The Rangers brought back right-hander Joe Ross and outfielder Jarred Kelenic on minor league contracts, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. Both players elected free agency after being outrighted off the roster yesterday. Chris Paddack, who also elected free agency yesterday, remains unsigned.
Kelenic and Ross were in-season minor league signees who earned brief stints on the MLB roster. Kelenic signed at the beginning of June and was selected to the big leagues three weeks later. He went 1-8 with a couple walks over seven games. The former top prospect appeared in 19 games with the White Sox earlier in the season and is hitting .213/.304/.295 on the year. Kelenic holds a .211/.283/.372 slash line in more than 1500 career big league plate appearances.
Texas lost Wyatt Langford to the injured list over the weekend. They’re working with an all left-handed hitting starting outfield of Alejandro Osuna, Evan Carter and Brandon Nimmo. Kelenic also hits from the left side, part of the reason Texas swapped in righty-swinging rookie Cam Cauley as a fourth outfield option.
Ross made five appearances, tossing eight innings of five-run ball. The 33-year-old righty broke camp with the Diamondbacks and made three early-season appearances in Arizona as well. Ross had a couple solid seasons out of the Nationals rotation when he was in his early 20s. He battled injuries and has bounced around as a long reliever in the back half of his career. Ross has a 3.78 ERA across 33 1/3 Triple-A innings this season.
