MONDAY: Kirkman was placed on outright waivers shortly after being designated for assignment, and the Rangers will learn tomorrow whether he has been claimed, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
FRIDAY: The Rangers have claimed backstop Chris Gimenez off of waivers from the Athletics, reports Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com (via Twitter). To create roster space, lefty Michael Kirkman was designated for assignment.
The 31-year-old Gimenez provides yet another depth option for a Texas club that just inked Chris Snyder after losing Geovany Soto to start the year. Gimenez most recently saw MLB time with the Rays, but has never stepped up to the plate more than 130 times in any of his five MLB stints. In Triple-A last year, Gimenez hit .224/.350/.305 in 375 plate appearances, though he had much better numbers (.310/.389/.483 in 301 plate appearances) the year prior.
Kirkman, 27, has failed to maintain his form consistently at the MLB level, going from a 1.65 ERA in 16 1/3 innings (2010) to a 6.59 ERA in 27 1/3 (2011), 3.82 ERA in 35 1/3 (2012), and finally to a 8.18 ERA in 22 innings last year. His peripherals reveal a struggle with throwing strikes, as he has struck out 8.9 per nine over his career but walked 4.8 batters for every nine frames thrown.
