Dodgers Sign Former Rangers Prospect
The Los Angeles Dodgers inked a Major League contract with a former Texas Rangers Top 30 prospect on Thursday. With his one-year contract signed, Ricky Vanasco will be eligible to participate in complete Spring Training and might be included to the 26-man Opening Day roster. Vanasco received a $200,000 signing bonus from the Rangers, who selected him in the 15th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of high school. In 2019, he posted a 1.81 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings in the lower levels of the Rangers organization, which was his finest minor league season. However, Tommy John surgery ended his career at the close of 2020.
Vanasco returned to pitching in 2022, and the Rangers saw fit to add him to their 40-man roster in the offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 Draft. He was 3-5 with a 4.68 ERA in 2022. With 23 starts, he gave up 52 walks while 118 batters were struck out. He began the previous season in the Rangers’ minor league system and had injury-related time off. In his season debut, he pitched 2 1/3 innings and gave up 10 runs (six earned) in his final appearance with Double-A Frisco. On May 29, the Rangers placed him on the roster for assignment. On July 1, they traded him for left-hand pitcher Luis Valdez to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
On June 30, Vanasco was also designated for assignment by the Dodgers. However, he was able to re-sign with the team on a minor-league contract, and he was sent to Triple-A Oklahoma City before being sent directly to Double-A Tulsa after clearing waivers without a claim. He was placed in a bullpen position by the Dodgers, and in 25 appearances between Tulsa and Oklahoma City, he was 1-4 with a 1.24 ERA and 42 strikeouts.
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Apparently not in the running to sign Shohei Ohtani is an AL West rival of the Angels.
We are approaching Shohei Ohtani’s offseason, and speculations are beginning to circulate. Even though Ohtani prefers to keep things quiet, we already know which teams will aggressively pursue the two-way star and which ones won’t.
We learned a lot about one team on Friday: the Seattle Mariners, who compete in the AL West.
Furthermore, it appears that the Mariners may not be in the running for Ohtani, per MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer.
If Ohtani left the Halos, the Angels will suffer regardless of where he ends up, but it would be much worse if he returned to the AL West.
Many people thought Ohtani could have preferred to play in Seattle because the Mariners and Texas Rangers were expected to be two of the teams with the most aggressive rosters.
He has a far greater chance of leaving the AL West, though, as it appears the Mariners are withdrawing from the competition.
The Angels don’t have to worry about just one division rival, but the Rangers are still anticipated to be a tough team. It’s also unlikely that the Oakland/Las Vegas Athletics will be able to sign Ohtani, leaving only the Houston Astros, who haven’t been connected to him yet.
Ohtani’s options are still open to the Rangers and the Angels, although the latter now have a far better chance of losing their two-way superstar in the division.
