Ben Rowen clears waivers, becomes a free agent

Ben Rowen, who the Rangers designated for assignment last week, has cleared waivers and become a free agent, the Rangers announced today.

Rowen, a 26 year old submariner who was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2010 draft out of Virginia Tech, was originally placed on outright waivers.  However, because of technicalities in the rules that I haven't been able to get a clear explanation of thusfar, he could not be placed on outright waivers, and had to be put on release waivers, instead.

Had Rowen cleared outright waivers, he could have been stashed on a minor league roster and kept in the Rangers' organization.  Instead, he is a free agent, and is eligible to sign with any team.  Given that he cleared waivers, he will probably be getting a minor league deal with whichever team he signs with.

Rowen dominated in the lower level of the minors, but there have been questions about whether his low-80s, righthanded submarine style would be successful in the majors.  Rowen was okay, but not great, in AAA and the majors in 2014, and will likely have to perform extremely well at the AAA level to get another shot in the big leagues.