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The Rangers optioned outfielder Willie Calhoun to Triple-A right this moment, as a part of the crew’s efforts to pare all the way down to 26 gamers upfront of Monday’s roster discount deadline. Calhoun’s demotion was seen as one thing of a shock, and it seems as if he sees the transfer as one thing of a final straw.
“(I’m) gonna go to Triple A and put myself ready to get traded. I do wish to be traded,” Calhoun informed The Athletic’s Levi Weaver. “I do wish to be traded….I don’t know if I’ll play one other sport in a Rangers uniform. And I allow them to know that.”
As soon as a top-100 prospect, Calhoun was the important thing piece of the three-player package deal Texas acquired from the Dodgers for Yu Darvish on the 2017 commerce deadline. It appeared as if Calhoun was on his approach to changing into a fixture within the Rangers lineup when he hit .269/.323/.524 with 21 dwelling runs over 337 PA in 2019, however accidents since performed a task in his lack of manufacturing. Calhoun suffered a damaged jaw after being hit within the face by a Julio Urias fastball throughout Spring Coaching 2020, after which missed three months of the 2021 season after struggling a forearm fracture when Kris Bubic hit him with one other pitch.
Because the begin of the 2020 marketing campaign, Calhoun has hit solely .223/.288/.339 over 445 plate appearances. That features a .556 OPS over 53 PA this season, and the Rangers had seen sufficient to consider that Calhoun was expendable on the energetic roster. Calhoun’s points with the group have clearly been constructing for some time, as he informed Weaver that “I’ve been wanting out for the final yr, yr and a half. I really feel like I want a change of surroundings.”
Nevertheless, Calhoun additionally wasn’t happy with how Rangers hitting coaches each outdated and new (Tim Hyers and assistant coach Seth Conner had been employed over the offseason) tried to change his swing and method. “I don’t agree with a number of the hitting philosophies from the brand new guys,” Calhoun mentioned. “I don’t course of that (data) too effectively. I’m not 6-4, 230 kilos; I can’t hit pop-up dwelling runs. I don’t have that leverage.”
Rangers supervisor Chris Woodward informed reporters Sunday the crew needed Calhoun “to work slightly bit extra vertical along with his swing,” however Calhoun mentioned this clashed along with his excellent method because the “line-drive, doubles man” he was throughout his time within the Dodgers farm system.
There isn’t a lot leverage on Calhoun’s aspect to pressure a commerce, as Texas nonetheless has management over his companies by means of the 2024 season. There was some hypothesis whether or not the Rangers would tender him a contract final winter, the 2 sides averted arbitration in Calhoun’s first arb-eligible yr by agreeing to a $1.3MM wage for the 2022 season.
When requested about Calhoun’s want for a commerce, Rangers GM Chris Younger merely mentioned that “we’re trying to get Willie going. The sport is about efficiency. If he goes out and performs at a excessive degree, there will likely be a chance for him.”
This assertion doesn’t rule out the potential for a commerce, after all, because it might be that Calhoun’s subsequent “alternative” might certainly include one other crew. If the Rangers are prepared to maneuver on, they’d naturally prefer to get some type of first rate return again, and as Calhoun famous, occurring a tear at Triple-A would assist him rebuild his inventory for any groups fascinated with buying the 27-year-old.
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