Tony Barnette to the disabled list, Chris Martin recalled

Texas Rangers transactions: Tony Barnette, righthanded relief pitcher for the Texas Rangers, has been placed on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain, John Blake announced this afternoon. Replacing Barnette on the disabled list is relief pitcher Chris Martin.

This is a weird sequence of events, as Martin was optioned yesterday to make room on the active roster for Ronald Guzman, a move that Jeff Banister acknowledged was due to a roster crunch issue and needing to “protect” players on the active roster, and not due to ineffectiveness on Martin’s part. The thought was that Carlos Tocci would be disabled list bound in a few days, when he had enough time on the active roster that he could be d.l.’d until rosters expanded in September and meet the Rule 5 requirements, and Martin would be recalled at that point.

However, Barnette was lifted from yesterday’s game with a shoulder issue, and was slated to get an MRI. No indication at this point how serious the injury is, but with Martin available and the Rangers carrying “just” a seven man bullpen, it makes sense that Barnette will be stashed on the 10 day disabled list and Martin would return.