Carlos Asuaje claimed by Texas Rangers on waivers

Texas Rangers transactions: Carlos Asuaje has been claimed on waivers from the San Diego Padres by the Texas Rangers, the team announced today. Asuaje was designated for assignment by the Padres last week.

Asuaje, 27, was originally an 11th round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2013 out of Nova Southeastern University, an institution of higher learning that has also produced J.D. Martinez, Mike Fiers and Miles Mikolas. Asuaje was traded in November, 2015, by Boston, along with Manuel Margot, Logan Allen and Javy Guerra, in the deal that sent Craig Kimbrel to Boston.

Asuaje has a career .240/.312/.329 slash line and -0.6 bWAR in 586 major league plate appearances. An infielder, he has mostly played second base, although he has also played some third base and left field. The Padres purchased his contract in September, 2016, so he has an option remaining.

Jon Daniels mentioned yesterday that the Rangers were looking to get a utility infielder so that Isiah Kiner-Falefa could focus primarily on catching in 2019. If the Rangers feel that Asuaje can handle third base, he could be a utility infield option, with Jurickson Profar moving from third base to shortstop when Elvis Andrus needs a day off. Alternatively, he could be someone the team tries to slide through waivers in a week.

The 40 man roster now stands at 35.