Ozuna, Hernandez back on minor league deals

As spring training gets closer and teams look to round out their organizational rosters, the Texas Rangers continue to add players on minor league deals. Per Scott Lucas, Elier Hernandez and Fernery Ozuna have been brought back to the club on minor league deals for the 2023 season.

Hernandez, you may recall, had a brief stint in the majors with the Rangers in 2022, when they were casting about for a left fielder who might be able to hit lefties. The 28 year old would seem likely to be at Round Rock for 2022, and play various positions in the outfield, as well as first base, for the Express as needed.

Ozuna is a small (listed at 5’8”) righthander who originally was with the Diamondbacks organization as an infielder, then converted to pitching after joining the Rangers prior to 2018. He throws hard and has some impressive stuff, but also has command issues. After doing well in AA to start 2022, he gave up 20 runs in 19.1 IP after being promoted to Round Rock. He will likely be in the Express pen to start the season.

In checking out the names on the minor league transaction report today, there were a lot of familiar faces...Joe Wieland, Reed Garrett, Willie Calhoun, Hanser Alberto and Ronald Guzman were all mentioned as being assigned to AAA clubs. Ah, the memories...