Sullivan: Cody Eppley on his way to Arlington

T.R. Sullivan reports that Cody Eppley is heading to Arlington right now.  The Texas Rangers are apparently going to purchase the contract of Eppley, a righthanded relief pitcher, which would require removing someone from both the 25 man roster and the 40 man roster.

It may be that Pedro Strop's shaky performance last night, combined with the overall lack of confidence Ron Washington seems to have in Strop, has made the team decide they need another option for an 8th inning righthanded reliever.  

Or it may be that the team has decided that it doesn't need both Dave Bush and Brett Tomko on the roster, and thus, one of those guys is on the way out.  If Tomko or Bush is dropped from the 25 man roster, it would also clear a 40 man roster spot for Eppley.

Or Chris Davis, who is the team's third string third baseman and fourth string first baseman, and isn't really going to play except when Ron Washington decides to shuffle things around and sit people to squeeze him into the lineup, could be headed back to AAA.

There's even a remote possibility that Darren O'Day, who has struggled since spring training, could be headed back to AAA to try to work on things.

Eppley is an interesting story, a 43rd round pick in the 2008 draft who has pitched exclusively in relief as a pro.  A sidearmer, Eppley has 204 Ks versus just 37 walks in 173 innings as a pro, allowing just 8 homers and posting a 2.39 ERA.  He's unscored upon in 8 1/3 innings in AAA this year, walking 3 and striking out 9.

Like most sidearmers, Eppley gets a lot of ground balls and should be expected to be a lot more effective against righthanders than lefties.

If Bush or Tomko isn't removed from the 25 man roster to make room for Eppley, we could see Brandon Webb or Wilmer Font go to the 60 day d.l., or newly-claimed Ramon Aguero go back on waivers.