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Texas Rangers rumors: Cole Gillespie, a 30 year old righthanded outfielder, has been designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners.
My initial reaction to hearing this news was, "I hope the Rangers claim him."
Seattle has 10 days to waive, trade or release Gillespie, and given where the Rangers are in the standings, they would have a good chance of snagging him if he ends up on the waiver wire (which seems likely).
Now, why would the Rangers want a 30 year old outfielder who is mostly a corner guy, and who has a career .233/.298/.333 line in 267 plate appearances?
Because the following players are currently on the 25 man roster:
Donnie Murphy
Carlos Pena
Adam Rosales
Michael Choice
Daniel Robertson
Now, Choice may be swapped out for Engel Beltre in the next few days, but still, the other four guys are people who aren't going to contribute to the Rangers in 2015. Rosales is a backup middle infielder, so he isn't going anywhere, but do you really need, say, Donnie Murphy on this roster when you can have someone like Gillespie?
I'm not saying Gillespie is anything great, but he has a career .292/.388/.483 line in AAA, and he's played all three outfield positions. If you want Choice to go down to AAA to get his head straight, and aren't ready to call up Ryan Rua (and I think leaving Rua in AAA for the time being is reasonable), then Gillespie gives you a righthanded hitting outfield option to mix and match with Engel Beltre. Replace Murphy with Gillespie, replace Pena with Jim Adduci when Adduci is healthy, and suddenly you've got a few guys who are getting playing time who might, maybe, offer you something in a bench role next year, rather than guys who are on the team because you can't simply sim the rest of the games.
And if Gillespie doesn't work out, you can designate him for assignment and move on to the next candidate.
