Leonys Martin is mad, refused to go to Arizona

Like Rosanne Rosannadanna used to say, its always something.

The latest bit of drama with the Texas Rangers involves outfielder Leonys Martin, who had a bad year that saw him get hurt, not hit, lose his job to Delino DeShields, get sent to the minors, need surgery on his hand, and then get called up at the end of September, where he only appeared in a game once.

It was a precipitous fall for a guy who was one of the better center fielders in the majors in 2013 and 2014, and so it wasn't surprising that, given Leonys's lack of game activity and paltry .219/.264/.313 slash line in 310 plate appearances in the majors this year, he wasn't included on the team's playoff roster.  Instead, the Rangers asked him to go to Surprise, Arizona, along with several other players, in order to work out with the Instructional League players and be ready in case he was needed at some point in the playoffs.

That apparently didn't sit well with Leonys, who failed to report to Arizona.  This would seem to eliminate any possibility he would supplant Drew Stubbs or Will Venable on the playoff roster later in October, should the Rangers advance, or be considered a viable option for a roster spot should an outfielder get hurt.

Leonys is arbitration-eligible this offseason, and while some have suggested that the Rangers will (or should) non-tender him, he's still the team's best defensive outfielder, and has the ability and potential to reclaim a starting job in 2016.  Worst case, he's got value as a fourth outfielder, and his arbitration salary (probably around $4.5M in 2016, given that he made $3.75M in 2015 and almost certainly would get a raise) isn't out of line for what you would expect from him.

Still, this sort of behavior is a problem, and it may be that the Rangers decide that someone acts like this isn't someone they want with the team in 2016.