Kelley i.l.’d, Montero up, Tocci DFA’d

Texas Rangers transactions: Shawn Kelley has been placed on the 10 day injured list, the Rangers announced today. To take his place on the active roster, the Rangers have purchased the contract of Rafael Montero. To clear a 40 man roster spot for Montero, the Rangers have designated Carlos Tocci for assignment.

Kelley was brought into yesterday’s game and threw a few warmup tosses before leaving with what has been diagnosed as biceps soreness. Kelley was visibly displeased when he left the field. Kelley, the Rangers closer of late, had reportedly attracted trade interest, but with the trade deadline nine days away, it would appear Kelley is not going to pitch again before the trade deadline passes.

Montero is a 28 year old righthanded pitcher who was in the New York Mets organization until becoming a free agent last November. Montero missed all of last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He has a career 5.38 major league ERA in 192.1 IP.

The move to jettison Tocci comes as a surprise. Tocci was, notoriously, kept on the 25 man roster all of 2018 as a Rule 5 pick despite being completely overmatched offensively. Tocci was considered a top notch defensive outfielder, and the hope was that his bat would develop in AAA this year. After having committed themselves to Tocci all of last season, I had assumed his 40 man roster spot would be safe until at least 2020, but the Rangers have apparently decided they made a mistake in hanging onto him and aren’t going to compound it by sticking with him.

The Rangers now have 7 days to waive, trade or release Tocci.