The Dodgers have traded recently designated-for-assignment righty Josh Sborz to the Rangers, reports Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). The Rangers announced the move quickly after that initial report, revealing that they’ll send minor league righty Jhan Zambrano to L.A. in return. Fellow right-hander Jimmy Herget was designated for assignment by the Rangers in order to create roster space for Sborz.
Sborz, 27, lost his roster spot when the Dodgers made their three-year deal with reigning NL Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer official. He’s seen action in the Majors in both 2019 and 2020, pitching to a combined 6.08 ERA and 5.14 SIERA in a tiny sample of 13 1/3 innings.
On the minor league side, Sborz has had a bit more success, logging a 4.55 ERA in 87 Triple-A frames. That mark still isn’t especially eye-catching, but it’s come in a decisively hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League setting. Furthermore, Sborz’s 30.5 percent strikeout rate and 7.7 percent walk rate in Triple-A both give a bit more reason for optimism.
Sborz, a 2015 Competitive Balance draft selection (Round B), has a mid-90s heater with an average or better slider and, perhaps most importantly, a minor league option remaining. He’ll compete for a job in the Texas bullpen this spring and will head to Triple-A to serve as a depth piece if he can’t crack the Opening Day roster.
Texas will have a week to trade the 27-year-old Herget, attempt to run him through outright waivers or simply release him. The right-hander posted a 3.20 ERA in 19 2/3 innings with Texas last year, though the fact that he walked 14 of the 87 batters he faced and plunked another two suggests that he’s not likely to repeat that level of success over a larger sample of work.
Zambrano, 19, tossed 60 innings with the Rangers’ affiliates in the Dominican Summer League in 2019, notching a 2.55 ERA with 52 punchouts and 16 walks. He didn’t pitch in 2020 due to the lack of a minor league season and doesn’t rank among the organization’s top prospects.
Sboring.
Lol.
Turning nothing into something I like it.
The BIG Z is back !!
Can I get a whoop de doo…
Does anyone know why the PCL is so hitter friendly? Aside from Arizona and Colorado it seems all the big league west coast stadiums are pitcher friendly?
Not just Arizona and Colorado but you have Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Albuquerque too.
And Reno, 4500 feet above sea level here.
Don’t forget Winona.
Rider? Forgot all about her until her Super Bowl commercial came on
Vegas infields, Colorado and Albuquerque launchpads
There hasn’t been a Colorado team in the PCL the past couple of years.
It’s likelythe overall quality of the pitching.
Smaller ball parks and warmer, lower humidity weather makes the balls travel further.
Did you really read what you wrote before posting it, robertk? The ball travels the same distance in smaller parks as it does in larger ones, so it’s either an extra base hit or a long fly out. But weather, as well as day/night is very much a factor.
Actually, you are the one who should read before reacting. The question to which I was responding asked why there were so many more home runs in that league. I said that balls traveled further in smaller parks. However, there will be more home runs in smaller parks, right? Moreover, the league has ballparks in high altitude areas and in areas where the weather is warmer and the humidity lower. Check the science. The ball will travel further in higher altitudes, warmer climates, and lower humidity. Each of the factors I listed is correct regarding why there are more home runs i the league..
Friedman keeps getting assets for not needed spare parts. Best exec in the sport and its not close.
You can buy lottery tickets for a dollar but that doesn’t mean you’re going to win.
Can’t win it if you’re not in it. I’ll take the chance on a 19 year decent rookie ball numbers for a player that had no place on the team.
It’s a trade. Both teams got something that helped their particular situations. The Rangers got someone they can use in their bullpen right away and the Dodgers got a lottery ticket that might pay off in 3-4 years or maybe never.
Friedman is indeed great but if you think it’s an insult to “mask up” during a historically terrible pandemic in which that’s the # 1 way to catch the deadly virus, you might need to rethink things a bit, unless “masking up” belief is about wearing Silver Shamrock masks from Halloween III in which case you’re exactly right, that’s a terrible idea 😛
He’s a troll. If he can’t respond to your point he goes for the random insults.
I remember watching Josh pitch in high school during his senior season, he was flat out nasty.
Was pretty cool to see someone that you saw play in high school make it to the bigs.
Well at least he got a ring last season and maybe a chance to pitch more for the Rangers.
Do the Rangers have the pieces to get a May or Gonsolin? Something more significant
And why would the Dodgers trade either player? This is why LAD is one of if not the best franchise in mlb (makes me sick to even type that). They develop guys, and don’t trade them for the sake of trading. They can afford them, so they hold on to them. Depth is important. May and Gonsolin are pieces for 2021 and beyond…they are not going anywhere.
I think their hand is going to be forced on May and Gonsolin pretty soon. They cleared space in the bullpen for both of them in the short term but both should be starting and neither of them should be pitching in the minors. With a couple more starters coming up something will have to give eventually. The only way I can see that changing is if one or both are converted to relievers. Could happen.
They won’t be “forced” into anything. They have a plan for every situation, so if one of May or Gonsolin is traded, it’s because it was time. Not because they were “forced.”
Gonsolin was supposed to be a pen guy anyways, so it makes more sense for him to own that role, but if someone’s willing to get fleeced in a trade, Dodgers will do it – happily.
I would prefer May be the pen guy, maybe even the closer. The guy is filthy.
With only two LRP, Alexander and Gonzalez,, I can see using May as the SP5 and moving Urias to the bullpen…. Gonsolin to the minors as a SP replacement when someone is injured . And he will be needed.
Sborz needs to go to the same team as Matt Czszur. Make the local reporters up their spelling game.
WS bound with this move
Did you really read what you wrote before posting it, robertk? The ball travels the same distance in smaller parks as it does in larger ones, so it’s either an extra base hit or a long fly out. But weather, as well as day/night is very much a factor.