Rangers Notes: Young, Jung, Venable
It’s been a tumultuous week in the world of the Texas Rangers, with manager Chris Woodward getting fired on Monday and president of baseball operations Jon Daniels following him out the door on Wednesday. With the departure of Daniels, general manager Chris Young took over as the chief baseball decision maker in Texas. However, Young apparently didn’t see this changed role coming, with the club’s managing partner Ray Davis telling Kennedi Landry of MLB.com that Young was “shocked” by the dismissal of Daniels.
It’s certainly been an unusual journey for Young in recent years. The 43-year-old former big league hurler pitched through the 2017 season and even signed a minor league deal with the Padres for 2018. He was eventually released and was hired by MLB in May of that year to be a vice president of on-field operations. Just over two years later, December of 2020, he was hired to be the Rangers’ general manager. In the tweet above, Landry relays that he and Daniels had been working pretty much side-by-side since then. Given his less than two years of experience working for the front office of a major league baseball team, it seems fair to assume that he learned a lot from Daniels, who was hired to be the Rangers’ general manager 17 years ago. Given that difference in their respective résumés, it’s hardly surprising that Young was taken off-guard by the news, suddenly finding himself atop the decision making pyramid after such a short time on the job.
Young spoke to Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News about his hectic week. “I was trying to make sure that collectively, everybody, especially the longest-tenured employees, had a show of support in terms of just knowing the emotions they are going through,” Young said. “But I want to keep everybody focused on the task at hand. We have great things happening.”
Young was also asked about the future plans for the front office, perhaps hiring a new president of baseball operations or maybe a new general manager with Young getting promoted to the POBO role. “We’ll assess our needs as we go,” Young said on that topic. “It’s a natural part of the seasonal cycle. We will see what our needs are, what it looks like moving forward. We’ll probably lose some good employees to other organizations. That is just part of the hiring process. The first steps are making sure we get all our ducks lined up. But it will be part of the discussion.” With the offseason now just over two months away, Young will have to act quickly to align those ducks.
Other notes out of Texas…
- A promotion of prospect Josh Jung doesn’t appear to be close, with interim manager Tony Beasley saying as much to Jeff Wilson of Rangerstoday.com. This past winter, the young third baseman seemed like a candidate to crack the club’s Opening Day roster or at least make his major league debut shortly after. However, he required shoulder surgery in February, which was expected to keep him out of action for six months and thereby kick his debut down the road. He began a rehab assignment at the end of July and has been tearing the cover off the ball ever since. In eight games in the Complex League, he hit .240/.345/.600, followed by seven Triple-A games with a line of .414/.485/1.034. That’s an incredible showing in that small sample, but the club considers this to be Jung’s Spring Training, which means they’re focused on getting his body re-acclimated to regular playing time. That news might be disappointing to fans of the club who are looking forward to seeing Jung tackle big league pitching before the offseason begins. However, it’s worth pointing out that these things can change quickly. Just a few days ago, the Mets insisted they weren’t promoting their own young third baseman, Brett Baty, before announcing the very next day that he was indeed getting called up. Jung isn’t yet on the 40-man roster but will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in a few months, meaning the Rangers will need to add him soon either way.
- With Woodward’s firing, the club will have to think about who they want to be in the manager’s chair next year. Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweets that Red Sox bench coach Will Venable is one potential candidate. The 39-year-old played nine seasons in the majors, mostly with the Padres, before transitioning into other roles. In 2017, he joined the Cubs, first as a special assistant to president Theo Epstein, then spending some time as first base coach and third base coach. He became the Red Sox bench coach prior to the 2021 season and has been in that job since. This wouldn’t be the first time his name has been floated in managerial rumors, as he was connected to the Cubs, Giants and Astros prior to 2020, the Tigers and Red Sox prior to 2021 and the A’s prior to 2022. Given that repeated interest, it seems he has a strong reputation around the league and could get consideration for vacancies again this winter. In addition to the Rangers, the Blue Jays, Phillies and Angels have fired their managers and hired interim replacements this year.
Rangers Designate Garrett Richards For Assignment
The Rangers announced that right-handed pitcher Joe Barlow has been activated from the 15-day injured list. To make room for Barlow on the active roster, righty Garrett Richards was designated for assignment. Additionally, outfielder Kole Calhoun has been sent on a rehab assignment.
Richards, 34, has largely been a starting pitcher for years, working exclusively out of the rotation from 2014 to 2019. He transitioned into more relief work over the past couple of seasons, showing some promise in that department last year. With the Red Sox last year, he had a 5.22 ERA as a starter but a 3.42 mark as a reliever.
Based on that showing, the Rangers grabbed Richards this offseason, hoping that a permanent bullpen role would unlock a new gear for him. He and the club agreed to a one-year deal with a $5.5MM guarantee, which came in the form of a $4.5MM salary and $1MM buyout on a $9MM club option for 2023.
Unfortunately, the bullpen breakout hasn’t emerged as hoped. Richards has thrown 42 2/3 innings over 32 appearances this season with a 5.27 ERA and a subpar 19.5% strikeout rate. Based on those poor results, the Rangers have decided to cut bait and remove Richards from the roster. With the trade deadline now passed, their only options will be to put Richards on waivers, either the outright variety or the release kind. There’s little distinction between the two in this case, as Richards has more than five years service time, meaning he could reject an outright assignment and elect free agency without forfeiting any salary.
There’s still about $1.18MM left to be paid out of that salary, along with the $1MM buyout on the 2023 option. It seems likely that he will go unclaimed on waivers and become a free agent, with the Rangers on the hook for paying out the remainder of that money. Once he is a free agent, however, interested teams could find some reasons for optimism in his work this year. His 7% walk rate is a couple ticks below the 9.1% league average for relievers this season. His 57.3% strand rate is unusually low and should be due for some positive regression. His 52.6% ground ball rate is also quite strong, much better than the league average rate of 43.3%. Perhaps a move to a better defensive team would be a better fit for his low-strikeout approach, as the Rangers rank 21st in the league with -1 Defensive Runs Saved, 18th with a -0.4 Ultimate Zone Rating and 23rd in Outs Above Average with a -12.
As for Barlow, he showed enough promise this year to get some work as the closer in Texas, racking up 13 saves. He landed on the injured list in the middle of July due to a blister, only now returning after over a month. Through 30 1/3 innings on the year, he has a 3.26 ERA with a quality 6.6% walk rate, though subpar strikeout and ground ball rates of 19% and 35.6%, respectively.
Rangers Fire President Of Baseball Operations Jon Daniels
The Rangers are dismissing longtime president of baseball operations Jon Daniels, Ken Rosenthal and Levi Weaver of The Athletic report (via Twitter). Texas announced the move shortly thereafter, adding that general manager Chris Young will now oversee all baseball operations decisions and processes. The move comes just days after the organization fired manager Chris Woodward.
“This morning I informed Jon Daniels that his contract would not be renewed at the end of the season and that he is being relieved of his duties effective immediately,” managing partner Ray Davis said in a press release announcing the move. “Jon’s accomplishments in his 17 years running our baseball operations department have been numerous. He and his staff put together the best teams in this franchise’s history that resulted in five playoff appearances and two American League pennants between 2010 and 2016. His impact on the growth of our player development, scouting, and analytics groups has been immense. Jon has always had the best interests of the Rangers organization in mind on and off the field and in the community.
“But the bottom line is we have not had a winning record since 2016 and for much of that time, have not been competitive in the A.L. West Division. While I am certain we are heading in the right direction, I feel a change in leadership of the baseball operations department will be beneficial going forward.”
Daniels had been atop the Rangers’ baseball operations hierarchy since way back in 2005, when at just 28 years of age he became the sport’s youngest general manager. Prior to today’s ousting, he was the sport’s third-longest-tenured baseball ops leader, trailing only Athletics executive vice president Billy Beane and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
As Davis alluded to, Daniels oversaw some of the finest years in Rangers franchise history, including a pair of back-to-back World Series appearances in 2010-11. Those teams thrived in no small part due to savvy trades made by Daniels. His blockbuster deal sending Mark Teixeira to the Braves (in exchange for shortstop Elvis Andrus, 2010 AL Rookie of the Year Neftali Feliz, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and lefty Matt Harrison) and Daniels’ acquisitions of Josh Hamilton (from the Reds in exchange for Edinson Volquez) and Nelson Cruz (from the Brewers for Carlos Lee) helped set the stage for those halcyon days in Arlington.
The success carried into the mid-2010s, as Texas won the AL West and enjoyed a 97-win season back in 2016. That came on the heels of some other high-profile moves — e.g. signing Yu Darvish and Adrian Beltre, acquiring Cole Hamels — which led to multiple contract extensions for Daniels over the years. Since that time, however, ill-fated signings have begun to mount while what should have been pivotal trades have failed to bear fruit.
The 2014 signing of Shin-Soo Choo to a seven-year, $131MM contract ultimately proved to be a misstep, for instance, and shorter-term deals for veterans like Andrew Cashner and Carlos Gomez also came up empty. Texas’ 2016 acquisition of Jonathan Lucroy went south in 2017, and the Rangers ultimately received little to no value in trades of production veterans such as Yu Darvish and Mike Minor, which further set the farm system back. Meanwhile, homegrown talents projected for stardom never achieved those ceilings; Nomar Mazara, Martin Perez, Leody Taveras, Hans Crouse, Willie Calhoun (acquired for Darvish) and Chi Chi Gonzalez are among the many former Top-100 Rangers prospects who never really developed into impact players (though Perez’s 2022 breakout has at least finally changed the narrative on him to an extent).
That difficulty regarding player development wasn’t unique to the organization’s very best prospects, either. Rather, Texas’ ability to develop big leaguers through the draft has simply stalled out in recent years. Incredibly, not one member of the Rangers’ 2018-21 draft classes has reached the Majors yet. Dating back to 2016, right-hander Joe Barlow is the only player drafted by the Rangers to produce even 1.0 wins above replacement in the Majors.
Certainly, that doesn’t all fall solely on Daniels’ shoulders. The Rangers have had scouts, analysts and dozens of other executives contributing to those collaborative processes throughout that dry period, but as general manager (and eventually president of baseball operations), Daniels was the final call both on baseball operations decisions, on filling out the scouting and player development ranks, etc.
Speaking of general managers — those duties will now all fall to Young, the 43-year-old former big league pitcher who has rapidly ascended into the game’s executive ranks following the conclusion of a 13-year Major League career. A Princeton product, Young was always touted as one of the sport’s brightest baseball minds, even during his playing days. He broke into executive work not with a team but working in Major League Baseball’s offices, where he served as the league’s senior vice president of on-field operations, initiatives and strategy.
Young was tabbed as the new Rangers’ general manager in somewhat out-of-the-blue fashion in Dec. 2020. It was his first post working in a Major League front office, but the Rangers weren’t the only club with interest. The Mets, in owner Steve Cohen’s first offseason at the wheel of the team, had interest in interviewing Young for their own GM vacancy. He interviewed for the post but withdrew his name from consideration, citing the fact that he did not want to move his family from Dallas to New York as the key factor in that decision. A week later, the Rangers announced his hiring.
Young may not have the typical resume most up-and-coming executives bring to the table, but he’s spent the past two years learning under Daniels — who, for all the Rangers’ recent struggles, remains one of the game’s most widely respected executives. That experience will prove vital as Young now sets forth to execute his own vision for the franchise.
Daniels, meanwhile, would surely be a welcome addition to countless baseball ops departments around the game, though it’s not yet clear whether he’ll immediately pursue another position or whether he’ll step back and take some time with his family after a near two-decade grind leading the Rangers. He’s been tied to his hometown Mets in the past, and there will be at least one GM vacancy this offseason now that the Tigers have fired Al Avila. Time will tell, but Daniels should have little trouble finding a new role if he’s so inclined — though for the time being, it may not be running his own department.
Rangers Release Spencer Patton
The Rangers released righty Spencer Patton from their Triple-A affiliate, MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry tweets. He’s a free agent who can now sign with any other club.
Patton, 34, made a return to the Majors in 2021 on the heels of a sharp four-year run in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he pitched to a 3.68 ERA over the life of 205 2/3 innings with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. He was a solid member of the Texas relief core last year, tossing 42 1/3 innings of 3.83 ERA ball with a strong 27.9% strikeout rate, an 8.7% walk rate and 41.3% grounder rate. Patton picked up his first two big league saves with the Rangers in 2021 and tacked on another 11 holds.
The 2022 season hasn’t gone as well, though Patton was mostly solid in seven big league frames back in April but missed several weeks with an oblique strain and was removed from the 40-man roster upon being activated from the injured list. The Rangers passed him through waivers back in May.
Patton yielded three runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts in the Majors earlier this year and, up until a week ago, was enjoying a fine season with Triple-A Round Rock. The right-hander worked to a 3.42 ERA with a 36-to-10 K/BB ratio through his first 26 1/3 innings in Triple-A but has unraveled in epic fashion over his past three appearances. Patton was shelled for six runs (four earned) in just an inning of work on Aug. 6 and has yielded another seven runs over his next two appearances. Overall, Patton has been rocked for 13 runs (11 earned) in his past three innings of Triple-A work.
That disastrous stretch has sent his Triple-A ERA soaring to 6.44 — nearly double the point at which it sat just 11 days ago. That said, there’s no indication of an injury, and Patton has performed at an otherwise solid level for the bulk of his time since returning from Japan. A team in need of some bullpen depth down the stretch could very well give him a look in the coming days in hopes of getting him back to his 2021 form.
Rangers Designate Elier Hernandez For Assignment
The Rangers announced Tuesday that outfielder Elier Hernandez has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to right-hander Kohei Arihara, whose previously reported selection to the Major League roster has now been formally confirmed and announced by the club. Additionally, Texas optioned right-hander Yerry Rodriguez to Triple-A Round Rock and recalled infielder/outfielder Mark Mathias in his place.
Hernandez, 27, made his big league debut earlier this season after spending parts of ten seasons in the minor leagues. Once a notable international signee of the Royals, he latched on with the Rangers organization prior to the 2021 season and, after a pedestrian minor league showing last year, forced his way onto the MLB roster with an impressive Triple-A effort in 2022. Through 62 games and 231 plate appearances in Triple-A this year, Hernandez slashed .295/.364/.546 with 11 homers, nine steals, an 8.7% walk rate and a 19.5% strikeout rate.
Unfortunately, that success has yet to carry over to the Majors. Hernandez hasn’t gotten much playing time, to be fair, but he’s managed just a .182/.200/.242 output in 35 trips to the plate. He’s punched out 15 times (42.9%) against just one walk (2.9%). Trades of DFA’ed players are no longer permitted now that the deadline has passed, so Hernandez will be placed on either outright waivers or release waivers within the week.
Mathias, meanwhile, is up for the first time in a Ranger uniform. Acquired alongside pitching prospect Antoine Kelly just before the trade deadline in the deal that sent reliever Matt Bush to Milwaukee, he’s appeared in eight games with Round Rock. Mathias has collected ten hits and four walks in 35 plate appearances, a continuation of the .318/.421/.518 pace at which he’d hit with the Brewers affiliate in Nashville.
Rangers Sign Wilson Ramos To Minor League Deal
The Rangers announced they’ve signed catcher Wilson Ramos to a minor league contract. The club plans to assign him to Triple-A Round Rock.
It’s the first landing spot of 2022 for Ramos, who has lingered on the free agent market. The veteran backstop was playing for Cleveland last August when he tore the ACL in his left knee. That required season-ending surgery, and Ramos has seemingly spent the past year rehabbing. The 35-year-old is apparently now healthy enough to get back to game action, and he’ll look to work his way back to the big leagues for a 13th consecutive season.
Ramos split last year between the Tigers and Indians, tallying 163 plate appearances over 44 games. He hit .205/.248/.397, the worst offensive showing of his big league career. That was in large part due to a career-worst .213 batting average on balls in play, however, and he still connected on eight home runs. Ramos hit .239/.297/.387 during the shortened 2020 campaign as a member of the Mets, offense that aligns with the league average for catchers.
Of course, Ramos has been a well above-average hitting backstop at points in his career. He’s a two-time All-Star who won a Silver Slugger Award and picked up down ballot MVP support with the Nationals in 2016. That season saw Ramos connect on 22 homers and hit .307/.354/.496 through 131 games. By measure of wRC+, the Venezuela native has posted five above-average hitting seasons over the course of his career.
Texas has gotten good work from its catchers this season. Jonah Heim has seized the starting job with a .249/.321/.439 showing through 91 games. Offseason minor league signee Meibrys Viloria has impressed in 20 contests since being called up two months ago. Ramos adds an experienced veteran presence to the upper minors, where one of the organization’s more promising prospects, Sam Huff, figures to assume the bulk of the playing time behind the dish.
Rangers To Select Kohei Arihara
Following last night’s game against the A’s, the Rangers announced that Kohei Arihara would get the ball for the second contest of the series this evening. It’ll be the 30-year-old’s first big league appearance of the season, as he’s spent the entire season with Triple-A Round Rock after being outrighted off the 40-man roster last September. The Rangers 40-man is currently full, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move this afternoon to formally select Arihara’s contract. Longtime Texas beat reporter Jeff Wilson first suggested that he could be on the radar for a call-up.
A longtime member of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan, Arihara made the jump to MLB over the 2020-21 offseason. The right-hander was made available by the Fighters via the posting process, and he ultimately signed a two-year, $6.2MM contract. Texas also paid a $1.24MM posting fee to the Fighters, pushing their total investment to around $7.5MM.
Arihara never threw especially hard or missed many bats in Japan, but he was a polished strike-thrower who pitched to a 3.74 ERA over six NPB seasons. Texas hoped that control could allow him to flourish as a back-of-the-rotation arm in the big leagues, but that hasn’t been the case thus far. Arihara made ten big league starts last season, allowing a 6.64 ERA over 40 2/3 innings while struggling mightily with the home run ball (2.43 HR/9). He required shoulder surgery that May and spent nearly four months rehabbing before returning in September. After three more starts, he was run through waivers and assigned to Triple-A.
Through 18 appearances (14 starts) with Round Rock in 2022, Arihara has a 4.88 ERA in 72 innings. His 20.4% strikeout rate is a bit below-average, but he’s demonstrating his customary excellent control (5.8% walk percentage). More importantly, he’s gotten his home run rate to a more manageable level than it was during his first MLB stint, largely because he’s inducing grounders on over half the batted balls against him. Arihara’s season line still isn’t eye-catching, but he’s allowed three or fewer earned runs in each of his past five starts and will get a shot to try to carry that over against big league hitters.
Arihara’s contract wraps up at the end of the season, so the final couple months are particularly important for him personally. Capturing a rotation spot and performing serviceably over the next seven weeks would seem to be a prerequisite if he hopes to land a major league contract this winter. The Rangers have already bumped Taylor Hearn to a relief role after a rough run in the rotation, but they’re without Jon Gray due to an oblique strain and have given 18 starts to Glenn Otto without much consistent success. There’s enough uncertainty Arihara could have a path to picking up a handful of starts down the stretch.
Rangers Fire Manager Chris Woodward
The Rangers have made a change atop the dugout, announcing the dismissal of manager Chris Woodward on Monday afternoon. Third base coach Tony Beasley will take over on an interim capacity for the remainder of the 2022 season.
“(General manager) Chris Young and I had the very difficult task of informing Chris Woodward of our decision today,” president of baseball operations Jon Daniels said in the press release announcing the decision. “In his tenure as Rangers’ manager, Chris worked tirelessly under what was at times some difficult circumstances. He has been dedicated and passionate in his efforts to improve the on-field performance of the Texas Rangers, and it is greatly appreciated. He has represented the organization with class and dignity.
We have had extensive discussions over the last several weeks and while the team’s current performance is certainly a big part of this decision, we are also looking at the future. As the Rangers continue to develop a winning culture and put the pieces together to compete for the postseason year in and year out, we felt a change in leadership was necessary at this time. On behalf of the entire Texas Rangers organization, we thank Chris and wish him and his family the very best.”
Woodward, 46, spent a bit under four seasons at the helm in Arlington. Texas hired him off the Dodgers coaching staff over the 2018-19 offseason, making him the permanent replacement after dismissing Jeff Banister that September (with some intervening interim work from Don Wakamatsu). Woodward stepped into a difficult situation, taking over a team coming off a last-place finish that was cutting payroll as it embarked upon a rebuild.
Texas bounced back a bit during Woodward’s first season, finishing in third place in the AL West at 78-84. The club was outscored by 68 runs that year, though, and regression hit the following season. Texas went 22-38 during the shortened campaign, then stumbled to a 60-102 record in 2021. It marked back-to-back last place finishes, but Texas nevertheless signed Woodward last November to an extension that ran through 2023.
At the time, Daniels praised the skipper for “(helping) to lay the foundation of our culture” throughout his first three seasons. The Texas front office certainly couldn’t have expected great results with the rosters they’d trotted out through 2019-21, and Woodward’s extension reflected the organization’s confidence in his ability to guide the club to a more competitive phase. Texas signaled a desire to push payroll forward at the start of the offseason, and they followed through with a far more aggressive winter than many might have expected.
The Rangers signed four players to multi-year free agent contracts, including two of the three largest overall guarantees of the offseason. Texas added Corey Seager for $325MM over a decade not long after signing Marcus Semien for seven years and $175MM. They stepped in as the Rangers foundational middle infield, while the club signed Jon Gray to a four-year, $56MM pact to anchor the starting rotation. Texas brass acknowledged that leaping from a 60-win team to immediate postseason contention seemed like a stretch, even with such an aggressive offseason overhaul. Yet they no doubt anticipated a marked improvement that’d serve as a stepping stone to a playoff run in 2023.
The results on that front have been mixed. The Rangers are on pace for their best season in three years, with a 51-63 record that has them in third place in the AL West. A 44.7% winning percentage is much better than the sub-40% marks of 2020-21, but that still translates to a roughly 90-loss pace over the course of a full schedule. They’re 9 1/2 games out in the Wild Card and virtually certain to miss the playoffs again, with little hope of playing meaningful games in the season’s final couple weeks.
At the same time, one could argue the Rangers have been more competitive than their record would suggest. They’ve been outscored by only two runs on the season with more blowout wins (games decided by five-plus runs) than losses. Had they played to a roughy .500 record that aligned with their run differential, they’d be in the Wild Card picture and the general tenor of the franchise would be far more optimistic. Instead, they’ve gone an atrocious 6-24 in one-run contests, losing so many tight games they’re nowhere near contention.
How much responsibility Woodward bears for that record is open to debate. There’s no doubt some amount of misfortune with a record that poor, but one could also note that Woodward is ultimately in charge of managing a bullpen that has blown 18 leads (the eighth-most in the majors). Texas has gotten productive seasons from some of their young position players (i.e. Jonah Heim and Nathaniel Lowe), but the club hasn’t gotten much from their younger starting pitchers aside from Dane Dunning. Meanwhile, Texas has gotten solid seasons from Seager and Gray, but Semien has underperformed in the inaugural season of his free agent deal.
Of course, managerial decisions are made based on far more than just the club’s on-field results. Teams are evaluating a skipper’s handling of the clubhouse and behind-the-scenes work that takes place out of public view. Daniels and Young evidently determined the time had come for a change in the voice atop the clubhouse.
Over the next two months, that’ll come with the elevation of Beasley to the manager’s chair. A former minor league skipper in the Pirates and Nationals farm systems, Beasley first joined Texas’ coaching staff in advance of the 2015 season. The 55-year-old is now in his eighth year with the Rangers, a stint that overlapped Banister’s and Woodward’s time as skipper. This will be his first major league managerial opportunity.
Texas will conduct a search for a full-timer next offseason. They’re the fourth team that’ll be doing so, as each of the Phillies (Joe Girardi), Angels (Joe Maddon) and Blue Jays (Charlie Montoyo) have dismissed their skippers in-season. Philadelphia has gone on a tear under interim manager Rob Thomson, while the Angels continued to flounder under their temporary skipper Phil Nevin. The Blue Jays have improved an already-productive club in their first month under interim manager John Schneider.
Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News first reported Woodward’s dismissal.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Rangers Recall Yerry Rodriguez
The Rangers have called up right-hander Yerry Rodriguez to the majors for the first time. The 24-year-old will take the roster spot of left-hander Matt Moore, who was placed on the paternity list.
Even if it’s only for a cup of coffee in the majors while Moore is away, Rodriguez is now on pace to make his MLB debut. He has been a member of the Rangers’ 40-man roster since the 2020-21 offseason, and the former international signing is in his sixth season of pro ball.
MLB Pipeline ranks Rodriguez as the 24th-best prospect in the Texas farm system, citing his ” deceptive delivery with a flat approach angle and the athleticism to repeat it consistently.” His fastball and changeup both received 55 grades on the 20-80 scouting scale, though Pipeline’s scouting report notes that since Rodriguez moved to mostly full-time bullpen work this season, he has used his changeup less often than a slider, with shaky results.
Over 42 2/3 innings at Triple-A this year, Rodriguez has a 4.43 ERA and a 28.6% strikeout rate. The righty has been able to consistently generate strikeouts on his way up the minor league ladder, but his control has suddenly become an issue, with his walk rate spiking to 13.6% this year. That problem will surely have to be corrected if Rodriguez is going to be part of the conversation for a bullpen role in 2023, but the Texas coaching staff will get an opportunity for a first-hand look at the youngster in the coming days.
Rangers, Tyler Duffey Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rangers are signing reliever Tyler Duffey to a minor league contract, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The veteran righty was released by the Twins earlier this week. Darren Wolfson of SKOR North adds (on Twitter) that Duffey’s deal comes with multiple opt-out opportunities.
Duffey had spent a decade in the Minnesota organization, entering pro ball as a fifth-round pick in 2012. He reached the majors three years later, initially struggling as a starting pitcher before finding success upon moving to the bullpen. Duffey broke out in 2019, when he posted a 2.50 ERA through 57 2/3 innings. That came with a stellar 34.5% strikeout percentage and a tiny 5.9% walk rate, kicking off a three-year run in which he was quietly one of the better high-leverage relievers in the league.
The Rice product pitched to a sterling 1.88 ERA during 22 appearances in the abbreviated 2020 season, followed by a 3.18 mark over last year’s full schedule. Duffey’s strikeout and walk numbers went in the wrong direction last season, but that still marked a third straight solid campaign. He posted a 2.69 ERA over 144 innings between 2019-21, striking out 29.8% of batters faced while holding the opposition to a .200/.273/.316 slash line.
Minnesota surely hoped for more of the same this season, but Duffey hasn’t been able to consistently get on track in 2022. He owns a 4.91 ERA across 44 innings with a 21.1% strikeout rate that is well below the marks he’s posted in his best seasons. He’s also surrendered eight home runs and generated swinging strikes at an 11.1% clip that, while around the 11.7% league average for relievers, is about four points lower than Duffey’s 2019-20 peak. He’d allowed runs in three of his four most recent appearances before Minnesota let him go.
There’s no downside for the Rangers in taking a shot to see if Duffey can recapture his pre-2022 form. The Twins remain on the hook for the rest of his $3.8MM salary, and Texas would only owe him the prorated portion of the $700K league minimum if he makes the big league roster. (That’d be subtracted from the Twins payments). The 31-year-old is headed to free agency at the end of the season regardless, but he’ll be a late-season depth option for a Texas bullpen that ranks 11th in the majors with a 3.71 ERA.