While the baseball offseason hasn’t seen many free agents agree to new deals yet, the Texas Rangers have been one of the busier teams. They agreed to a multi-year deal with Mike Minor on Monday (terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed as of Monday night), the second free agent pitcher they have signed that they plan on using in their starting rotation.
The team also re-signed reliever Tony Barnette on Monday who has spent the past two seasons pitching for Texas.
Mike Minor
Minor had a very strong season in 2017 for the Kansas City Royals in what was his first year pitching in relief.
The southpaw had a 2.55 ERA in 77.2 innings and 65 appearances. He compiled 88 strikeouts and 22 walks with an excellent 1.02 WHIP.
According to reports, Texas is planning to use him as a starter which he has done 110 times over his career from 2010-14 with the Atlanta Braves. Minor, who turns 30 on December 26, missed all of 2015 and 2016 due to surgery to repair a torn labrum. The Royals decided to use him in relief rather than as a starter due to the injury.
Minor’s best season as a starter came in 2013 when he went 13-9 with a 3.21 ERA in 32 starts. The Rangers finished eighth in the American League with a 4.66 ERA from their starting pitchers last season.
As mentioned, this is the second pitcher that the Rangers have signed this offseason that they plan on using in their starting rotation.
The team signed free agent Doug Fister on November 28. Fister went 5-9 with a 4.88 ERA in 15 starts (also three appearances as a reliever) for the Boston Red Sox in 2017.
The two newcomers join a rotation that already features holdovers Cole Hamels and Martin Perez. Hamels went 11-6 with a 4.20 ERA in 24 starts last season while Perez was 13-12 with a 4.82 ERA in 32 starts.
Tony Barnette
Barnette will rejoin the Rangers in 2018 after agreeing to a one-year/$1.5 million deal on Monday. The 34-year old pitched in Japan from 2010-15 before joining Texas in 2016.
The right-handed thrower was quite the asset for the Rangers out of the bullpen during his first major league season in 2016. Barnette appeared in 53 games and went 7-3 with a 2.09 ERA.
In 60.1 innings, he finished with 49 strikeouts, 16 walks, and a 1.16 WHIP.
His second year with Texas in 2017 was nowhere near as successful. He pitched in 50 games, finishing with an ERA more than three runs higher than the previous year at 5.49. He struck out 57 hitters, walked 22, and had a 1.50 WHIP in 57.1 innings.
