montgomery as the only reliable arm on the starting staff with October right around the corner.

While Scherzer hasn’t been his typical ace-like self this season, he remains a durable and capable starting pitcher. In 27 starts this year, he is averaging 5 2/3 innings per game with a 3.77 ERA. He also has a great deal of playoff experience, having made 27 appearances across nine separate postseasons. He was especially dominant during the Nationals’ 2019 World Series run, posting a 2.40 ERA in 30 innings of work.

The Rangers are counting on Scherzer to play a key role in their 2024 rotation, so they certainly wouldn’t want to risk his health by rushing him back before he’s ready. However, if he can safely return to the mound, the future Hall of Famer would make a huge difference in the playoffs. It still seems like a scant possibility, but the deeper Texas plays into October, the more likely the possibility becomes.

Big Hype Prospects: Caminero, Langford, Holliday, Carter, Marte

By Brad Johnson | September 25, 2023 at 10:43pm CDT

As the clock runs out on the 2023 season, we take a look at the Big Hype Prospects who have advanced their hype-levels to all new… levels.

Five Big Hype Prospects

Junior Caminero, 20, SS/3B, TBR (MLB)
(AA) 351 PA, 20 HR, 3 SB, .309/373/.548

The will they/won’t they dance with Caminero finally resolved. Despite foregoing a promotion to Triple-A, the Rays saw fit to inject an offensive weapon into their postseason repertoire. Part of me wonders how much gamesmanship went into leaving Caminero at Double-A, as if the Rays could convince their playoff rivals he wouldn’t be promoted, maybe they would scout him less? A player of his age and profile undoubtedly has exploitable weaknesses, so the deeper the Rays can get into the postseason before those weaknesses are discovered, the better. Caminero batted fifth in his first two MLB games, going 2-for-9 with a walk and producing impressive exit velocities on six batted balls. While small sample caveats apply, the beauty of exit velocity is instant gratification. A 112-mph EV immediately validates a hitter as possessing impressive pop. All the other stats, well, they need more time to mature into larger samples.

Wyatt Langford, 21, OF, TEX (AAA)
(4 levels) 200 PA, 10 HR, 12 SB, .360/.480/.677

With Caminero up, Langford is the next future superstar on the cusp of promotion. We discussed him last week prior to his promotion to Triple-A. Since then, he’s batted .368/.538/.526 in 26 plate appearances with MLB-level exit velocities. Round Rock has a three-game series remaining for the PCL Championship, and I suspect we’ll see Langford join the Rangers upon the conclusion of the series. Where he fits on the roster is less certain. Leody Taveras is a quality defender with a league-average bat, and Evan Carter has performed well in limited action. Langford likely represents a net upgrade on both outfielders, but it can be tough to justify changing something that’s working well. Now might be the wrong moment to mess with team chemistry.

Jackson Holliday, 19, SS, BAL (AAA)
(4 levels) 581 PA, 12 HR, 24 SB, .323/.442/.499

Like Langford, the Norfolk Tides have a championship series over the next three days. If Holliday is summoned to the Majors, it will likely follow these games. He’s had a longer stint in Triple-A, and after a slow start, he’s up to .267/.396/.400 in 91 plate appearances. His average quality of contact is better than a typical Major Leaguer, but his top-end EVs are poor. That’s no cause for concern. Holliday is a teenager. If anything, it might indicate that the Orioles are best served to play it slow rather than forcing an awkward situation with a last-minute promotion. Holliday might represent a modest upgrade over Adam Frazier and Jordan Westburg at second base. He certainly improves upon seldom-used benchman Ryan McKenna. Whether that’s sufficient cause for a promotion is a tough question to answer.

Evan Carter, 21, OF, TEX (MLB)
(CPX/AA/AAA) 513 PA, 12 HR, 25 SB, .288/.413/.450

Though he is deservedly a Top 10 prospect, Carter profiles differently than most of the top names. He’s one of the surest things in the minors. True stardom might be out of his grasp, especially in this rich era of uber-prospects. Then again, no era of baseball has offered players such tangible opportunity to transform their game. The high-floor, low-ceiling expectation is reinforced by a profile, build, and approach that screams “Brandon Nimmo clone.” Nimmo, of course, recently signed a nine-figure deal entering his age-30 season, hence everyone’s comfort ranking Carter highly. Still, nobody expects Nimmo to carry the Mets. He’s a rich man’s complementary piece. Carter seems destined for a similar role.

Carter is off to a hot start in the Majors. Improbably, he’s hit four home runs in 54 plate appearances as part of a .318/.426/.705 batting line. The dingers, in addition to a .400 BABIP, have served to carry his offensive line beyond even the wildest expectations. Look under the hood, and you’ll see Carter produces only modest quality of contact. He has a knack for barreling the ball, but those barrels aren’t impactful. Like Holliday, this is more of a “now” problem than a future concern. He’ll develop more pop as he ages.

Noelvi Marte, 21, 3B/SS, CIN (MLB)
(AA/AAA) 399 PA, 11 HR, 18 SB, .279/.358/.454

There are no questions about Marte’s exit velocities. They’re among the best in the game. Alas, a ball smashed into the ground is still a ground ball. He’s running a predictably high BABIP as the result of his worm murdering. He’s not producing any power numbers despite hitting the ball powerfully. We have every reason to anticipate growth from Marte in the coming years. What we’re seeing now is a fantastic platform for a quality Major Leaguer. At present, he’s roughly a replacement-level performer. He’s batting .293/.350/.380 (96 wRC+) in 100 plate appearances. If he can learn to generate any lift whatsoever, he’ll quickly morph into a dangerous hitter.

Three More

Orion Kerkering, PHI (22): Arguably the top pure relief prospect in the minors (excluding those being developed as starters), Kerkering features triple-digit gas. He lives off a filth-monster slider. After starting the season in Low-A, the right-hander made his big league debut on Sunday. He seems destined for high-leverage postseason innings.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand, CIN (23): Since he has expended his rookie eligibility, this will be Encarnacion-Strand’s last appearance in this column. After an unimpressive August, CES has caught fire in September. Over the last 20 days, he’s batting .378/.429/.778 with six home runs in 49 plate appearances. Volatility will likely always be a part of his game.

Pete Crow-Armstrong, CHC (21): Crow-Armstrong drew a trio of starts shortly after his promotion. He looked overmatched and has since been reduced to a pinch runner/defensive replacement role. I fully expect PCA to fill this same role in the postseason – assuming the Cubs hang onto a Wild Card slot.

Did I miss a detail or nuance? DM me on Twitter @BaseballATeam to suggest corrections.

Rangers Likely To Put Martin Perez Back In Rotation

By Steve Adams | September 21, 2023 at 11:33am CDT

The Rangers moved a then-struggling Martin Perez from the rotation to the bullpen in early August, but the left-hander has righted the ship and pitched well enough of late that they’ll likely plug him back into the starting staff for the final stretch of the season. “I think that’s fair to say,” manager Bruce Bochy replied when asked by Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today if Perez had pitched his way back into a rotation role.

The decision to move Perez into a relief role was sensible at the time. The veteran southpaw made 20 starts for Texas earlier this year but had limped to a 4.98 ERA in 108 1/3 innings in that role — a far cry from 2022’s stellar 2.89 ERA in 32 starts (196 1/3 innings). The bullpen move has helped Perez get back on track; in 13 relief appearances, he’s logged 28 innings of 2.57 ERA ball with a 19-to-6 K/BB ratio and an enormous 65.9% ground-ball rate. That includes a particularly strong stretch over his past nine appearances, where he’s allowed just two runs in 15 2/3 innings while sporting a 15-to-3 K/BB mark.

Right-hander Jon Gray lasted just 2 1/3 innings yesterday before giving way to Perez, who came on to toss 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and earn his tenth win of the season in the process. Perez tossed 64 pitches, allowed three hits and a walk, and punched out five batters in that nearly spotless performance. It was a much-needed respite for a Rangers bullpen that had been tasked with covering 23 innings in the team’s past six games.

Southpaw Jordan Montgomery is locked in as the Rangers’ top starter now that Max Scherzer’s regular season is likely over due to a strained teres major. Nathan Eovaldi is still building back up from a lengthy IL stint due to a forearm strain. He pitched five innings in his most recent outing — his longest since originally hitting the IL back in July. Dane Dunning and Gray have also been making regular starts, although Gray has hit a wall of late, yielding 13 runs in 13 2/3 frames over his past four starts combined. Rookie left-hander Cody Bradford made a start earlier this week — his seventh of the year but his first since late July — and was tagged for six runs in three innings.

Texas also has veteran starter Andrew Heaney as an option to start down the stretch, but there’s financial motivation for them to keep him in the bullpen role to which he was recently shifted. The second season of Heaney’s two-year, $25MM contract is a player option valued at $13MM, but that would jump to a $20MM value if he pitches 150 innings in 2023. He’s currently at 138 1/3 innings on the year, and keeping him in a relief role will likely keep that player option at the lower of those two values.

Perez’s return to the rotation will come at a pivotal time in the game’s most tightly contested division. The Rangers and Mariners are tied with identical 84-68 records, both sitting just a half game behind the division-leading Astros. Beyond that, Texas and Seattle play seven of their final ten games this season against one another, making every start of critical importance. If Perez indeed makes another start or two and helps push the Rangers into the postseason, he’d be an option to take the ball in a playoff start as well.

A strong finish to the year in a return to a starting role would also bode well for Perez this offseason, when he’ll once again be a free agent. His work out of the ’pen has improved his season line to a 4.49 in 136 1/3 innings. This season’s 15% strikeout rate is down considerably from last year’s 20.6% mark, and it’s a similar story with his ground-ball rate (51.4% in 2022; 45.6% in 2023). That said, if Perez can close out the year on a high note and perhaps show well in the postseason, he’ll have a decent case as a back-of-the-rotation innings eater who should command interest from clubs in need of innings.

Rangers Place Ian Kennedy On 60-Day IL, Select Jake Latz

By Mark Polishuk | September 16, 2023 at 5:11pm CDT

Ian Kennedy’s season is over, as the Rangers announced that the veteran right-hander has been placed on the 60-day injured list due to a right rotator cuff strain. Texas selected the contract of left-hander Jake Latz from Triple-A to take Kennedy’s spot on the active roster.

The injury adds to an altogether rough season for Kennedy, who has spent most of the season at Triple-A while compiling a 7.16 ERA over 16 1/3 innings at the MLB level. The Rangers signed Kennedy to a minor league deal last winter and he made the roster out of Spring Training, but Texas then designated the 38-year-old for assignment in May. He had enough service time to opt for free agency rather than accept an outright assignment, but Kennedy then re-signed with the Rangers on a new minors deal a month later.

The Rangers only just selected Kennedy back to the MLB roster on September 5, but this second look in the Show hasn’t gone any smoother. Kennedy had a 7.20 ERA over 10 innings at the time of his DFA in May, and he has a 7.11 ERA in 6 1/3 innings and five appearances since returning in September. Friday’s 12-3 Rangers loss to the Guardians saw Kennedy tagged for three earned runs over 1 1/3 innings.

Now in his fifth season as a full-time relief pitcher, Kennedy posted good numbers in 2019 and 2021, but he has a 5.81 ERA over 66 2/3 frames since the start of the 2022 season. This rotator cuff problem now presents another obstacle to his quest to land another contract this winter, though the severity of his strain isn’t yet known.

Since even a lower-level rotator cuff strain means that Kennedy would miss more than 15 days on the IL, the immediate placement on the 60-day IL allows Texas to open a 40-man roster spot for an immediate bullpen replacement. This opens the door for Latz to make his first Major League appearance since his debut outing in 2021, when he threw 4 2/3 innings in a spot start when the Rangers were shorthanded by a COVID-19 outbreak.

A fifth-round pick for the Rangers in the 2017 draft, Latz has spent his entire pro career in the Texas organization, apart from a brief stint in independent ball during the canceled 2020 minor league season. Working as both a starter and a reliever, Latz has a 4.10 ERA over 63 2/3 Triple-A innings this year, with an impressive 32.7% strikeout rate but also an underwhelming 10.9% walk rate.

AL Notes: Jung, Ober, Cora

By Steve Adams and Anthony Franco | September 15, 2023 at 7:15pm CDT

Rangers third baseman Josh Jung has been out since early August after undergoing surgery to stabilize a fracture in his thumb, but the standout rookie could be back in the lineup as soon as next week, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. Jung has been cleared for full baseball activity and is slated to take live batting practice at the team’s spring complex in Arizona. If that goes well, he could jump right back onto the roster for Monday’s series opener against the visiting Red Sox.

Jung, 25, was one of the front-runners for American League Rookie of the Year at the time of his surgery, having batted .274/.323/.489 with 22 home runs in 461 plate appearances. He’ll likely still appear on some Rookie of the Year ballots, but the roughly six-week absence has given current favorite Gunnar Henderson some runway to take a notable lead in terms of counting stats. Regardless of his standing in ROY voting, Jung’s return will be crucial for a Rangers club that has received awful production at third base since his injury. Texas third baseman have posted a disastrous .155/.238/.216 line in Jung’s absence.

Max Scherzer Unlikely To Return This Year Due To Teres Major Strain

By Darragh McDonald | September 13, 2023 at 11:58pm CDT

Rangers general manager Chris Young informed reporters, including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, that right-hander Max Scherzer has a teres major strain. Surgery is not needed but he is out of the rest of the regular season and “unlikely” to pitch in the playoffs either. The Rangers officially placed Scherzer on the 15-day injured list shortly after the news was announced, with righty Jonathan Hernandez recalled in a corresponding move.

It is obviously a terrible development for the Rangers, who are in the midst of a tight playoff race with just over two weeks to go. The Rangers are a game back of the Astros in the West division and are currently clinging to the second Wild Card spot, but with both the Blue Jays and Mariners just half a game back. Scherzer left his start against the Jays last night and was slated for an MRI today, which apparently revealed the strain.

This is the latest setback in the club’s attempts to improve its starting rotation, which was a significant weak point last year. In the offseason, the club re-signed Martín Pérez, traded for Jake Odorizzi and signed free agents Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney, with that group joining incumbents Jon Gray and Dane Dunning. But Odorizzi never pitched for the club, requiring a shoulder procedure that wiped out his whole season. deGrom made six starts before landing on the injured list and ultimately requiring Tommy John surgery. Both Heaney and Pérez struggled earlier in the year and have been pitching out of the bullpen of late.

Despite those rotation challenges, the club has spent much of this season in first place in their division and went into the deadline as buyers, with the rotation an obvious area to address. They acquired Jordan Montgomery from the Cardinals and Scherzer from the Mets.

Scherzer wasn’t quite having as dominant a season as in the past, posting a 4.01 ERA with the Mets prior to the trade, but the Rangers were still naturally intrigued by his incredible track record that goes all the way back to 2008. They sent prospect Luisangel Acuña to the Mets in order to bring Scherzer aboard, though the latter club also sent $35MM to Texas in order to cover part of Scherzer’s salary for the rest of this year and next year as well.

The veteran had better results after the deal, with a 3.20 ERA over his eight starts since coming to the Rangers. Unfortunately, the club will now have to proceed through what’s left of the regular season without him. Even if they manage to hang on and get into the postseason, they will have to cobble a playoff rotation together while potential playoff starters like Scherzer and deGrom sit on the injured list. It seems the door is still slightly open for a return from Scherzer, though that would likely be contingent on the club making a late postseason run.

Subtracting Scherzer from the rotation leaves the Rangers with Montgomery, Eovaldi, Gray and Dunning. They will need a fifth starter as soon as this weekend, which could perhaps result in either Heaney or Pérez returning to the rotation. Heaney has an ERA of 4.10 on the year, though his 24% strikeout rate is a big drop from last year’s 35.5% clip and his walk rate has gone from 6.1% to 9.4%. Pérez had an ERA of 2.89 last year but it’s ballooned to 4.74 this year, as his strikeout rate has gone from 20.6% to 14.8%.

If Heaney gets the gig, or even if he now pitches more innings out of the bullpen, it could impact his contract status. He signed a two-year deal with the Rangers this winter, though he’s allowed to opt-out of that deal this winter. His 2024 player option is valued at $13MM, though it jumps to $20MM if he reaches 150 innings pitched this year and does not have an injury that would prevent him from being on the active roster within 60 days of Opening Day 2024. He’s currently at 136 innings for the season, just 14 shy of that target.

But in the short-term, the Rangers will surely be focused on putting the best possible staff together for their remaining contests as they hope to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Rangers Promote Evan Carter, Place Adolis García On IL

By Darragh McDonald | September 8, 2023 at 6:05pm CDT

September 8: Texas officially announced Carter’s promotion and García’s IL placement. The 40-man move is the transfer of Brad Miller from the 10-day to the 60-day IL. Miller has been out since August 2 with a left hamstring strain. He’ll be out for 60 days from the time of that initial placement, meaning he’ll miss the rest of the regular season. Miller could return for the playoffs if Texas qualifies, though he wouldn’t be a lock to appear on the postseason roster regardless.

September 7: The Rangers informed reporters, including Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, that they are promoting outfield prospect Evan Carter. He will take the active roster spot of Adolis García, who will head to the 10-day injured list with a right patellar tendon strain. Carter will require a corresponding move to be added to the 40-man roster, which will be reported on Friday, per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today.

It was reported earlier that the Rangers were considering a promotion of Carter, a report which preceded García’s injury. It’s possible that Carter may have been promoted this week regardless, but it seems the issue in García’s knee gave the club enough incentive to pull the trigger and make it happen.

It’s a bit of a belated birthday present for Carter, who turned 21 just over a week ago. The 50th overall selection from the 2020 draft, Carter wasn’t a high-profile prospect at that time but has shot up the rankings since then. Last year, he hit .287/.388/.476 through 100 games at High-A for a wRC+ of 136, indicating he was 36% better than league average. He also stole 26 bases and got a late-season bump to Double-A.

This year, he hit .284/.411/.451 in 97 Double-A games for a 132 wRC+, stealing another 22 bases in the process. He was recently promoted to Triple-A for eight games there but will now get a chance to come up to the big leagues.

Carter is currently considered the #10 prospect in the league by Baseball America, #32 by FanGraphs, #8 by MLB Pipeline, #14 by ESPN and #10 by Keith Law of The Athletic. Each outlet considers him a capable center fielder with a keen eye at the plate, as he has produced double-digit walk rates at each stop of the minor league ladder. The major long-term question seems to be whether or not he will have the power to be more than a speed-and-defense specialist. He hit 11 home runs at High-A last year and has 12 at Double-A this year. But he has a respectable floor even if the power doesn’t develop, thanks to his other tools.

He will now have a chance to see how he fares at the major league level, replacing García, who injured himself crashing into the wall while attempting to catch a home run. Per Landry’s reporting, the Rangers are cautiously optimistic that García has a chance to return this year, but the window will be tight. There are just over three weeks remaining on the regular season schedule, which will be a narrow timeframe for García to return in.

He has been a potent yet volatile part of the club’s lineup, having socked 34 home runs this year but also striking out in 27.4% of his plate appearances. The past month has been a notable low point, as he’s hit just .152/.236/.333 from August 7 to the present, striking out in 37.3% of his trips to the plate in that time. That rough stretch for García has coincided with the club going on a terrible cold streak, falling from first to third in the American League West and half a game behind the Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot.

Recent results notwithstanding, García has been one of the club’s best players this year and it will be a challenge to proceed without him. The club will hope that Carter can provide a jolt and their pitching staff can get its act together as they look to finish strong and make the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Carter won’t have enough time to exhaust his rookie status in what remains of the 2023 season, which is notable under the current collective bargaining agreement. If clubs carry a rookie and top prospect on their roster for a full service year, that player can earn the club an extra draft pick by winning Rookie of the Year honors or placing in the top three of Most Valuable Player voting during pre-arbitration years.

Given his lofty prospect status, Carter will be in the mix for those prospect promotion incentives, but that will be a matter for another day. For now, he will be focused on making his major league debut, jumping right into a playoff race and into the Texas outfield alongside Leody Taveras, Robbie Grossman, Travis Jankowski and J.P. Martínez.

Padres Claim Glenn Otto, Designate Ben Gamel

By Steve Adams | September 7, 2023 at 1:35pm CDT

The Padres announced Thursday that they’ve claimed righty Glenn Otto off waivers from the Rangers, who designated him for assignment earlier in the week. San Diego designated outfielder Ben Gamel for assignment in a corresponding move.

Otto, 27, was a fifth-round pick by the Yankees out of Rice University back in 2017. He went to the Rangers alongside Ezequiel Duran and Josh H. Smith in the 2021 trade that sent Joey Gallo from Arlington to the Bronx.

At the time of the swap, Otto was one of the more well-regarded prospects in the Yankees’ system, ranking 19th on New York’s top-30 list at Baseball America. He placed 15th among Rangers’ farmhands heading into the 2022 season, with BA labeling him a potential fourth starter who could likely be moved to the ’pen if things didn’t pan out in the rotation.

Otto has gotten looks in the Majors in each of the past three seasons with Texas, but he’s yet to find his footing. While the right-hander tossed 135 2/3 innings over 27 starts last year, he posted a rather pedestrian 4.64 ERA and fanned just 18.2% of his opponents against an unpalatable 10.6% walk rate along the way. He also struggled in six starts down the stretch following the trade in 2021, and he was hit hard in six bullpen appearances this year. Overall, Otto has pitched 169 2/3 innings in the Majors but carries just a 5.69 ERA with worse-than-average strikeout, walk and home-run rates (in addition to a roughly average ground-ball rate).

That said, there’s plenty in Otto’s minor league track record to give the Friars some optimism. He posted a strong 3.20 ERA in 96 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A during the 2021 season that saw him traded, and that year’s 35.3% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate in the minors were both excellent. Otto has never posted an ERA higher than 3.48 at any minor league level, and he’s punched out 32% of his total opponents in the minors.

Otto missed the first three months of the 2023 season due to a lat injury, so he’s pitched just 40 total innings this year. While his 10.13 ERA in the big leagues (12 runs in 10 2/3 frames) is an eyesore, he’s also posted a sharp 3.38 ERA with his typically promising strikeout tendencies (32.5%) in 29 1/3 Triple-A frames. Otto also has a pair of minor league option years remaining beyond the current season, plus an additional five years of team control remaining. Given that context, it’s not a surprise to see a Padres club that could lose a good bit of pitching depth this winter take a more or less free look at the former prospect.

San Diego, after all, could see each of Blake Snell, Josh Hader, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Rich Hill and Nick Martinez reach free agency this winter, either via the expiration of their current contracts or via opt-outs/player options that could be declined. The Padres aren’t going to firmly bank on Otto replacing anyone from that group, but he’s a controllable depth option who could earn his way into the mix and help patch some of those gaps. If nothing else, he could be called upon as a spot starter or extra bullpen arm next year in the event of injuries on the MLB roster.

As for the 31-year-old Gamel, he appeared in just six games with the Padres before today’s DFA. The veteran outfielder has been quite good between the Triple-A affiliates for San Diego and Tampa Bay, batting a combined .286/.402/.498 in 332 plate appearances, but the Friars are prepared to cut ties after just 15 plate appearances, during which Gamel collected three hits (two singles, one double).

In parts of eight Major League seasons between the Mariners, Pirates, Brewers, Padres, Guardians and Yankees, Gamel is a .252/.332/.384 hitter. He’s drawn walks at a healthy 10.1% clip but also fanned in just under a quarter of his plate appearances. Gamel is primarily a corner outfielder but lacks the prototypical power associated with those positions, evidenced by a career-high 11 home runs and a tepid .131 ISO in his career (slugging percentage minus batting average). Now that Gamel has been designated for assignment, the Padres will place him on outright waivers or release waivers within the next five days.

Rangers Have Considered Promotion For Top Prospect Evan Carter

By Steve Adams | September 7, 2023 at 10:15am CDT

With the team’s left-handed-hitting outfielders struggling recently, the Rangers have considered a big league promotion for top outfield prospect Evan Carter, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. General manager Chris Young effectively confirmed as much earlier in the week, telling Grant that the team has “not ruled anything out” as it seeks to put forth its best lineup on a nightly basis.

Notably, that comment from Young and Grant’s initial report predate last night’s potential injury for star outfielder Adolis Garcia. The 30-year-old Garcia is slated to undergo an MRI on his right knee, per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today, after landing awkwardly following an attempt to rob a Michael Brantley home run that narrowly cleared the right field wall.

Garcia, hitting .244/.322/.494, has been one of the Rangers’ top power threats and top defensive players this season. Any absence for him — even if only for a few games — would presumably increase the temptation to call Carter to the big leagues as Texas hopes to climb out of its recent skid. The Rangers dropped eight games in a row in August and have won just four of their past 19 contests, dropping from a commanding favorite in the AL postseason hunt to a half-game back of the Blue Jays for the top spot in the Wild Card chase. Texas currently sits three games behind the division-leading Astros and two behind the second-place Mariners.

Carter, 21, was a surprise pick by the Rangers at No. 50 overall in the 2020 draft. Carter wasn’t considered anywhere near that caliber of prospect at the time. He didn’t rank inside MLB.com’s top 200 draft prospects and didn’t even land inside Baseball America’s ranking of the top 500 amateurs in the draft. The canceled high school season that year surely contributed to the general lack of awareness regarding Carter, but the Rangers were convinced of his potential based on prior scouting trips — and it hasn’t taken long for their leap of faith to be proven correct.

Currently, Carter ranks as the No. 8 prospect in the sport at MLB.com, No. 10 on Baseball America’s top 100, and No. 32 at FanGraphs. He opened the 2023 season in Double-A, where he was more than four years younger than the average player, and he’s recently been promoted to Triple-A, where he’s more than six years younger than his average competitor.

Carter breezed through Double-A, batting .284/.411/.451 with a dozen homers, 22 steals (albeit in 32 tries) and a massive 16.3% walk rate — against a less-impressive but hardly alarming 22.3% strikeout rate. In eight games since being bumped to the Rangers’ top affiliate in Round Rock, he’s 12-for-34 (11 singles, one double) with three steals, four walks and six strikeouts. Overall, he’s combined for a .288/.415/.450 slash at the top two minor league levels.

At this point in the season, a promotion to the big leagues for Carter would surely leave his rookie status intact for the 2024 season. That’s of increased importance for teams with regard to their late-season promotions of top prospects, as it keeps them eligible to benefit from the “prospect promotion incentives” (PPIs) in the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement. Those incentives can award bonus draft picks to teams whose top prospects finish well in awards voting, and Carter will surely enter next year’s season with the requisite prospect rankings to position the Rangers to potentially gain a coveted draft selection.

Because he was selected out of high school in 2020, Carter has not yet been eligible for the Rule 5 Draft and has thus not yet been selected to the Rangers’ 40-man roster. Texas currently has a full 40-man roster, so they’d need to make some type of transaction in that regard if they ultimately decide to bring Carter to the Majors.

Rangers Select Ian Kennedy, Designate Glenn Otto For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | September 5, 2023 at 4:05pm CDT

The Rangers announced a series of roster moves today, activating right-hander Nathan Eovaldi from the injured list and selecting the contract of fellow righty Ian Kennedy. In corresponding moves, righty Josh Sborz was placed on the 15-day IL with a left hamstring strain while righty Glenn Otto was designated for assignment.

Kennedy, 38, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers and cracked the Opening Day roster. But he was lit up in the early going, allowing a 7.20 earned run average through 11 outings before being designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and elected free agency but rejoined the Rangers on a new minor league pact. Since that time, he’s been posting fairly solid results in Triple-A, with a 3.51 ERA in 25 2/3 innings, along with a 29.4% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate.

After many years as an effective big league starter, Kennedy moved to the bullpen in recent years with inconsistent results. He had a 3.41 ERA in 2019 but saw that jump to an even 9.00 in 2020. He got back on track with a 3.20 mark in 2021 but it nudged up to 5.36 last year before this year’s aforementioned struggles.

The Rangers bullpen has been a nightmare of late, a key reason why their previously strong division lead has gone up in smoke. The relievers have let many recent games slip away in the late innings, pushing the club to third place in the division and just half a game ahead of the Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot in the American League. For the season as a whole, the relief corps has a collective 4.86 ERA that places them 25th in the league. They will mix things up by getting the veteran Kennedy into the mix to see if he can help.

Otto, 27, got a shot at a rotation job with the Rangers last year, making 27 starts with a 4.64 ERA, 18.2% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 43.1% ground ball rate. The Rangers then underwent an extremely aggressive offseason, overhauling their rotation by acquiring pitchers like Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Jake Odorizzi. That would have squeezed Otto either to the minors or the bullpen but he suffered a lat strain in March and was placed on the 60-day injured list on Opening Day.

He was reinstated from the IL at the end of June and has made six appearances for the big league club since then, but six home runs in just 10 2/3 innings have led to an ERA of 10.13. He’s also tossed 29 1/3 Triple-A innings over 10 appearances with a 3.38 ERA, striking out 32.5% of opponents in the process.

Since the trade deadline has passed, the Rangers will have no choice but to put Otto on waivers in the coming days. He’s not too far removed from being a notable prospect. In 2021, he registered a 3.20 ERA over 95 2/3 innings in the minor leagues, going from the Yankees to the Rangers in the Joey Gallo trade that summer. He went into 2022 ranked as the #15 prospect in the Rangers system.

Though he then had some tepid results that year and has been injured for much of this year, he could perhaps garner interest based on that previous prospect status. He still has two option seasons beyond this one and has yet to qualify for arbitration. That means he could be an intriguing depth arm for any club willing to give him a roster spot.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Rangers Rumors

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect