Opening Day is almost here. While the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs already began their seasons over in Japan, the rest of the teams around the league are beginning to put some finishing touches on their rosters before the season begins.
Unfortunately in baseball, injuries are a part of the game, and for some teams, injuries strike them earlier than others. One of those teams is the Texas Rangers, who made a late addition and brought in a former World Series Champion.
Patrick Corbin gets 1-year deal from Rangers
In what was a pretty surprising move, Patrick Corbin, a longtime National but forever a World Series Champion, was given a big league deal by the Texas Rangers. The Rangers have been depleted by injuries to their starting rotation already, with lefty Cody Bradford and righty Jon Gray both scheduled to miss the beginning of the season.
Younger options and former high draft picks out of Vanderbilt Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker were thought to be the next men up for them, but both have a lot of question marks at this time. Leiter struggled in limited big league action last season, while Rocker has dealt with some mechanical issues so far in spring training.
Signing Corbin will at least give them stability, and a guy who, as we all know, can eat innings with the best of them. Perhaps getting out of the NL East will be good for Corbin, as his numbers against American League teams over the last few seasons were much better than his numbers against divisional opponents. As a projected back-end starter for them, he should be able to at least keep things afloat until their other arms are able to return to the rotation.
Travis Blankenhorn joining Carter Kieboom with Angels on MiLB deal
The other signing of a former National on Wednesday came in the form of Travis Blankenhorn, who inked a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Angels. With this signing, he will join former Nationals top prospect Carter Kieboom, who signed with the club after being released from the Nationals organization.
Both Blankenhorn and Kieboom are similar in that they seem to be 4A players, in that they are too good for the highest level of the minor leagues, but not good enough to be big leaguers. However, with the injury luck the Angels have had over the last few seasons, perhaps there is a chance that they could end up playing for them at some point, but it remains to be seen at this time.
What do you think of Patrick Corbin signing with the Rangers? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.