Friday was filled with both good and bad news for the 2023 World Series Champion Texas Rangers and their minor league hopefuls. The club officially announced that the contract with Michael Lorenzen is complete and released the contract details. Jacob deGrom, recovering from an elbow injury and expected to return in August, was placed on the 60-day injured list to make room for Lorenzen in the pitching rotation. Three non-roster pitchers, Danny Duffy, Chase Shreve, and Shane Greene, received the news that they would not be among those who broke camp with the club. This will allow them to seek a contract with another big league club or to remain with the Rangers and pitch with the Round Rock Express. It was also revealed that the young superstar Wyatt Langford would appear on the Opening Day roster in some form or other.
Michael Lorenzen Contract Details
Right-handed pitcher Michael Lorenzen and the Texas Rangers agreed upon a $4.5 million one-year deal with up to $2.5 million in incentives. Per Evan Grant, the Rangers beat writer for the Dallas Morning News, Lorenzen can earn $200K each for pitching 60-100 innings (in increments of 10 innings), $300K for 120 innings, $350K for 140 innings, $400K for 160 innings, and $450K for 180 innings. He arrives when the Rangers pitching staff needs him the most. He has stats as both a starting pitcher and coming out of the bullpen. He has been informed that he will join the starting rotation at some point in the near future.
Superstar On Deck
Wyatt Langford. A name that will soon become commonplace in households across Texas and the country. Drafted in the first round of the 2023 Amateur draft by the Texas Rangers, the young Trenton Thunder has made a name for himself with both his bat and his defensive skills in the outfield. It has become a running joke among the beat writers for the team: “What will Wyatt do today?” At only 22 years old, the young superstar raced his way through the club’s minor league system, appearing in only three games for the Rangers rookie team, twenty-four games for the Hickory Crawdads (A+), twelve games for the Frisco RoughRiders (AA) and a mere five games with the Round Rock Express (AAA). Across those 44 games, he slashed a .360/.480/.677 across 161 at-bats. He had a total of 36 runs, 58 hits, 17 doubles, two triples, ten home runs, 30 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, 36 walks, 34 strikeouts and an OPS of 1.157. During Spring Training, he has a slash line of .377 (2nd in MLB)/.433 (4th in MLB)/.755 (1st in MLB) across 53 at-bats with 13 runs (tied for 3rd in MLB), 20 hits (1st in MLB), two doubles, six home runs, of which one was a grand slam (2nd in MLB), 20 RBIs (1st in MLB), five walks, 15 strikeouts, and an OPS of 1.188 (2nd in MLB). The question remains: how long can the pattern hold, and does he have what it takes to make it in the big leagues?
