The Rangers announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Ben Peoples. Fellow righty Winston Santos has been optioned to Triple-A Round Rock to open an active roster spot. The 40-man roster had a couple of vacancies, so Peoples can fill one of those without a corresponding move. Additionally, the Rangers have signed infielder Santiago Espinal and righty Austin Voth to minor league deals, per Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News.
Peoples, 25, was just acquired from the White Sox in a trade earlier this week. A former 22nd-round pick of the Rays in 2019, Peoples was traded to the White Sox at last year’s deadline in the deal which sent Adrian Houser from Chicago to Tampa.
He was initially a starter but a lack of control got Peoples moved to a relief role a couple of years ago. The control hasn’t exactly improved but he has been working around that by racking up strikeouts. This year, he has thrown 37 2/3 Triple-A innings, allowing 2.39 earned runs per nine. His 14% walk rate is extremely high but he has punched out 30% of batters faced. His fastball is averaging just under 96 miles per hour as he also mixes in a slider and changeup.
It seems the White Sox didn’t plan on calling up Peoples anytime soon and he was slated for minor league free agency at season’s end. Instead, they flipped him to Texas for High-A catcher Ben Hartl. Texas, meanwhile, will add him directly onto the big league roster to see how his stuff plays in the majors.
Espinal, 31, had some good seasons with the Blue Jays but has mostly been a light-hitting utility guy for a few years. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has taken 1,033 trips to the plate and produced a .247/.296/.328 line, which translates to a wRC+ of 71. That includes 60 trips to the plate with the Dodgers this year with a .268/.276/.375 line.
Despite the lack of offense, he can be a useful player. At the plate, he has generally been better against lefties, so his downside can be minimized with strategic deployment. He is also a sure hand at shortstop, second base and third base. He can even play first base or an outfield corner in a pinch. He elected free agency a few weeks ago after being cut loose by the Dodgers.
For the Rangers, they get to add some extra infield depth, which is important for them. Shortstop Corey Seager has been on and off the injured list a few times this year. His back has been an ongoing issue this year and just put him back on the IL yesterday. Texas also lost bench infielder Cody Freeman to the IL in June due to a herniated disc in his back. Per McFarland today, Freeman underwent surgery and could be back within a month.
Currently, the Texas infield consists of Nicky Lopez at short, Ezequiel Durán at second and Josh Jung at third. Justin Foscue gets some playing time at second but usually only against lefties. Josh Smith and Cam Cauley are also in the mix. Should another injury arise, Espinal will be ready at Triple-A and could provide the club a veteran role player with some weaknesses but also some strengths.
Voth, 34, has been bouncing around as an emergency bulk guy this year. Three times this year, he has been added to a club’s roster to make one appearance, and then has been promptly bumped off right after. The first two were with the Blue Jays, the third with the Twins. Over those three appearances, he has allowed 11 earned runs in 10 innings.
That leads to an unpleasant 9.90 ERA. He looks much better when focusing on his larger track record and this year’s minor league numbers. In 370 1/3 big league innings overall, he has a 4.84 ERA, 21.5% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. In Triple-A this year, he has a 3.65 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate in 44 1/3 innings.
The Rangers recently lost Jack Leiter to the injured list. They have since moved Cal Quantrill into the rotation alongside Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, MacKenzie Gore and Kumar Rocker. They recently signed Chris Paddack to make one appearance and give that group a breather, but he was designated for assignment immediately after and is now a free agent.
They don’t have great depth options available. Jordan Montgomery and Cody Bradford are on the injured list. Santos, David Davalillo and José Corniell are on the 40-man but all three have ERAs above 5.57 in the minors this year. Marco Gonzales is in the system on a minor league deal but has a 7.89 ERA in Triple-A this year. If the Rangers need another spot start in the near future, Voth gives them another option to potentially turn to.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
