Daniels: Rangers to tender all arbitration-eligible players

The Texas Rangers’ arbitration-eligible players will all be tendered contracts, Jon Daniels said today.

The Rangers have seven arbitration eligible players — Robinson Chirinos, Jake Diekman, Sam Dyson, A.J. Griffin, Jeremy Jeffress, Jurickson Profar, and Tanner Scheppers. Scheppers and Griffin appeared, to me, to be the two players potentially on the bubble, as they’ve been plagued with injury issues the past three seasons, but they are both apparently safe.

The decision to keep Scheppers could be fueled in part by a need to use some of the other bullpen pieces the team has as trade bait. Dyson, Jeffress, Tony Barnette, Keone Kela and Matt Bush are all quality options from the right side in the pen, and with the team looking to upgrade in the rotation and in center field, it wouldn’t be surprising if one of those guys was moved in a deal, making for a clearer path to a roster spot for Scheppers.

Griffin, meanwhile, provides the Rangers with rotation insurance and a possible long man, should they succeed in adding another starting pitcher.

Evan Grant, in the link above, suggests Chirinos was possibly on the bubble, given he’s lost his starting job to Jonathan Lucroy and has dealt with injuries, but he’s still cheap, even for a backup, and he’s one of the better backup catching options out there, as well as being able to provide solid work in a starting role if need be.