Jurado, DeShields up, Mann down, Rua to the d.l.

Texas Rangers transactions: Ariel Jurado and Delino DeShields have been recalled from AAA Round Rock for tonight’s game against the Houston Astros, the Rangers announced today. To make room for Jurado on the active roster, the Rangers have optioned lefthanded relief pitcher Brandon Mann to AAA Round Rock. To make room for DeShields on the active roster, the Rangers have placed Ryan Rua on the 10 day disabled list.

The move for Jurado was expected, as the Rangers said after Cole Hamels was traded Jurado would start today. Mann going down was most likely move to clear a spot for Jurado, as he had been brought up earlier in the week to get an extra arm in the bullpen, and the Rangers have Austin Bibens-Dirkx and Matt Moore also in the pen as multi-inning long man/garbage time guys.

The return of DeShields is unexpected, although the Rangers have been going with a short bench, and with Rua having been scratched due to back spasms yesterday, the Rangers aren’t in a position to be even more short-handed. I am surprised that DeShields is back but not starting today — I would assume that he will resume getting the majority of the playing time in center field going forward, while Carlos Tocci goes back to the bench.

The DeShields return is reminiscent of Chris Martin getting sent down due to a roster crunch earlier this year, only to be recalled a day later when Tony Barnette went on the d.l. Both the Martin and DeShields demotions were reportedly quite unpopular in the clubhouse, and while both ended up back shortly thereafter, the hard feelings nonetheless are going to linger. If DeShields went down to work on things, he certainly didn’t have enough time in AAA to work on them such that he’d warrant returning, reinforcing it was a numbers issue rather than a performance issue that resulted in the demotion.