Rangers sign Volquez, Gibaut, Federowicz

The Texas Rangers have signed righthanded pitchers Ian Gibaut and Edinson Volquez and catcher Tim Federowicz to minor league contracts, the team announced today. All three played in the majors in 2019, and all three have invitations to the major league camp.

Gibaut, 26, was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in July, 2019, in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. He was non-tendered a few weeks ago. Gibaut is a big, hard-throwing righty who put up a 5.65 ERA in 14.1 IP in the majors in 2019 for the Rays and the Rangers. He will presumably be in AAA Nashville’s bullpen.

Volquez, 36, was slated to be in the Rangers’ rotation for 2019, but an elbow injury in his first outing put him on the shelf for much of the season. He had originally indicated that he planned on retiring after the 2019 season, and pitched out of the bullpen over the final weeks of the season. Volquez will presumably be vying for a long man role for the 2020 team.

Federowicz, 32, was acquired by the Rangers from the Cleveland Indians last summer when Isiah Kiner-Falefa went on the injured list and Texas needed a backup catcher. He spent some time in the majors during the summer, then was outrighted when Jose Trevino came up, and then came back up in September. He will likely be depth for AAA Nashville.