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Texas Rangers transactions: Brett Martin has been optioned to AA Frisco, and Ariel Jurado has been optioned to AAA Nashville, the team announced today.
Jurado, a righthanded starting pitcher, being optioned is not really news, as he had no realistic shot of making the Opening Day roster unless a starting pitcher or two got hurt. Jurado will be on his final option this season, and will toil away at AAA, offering the Rangers rotation depth while trying to figure out a way to miss enough bats to be a viable major league pitcher going forward.
A month ago, Martin being optioned today wouldn’t be considered news, other than it being mildly surprising he was optioned this late in camp. However, the lefthanded pitcher, who had a dreadful year at AA Frisco in 2018, has been a star in camp so far, to the point that Chris Woodward talked him up as being in the mix for a bullpen spot, prompting me to do a post about whether he could be on the Opening Day roster.
Martin, who moved from the rotation to the bullpen late last year, will likely work in Frisco as a multi-inning reliever, and if he carries over his spring success, he’s someone we could see in the majors at some point this season.