Texas Rangers Make a Flurry of Roster Moves, Position Battles Still Undecided

ARLINGTON, Texas — With Opening Day rapidly approaching, the Texas Rangers have begun to make roster moves to get down to the 30 men that will open the season on July 24 against the Colorado Rockies at Globe Life Field.

The best news of the day is LHP Brett Martin has been cleared to participate in team workouts. He will remain on the COVID-IL while he works his way back physically to rejoin the team. There is not a minimum or maximum number of days a player has to serve on the COVID-IL.

On Sunday, the Rangers assigned five players that have already been optioned to alternate camp across the street:

INF Sherten Apostel
RHP Demarcus Evans
RHP Ariel Jurado
RHP Tyler Phillips
INF Anderson Tejeda

The Rangers also assigned 14 non-roster players assigned to the alternate camp:

RHP Cody Allen
C Nick Ciuffo
C Tim Federowicz
RHP Luis García
RHP Wei-Chien Huang
C Sam Huff
INF Andy Ibáñez
INF Josh Jung
RHP Derek Law
RHP Juan Nicasio
INF Yadiel Rivera
RHP Alex Speas
C Blake Swihart
OF Eli White (oblique injury)

The Rangers now have 38 players in camp that will have to be cut down to 30 this week. Here is a positional breakdown of those 38 players and what to look for in the days ahead.

Pitchers (20)

Locks (11)

RHP Jesse Chavez
RHP Luke Farrell
RHP Kyle Gibson
RHP Nick Goody
RHP Jonathan Hernández
RHP Corey Kluber
RHP José Leclerc
RHP Jordan Lyles
RHP Lance Lynn
LHP Mike Minor
RHP Edinson Vólquez

Possibilities (7)

LHP Kolby Allard
LHP Wes Benjamin*
RHP Ian Gibaut*
LHP Taylor Hearn
RHP Jimmy Herget*
LHP Yohander Méndez
LHP Joe Palumbo

Out (2)

RHP Rafael Montero (behind in throwing program)
LHP Joely Rodríguez (lat muscle strain)

* — non-roster players

Analysis: Vólquez has already been told he's on the roster. That means the Rangers only have room to add one more non-roster player before they have to start clearing spots on the 40-man roster and risk losing players to waivers.

The Rangers have no lefties in the 11 locks above for the bullpen. Hearn is a strong candidate, along with Allard and/or Palumbo. Wes Benjamin has been very impressive throughout camp. Gibaut and Herget have also shown very well.

The players on the 40-man roster may have the upper hand as the Rangers want to limit the risk of losing players.

Catchers (3)

Locks (2)

Robinson Chirinos
Jeff Mathis

Possibilities (1)

Jose Trevino

Analysis: All signs right now are pointing to Robinson Chirinos being on the roster for Opening Day. Unless he has a setback, the Rangers will likely not put Chirinos on the 10-day IL to nurse his ankle injury.

The Rangers have talked from the beginning of camp about carrying three catchers from the start of the season. Nothing is official on that front. Obviously Chirinos' health will play a factor, but Trevino has done more than enough in the eyes of Chris Woodward to earn a roster spot. If the Rangers decide on two catchers, it's because they have other needs to address elsewhere on the roster.

Infield (6)

Locks (4)

Elvis Andrus
Todd Frazier
Isiah Kiner-Falefa
Rougned Odor

Possibilities (2)

Greg Bird*
Ronald Guzmán

* — non-roster players

Analysis: This comes down to Bird and Guzmán. Rangers manager Chris Woodward was asked today about them. Here's his quote in full:

"I was kind of hopeful one of them would take it and run with it. As it stands right now, nobody has been able to distance themselves. Clearly we need a first baseman. I feel confident with Frazier over there. If either one of those pick it up a little bit, they could find themselves kind of taking on that rile. Especially with the left-handed bat. We need that. It’s unfortunate. I know both of them are trying too hard. Bird seems to be a little better. Guzman is really working to try and figure some things out. But that’s going to take some time. But Bird has been hitting the ball hard the last three or four games. I feel for them because I know they are both good kids and trying hard to make the team. It’s just not showing up."

That sounds like Bird has the upper hand. Guzmán has a minor league option, so the Rangers can option him to the alternate camp without having to put him through waivers (it's the equivalent of being optioned to the minor leagues in a normal year). There's yet to be an official word from the club on either player making the team.

Outfield (9)

Locks

Shin-Soo Choo
Joey Gallo
Danny Santana
Nick Solak

Possibilities

Willie Calhoun
Adolis Garcia
Scott Heineman
Rob Refsnyder*
Leody Taveras

* — non-roster players

Analysis: The only reason Calhoun is a possibility and not a lock is his injury. In the span of only a couple days, Calhoun went from almost certainly starting on the 10-day IL to potentially starting on the roster. It all depends on how his recovery progresses this week. He participated in the simulated game on Sunday afternoon and took several at-bats, which is a great sign.

For the remaining possibilities, it depends on how many outfielders and pitchers the Rangers want to have on the roster. They've talked about having anywhere between 14-16 pitchers on the roster, which of course affects how many position players make the team.

The bottom line is Garcia, Heineman, Refsnyder, and Taveras have all had great camps thus far. Heineman has been the most impressive based on Chris Woodward's pre- and post-game Zoom calls. The Rangers will be deciding now how many of these outfielders will best contribute for the first two weeks of the season before the roster is cut down to 28.

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