The 28 man roster for Opening Day in Toronto appears to be finalized
The Texas Rangers have apparently finalized their Opening Day roster, per the beat guys on Twitter, with the final decisions having been made and the 28 players who will be on the roster for Friday’s season opener in Toronto having been identified.
In regards to the final two spots on the Opening Day roster, Eli White, as expected, beat out Jake Marisnick for the final bench spot. Meanwhile, in a bit of a surprise, Greg Holland will be part of the Rangers’ bullpen to start the year, as Garrett Richards is going to the injured list with a blister on his finger. Spencer Patton and Glenn Otto are being optioned to AAA Round Rock.
I’ve been adamant that Patton was out of options, so I was surprised to see them say he was being optioned, but apparently he had an option remaining, so I apologize for my repeated error there. I’m embarrassed.
The full roster:
Position Players:
Mitch Garver
Jonah Heim
Nathaniel Lowe
Marcus Semien
Corey Seager
Andy Ibanez
Charlie Culberson
Willie Calhoun
Nick Solak
Brad Miller
Adolis Garcia
Kole Calhoun
Eli White
Pitching staff:
Jon Gray
Dane Dunning
Martin Perez
Spencer Howard
Taylor Hearn
Joe Barlow
Dennis Santana
Josh Sborz
Albert Abreu
Brett Martin
John King
Kolby Allard
Greg Holland
Brock Burke
Matt Bush
Apparently, the wanted to put Joe McCarthy on the roster, but he was the victim of a numbers game. The Rangers are apparently considering adding him to the 40 man roster anyway and optioning him, which I would presume is because he has an opt-out in his contract. I wouldn’t have figured McCarthy, who has almost no major league experience, would have gotten an opt out, but maybe he has one.
As things stand, there are three players — Culberson, Holland, and Bush — who will need to have 40 man roster spots created for them. Jose Leclerc may end up on the 60 day injured list to create a spot, despite the team’s reluctance to do so, because of a belief he may be ready to return before then. Zach Reks, Sherten Apostel, Demarcus Evans and Yonny Hernandez would be guys who are potentially on the DFA bubble for additional spots.