Difficult Roster Decisions, Good Problem for Rangers
The Texas Rangers faced a decision when they signed reliever Will Smith to a Major-League contract. The Rangers had to make room on their 40-man roster, meaning designating someone for assignment.
Surprisingly, the Rangers designated infielder/outfielder Mark Mathias. The former Brewers utility player was competing for that same role with the likes of Josh Smith, Ezequiel Duran, Brad Miller and Travis Jankowski. All, like Mathias, have MLB experience.
Mathias was also a player the Rangers liked. But signing Will Smith was a priority.
That’s something the Rangers might have to deal with as the days get closer to Opening Day.
The decisions to get down to 26 players will be hard. General manager Chris Young said it’s made harder by the fact that the Rangers have a deeper roster than a season ago, both on its 40-man roster and among the non-roster invitees that could be pushing for a spot.
“I have to think it’s a great thing,” Young said Monday. “It’s certainly a different spot than we’ve been in the last couple of years.”
A couple of factors have put the Rangers in this position.
First, there was the spending spree on starting pitching. The Rangers signed Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney. They also traded for Jake Odorizzi.
With those additions, plus Jon Gray and Martín Pérez, the Rangers have six veteran starting pitchers, pushing some of last year’s starters — Glenn Otto, Cole Ragans and Spencer Howard — into competition for bullpen roles or even demotions to Triple-A.
Second, the presence of new manager Bruce Bochy doesn’t hurt. The three-time World Champion manager has a reputation that has a bit of a gravitational pull.
Some of his former players from San Francisco have signed non-roster deals to join the team, including reliever Reyes Moronta. Smith also played for Bochy in San Francisco.
Outfielder Robbie Grossman cited Bochy as one of the reasons to sign with Texas. Grossman’s presence has created increased competition in the outfield and pushed other contenders down the depth chart.
The Rangers also have a good portion of last year’s batting order returning, including its top five hitters in last year’s order — Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Nathaniel Lowe, Adolis García and Jonah Heim. Mitch Garver is back and healthy, too.
All of these factors have given the Rangers much more depth in Spring Training — and some difficult decisions ahead.
One could be reliever Josh Sborz. He survived the offseason when the Rangers had to make 40-man roster moves, even though he had an uneven 2022. Young said the Rangers were impressive with his “peripherals” and that he’s in competition for a roster spot.
But Sborz also doesn’t have any minor-league options yet. The Rangers have nowhere to send him if he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster.
“In terms of our 40-man, there’s great competition and that competition is good for a healthy organization,” Young said.
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