Hyeon-jong Yang clears waivers, is outrighted

Texas Rangers pitcher Hyeon-jong Yang, who was designated for assignment to open up a 40 man roster spot for Willie Calhoun on Wednesday when Calhoun was activated from the 60 day injured list, cleared waivers and has accepted an outright assignment to AAA Round Rock, the team announced.

Yang, a 33 year old lefthander, had previously been outrighted earlier this year, so he could have elected free agency rather than accepting the outright assignment, but with two and a half weeks left in the season, its unlikely he was going to find another gig with another team.

Yang has a 5.60 ERA in 35.1 innings over four starts and eight relief appearances in the majors this year, with a 6.51 FIP. Signed from the KBO to a minor league deal, Yang didn’t make the team out of spring training, but was added to the major league roster in late April. Yang was sent to the minors in June, but returned in late August as part of the reinforcements needed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. He had been optioned the day before he was DFA’d.