NEWSFLASH: Rangers Sign Donnelly; Andruw To Texas?
Joey MatschulatIn this day and age of professional sports, is this story really that surprising?
● Free-agent outfielder Andruw Jones worked out at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington with esteemed hitting instructor Rudy Jaramillo on January 26th, and according to baseball sources, appears likely to sign with Texas on a minor league deal with an invitation to big league spring training (Jeff Wilson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports)
[Well, this development sort of flies in the face of my lengthy Thursday morning editorial on Jon Heyman's seemingly absurd intimation that the Rangers would pursue Jones. Arthroscopic surgery to repair a tear of the medial meniscus in his right knee and subsequent recurring soreness -- which prompted a second month-long stint on the 15-day disabled list during the final two months of the 2008 regular season -- was no doubt a contributing factor to his precipitous decline in offensive production, but his athleticism appears suspect at this point and his odds of ultimately being a successful "reclamation projection" appear rather slim.
Much more on this tomorrow.]
● The Rangers have signed free-agent right-hander Brendan Donnelly to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league spring training (T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com)
[Donnelly, 37, will bank $950,000 if he makes the club and can exercise the out clause in his deal to become an unrestricted free agent if he is not added to the active roster between March 27th and April 27th. A little less than 18 months removed from August 2007 Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, the former Angels setup man stands at least a decent chance at besting an imperfect collection of relievers in spring training and securing a seat in the home bullpen come Opening Day.
Now, is the requisite stuff still there for Donnelly? Beats me. It can be convincingly argued that he hasn't actually had what can be regarded as an unequivocally good season since 2005, but then presumptive spring training competitor Derrick Turnbow hasn't either, so they're on relatively equal footing in that regard; however, Donnelly's strikeout rates have plummeted since his initial three-year stint with the Angels, and it's hard to fathom a fly ball-heavy reliever with a lackluster strikeouts-to-walks ratio making it too terribly far, so he'll have his work cut out for him.
Donnelly, according to the now-infamous Mitchell Report, allegedly purchased Anavar, an anabolic steroid, from former Mets clubhouse attendant and admitted steroids distributor Kirk Radomski in 2004, but vehemently denied that he ever bought or used performance-enhancing drugs; he was also a central figure in the June 14th, 2005 altercation between the Nationals and Angels that culminated in Donnelly's ejection -- and subsequent league-imposed 10-game suspension -- for having pine tar on his glove.]
● Texas has retained free-agent right-hander Jason Jennings on a one-year, $800,000 minor league deal (Troy E. Renck, Denver Post)
[Reasonable depth signing at a fair price? Sign me up. According to Renck, Jennings can make up to $1.45 million in performance incentives based on innings pitched (starting at 110 and ending at 200), and if he's not added to the 40-man roster between April 1st and April 25th, he can request his release.]
Reader Comments (5)
Does anyone have an idea of how much Donnelly has left in the tank?
IMO: Donnelly might have nothing, since he's recovering from TJ, and he's getting older which makes it harder to heal. I'm not upset about the move, but I am wondering why we keep signing injured guys. I guess because it's another cheap option, with hopes that he will have something left in the tank, or be able to maybe return to some earlier form and then flip him if all goes well. He just doesn't have that much time to prove himself, and 950K seems like a lot. Hopefully in the end, the Rangers are holding their head high on all these moves that it seems everyone is so eager to rip them for.
So Donnelly is a TJ surgery survivor, no? I remember him being a pretty solid 7th inning guy a few years ago - seems like LAA?
That might not be a bad pick up.
Better to get these guys (Guardado, Jennings, Turnbow, Donnelly, Eyer? Gagne in '07) in their 2nd year removed from the surgery, as it always seems better than the first.
By the end of all these reclamations, Ben Sheets and the Rangers should have a good idea of what it might be like to go down this road together. But it's a good reminder to make sure it's for the long haul so that we can benefit 2 seasons from now, and not just pay for his year-long recovery plus the first, mediocre year of return.
Donnelly, as I pointed out in the amended article, was mentioned in the Mitchell Report as a PED user and garnered a 10-game suspension in '05 for having an illegal substance on his glove in a game against Washington. Not that either of those matter all that much, mind you.
The Donnelly signing doesn't bother me in the slightest -- this team needs every warm body with a potentially intriguing arm it can get at this transitional stage, particularly where the bullpen is concerned, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that he could come out of nowhere and emerge as one of the club's more reliable early-season relief arms...well, assuming his arm has something left, that is.