The Rangers offered an infielder Jonah the Bride his release, according to Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News. He is now a free agent and is eligible to sign with any club.
The bride, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers in November. He spent the year with Triple-A Round Rock, putting up good numbers. He went up 357 times in 80 games with the Express. His 18.2% strikeout rate and 16% walk rate were both well above average. He has a .271/.389/.418 line. Even in the collision-friendly context of the Pacific Coast League, that production is 12% better than the league average, with a wRC+ rating. Defensively, he split his time between first base, third base and left field.
Given that solid performance, it’s surprising to see the Rangers release him and sacrifice depth, in particular Corey Seager, Cody Freeman again Michael Helman all on the injured list. Maybe the Bride had some kind of opt out of her contract or just received a gift from a group in another country.
He doesn’t have a ton of big league success on his hitting record, .221/.311/.313 and 690 plate appearances. But he has at least 250 innings in three non-hit outfield positions with decent defensive metrics at each position. He also hit .287/.418/.475 at the Triple-A level over the years. He is a solid piece and should get interest from various clubs if he sticks to corporate football. The Rangers may want to re-sign him. That being said, he is also likely to receive attractive offers to join other leagues.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
