RANGERS ACQUIRE GROSSMAN FROM CHISOX

The Texas Rangers have acquired outfielder/DH Robbie Grossman from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for right handed reliever Anthony David Maui La’akea “Bubba” Hoopii-Tuionetoa, the team announced today. To make room for Grossman on the 40 man roster, the Rangers have designated pitcher Kolton Ingram for assignment.

One of the ongoing questions of the offseason was whether the Rangers would go get a veteran OF/DH bat. Texas felt confident that between Wyatt Langford and Justin Foscue, they would be covered. Both Langford and Foscue are on the injured list now — Foscue on the 60 day injured list — and Langford was struggling before he landed on the injured list.

With Josh Jung also on the injured list, the Rangers’ bench currently consists of Andrew Knizner, Travis Jankowski, Davis Wendzel and Jonathan Ornelas. That’s problematic from a depth perspective, and if Ezequiel Duran (currently penciled in as the starting DH) doesn’t start hitting, its also problematic from a lineup perspective.

So the Rangers bring back Grossman, who signed with the Chicago White Sox on Opening Day. Grossman is making $1.5 million base, with another potential $2.5 million in performance bonuses based on plate appearances. Grossman is slashing .211/.329/.268 on the year, though he’s put up a .375/.476/.500 slash line against lefties, after slashing .309/.416/.536 against lefthanded pitchers in 2023. He will most likely face mostly lefties with the Rangers.

So the Rangers get a solid platoon DH who I guess can play the outfield if he has to (but you probably don’t want him to, based on my recollection of his adventures out there last year). The cost? The team’s 2019 30th rounder, Bubba, who has done good work out of the bullpen in the minors the last few years, and who has yet to allow an earned run in 12.1 innings this season at AA Frisco, striking out sixteen and walking four. The 23 year old has been Rule 5 eligible each of the last two years and wasn’t selected, but his performance so far would suggest he would likely need to be added to the 40 man roster this coming offseason.

Do the Rangers make this move if everyone is healthy? Probably not. The absence of Josh Jung, Wyatt Langford and Justin Foscue, though, along with the ongoing lack of production from Ezequiel Duran, created a hole. The Rangers could have proactively gone and gotten Grossman this spring, but they were comfortable with the options they had, and it has come back to bite them.

I also am kind of wondering if this is indicative of greater concerns than we have recognized about Evan Carter’s performance against lefthanded pitching. Carter is now, in his regular season career, 2 for 33 against lefties, with 2 walks and 16 Ks. Bruce Bochy sat Carter against Alex Wood in favor of Ezequiel Duran on Monday. Leody Taveras is also stronger against righthanded pitchers than lefties. It leads one to wonder whether, once Langford returns, we start seeing one of Carter and Leody on the bench against lefties on a regular basis.

As for Kolton Ingram, I’d forgotten about him. He was claimed on waivers a couple of weeks ago from the Mets because the Rangers had an open 40 man roster spot, and always seemed destined to end up back on waivers when the Rangers needed a 40 man roster spot again.

2024-05-08T15:55:34Z dg43tfdfdgfd