White, 25, is a logical pickup for the White Sox. He has had rough results for the past two years but was a top 100 prospect before that. The Sox aren’t expecting to be good anytime soon, with their 2024 season being historically bad. Of the 30 clubs in the league, they are the one best positioned to take a flier and hope for a bounceback. White also has one option year remaining, so he can be kept in Triple-A throughout 2025 as the club gets a close-up look at him.

Drafted by the Rangers with the 55th overall pick in 2018, White’s debut was delayed for a while. Tommy John surgery prevented him from pitching in 2019 and then the minor leagues were wiped out by the pandemic in 2020. But despite that lengthy layoff, he went on to put up some eye-popping numbers once on the hill. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he logged 115 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.42 earned run average. He had a strong 7.5% walk rate and a massive 34.1% strikeout rate.

Going into 2023, he was a consensus top 100 prospect, with Baseball America giving him the #59 spot. The Rangers added him to their 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. But as alluded to earlier, his results have tapered off significantly since then.

He has made his major league debut, which surely wasn’t what he dreamed of. In seven big league frames to this point, he has allowed 13 earned runs, giving him an ugly 16.71 ERA at the moment. His minor league numbers haven’t been great either. He threw 151 1/3 innings for Triple-A Round Rock over 2023 and 2024 with a 5.41 ERA. The Express play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but he also didn’t impress with his 17.4% strikeout rate nor his 11.7% walk rate.

The Rangers did get experimental with White midway through 2024, giving him a shot at a relief role. In his final 13 Triple-A appearances on the year, he logged 18 frames from the bullpen. His 5.50 ERA still wasn’t impressive but he did strike out 25.6% of batters faced in that time.

That wasn’t enough for him to hang onto his roster spot. He was designated for assignment in December and traded to the Reds for cash. He was designated for assignment again in late January and put on waivers, with the Sox passing at that time. Given their record last year, they have top waiver priority, but he was claimed by the Yankees. But since then, the 60-day IL has opened up, which gave Chicago a bit more flexibility to make an addition such as this.

The Sox can bring White into camp and see how things go. Perhaps he can get back on track as a starter or find new life with a move to a relief role. As mentioned, they don’t need to give him a spot on the active roster this year. He still has less than a year of service time, so they could cheaply control him for years to come if things click while he’s on the roster.

It’s possible that the Twins made this move on account of the calendar. Teams around the league can start using the 60-day injured list to open roster spots once pitchers and catchers report to camp. That means it will be harder to pass a player through waivers unclaimed in the coming days, as all clubs open their respective camps. The Twins seemingly tried to open a roster spot just ahead of that unofficial deadline but didn’t succeed.

Headrick, 27, will now join a new club for the first time in his career. He was selected by the Twins in the ninth round of the 2019 draft and worked his way up to the majors. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November of 2022 to keep him out of that year’s Rule 5 draft.

His 2024 was largely wiped out by injury. After just two Triple-A appearances, he landed on the minor league injured list with a forearm strain. He didn’t start a rehab assignment until late August. He finished the year with 19 1/3 innings tossed on the farm and another three in the majors. Prior to that, he seemed like a viable rotation depth option. Over 2022 and 2023, he logged 183 1/3 innings in the minors, mostly as a starter. In that time, he had a 3.88 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate.

After his mostly lost season, the Twins tried to pass him though waivers but the Yankees are intrigued enough that they have grabbed him. It’s possible that they will want Headrick to focus more on relief work. That would be a reflection of his injury-marred 2024 but also the situation in the Bronx. The Yankees have a crowded rotation and are reportedly trying to trade Marcus Stroman. But their bullpen has just one lefty in it right now: 35-year-old groundballer Tim Hill.

Headrick does still have one option remaining, so the Yanks don’t need to guarantee him an active roster spot. But if he’s healthy and pitches well, he could come up and fill a clear need in the bullpen.

White, 25, was just claimed off waivers last week. Once a notable prospect in the Rangers’ system, he was designated for assignment by that club in December. He went to the Reds in a cash deal before then going to the Yankees via waivers.

The past two years have been rough for him. He has a 16.71 ERA in his tiny sample of seven big league innings. His 4.90 ERA in the minors over 2023 and 2024 was better but not great. That was in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but his 18.3% strikeout rate and 11.3% walk rate in that time weren’t great numbers.

Prior to that, White had been one of the top pitching prospects in the league. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he tossed 115 2/3 innings in the minors with a 3.42 ERA, 34.1% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate.

The Yankees will have to trade him or put him on waivers in the coming days. White still has an option year remaining and less than a year of service time. Given his past prospect pedigree and the aforementioned opening of the 60-day IL, some club will likely find a spot for him. DFA limbo can last a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.

Like Shewmake, White is a former top pick — No. 55 overall to the Rangers in 2018 — whose original club has moved on. He ranked among the game’s top-100 prospects head into the 2023 season but has seen his stock tumble in the years since. White posted a 4.22 ERA with a middling 17.2% strikeout rate and 11.9% walk rate in 108 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A in 2023. He spent most of the 2024 campaign back in Triple-A and was tagged for a 5.64 ERA in 99 frames with slightly improved strikeout and walk rates.

The 25-year-old White has pitched in the majors, but with exceeding brevity. He’s tossed a total of seven MLB frames and been clobbered for 13 runs in that time. His velocity ticked up a bit when the Rangers moved him to the bullpen last year, but Baseball America noted in this year’s scouting report on him that his stuff had dropped in general relative to the point at which he was drafted. For a pitcher whose pro debut was delayed for about three years due to Tommy John surgery and the canceled 2020 minor league season, a loss in stuff and step backward in development is unfortunate but not necessarily shocking.

Baseball America also notes that after a midseason grip change, White’s slider sharpened; the Yankees could well be betting on some in-season changes that are obscured by his broader struggles. White still has a minor league option remaining, so they can afford to take a gamble on the former top prospect and see if they can unlock some of those gains over a larger sample and convert White into a viable relief option.

Winans, 29, pitched in the majors with the Braves in both 2023 and 2024 but was hit hard. Opponents tagged him for a 7.20 ERA in 40 innings. The Yankees claimed him off waivers about two weeks ago.

Winans sits 90-91 with his four-seamer and 89-90 mph with his sinker, so he’s not the prototypical power arm that today’s front offices covet, but he does have a strong Triple-A track record and a minor league option remaining. In 256 innings of Triple-A work, he carries a 3.26 ERA, 21.8% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. Between that performance and the remaining option, another club could look at him as a worthwhile depth addition. The Yankees will have five days to trade Winans, after which he’d have to be placed on outright waivers, which last for 48 hours.

White, 25, has never suited up for the Reds. He was drafted by the Rangers and spent his entire career in that organization until they designated him for assignment last month. The Reds acquired him in early January, sending cash considerations to Texas, but have now quickly bumped him off the roster. He will be in DFA limbo for a week at most, during which time the Reds will see if they can trade him or pass him through waivers. The waiver process takes 48 hours so any trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.

It’s certainly possible other clubs are interested, just as the Reds were, hoping for a bounceback. White’s recent results haven’t been great but he is not too far removed from being one of the top pitching prospects in the game.

The Rangers took him with a second-round pick in 2018, though Tommy John surgery and the pandemic pushed his professional debut to 2021. Once able to take the hill in the minors, he put up good numbers. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he threw 115 2/3 innings, allowing 3.42 earned runs per nine. His 34.1% strikeout rate was huge, while his 7.5% walk rate was also a strong mark.

He was a consensus top 100 prospect going into 2023 but his stock has been sliding since then. He pitched seven big league innings for the Rangers over the past two years, but allowed 13 earned runs, giving him a nauseating 16.71 ERA at the moment. That’s obviously a tiny sample size but his minor league work has also been unimpressive. In 151 1/3 Triple-A innings over the past two years, he has a 5.41 ERA. That was in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but his 17.4% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate were also rough numbers, suggesting it wasn’t just the environment.

For what it’s worth, the Rangers tried a bullpen move partway through 2024, with some mixed results. In 18 innings over his final 13 appearances of the year, he struck out 25.6% of batters faced. His 5.50 ERA and 12.8% walk rate in that time weren’t good numbers but the uptick in punchouts was maybe something.

White still has one option year remaining, so an acquiring club could perhaps use the 2025 to experiment without having to put him in the big leagues. It’s possible there are some clubs who would like to put him back in a starting role to chase his previous upside or others who would see an intriguing path forward in the bullpen. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he’ll stick with the Reds as non-roster depth. He’ll know in the next week whether that’s his fate or if he’s destined to join a new club yet again.

White, 25, was designated for assignment a couple of weeks ago when the Rangers signed Hoby Milner. DFA limbo normally comes with a seven-day maximum but that clock is put on pause over the holidays, so White’s situation resolved at a slower pace than usual.

Though White has struggled recently and lost his roster spot in Texas, it seemed fair that some other club would take a shot on him based on his past prospect pedigree, which has indeed come to pass.

The Rangers initially grabbed him in the second-round of the 2018 draft, though his professional debut was delayed both by Tommy John surgery in 2019 and the pandemic in 2020. He quickly got back on track, however, throwing 115 2/3 minor league innings over 2021 and 2022, allowing 3.42 earned runs per nine. He struck out 34.1% of opponents and limited walks to a 7.5% clip, getting as high as Double-A in the process.

Going into 2023, he was added to the Rangers’ roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft and also found his way onto top 100 lists. Unfortunately, the past two years have been a struggle. He made his major league debut in 2023 but was roughed up, allowing five earned runs in four innings. In his 108 2/3 minor league innings, his 4.22 ERA wasn’t disastrous but he was lucky that number wasn’t worse. He only struck out 17.2% of batters against an 11.9% walk rate. If it weren’t for a low .254 batting average on balls in play, far more runs would have crossed the plate, which is why his 5.96 FIP was far higher than his ERA.

2024 didn’t go much better. He allowed eight earned runs in three major league innings, spiking his career ERA to an unsightly 16.71 at the big league level, though in a tiny sample of seven innings. In Triple-A, he tossed 99 innings with a 5.64 ERA, 19.5% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate.

After two straight years of poor results, it’s understandable why the Rangers nudged him off the roster, but it’s also easy to see why the Reds would take a shot. White was transitioned to a relief role midway through 2024 and saw a bump in his strikeout rate, punching out 25.6% of batters faced over his final 18 innings. He still walked 12.8% of opponents and had a 5.50 ERA in that stretch, but it’s perhaps a good sign that the punchouts came back.

White still has one option year remaining, so the Reds have some time to get a close-up look at him and see how things go, without needing to give him an active roster spot. Considering he is still young and is not too far removed from being one of the top pitching prospects in the sport, it’s a sensible buy-low move to make for what is surely a nominal sum of money in baseball terms. White has just a handful of service days and can be cheaply retained well into the future if he can get things back on track.

White, 25, was one of the top pitching prospects in the league as of two years ago but his results have tailed off significantly since then. A second-round pick in the 2018 draft, White’s professional debut was delayed by 2019 Tommy John surgery and then the pandemic taking out the minor leagues in 2020. He quickly made up for lost time once he got back on the mound. Over 2021 and 2022, he tossed 115 2/3 innings in the minors with a 3.42 earned run average. He struck out 34.1% of batters faced while giving out walks just 7.5% of the time.

That strong performance made him a consensus top 100 prospect going into 2023. But as alluded to earlier, he’s been hit around badly since then. He has allowed 13 earned runs in his first seven big league innings, meaning he has an unsightly 16.71 ERA at the moment.

That’s obviously a tiny sample size but the results in the minors have been bad as well. White has thrown 151 1/3 innings for Triple-A Round Rock over the past two years with a 5.41 ERA. The Express play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but his 17.4% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate for that club have both been subpar.

The Rangers tried moving White to a relief role midway through the most recent season, with some encouragement there. He tossed 18 innings over this final 13 Triple-A appearances with a 5.50 ERA. His 25.6% strikeout rate was a nice jump, but he was still giving out free passes at a high clip of 12.8%.

White is down to just one more option year at this point, so 2025 was shaping up to be a make-or-break sort of season. But with his declining numbers and a move to the bullpen, his prospect shine has worn off enough that he is being bumped off the roster today.

DFA limbo normally last one week, though recent years have seen that clock paused between Christmas and New Year’s Day. On this date last year, Ryan Jensen was designated for assignment by the Marlins and he wasn’t claimed off waivers by the Twins until January 4, over two weeks later.

That gives the Rangers some time to call around and see if there’s any trade interest for White. Obviously, the recent results have tamped down his value, but some club might take a shot based on his past prospect pedigree. With one option year remaining, he could be stashed in the minors by a club willing to give him a 40-man roster spot.

1:30pm: The Rangers are going to place right-hander Dane Dunning on the 15-day injured list due to a shoulder issue, manager Bruce Bochy tells Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, who relayed the info on X.

It’s unclear how long the Rangers expect Dunning to be out of action, but it’s an unfortunate development for the team regardless as their rotation depth has been continually thinned out this year. The club knew that Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle wouldn’t be available in the first half, as both of them underwent Tommy John surgery last year. Then Max Scherzer required back surgery in the offseason, which was going to force him to miss some time as well.

Last week, Nathan Eovaldi landed on the IL due to a groin strain Cody Bradford due to a rib stress fracture. Now Dunning will follow him due to this shoulder issue. Between those two, Scherzer, deGrom and Mahle, they have a full rotation on the injured list at the moment.

That leaves Jon Gray, Michael Lorenzen and Andrew Heaney as the healthy core of the starting staff at the moment. José Ureña had been working out of the bullpen but started yesterday and threw five innings against the A’s.

The club has a double-header today, with Lorenzen taking the ball for the first contest. Jack Leiter is planned for the “27th man” and the starter for the second game, though Owen White is coming up as well, per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today. White will seemingly be the corresponding move for Dunning’s IL placement.

With Dunning now on the shelf, the Rangers will have to decide on how they want to structure the back end of their rotation, with Ureña, White and Leiter presumably in contention for the two spots behind Gray, Lorenzen and Heaney.

Ureña has a 3.86 earned run average this year but, as mentioned, most of that has come out of the bullpen. He had a 6.45 ERA in ten starts last year and hasn’t posted an ERA below 5.00 since 2018. Leiter first major league start didn’t go especially well, with seven earned runs allowed in 3 2/3 innings. He has struck out 37% of Triple-A batters faced this year but also allowed six home runs in just 25 1/3 innings. White allowed five earned runs in four big league innings last year and currently has a 5.70 ERA in Triple-A this year.

Scherzer once seemed to be on track to return in early May but that plan has hit a snag. It was reported a week ago that he experienced some thumb soreness while on a rehab assignment and was going to be shut down for a bit. General manager Chris Young said today that Scherzer won’t throw again until the soreness is completely gone, per Wilson on X.

His rehab outing was on April 24, so he’s now two weeks removed from that. The longer his current shutdown lasts will presumably require more of a ramp-up once he is able to get back on track. As of now, that leaves him a question mark until there’s progress with the thumb soreness.

All that points to the Rangers cobbling a rotation together for a bit, until Eovaldi or Dunning are able to rejoin the mix. Despite the rotation challenges, the Rangers are 21-16 and half a game ahead of the Mariners for the division lead in the American League West.

FEB. 16: Camp only just opened this week, but the Rangers are already facing one potentially worrisome injury situation. Third baseman Josh Jung experienced discomfort in his calf while fielding grounders today and is headed for an MRI, tweets Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com. The club will provide further details once the imaging has been performed and evaluated by medical personnel.

Jung just turned 26 years old this week and was the fourth-place finisher in American League Rookie of the Year voting this past season. The former No. 8 overall draft pick belted 23 home runs and slashed .266/.315/.467 with sharp defense at the hot corner. Were it not for a fractured left thumb that kept him out of action for six weeks, he’d very likely have been a top-three finisher and could’ve potentially even given eventual winner Gunnar Henderson a run for his money.

At this point, there’s no indication the team believes the injury to be serious, though the pending MRI exam suggests there’s at least some degree of concern. The Rangers are relatively deep in infield talent, so in the event that Jung needs to miss any time, they’ll have options. Ezequiel Duran stepped up in Duran’s absence last season, and Josh H. Smith has ample experience at the corner as well. Veteran Matt Duffy is in camp as a non-roster player this spring and would give the Rangers a solid glove and contact-oriented bat at the position if he makes the team.

On the topic of non-roster Duffys, Matt isn’t the only one in camp. Veteran left-hander Danny Duffy also inked a minor league pact with Texas this season and could be an important depth piece for a club that will open the season with Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle on the injured list and all likely out into the summer. The 35-year-old southpaw hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since the 2021 season due to injuries but has been with the Dodgers (2022) and Rangers (2023) for the past two seasons while working toward a return. Texas used him as a reliever in the minors in ’23, but Kennedi Landry of MLB.com tweets that Duffy is building up as a starter in camp this time around.

It’s a familiar role for Duffy, the longtime Royals hurler who’s made 204 of his 234 career appearances out of the rotation. Aside from a brief dalliance in the bullpen in 2015-16, Duffy was a fixture on Kansas City’s starting staff from 2014-21, during which time he logged a 3.82 ERA in 1015 innings while punching out 21.3% of his opponents against an 8.2% walk rate. Duffy is now 35 years old and hasn’t pitched in the bigs since undergoing surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in Dec. 2021. He’s pitched a total of 42 1/3 innings in the minors across the past two seasons. Expecting a full bounceback to his peak Royals form isn’t realistic, but if he’s healthy he should be a legitimate option to help the staff.

Getting any contributions from Duffy or fellow non-roster invitees José Ureña and Adrian Sampson would be a boon for the Rangers. Texas is set to enter the season with a rotation including Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning and likely Cody Bradford. It’s a much weaker group than the World Series-winning outfit that finished out the 2023 season with Scherzer and current free agent Jordan Montgomery atop the staff. But general manager Chris Young has indicated he doesn’t anticipate any more additions to the big league roster at this point, strongly suggesting that the current group is the one the Rangers will carry into the season.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News takes a look at the in-house depth options that stalled out last season. Former top prospects Jack Leiter, Cole Winn, Owen White and Zak Kent all struggled in various ways in ’23. Righty Kumar Rocker, the No. 3 pick back in 2022, underwent Tommy John surgery last May.

That group was expected to produce some pivotal long-term rotation pieces, but each prospect has seen his stock drop amid poor performance and/or injury. Grant notes that Leiter, who was shut down for nearly two months last year to work on his mechanics, spent the offseason working out with American League Cy Young runner-up Sonny Gray and veteran catcher Curt Casali. The trio all attended Vanderbilt (at different times, obviously). Gray worked with Leiter on simplifying his approach and his plan on the mound. Grant chatted not only with Leiter but also White and Kent about some of the changes they’ve made as they look to get back on track and contribute at a time when the Rangers will be leaning more heavily on internal pitching depth than at any point in 2023.

Heim, 28, departed Wednesday’s game with wrist soreness and it appears the issue is serious enough that he’ll sit out a few weeks. There’s still hope of him returning, but being without Heim for any amount of time is surely unwelcome for the Rangers, as he’s been one of the best backstops in the majors this year. He’s already tallied 14 home runs and is slashing .280/.337/.479 for a wRC+ of 123. He’s also been graded as a strong defender, leading to a tally of 3.5 wins above replacement from FanGraphs this year, trailing only Sean Murphy’s 3.7 among all major league catchers.

In the meantime, the club will rely on a catching tandem of Sam Huff and Mitch Garver. The latter is an above-average hitter but frequent injuries have prevented him from ever playing 105 games in a season and he hasn’t reached 70 games since 2019. He missed two months this year due to a knee sprain and has played 33 games, only donning the tools of ignorance in 13 of those. Huff has only played nine major league games this year, spending most of his time in the minors. But he’s hit well down there, slashing .298/.389/.546 for a 121 wRC+.

The Rangers should be fine with that duo for a while but will likely look for reinforcements of some sort. There are no other catchers on the 40-man roster and Garver’s persistent health issues make him hard to bank on for extended playing time. The trade deadline is now just four days away and midseason trades of catchers are tricky given the challenges of learning a new pitching staff on the fly, but the Rangers might have to try.

Austin Hedges of the Pirates would be an obvious candidate as an impending free agent on a struggling Pirates club, and he has already reportedly drawn trade interest. He’s a poor hitter but is generally considered an excellent defender. The White Sox are busily selling and could move Yasmani Grandal, though he’s making $18.25MM this year. Joey Bart seems to have been leapfrogged by Patrick Bailey and Blake Sabol in San Francisco. He’s in his final option year and will be out of options next year, which perhaps makes him disposable to the Giants in the long-term but useful to the Rangers in the short-term. The Mets are rolling with rookie Francisco Álvarez and could perhaps part with Omar Narváez or Tomás Nido. Victor Caratini is stuck behind William Contreras in Milwaukee and has garnered trade interest. Iván Herrera seems to be blocked in St. Louis by Willson Contreras and Andrew Knizner.

The Rangers have had a big lead in the American League West for much of the season but have recently seen the Astros pull within two games while the Angels, six games back, are aggressively making upgrades. Losing a key player like Heim is a rough development for them but they still have a few days to address it.

As Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com notes, 28 of the 50 players on the roster are included on MLB Pipeline’s recent Top 100 prospects list. Six of Pipeline’s top ten will participate. The full rosters (MLB Pipeline prospect rank included, if applicable):

American League

• Clayton Beeter, Yankees RHP (AAA)
• Lawrence Butler, A’s OF (AA)
• Junior Caminero, Rays INF (AA), #17 prospect
• Jonathan Cannon, White Sox RHP (High-A)
• Joey Cantillo, Guardians LHP (AAA)
• Jonatan Clase, Mariners OF (AA)
• Shane Drohan, Red Sox LHP (AAA)
• David Festa, Twins RHP (AA)
• Harry Ford, Mariners C (High-A), #29 prospect
• Drew Gilbert, Astros OF (AA), #76 prospect
• Jackson Holliday, Orioles INF (High-A), #1 prospect
• Spencer Jones, Yankees OF (High-A)
• Colt Keith, Tigers INF (AA), #43 prospect
• Heston Kjerstad, Orioles OF (AAA), #40 prospect
• Will Klein, Royals RHP (AAA)
• Justyn-Henry Malloy, Tigers INF (AAA)
• Kyle Manzardo, Rays INF (AAA), #42 prospect
• Marcelo Mayer, Red Sox INF (AA), #5 prospect
• Kyren Paris, Angels INF (AA)
• Edgar Quero, Angels C (AA), #72 prospect
• Sem Robberse, Blue Jays RHP (AA)
• Tyler Soderstrom, A’s C (AAA), #37 prospect
• Owen White, Rangers RHP (AAA), #48 prospect
• Nick Yorke, Red Sox INF (AA), #91 prospect
• Yosver Zulueta, Blue Jays RHP (AAA)

National League

• Mick Abel, Phillies RHP (AA), #46 prospect
• Ryan Bliss, Diamondbacks INF (AA)
• Jackson Chourio, Brewers OF (AA), #3 prospect
• Justin Crawford, Phillies OF (Low-A), #90 prospect
• Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs OF (AA), #10 prospect
• Yanquiel Fernandez, Rockies OF (AA), #97 prospect
• Kyle Harrison, Giants LHP (AAA), #14 prospect
• Tink Hence, Cardinals RHP (High-A), #66 prospect
• Brady House, Nationals INF (High-A), #75 prospect
• Jordan Lawlar, Diamondbacks INF (AA), #7 prospect
• Noelvi Marte, Reds INF (AA), #19 prospect
• J.P. Massey, Pirates RHP (High-A)
• Jackson Merrill, Padres INF (High-A), #12 prospect
• Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers RHP (High-A), #93 prospect
• Patrick Monteverde, Marlins LHP (AA)
• B.J. Murray, Cubs INF (AA)
• Nasim Nunez, Marlins INF (AA)
• Jeferson Quero, Brewers C (AA), #79 prospect
• Endy Rodriguez, Pirates INF/C (AAA), #39 prospect
• Dalton Rushing, Dodgers C (High-A), #51 prospect
• Victor Scott II, Cardinals OF (High-A)
• Spencer Shwellenbach, Braves RHP (Low-A)
• Mike Vasil, Mets RHP (AAA)
• Carson Whisenhunt, Giants LHP (AA)
• James Wood, Nationals OF (AA), #6 prospect

White threw two relief innings in yesterday’s 7-3 loss to the Angels, essentially piggybacking off of the 4 1/3 innings thrown by starter Cody Bradford.  Since Jon Gray was a late scratch due to a blister problem, the Rangers had a bit of a scramble to fill innings, including a quick recall of Bradford (who was working on three days’ rest since his last Triple-A outing).

With three runs allowed in those two innings, it wasn’t exactly the most auspicious debut for White, who was charged with the loss.  Still, with one cup of coffee in the bigs now on his resume, White will return to Double-A and continue to prepare for what the Rangers hope will be a much longer and more productive stint in the majors down the road.  A consensus top-100 prospect, White has yet to reach Triple-A ball, but figures to get the promotion to Round Rock in the relatively near future.

As one top prospect heads back to the minors, another makes his return to the majors as Huff will again be part of the Rangers’ active roster.  Huff has appeared in 59 games since the start of the 2020 season (including five this season), but Jonah Heim has seemingly eclipsed him as the Rangers’ catcher of the future.  Today’s move indicates that Texas will stick with three catchers on the roster, as Heim figures to get most of the work behind the plate and Huff and Mitch Garver will either work in a backup capacity or Garver will continue to get DH at-bats.  Garver only recently returned from a two-month stint on the IL due to a left knee sprain, so with Garver being eased back into catching duty, the Rangers wanted the flexibility of an extra catcher.

Leon’s minor league contract was selected to the MLB roster when Garver was hurt, and while Leon has never been much known for his bat, he produced only a .146/.186/.195 slash line over 44 plate appearances.  If the veteran backstop clears DFA waivers, he has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, if Leon prefers to join a team whose catching depth chart is a little less crowded.  Known as a defensive specialist and expert game-caller, Leon could garner some interest on the DFA wire given how teams are constantly on the lookout for catching help.

Barlow was placed on the 15-day IL on May 29 due to kidney stones.  The right-hander posted a 2.81 ERA over 64 relief innings for Texas in 2021-22, but blister problems brought an early end to his 2022 season, and Barlow then struggled in Spring Training this year.  After starting the season at Triple-A, Barlow had only appeared in five games for the Rangers before hitting the IL.

12:55pm: The Rangers are promoting pitching prospect prospect Owen White, according to Ken Rosenthal and Sam Blum of The Athletic. White is already on the 40-man roster but will need a corresponding move to get onto the active roster.

White, 23, is generally considered to be one of the top 100 prospects in the league. Baseball America currently has him at #83, MLB Pipeline at #47 and FanGraphs at #30, while preseason rankings had him at #87 at ESPN and he was in the #70 spot on the listing from Keith Law of The Athletic.

Selected in the second round of the 2018 draft, his professional debut was delayed by Tommy John surgery in early 2019 and then the pandemic canceling the minor leagues in 2020. In 2021, he suffered a broken hand but was able to throw 35 1/3 innings between the Complex League and Single-A ball, posting a 3.06 ERA before adding another 28 1/3 frames in the Arizona Fall League. Last year was split between High-A and Double-A, with White able to post a combined 3.59 ERA over 80 1/3 innings between those two levels. He struck out 31.7% of opponents while walking just 7%.

He has a four-pitch mix that features a mid-90s fastball that can get up to 98 mph, along with a slider, curveball and changeup. Beyond the stuff, White is often praised for his ability to control and command that arsenal. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.

The Rangers are now skipping White over Triple-A, though it doesn’t seem it’s a situation where he has forced their hand with a dominant performance. Here in 2023, he’s been back at Double-A, having tossed 53 1/3 innings over 11 starts. He has a 3.54 ERA, though with diminished peripherals thus far including a 21.1% strikeout rate, 10.3% walk rate and 46.1% ground ball rate.

The promotion seems to have been spurred by some challenges the club is facing in patching a rotation together in the short term. Jacob deGrom is out for the rest of the season due to elbow surgery, leaving them with Jon Gray, Martín Pérez, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney and Dane Dunning. Gray was supposed to start today’s game but was scratched with a blister issue. With pitchers like Jake Odorizzi and Glenn Otto out with their own injuries, the Rangers will recall Cody Bradford to start tonight’s contest. Bradford has already made a couple of spot starts this year but just tossed 99 pitches over eight innings in a Triple-A game on Friday. He’ll be taking the ball on just three days rest tonight and will likely have some restrictions because of it.

With the club having used five relievers in last night’s 12-inning game against the Angels, it’s not the best time to be sending out a starter with a short leash. White last pitched on Wednesday and could perhaps take on a bulk role behind Bradford, if necessary.

The club’s plans going forward will likely depend on how today goes and how Gray’s blister reacts in the coming days. If he heals up quickly, perhaps Bradford or White or both will end up back in the minors in short order, though that will remain to be seen. Either way, it seems there’s a chance that Rangers’ fans and baseball fans in general will have a chance to see one of the best pitching prospects in the league take on major league hitters tonight.

Even if White were to somehow end up staying in the big leagues for the rest of the year, he would come up short of a full year of service time. The latest collective bargaining agreement gives him the ability to earn a full year anyway since he was on at least two of the top 100 lists at BA, ESPN and MLB Pipeline, but he would have to finish in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting. With the season already nearing the midway point, he would have a tough hill to climb, having to chase guys like Hunter Brown or Josh Jung who already have a headstart on tallying stats for the year.

Image courtesy USA Today Sports.

Star winter signing Jacob deGrom was experiencing left-side tightness early in camp, but is scheduled to now throw his first live bullpen session on Wednesday, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Fellow off-season recruit Nathan Eovaldi is also experiencing some left-side tightness, and is taking a few days off. Jon Gray was a late scratch from Friday’s spring game with back tightness, while Jake Odorizzi is dealing with arm fatigue and is a bit behind in his schedule. It doesn’t stop there, as Jose LeClerc and Owen White are both feeling neck tightness.

There doesn’t appear to be a great deal of concern within the Rangers, and instead it seems the team is just being extra cautious so early in the spring. “When we started spring, in addressing the pitchers especially, we said, ‘Hey, in the early part here, let us know. Anything going on, we don’t want any major setbacks. We can back off at this time.’ Spring training can be pretty long, so in the early part, you’re going to be a little bit more cautious,” manager Bruce Bochy said Friday.

Here’s some more bits and pieces from around baseball:

• Austin Slater had an MRI on his elbow but it came back clear, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Giants announced during the week that Slater would rest for a week with elbow neuritis. The news that the MRI is clear is certainly a positive one for Slater, and it seems it won’t be long before he’s able to make his spring debut for the team. Slater hit .242/.337/.392 with seven home runs across 259 plate appearances for San Francisco last season, and looks set to serve as a bench bat for the Giants with Joc Pederson, Mitch Haniger, Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski to get the bulk of the outfield reps.
• The Marlins are giving youngster Jordan Groshans time at first base this spring, as Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports. Groshans typically handled the other infield spots coming up through the minors, and spent just 40 previous innings at first. Groshans is on the fringes of cracking Miami’s opening day roster, but if he can show he can handle first adequately it would certainly provide a boost to his chances. A first round pick by the Blue Jays in 2018, Groshans came over to the Marlins in the Anthony Bass deal last year. He got a brief cup of coffee in the big leagues, hitting .262/.308/.311 across 65 plate appearances. With Garrett Cooper, Joey Wendle, Luis Arraez and Jean Segura fairly well locked in as Miami’s infield starters, there’s no obvious path to a starting job there but the Marlins bench is a lot less certain, providing Groshans with a solid chance to stick on the active roster to begin the season.
• Speaking of positional changes, the Yankees are planning to give Oswaldo Cabrera some time in center field this spring, Aaron Boone told the YES Network’s broadcast during today’s game against the Rays. Cabrera impressed during his rookie year, posting a respectable .247/.312/.429 line with six home runs across 171 plate appearances. Yet it was his defense that really stood out, as Cabrera, an infielder for almost all of his career, took to the outfield extremely well, earning nine Defensive Runs Saved for his work on the grass. That’s put him firmly in the race with Aaron Hicks, Estevan Florial and Rafael Ortega to be the Yankees’ opening day left fielder. It does seem more likely he winds up in a utility role though, covering the infield, corner outfield spots, and now, perhaps, center field.

Acuña, the younger brother of Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr., is a solid prospect in his own right. A right-handed hitter, Luisangel Acuña plays the middle infield. Baseball America credits him with plus defense at shortstop and considers him the #6 prospect in the Texas organization. Despite not turning 21 years old until March, he’s already played his way to Double-A. Acuña split the season between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco, combining for a .277/.369/.426 line through 409 plate appearances. He struggled in Double-A after an excellent showing in High-A and looks likely to start next year in Frisco.

Texas drafted Ornelas in the third round out of an Arizona high school in 2018. A righty-swinging infielder who’s played each of shortstop, second base and third base, he spent the whole season in Frisco. Ornelas had a solid .299/.360/.425 mark through 580 plate appearances, collecting 14 home runs and stolen bases apiece. He’s not among Texas’ top 30 prospects at BA but has shown decent contact skills and an ability to play the infield.

Harris was an 11th-round pick of the A’s in the 2019 draft out of a Florida junior college. Oakland dealt him to Texas in the Mike Minor trade in 2020. A left-handed hitter, he’s played mostly first base and left field in the minors. Harris is a bat-first prospect who’s coming off a .257/.346/.471, 17-homer showing in 85 games with Frisco. BA slots him 10th in the organization, praising his contact and power combination.

Winn was the 15th overall pick in the 2018 draft out of a California high school. The right-hander was regarded as a possible big league rotation piece heading into this year after a strong Double-A performance. He scuffled during his first extended crack with Triple-A Round Rock, allowing a 6.51 ERA with a massive 15.2% walk rate over 28 starts. He’ll try to right the ship next season and get back into the MLB rotation picture, but there was never much doubt he’d secure a 40-man roster spot this winter.

White, a 2nd-round pick in the 2018 draft out of a North Carolina high school, has surpassed Winn on the prospect radar. The 23-year-old righty didn’t throw a professional pitch until 2021 because of Tommy John surgery and the cancelation of the 2020 minor league season, but he’s performed well to make up for lost time. He put up a 3.59 ERA in 80 1/3 frames between Hickory and Frisco, striking out 31.7% of opponents. He placed fifth in the system on BA’s midseason update and could factor into the MLB rotation at some point next year.

Kent was a ninth-rounder in 2019 out of VMI. He started all 24 of his appearances in the upper minors last season, working to a 3.94 ERA through 109 2/3 innings. He punched out a decent 23.8% of batters faced against a 9.3% walk rate. He’s 25th in the system at Baseball America and could be a back-of-the-rotation option in the near future.

Jeff Wilson was first to report the moves.