The Texas Rangers are keeping the band at least partially intact.
At the end of the most recent season, the Rangers said goodbye to a large chunk of their 2023 World Series-winning core. Second baseman Marcus Semien was traded to the New York Mets.
Outfielder Adolis García signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. Catcher Jonah Heim is still looking for a job two months into his free agency.
However, the Rangers ensured on Tuesday that the man who got the final out of that year’s World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks would be back for at least another spring training.
According to the league’s official transactions log, the Rangers signed right-hander Josh Sborz to a minor-league deal on Tuesday.
Sborz was one of four players the Rangers non-tendered in November, along with García, Heim, and pitcher Jacob Webb, who signed a major league deal with the Chicago Cubs in December.
Sborz threw exactly 150 innings for the Rangers from 2021 to 2024 in the regular season, and added another 12 in the postseason. He had a 4.86 regular-season ERA in a Rangers uniform, but most baseball fans would never know it, because that October, the right-hander was dominant.
In his 10 postseason games, Sborz scattered just four hits, four walks, and one earned run. He racked up 13 strikeouts and posted a 0.75 ERA.
The 32-year-old dealt with a right rotator cuff strain and shoulder fatigue throughout the 2024 season and underwent offseason surgery coming into last year. He did not throw a pitch in the majors and owned a 5.25 ERA in 12 rehab appearances for Triple-A Round Rock.
Nothing will be given to Sborz, it seems, but if he can put himself in the conversation for the Rangers’ bullpen, his past playoff greatness might serve as a tiebreaker of sorts.
