Baseball! And Challenges Revisited
The Rangers are playing as I type.
Yesterday, I mentioned the nascent analysis by sabermetrician Tom Tango on what situations were preferable for challenges. Essentially, early counts with fewer runners aboard are the worst times to challenge, and deep counts with runners in scoring position are the best.
In Texas’s spring opener, catcher Kyle Higashioka challenged a 0-0 pitch with none on and two out in the top of the 1st. Per Tango’s analysis, that actually has the worst breakeven rate (88%) of any combined count, out and baserunner scenario. The difference between a ball and strike in that situation is about 0.03 runs.
In the 2nd, starter Nathan Eovaldi successfully challenged a full-count ball call with a runner on second to strike out Lane Thomas. The KC announcers mentioned that defensive challenges by the Royals would be made only by catchers.
Yes, I know these are exhibitions, but I’ll be watching how these challenges proceed.
Incoming (All Minor Deals)
RHP Austin Bergner (Age 28 on Opening Day) – Usually a starter, Bergner has shuttled between AA and AAA the last four years. He’s handled the lower level just fine (2.96 ERA with solid peripherals), but every stint in AAA has been dreadful (an aggregate and genuine 8.39 ERA).
RHP Ryan Brasier (38) – A name to remember, perhaps. The Wichita Falls native isn’t a kid anymore but in 2025 was dealing a 94 MPH four-seamer and cutter with good extension plus a slider and cutter.
RHP Zach Bryant (27) – Bryant is looking for his first AAA action and had a 6.14 ERA in 48 AA innings with Boston last year, although his peripherals were much better.
RHP Nabil Crismatt (31) – Never mind. He might have ranked ninth or tenth on the starting depth chart but immediately suffered an elbow injury.
RHP Declan Cronin (28) – He’ll miss this year due to elbow surgery but is signed through 2027. Cronin had some success with the Fish in 2024, employing a low-slot sinker and slider to induce grounders and whiffs.
LHP Austin Gomber (32) – Gomber had to settle for a minor deal after reaching free agency. His fastball often dips under 90 nowadays and his K rate is more suitable to the 1970s, but he spent his entire career to date in Colorado, so don’t question his bravery.
RHP Josh Hejka (29) – The submariner is the only John Hopkins alum to play in affiliated ball at any level during the last 13 years. (Most notable alum by far: Davey Johnson.) He’s bounced around several levels over and within the years, and I imagine he’ll keep that role in the Texas system.
RHP Cal Quantrill (31) – In 2022, Quantrill posted a career-high 186 innings with a 3.38 ERA, but most of his statistical markers trended downward, particularly a troubling whiff rate. He bottomed out in 2025, hitting the waiver wire before an outright release in early September. He finished the year in Round Rock and probably will return as potential starting depth.
RHP Austin Roberts (27) – Roberts is into his late 20s without reaching MLB but still has a chance. Last year in AAA he threw a mid-90s four-seamer, cutter, curve and change equally and fanned 23% of his opponents. His control is below average but not outside the realm of acceptability.
RHP Cole Stasio (24) – Stasio went undrafted after five years in a swing role at Baylor. He then pitched for Ogden in the indy Pioneer League with a 5.29 ERA and 65 SO in 64.2 innings. The league ERA was 7.42, so 5.29 is actually pretty salty, ranking 13th among the 51 pitchers with at least 60 innings.
RHP Mason Thompson (28) — Roberts had a memorable June 2021, pitching in Round Rock (where he was born and raised) for opposing El Paso and reaching the Majors a couple of weeks later. Last year’s return from a second elbow surgery (the first was in high school) didn’t go to plan. He relies mostly on mid-90s sinker and slider. Control is an ongoing issue.
LHP Blake Townsend (24) – The beefy Australian switched to (mostly) starting in 2025 in his one free-agent season for the Bucs. He was quite successful, posting a 2.05 ERA in 66 AA innings, albeit with a so-so 20% K rate. I’ve seen a low-slot fastball (that topped at 88 in a lone AAA outing) and sweeper.
RHP Ricardo Velez (27) – An undrafted signing by Minnesota in 2021, Velez was born in Puerto Rico and schooled at the University of Science and Arts in Chickaska, Oklahoma. He spent 2025 mostly in AA Springfield (Cards) and fanned 53 in 58.2 innings with below-average control.
C Jose Herrera (29) – At present, he’s fourth on the catching depth chart. He batted .200/.280/.259 across four seasons in Arizona, varying between frontline, caddy and up-and-down roles.
1B/OF Mark Canha (37) – Canha is a decade older than Nick Pratto (see next) but more likely to contribute to the Rangers as a bench/platoon bat. After eight consecutive seasons of no worse than average offensive production, he pretty much collapsed at the plate in 2025. The question is how much of that can be pinned on a couple of injuries rather than Father Time.
1B Nick Pratto (27) – In my January report, I joked about which AAA vet would replace Abimelec Ortiz in Round Rock. We received an answer within days. Picked 14th overall in 2017, Pratto blasted 36 homers and slugged .602 in the upper minors in 2021. Pratto’s dismal whiff rate (despite not chasing too much) overwhelmed his positives in MLB, and lately, that problem has extended to AAA as well. Maybe Texas can get more from him, but as it stands, I’m loathe to consider him an in-season replacement for Burger or Pederson.
OF Marcus Lee Sang (25) — Frisco is potentially lacking in position players, depending on how aggressive management is with last year’s Hub City squad. Lee Sang might fill the void. He missed nearly all of 2025 to injury. He has a .230/.297/.387 line in 132 AA games in the Philly system.
OF Orlando Martinez (28) – The Cuban was a mid-tier prospect five years ago, but a .250/.303/.393 line in 67 games in 2022 at high-altitude Salt Lake put an end to seeing his names on any lists. He’s spent most of his time in AA (career .268/.337/.420) or Mexico since.
OF Jake Snider (27) – A COF with prior 2B and CF experience, nearly all at the A levels. See also Lee Sang, Marcus.
Likelihood of playing in Arlington this year:
Best Odds: Brasier, Canha
A Fighting Chance: Gomber, Quantrill, Roberts, Thompson
Unlikely: Herrera, Pratto
Minimal/None: Bergner, Bryant, Crismatt, Cronin, Hejka, Stasio, Townsend, Velez, Lee Sang, Martinez, Snider
Also incoming and covered previously are
RHP Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa
C Cooper Johnson
IF Jonah Bride
IF Ritchie Martin
IF Tyler Wade
IF Andrew Velazquez
Returning
Pitchers Josh Sborz (32 on Opening Day), Gavin Collyer (25), Ben Anderson (27) and Aidan Anderson (28) are back. If Sborz can recover the velocity lost after last season’s injury, he could be a factor. If not, he almost certainly won’t. As has been the case since 2023, Sborz is out of options.
Collyer was an honorable-mention 40-man candidate last season but instead became a free agent for a spell. He’s reached the upper 90s, and his breakers have excited the Stuff meters, but control is seriously wanting. In AAA, he missed a ton of bats in the zone, but opponents simply ignored his plentiful out-of-zone pitches. But hey, if Alex Speas could tighten his control enough to reach the Majors, Collyer can too.
Ben is Texas’s 2019 13th-rounder who’s started mostly at Frisco the past two years. Aidan is Grant’s twin brother, back for his fourth season at Texas’s upper levels. At least one Anderson has played for the Rangers every year since 2015, as required by the CBA.
Departing
Texas lost RHP Dom Hamel on waivers to the Yankees. The Rangers had claimed him late last September from the Mets, and he always seemed a ripe candidate for designation. His quest to become the first Dominic to play for the Rangers is delayed, if not defeated. The Yankees subsequently ran him through waivers successfully.
Former Royal, Marlin and Cardinal lefty Anthony Veneziano was a Ranger for a few weeks but released in January to join Korea’s SSK Landers (formerly known as the SK Wyverns).
Texas released minor league infielder Williams Wong, noteworthy as Texas’s first-ever Italian signing in 2025, and pitchers Yeimison Arias, Jesus Delgado and Luis Valdez.
2025 Free Agents Moving On (minor deal unless noted)
P Geraldo Carillo – Arizona
P Jose Gonzalez – Angels (I’d have liked him back)
P Michael Plassmeyer – Toronto
IF Jax Biggers – Houston
OF Dustin Harris – White Sox
OF Kellen Strahm – Houston
and
C Jonah Heim – Atlanta (MLB deal)
More Signings and Movement
P Kolby Allard — Cleveland
P Hans Crouse – Baltimore
P Dane Dunning — Seattle
P Carl Edwards Jr. — Mets
P Gerson Garabito – Milwaukee (he’s back from Korea)
P Jonathan Hernandez – Philadelphia
P John King – Miami (MLB deal)
P Martin Perez — Atlanta
C Jorge Alfaro – Kansas City
IF Nathaniel Lowe — Cincinnati
IF Nick Solak – San Diego
IF Davis Wendzel — Pittsburgh
IF Luisangel Acuna was traded to the White Sox (part of Luis Robert deal)
The Dodgers designated IF Andy Ibanez for assignment three weeks after signing him to an MLB deal at $1.2 million. He was claimed by the Athletics.
Baltimore released lefty Walter Pennington. He was on the minor 60-day IL when the season ended.
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