The Rangers announced this evening that left-hander Danny Duffy and outfielders Clint Frazier* and Travis Jankowski have signed minor league deals with non-roster invitations to big league camp. Texas also confirmed previously-reported minor league deals for Reyes Moronta and Ian Kennedy.
Duffy is the most notable addition as a 12-year MLB veteran. A longtime starter with the Royals, he was a key part of Kansas City’s pennant-winning clubs in 2014-15 (put together by former Royals GM and current Texas special advisor Dayton Moore). Duffy was at his best during the first of those two seasons, when he provided Kansas City 149 1/3 innings of 2.53 ERA ball over 31 outings.
The veteran hurler posted mid-rotation production through 2017 before a trio of 4.00-plus ERA showings in 2018-20. He looked on his way to a bounceback in 2021, working to a personal-best 2.51 mark in 61 innings during the season’s first half. Duffy unfortunately then hit the injured list with a flexor strain in his forearm. The Dodgers acquired him at that summer’s deadline while he was on the shelf with an eye towards a late-season return. Duffy had a setback and didn’t pitch for Los Angeles before hitting free agency.
Over the offseason, Duffy underwent surgery that was expected to sideline him into June. The Dodgers nevertheless rolled the dice again, signing him to a $3MM deal with a 2023 club option. The hope was he would return as a reliever for the second half while building back to a starter’s workload for the following season. Yet again, those plans were dashed by a summer setback that ended his season. The Dodgers declined his option and sent him back to the open market.
While he spent a year and a half with the L.A. organization, Duffy has never thrown an MLB pitch for a team other than the Royals. He and the Rangers will look to change that in 2023, though he’ll first have to earn his way back onto an MLB roster. Duffy hasn’t appeared in an MLB game since July 2021 and has just 117 1/3 innings over the last three seasons thanks to the abbreviated 2020 schedule and his recent injuries. That raises an obvious question about how large a workload he can shoulder, with a relief or hybrid starter role perhaps under consideration. Regardless of the specific goal the organization has in mind, there’s obvious appeal in bringing in a respected veteran with a career 3.95 ERA in 234 MLB outings to gauge his form in Spring Training.
Frazier, now 28, was the fifth overall pick of the 2013 draft by Cleveland. Lauded for his electric bat speed and significant power potential, the right-handed hitter was traded to the Yankees as a prospect. He appeared among Baseball America’s list of the 50 most talented minor leaguers in 2014, ’16 and ’17. Frazier got off to a solid start, albeit in sporadic playing time, over his first four years with the Yankees.
Between his MLB debut late in 2017 and the end of the shortened season, he tallied 589 plate appearances across 160 games. In the rough equivalent of one full season, Frazier hit 32 doubles and 24 home runs with a .258/.331/.475 line. Despite some defensive miscues and a higher than average propensity for strikeouts, he looked like a potential regular right fielder thanks to his power and plate discipline.
Things have gone downhill over the past two campaigns though. Frazier limped to a .186/.317/.317 line across 218 plate appearances for the Yankees in 2021. He walked at a massive 14.7% clip but only connected on five home runs. More concerning than his on-field struggles, Frazier battled symptoms of vertigo and missed the season’s second half. The Yankees released him at the end of that year.
Frazier inked a $1.5MM contract with the Cubs at the start of last offseason. He only got into 19 MLB games, missing some time with appendicitis. The Cubs designated him for assignment in mid-June. Frazier went unclaimed on waivers and spent the rest of the year at Triple-A Iowa on an outright assignment. He had a disastrous .190/.283/.302 showing with an untenable 34.7% strikeout percentage in 66 games there before hitting minor league free agency.
Texas will hope that a change of scenery can help him rediscover some of his early-career success. Frazier still has a minor league option year remaining, meaning the Rangers could send him back to Triple-A Round Rock even if he lands a 40-man roster spot at some point.
Jankowski, 31, has played for five different clubs while suiting up at the major league level in each of the past eight seasons. A left-handed hitter, he’s walked at a quality 10.4% clip against an average 22.6% strikeout rate in his career. Jankowski’s solid strike zone awareness has been negated by a lack of power, as he’s connected on just nine homers in a little more than 1200 plate appearances.
The Stony Brooks product has gotten a decent amount of run as a speed and defense oriented depth outfielder despite lacking much offensive punch. He played in 44 games last season (all but one of those as a member of the Mets), primarily as a defensive substitute and pinch runner. Jankowski has stolen 72 bases in 470 career games and can play all three outfield spots. Public defensive metrics have graded him positively at all three positions, making him a potential center field depth option behind Leody Taveras in Arlington.
* While Frazier played the 2022 season under the name Jackson Frazier, the Rangers announced his signing as Clint Frazier in their press release.
I just mentioned Danny was available on the other Duffy signing page and here he is. Excellent! Now, add Britton and spend on one good guy like Moore/Chafin/Hand and you are set for pitching. Only a left fielder with an OPS above .550 would remain.
Three Duffy signings in one day (Tyler, Matt, Clint(Jackson); This has to be a record of some sort.
oops. Danny.
I don’t see Duffy as Jackson’s middle name on Bref. Please explain.
Disregard. I thought you were saying Jackson Duffy. Matt Duffy, Danny Duffy, and Tyler Duffy. Imagine 1 team signing all of them on the same day and playing them in the same game!
This was FIVE solid no risk signings for the Rangers, yet each of these guys will likely help and contribute during the upcoming season in some kind of way.
These are the type of solid, under the radar moves that help playoff teams fight through injuries, because they’ve added some solid depth at the AAA level…
Goof for the Rangers and for their fans…Wish the Braves would have taken a chance on some of these guys, there’s absolutely zero downside..
While these are the type of under the radar moves that playoff teams make, don’t worry. Texas will find them helpful, as well.
Lol, yeah Duffy is a long shot at best. It’s not the fact that it’s been a few years since he was solid, it’s the comeback #4 at his stage of his career that’s worrysom. Good luck to him, but I don’t see it.
Agreed Frazier especially has a solid career ahead of him if he can stop the injuries and get an extended look at MLB pitching. He made a few gaffs defensively in NY but he is actually a solid corner OF. The injuries just have to stop. I am surprised to see Danny Duffy signing a minor league deal. Texas must be his preferred spot because surely someone would take the risk on his upside for such a small salary. They would be smart to put him in the pen where his fastball will pick up a bit of speed. He should be fine in high leverage situations and probably won’t lobby for saves like other relievers. He will surely have an eye on a rotation spot in 24. They are gonna require a bit of luck but Texas is starting to look like they could give Houston a headache next year. For these signings alone Chris Young deserves a nice title bump.
Duffy and Frazier are great signings. Either one has the potential to return to form and make a major contribution. Nothing to lose with these signings.
Is Clint Frazier currently in Witness Protection under an assumed name?
His official name is Jackson, according to Bref. Let’s go back to calling Giancarlo Stanton Mike Stanton now.
No one cares what little ginger hipster boy Clint wants tho. He’s a cry baby.
That isn’t even primarily a racist comment towards white people. I think people tend to get carried away with race sometimes.
Yup, he’s definitely a crybaby for sure. He definitely has the talent to succeed though. Whether he’s Clint or Jackson it really doesn’t matter. I wish him my best to stay healthy and to perform on the ML level.
He should be. He robbed the Cubs of a million dollars.
One million divided by 20 is a hell of a lot of Jackson’s.
When somebody points a gun at you and takes your wallet, they’re robbing you.
When a player accepts a contract from a franchise that they offer him of their own free will, he’s not robbing anybody.
That’s Jackson Frazier to you.
Mr. Jackson if you’re nasty?
I’m sorry, Ms. Jackson.
I am for real!
Legendary bat speed……… allegedly
Junk yard Frazier
Now they can flip Frazier for a teams best pitcher and maybe another prospect?
Now they can trade Frazier to the Yankees for all their best players. Just like the Yankees always thought they could do.
“Just like the Yankees always thought.” I mean the fans thought but not the front office. But go on.
Urban legend.
so generic and outdated.
First Matt Duffy earlier, now Danny Duffy tonight. You know what that means, right? RIP Patrick Duffy.
Tyler duffey
I’d rather have Buffy.
All really good depth adds
Isn’t it Jackson Frazier now?
Jankowski seems to always end up seeing big league time somewhere. They could do worse for depth. Frazier seems like a good guy. I feel for him in a way..he had so much hype and couldn’t live up to it. His time with my cubs was awful. I wish him the best. Duffy may end up being the best pickup of the three though.
Easily! I wanted him last offseason, along with Kennedy. It looks like they did get those guys for cheaper by waiting a year.
Definitely. If Frazier puts it together u never know..u may end up with an outfielder..probably a stretch but stranger things have happened.
I meant I wanted Duffy last offseason, not Frazier.
I had a lot of hope for Jackson throughout his Yankees tenure. He took a huge step forward in 2020 with a .905 OPS and being a finalist for the Gold Glove (and yes it was in limited action during the pandemic year) but he obviously wasn’t right in 2021 and it’s been downhill since. If things did go right for him he could have solved the LF problem for the Yankees, for a few years at least. . .
Anyway I hope he does well with the Rangers and finds some success. He seems like a good guy and it would be great if he could get healthy and thrive somewhere.
And remember this is the player that Brian Cashman coined the term “legendary bat speed” for when he was acquired in 2016.
that concussion really out him through the ringer
Yeah, Jankowski is a pretty decent 4th/5th OF option. He’s fast and unlike someone like Billy Hamilton, can put up a respectable OBP. 2021 he had a .364 mark, and in both 2016 and 2018, had an above average OBP.
Janikowski has three things important in a ball player these days: speed, defense and flow.
Correction: Duffy’s personal best ERA is actually 1.85, not 2.51
Duffey can deal like few can. Kinda I mean he’s really good if maybe He’s hurt some.
Dayton Moore/Chris Young connection for sure.
Clint goes by Jackson now.
We all seem to get caught up in name recognition…me included…when it comes to these types of deals. Danny Duffy is a name – also an injury rehab gamble but there is a reason that he hasn’t done squadoosh for the last 3 or 4 years…the arm is a war zone. Jankowski might be the best signing of all of them, as he is a useful 5th OF type that fits the AAAA profile on the higher end. Duffy and Frazier are simply rolls of the dice and no one on here has a clue whether they will have a pulse.
I have followed this game for a number of decades, and one thing that I have learned is that there is only so much that we can know about the current potential with most of the players that are out there. Willie Mays? You know what you have from his track record and the statistics have more merit. Clayton Kershaw? You know what you are buying, even if you have to allow for injury downtime. But most of the lesser lights, the only way to have an informed opinion is to watch the tape…see them perform live and in workouts…understand the medicals…and do so with a scout’s eye as well. And even if you have all of that, it is still a very fraught business…judging future athletic performance.
A high % of fans on here hit the Baseball Reference page for a minute or two; peek at Fangraphs and PECOTA and then explain to everyone in their expert option what a great deal this is…
How do you explain scouts’ eye test failing miserably for Frazier and many other top prospects? Numbers really don’t lie, but the eye test often does.
Numbers bend the truth
For scouting, even though there are numbers, the eye test is fairly important. When you’re looking at college and especially high school kids, you’re looking for skills that will translate to the big leagues. Most of the time, an 18 year old is so far off from the big leagues. The difference between amateur and professional level is like the grand canyon. Now sure, some numbers can back that up. I think for batters, looking at their whiff rate and chase rate are important. If they have trouble catching up to stuff at an amateur level, they’ll get absoutley decimated at even A-Ball. For pitchers, I think it’s worth looking at similar stats. How often are they fooling other batters? Location is important too, but that’s what the eye-test is for. See how often they’re hitting their mark the catcher sets up.
@DGT – After reading your comment and the blanket assumptions that you made, it is not worth the time to try to explain. The gap is just too wide to bridge in the time allotted.
Perhaps if you didn’t try to be such an “expert” on every team and every player and spend every waking moment on here, you would get the chance to go to some games every now and then, and perhaps even learn how to play catch.
Sorry to be snippy, but your games on here really bore me. I apologize for reacting here a bit…I am sure that you are a nice kid and all…but please relax on here. Your constant chatter about who you are, your stalker account(s) and the pretense of real expertise in great gobs of quantities of posts on every thread. It is really OK to now know everything…
“not” know everything
I have a weird feeling the Rangers will (somewhat) fix Frazier and he becomes a mini-Josh Hamilton come back player for them. I know Hamilton had way way way way way more raw talent and his struggles were very different, but a lot at the root was psychological in nature and the same can be said for Clint/Jackson Frazier, including the effects of the concussions, but maybe the Rangers can instill some confidence and mental stability as well as keep him physically healthy in a way where he can realize his potential.
Maybe not borderline MVP candidate potential like with Hamilton, but at least consistent valuable major league player on their way to a $13M-$20M a year free agent contract or extension after a few years of consistent playing and reliability.
Unless the concussions have just done him in….
His issue is maturity. Reminds me of Gregg Jeffries. Tons of talent but lacks focus on the field.
I’m sorry, Ms. Jackson, ooh, I am for real
Didn’t Clint Frazier have some foot-in-mouth time with the Yankees? Remind me about that.
I put this in another post. Reminds me of Gregg Jeffries. All the talent in the world but makes headlines for maturity and off the field whining rather then on the field.
Danny Duffy is a great pickup. Could easily make the team and be a solid innings eater.
The player formerly known was Jackson Frazier.
Frazier needs to go back to Clint. Reminds me of Dustin Fowler, who is out of baseball at 27? What happen to that guy
He’s a AAAA player, plain and simple. He’s been great in AAA.
The trifecta of Duff(e)y’s is complete, and all in one day!.
Lots of LF AB’s to give, maybe Texas is where Clint (Jackson, or whatever the hell he’s calling himself right now) Frazier finally breaks out
Frazier needs to decide which name to go with when he’s elected to the Hall of Fame.
The commissioner’s office decides.
If baseball had a gym rat, it would be Travis Jankowski.
Wish the Padres would of picked up Jankowski. For a minor league deal, he is a steal.
Any team should wish he joins their AAA
It’s not “Stony Brooks,” it’s Stony Brook.
That’s some high octane depth without the turbo
Three very solid Minor League signings.
Duffy was semi elite for a few years and was very good in 12 starts in 2021. Jankowski and Frazier are very good minor league depth pieces. Frazier is the poster boy for the Yankees holding on to their prospects way too long. There was a time a few short years ago when they could’ve gotten a kings ransom if they had traded him.
It’s a shame that changing Clint Fraziers name to Jackson didn’t help him stop from sucking at an unprecedented level
Padres are blowing it. This is needed depth!
Does anyone else skip the history lesson with these articles? Anyone who follows baseball is relatively familiar with well-known players’ past performances. Do we really need a few paragraphs every time on what guys did in 2007 and how they performed well in their 2014-16 seasons?
I know, if I don’t like it, I don’t have to use the site, but I actually love the site and the work they do. I’m just wondering if anyone else skips over the early stuff to get to the news and how they’ve done lately.
There are 30 MLB teams. That the writers here don’t take for granted that everyone reading their articles is familiar with every player on every franchise makes sense to me. I appreciate the history lessons.
Randy Miller of NJ.com took the opportunity to kick Frazier when he’s down — again — with a particularly snide, mean-spirited column today.
Someone should remind Miller that nothing Frazier ever said or did was as nasty as his own gratuitous bashing of a struggling player whose promising career was beset with debilitating injuries, and nothing Miller ever did competes with making it to the majors and producing a 150 OPS+ as Frazier did in 2020. In fact, Frazier’s 104 OPS+ in his five seasons in pinstripes is above league average, which is an accomplishment, considering his physical problems.
Because of all the crap thrown at Frazier by the likes of Miller in the New York press, I hope all the more that Frazier can rebound and shut them up.
Off their duff
Rangers sign Danny and Royals sign Matt at about the same time.