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The Rangers had two open spots on their 40-man roster after a couple of curious moves to sell off Andrew Faulkner to Baltimore and outright Tanner Scheppers to Round Rock.
The Rangers filled one of those open spots today by acquiring right-hander Clayton Blackburn from the San Francisco Giants for minor league infielder Frandy De La Rosa.
Blackburn in 24 and was recently waived by the Giants. The Rangers acquired the Amarillo native likely as more starter depth at Round Rock. Blackburn topped out as San Francisco’s No. 6 best prospect according to Baseball America in 2014. A disappointing 2016 season with Sacramento in the PCL saw his stock drop.
If you’re curious what Clayton Blackburn looks like, well...
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...he looks exactly what you’d think a guy named Clayton would look like.
Frandy is a 21-year-old middle infield type that the Rangers pried from the Chicago Cubs in the Spencer Patton trade. In A ball in Kinston, De La Rosa was slashing .107/.242/.179 for the DEWDs in eight games.
In his first full season with Texas last season in Low A Hickory, De La Rosa hit .250/.330/.351. He’s young and plays SS and 2B so I’m sure the Giants can dream on that a little bit.