Palumbo, Hernandez optioned to AA Frisco

Texas Rangers transactions: Joe Palumbo and Jonathan Hernandez have been optioned to AA Frisco, and Richelson Pena, Zach Curtis and Andy Ibanez have been assigned to the minor league camp, the team announced today. The major league camp now has 64 players after those cuts.

Palumbo and Hernandez were not considered candidates to make the major league roster, and neither have been great in their pair of appearances, so its not a big surprise that they are being sent down early. Brock Burke, who was the subject of a nice piece by Jamey Newberg in this morning’s links post, and Taylor Hearn are the two other starters who finished the season in AA who are still in camp.

The only mild surprise among the three non-40-man guys who got sent down is Zac Curtis, a lefty reliever on a team that has no set lefthanded relief option, though he was always something of a longshot to make the team. Andy Ibanez has a strained oblique which has him on the shelf for what is expected to be the rest of the spring, while Pena is a minor league depth guy who will shuffle between AA and AAA and the bullpen and the rotation as needed.