Rangers Make Room for Andrew Heaney

The Texas Rangers designated a young reliever for assignment and signed three players to minor-league deals on Friday.

The Texas Rangers made the signing of pitcher Andrew Heaney official on Friday, making a corresponding move to get Heaney on the 40-man roster.

To make room, the Rangers designated pitcher A.J. Alexy for assignment.

The Rangers also signed three players to minor-league contracts — catcher David Garcia, left-handed pitcher Lucas Jacobsen and right-handed pitcher Nick Snyder.

The Rangers and Heaney agreed to a two-year, $25 million deal with an opt-out clause after the 2023 season and incentives that could take the deal to up to $37 million.

Heaney, 31, went 4-4 with a 3.10 ERA in 14 starts and 16 games last season. He struck out 110 and walked 19. He made his postseason appearance as a reliever with the Dodgers in October.

Heaney is 36-42 with a 4.56 ERA in nine seasons with four different teams. He has struck out 25.4 percent of the hitters he’s faced in his career.

Alexy came to the Rangers in the Yu Darvish trade in 2017. Last season he went 1-1 with a 11.57 ERA in four relief appearances.

Garcia hit .229 with five home runs and 39 RBI in 70 games with Double-A Frisco and the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League Rangers last season. He signed with Texas as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 2016.

The 27-year-old Jacobsen went 0-1 with 3 saves, a 2.29 ERA and 13.7 strikeouts per 9 innings figure across 19 games for Triple-A Round Rock and Double-A Frisco last season. He was selected by the Rangers in the 27th round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Long Beach State.

Snyder was non-tendered by Texas on Nov. 18 after he posted no record and a 18.00 ERA (two earned runs in one inning) in two relief appearances with the Rangers in 2022. He spent the majority of the year with Triple-A Round Rock, going 2-2 with two saves and a 4.97 ERA. Snyder was originally selected by Texas in the 19th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla.

TEXAS RANGERS 40-MAN ROSTER (40)

Pitchers (22)

Joe Barlow, Brock Burke, Jacob deGrom, Dane Dunning, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Taylor Hearn, Jonathan Hernández, Spencer Howard, Zak Kent, John King, José Leclerc, Brett Martin, Jake Odorizzi, Glenn Otto, Martin Perez, Cole Ragans, Yerry Rodriguez, Josh Sborz, Ricky Vanasco, Owen White, Cole Winn.

Catchers (2): Jonah Heim, Sam Huff

Infielders (8): Luisangel Acuña, Ezequiel Duran, Josh Jung, Nathaniel Lowe, Jonathan Ornelas, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Josh H. Smith

Outfielders (6): Adolis García, Dustin Harris, Brad Miller, Leody Taveras, Bubba Thompson, Eli White

Designated Hitter (2): Mitch Garver, Mark Mathias

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