Rangers Add Greg Holland, Dan Winkler to Bullpen Mix

SURPRISE, Ariz. — The Texas Rangers added two arms to the bullpen mix, signing Greg Holland and Dan Winkler to minor league contracts. Both deals comes with invites to spring training.

The club announced the signings Wednesday evening. Per source, Holland's deal would pay him $2.1 million on the MLB side while Winkler's would pay him $1 million.

With these signings, the Rangers now have 65 players in camp: 39 on the 40-man roster and 26 non-roster invitees.

Holland, 36, is coming off a season where he posted a 4.35 ERA and 1.35 WHIP with the Kansas City Royals. However, his 57 relief appearances in 2021 were the most since his most recent All-Star season in 2017 (61 appearances).

Holland was one of the game's best relievers from 2011-2017, despite Tommy John surgery costing him his entire 2016 season. He is a three-time All-Star, was named the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year in 2014 and won the National League Comeback Player of the Year in 2017.

Holland has not been able to produce at the same level in the latter stages of his career, but did put up some eye-popping numbers in the truncated 2020 season (1.91 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 28 1/3 innings).

Winkler, 32, has spent the past two seasons with the Chicago Cubs, posting a 5.22 ERA and 1.56 WHIP over 39 2/3 innings and 47 relief appearances in 2021. While those numbers don't jump off the page, his 19-inning scoreless streak from April 4-June 4 was the third-longest by any Cubs pitcher last season.

The Illinois native owned a 2.61 ERA as late as Aug. 7 before allowing three-or-more runs in each of his final three appearances. The Cubs designated him for assignment on Aug. 17.

Winkler has seen Major League action in each of the last seven seasons with the Atlanta Braves from 2015-19 and the Cubs in 2020-21, posting a 3.98 ERA with 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

The Rangers have a pretty good track record of bringing veteran relievers into camp on minor league deals. Most recently, the club did the same with Ian Kennedy, who owned a 2.51 ERA and 1.05 WHIP at last year's trade deadline. The Rangers included him with Kyle Gibson in the trade that brought Spencer Howard to Texas.

Pitching Schedule Set for First Two Games of Cactus League Action

The Rangers begin their 18-game Cactus League schedule on Friday against the Royals at Surprise Stadium. Here is the pitching schedule for the first two games:

Friday vs Kansas City:

LHP Jake Latz
LHP Cody Bradford
RHP Jack Leiter
RHP Matt Bush
RHP Daniel Robert
RHP Jesus Tinoco

Saturday vs Milwaukee:

RHP Dane Dunning
RHP Nick Tropeano
RHP Joe Barlow
RHP Spencer Patton
RHP Josh Sborz
RHP Chase Lee
RHP Justin Anderson

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