Texas Rangers sign Edinson Volquez to two year deal

The Texas Rangers have signed pitcher Edinson Volquez to a two year minor league contract, the Rangers announced today. Volquez had Tommy John surgery in August, 2017, and will be out of all of 2018 rehabbing. Volquez will rehab at the Rangers facility in 2018 and apparently compete for a spot on the Rangers roster in 2019.

Volquez has had a weird, up-and-down career...he was, of course, originally signed by the Rangers as an amateur, and was part of the D-V-D trio of pitching prospects in the early 21st century Texas had coming up before being shipped to Cincinnati, along with Danny Herrera, for Josh Hamilton after the 2007 season. Volquez put up a 4.8 bWAR season in 2008 for the Reds, causing a certain amount of consternation among Rangers fans upset that Jon Daniels gave away another great pitcher, but then was pretty much mediocre or replacement level for several years thereafter as he dealt with injuries.

Volquez bottomed out with a -2.5 bWAR stint with the Padres in 2013 before turning his career around in Pittsburgh, where he put up the first of two 2.5 bWAR seasons in back-to-back years, following his 2014 performance up with a similar one with Kansas City in 2015. Volquez cratered in 2016 for the Royals, though the Miami Marlins apparently saw enough potential to sign him to a 2 year, $22 million deal.

Volquez will be 35 next spring, when he will be vying for a rotation spot, and the odds against him contributing would appear to be long. This, nevertheless, gives the Rangers a chance to monitor his rehab and try to get him in position to potentially contribute to the 2019 team.