Texas Rangers arbitration projections from MLB Trade Rumors

The Texas Rangers arbitration-eligible contract projections are out at MLB Trade Rumors. Somewhere Lee Stevens’ ears are burning.

Matt Swartz and MLB TR crew have a pretty robust and accurate proprietary model for projecting future arbitration contracts. You can read about that here. While there’s no one who is due to break the bank in Texas, getting a decent look at what players can expect to earn gives us a better idea at how the payroll will shakeout in 2019.

For the upcoming offseason, Tim Dierkes and company lists eight arbitration-eligible players on the Rangers. The highest dollar amount Texas is projected to pay belongs to Nomar Mazara at a projected $3.7 million in his first year of arbitration eligibility.

After the breakout season almost a decade in the making, Jurickson Profar is projected to make $3.4 million. The Rangers have another young position player up for arbitration in center fielder Delino DeShields. He’s projected to earn $1.9 million.

Another hitter on the list is Ryan Rua with a projection of $1.1 million. However, after another year of failing to grab hold of his opportunity to start as, at the very least, the right-handed option of a platoon at a corner position, Rua is a candidate to be non-tendered.

Carlos Perez was so forgettable in his role as backup catcher from time to time in 2018 that even his projected arbitration amount of $800K might be pricey considering the fact that the Rangers seemed to like Isiah Kiner-Falefa more and more behind the dish as the season wore on.

As for the pitchers, Alex Claudio is due around $1.3 million. After winning the Rangers’ Pitcher of the Year award in 2017 and ending the season as the club’s closer, Claudio regressed a bit in 2018 but he’s still a nice arm out of the ‘pen for Texas.

Matt Bush is projected to make $1.0 million but he’s also expected to miss the first half of the season next year after having arm surgery last month so Texas might try to get him to sign for less.

The final arbitration eligible player for the Rangers is pitcher Eddie Butler. Butler came over in the Cole Hamels trade with the Chicago Cubs and wasn’t even remotely good. He’s projected to make 900K. The Rangers probably spend more than that on Dilly Dog batter but I really don’t care what happens to Eddie Butler or how much he makes.