Rangers Claim Phil Gosselin From Pirates
The Rangers have claimed utilityman Phil Gosselin from the Pirates and optioned him to Triple-A Round Rock. They’ve also outrighted infielder Tyler Smith to Round Rock.
The Pirates acquired Gosselin in a minor trade this spring after the Diamondbacks designated him for assignment. Gosselin has split his time between Pittsburgh and Triple-A Indianapolis this season, batting just .150/.190/.175 in limited duty in the big leagues and .266/.304/.336 at Triple-A. He can be optioned, but he doesn’t really play shortstop, giving him somewhat limited utility as a bench piece, and the Pirates likely thought he was expendable with the addition of Sean Rodriguez last week. The 28-year-old Gosselin has shown a bit of offensive ability in parts of five seasons in the big leagues, batting .272/.320/.368.
The Rangers claimed the 26-year-old Smith from the Mariners late last month. He’s hit .237/.326/.342 at the Triple-A level this season and has mostly played shortstop. He collected three hits in brief big-league duty with Seattle earlier this year.
Rangers Claim Tyler Smith Off Waivers
Infielder Tyler Smith, who was designated for assignment by the Mariners last week, was claimed off waivers today by the Rangers, according to an announcement from the Mariners.
Smith, 26, made his Major League debut with the Mariners this summer and appeared in 10 games, though he totaled just 19 plate appearances with a .188/.263/.250 slash in that minuscule sample. The second baseman/shortstop was hitting .239/.330/.347 with six homers and four steals through 330 PAs with Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma this season and figures to serve as infield depth in the upper minors with Texas for the time being.
Mariners Designate Tyler Smith For Assignment
The Mariners announced today that infielder Tyler Smith has been designated for assignment to clear a spot on the roster for right-hander Cody Martin, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Tacoma. Seattle also optioned righty Andrew Moore to Tacoma and recalled right-hander Casey Lawrence.
Smith, 26, made his Major League debut with the Mariners this summer and appeared in 10 games, though he totaled just 19 plate appearances with a .188/.263/.250 slash in that minuscule sample. The second baseman/shortstop was hitting .239/.330/.347 with six homers and four steals through 330 PAs with Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma at the time of his DFA.
As for Martin, he’ll rejoin the Mariners’ 40-man roster outrighted back in January. Seattle claimed Martin, 27, off waivers from the division-rival A’s in 2015, and he tossed 25 2/3 innings for them in 2016 before being removed from the 40-man roster this offseason. Through 28 1/3 innings out of the Tacoma bullpen, Martin has a 3.81 ERA with an impressive 11.8 K/9 mark against 2.5 BB/9. After logging a 47.1 percent ground-ball rate with the Mariners last year, he’s been an extreme fly-ball pitcher in 2017, inducing grounders at just a 29.7 percent clip in Tacoma.