Tuesday Newsletter time: Rangers roster cleanup is just business, but still has some sting to it
Ronald Guzman has been with the Rangers organization since 2011 but is one of three minor-league free agents free to go elsewhere.
The business side of baseball often isn’t pleasant, and such was the case last week as the Texas Rangers reinstated players from the 60-day injured list.
Spots had to first be cleared from the 40-man roster, but the Rangers didn’t want to fill it back up because of the upcoming crush of minor-leaguers who will be added Nov. 19 to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.
Among all the moves, the decisions to clear out Ronald Guzman, Curtis Terry, Anderson Tejeda and Joe Palumbo were the toughest to take for those who have closely followed the organization the past 10 years.
It’s nothing personal. Just business.
That’s not to say the moved didn’t make sense. Guzman, a big first baseman, was on the 60-day IL with a knee injury, and Palumbo, a left-hander, hasn’t been able to stay healthy.
Tejeda has all kinds of tools, but he had a terrible 2021 season. Terry is a feel-good development story in the organization, but he’s limited to only first base and didn’t show well in his first stint in the majors.
Palumbo is gone after being drafted in 2013. He was claimed on waivers by the San Francisco Giants. The other three could very well be gone, as they became six-year minor-league free agents after clearing waivers and being assigned outright to the minors.
The Rangers will attempt to work out a minor-league deal with at least one of them, a source said. It seems reasonable to believe the Rangers would have an easier time re-signing Terry and would want to re-sign Tejeda in hopes of fixing his woes.
It might not make as sense to re-sign Guzman, who is below Nathaniel Lowe on the depth chart at first base. Guzman was injured playing left field. His defense at first is excellent, but his bat hasn’t been good enough and likely didn’t get better as he recovered from knee surgery.
If he heads elsewhere, it would end a 10-year run with the Rangers, who signed him in 2011 along with Nomar Mazara as part of a ballyhooed international class. Guzman is also a good person, who would be missed on a personal level.
That’s the unpleasant side of the business of baseball.
Adolis left out
The Sporting News’ choice for American League Rookie of the Year, Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia, won’t even sniff the award handed out by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Garcia is not one of the three finalists for the award, who were revealed Monday night. The winner — either Houston Astros right-hander Luis Garcia, Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena or Rays shortstop Wander Franco — will be announced next Monday.
That trio played at a high level for playoff teams, so maybe that hurt Garcia as he played for the 102-loss Rangers. His second-half production also declined sharply after making the AL All-Star team with a strong first half.
Garcia finished with 31 homers and 90 RBIs and led all AL rookies in STATS, Inc., WAR, but he batted only .243 overall with a .286 on-base percentage. However, he was the eighth rookie in MLB history with at least 30 homers, 80 RBIs and 10 steals.
The previous seven were named AL Rookie of the Year.
His outstanding defense, which didn’t not result in Gold Glove as he split time at two positions, apparently wasn’t taken into consideration by voters.
An argument can be made that he wasn’t the best rookie in 2021, but it’s hard to say he wasn’t one of the three best.
Mixed predictions
The fine people at mlbtraderumors.com have made their annual predictions about where the top 50 free agents will end up, and they have a couple split decisions about the Rangers.
Staff writers Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams and Anthony Franco agree that the Rangers will sign a free-agent shortstop and outfielder, but they don’t necessarily agree on which ones.
On the shortstop front, Adams has the Rangers signing Trevor Story to a five-year, $126 million contract. Dierkes and Franco have them signing Javier Baez for five years and $100 million, which would not cost the Rangers draft-pick compensation.
Dierkes has the Rangers signing outfielder Nick Castellanos to a five-year, $115 million deal, but Adams and Franco have them signing Japanese import Seiya Suzuki for five years and $55 million (plus another $10,125,000 in posting fees).
Suzuki would not cost draft-pick compensation.
The biggest surprise is that Dierkes and Adams predict that the Rangers will sign left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who lives in Dallas and is close to Rangers general manager Chris Young.
The price tag: $20 million on a one-year deal. Kershaw was not tendered a qualifying offer, so the Rangers could sign him without surrendering a draft pick.
It’s going to be like this all offseason.
Doggy video!
I know I’ve done a dog-Frisbee video previously, but this one takes the cake. The pup’s name is Sailor, and the dude throwing is 13-time Frisbee world champion Rob McLeod. Enjoy. See you Wednesday.
Truly think Guzman gave what he could. If injury can’t be overcome to allow him to progress, sad. He would be a great presence in dugout. Wish him the best.
Bennie stated what encapsulated the anxiety of the fans, people making Rangers decisions, whether with money or not have a proven record as does the team results.