Texas Rangers acquire Zack Granite from Minnesota Twins

Texas Rangers transactions: Zack Granite, a 26 year old lefthanded hitting center fielder, has been acquired by the Rangers from the Minnesota Twins, the Rangers announced today. Granite was acquired in exchange for Xavier Moore, a 16th round 2017 draft pick of the Rangers. To make room for Granite on the 40 man roster, outfielder Scott Heineman has been moved to the 60 day injured list.

Granite spent a chunk of time in the majors in 2017, putting up a .237/.321/.290 slash line in 107 plate appearances. He spent all of 2018 in the minors, slashing .211/.282/.245 for AAA Rochester. John Sickels had a write-up on Granite when the Twins called him up in 2017, calling him a guy who is an above-average defender in center with 65-70 speed, but issues with his arm and hitting ability. It appears he should have one option remaining, so the Rangers don’t have to keep him on the 25 man roster if they don’t want to.

Moore, 20, is a righthanded pitcher who was a 16th round pick out of Amherst, Ohio, in 2017. He has limited numbers in the minors, all in short-season ball, where he has nice strikeout numbers and a lot of walks allowed. Moore received a $125,000 bonus, which is the most a post-10th round pick can get without it dipping into a team’s draft bonus pool — thus, they liked him enough when they drafted him to max him out on what they could offer without dipping into their pool, but not so much they had to pay him more than that.

Heineman had offseason shoulder surgery and was expected not to be ready for game action until late April or early May, so moving him to the 60 day injured list isn’t a surprise. He will likely stay in extended spring until early May, then start a rehab assignment (he can spend up to 20 days on a rehab assignment). He will be eligible to be activated in late May.

UPDATE — And the Twins have traded Moore to the Baltimore Orioles for $750,000 in international bonus pool space.