The Rangers announced that they’ve traded Dane Dunning to the Braves for minor league reliever José Ruiz and cash. Atlanta designated Jesse Chavez for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Ruiz was not on Atlanta’s 40-man roster after being outrighted last month, so this clears a spot on the Texas roster.

It’s a salary dump for the Rangers. Dunning has fallen out of favor over the past two seasons. The former first-round pick managed 172 2/3 innings of 3.70 ERA ball during the World Series season two years ago. He only managed a 5.31 mark in 95 frames last season. While Texas tendered him a contract, Dunning had to take a very rare arbitration pay cut to ensure the Rangers didn’t cut him loose.

That didn’t ensure him a spot on the Opening Day roster. The 30-year-old Dunning gave up 10 runs in 11 innings during Spring Training. Texas waived him at the end of camp in the hope that another team would take his $2.66MM salary. No one bit, and the former first-round pick has spent most of the year in Triple-A.

Dunning was called up in April, again cleared waivers in May, and was selected back onto the roster last month. He has been limited to five MLB appearances, all out of the bullpen, and has allowed four runs across 10 2/3 innings. He has worked as a starter in the minors, pitching to a 4.47 ERA over 46 1/3 frames in the Pacific Coast League. Dunning has punched out 24% of opponents against a 9% walk rate.

The Rangers were unlikely to give Dunning anything more than mop-up work. He had fallen behind Patrick Corbin, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker on the depth chart. Texas expects to get Jon Gray back from a wrist fracture in the next week or two. Dunning has a much better path back to a rotation spot on an Atlanta team that has been decimated by injuries.

They’re without Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, Reynaldo López and AJ Smith-Shawver. They’ve given 15 starts to Bryce Elder, who has a near-6.00 ERA. Davis Daniel made his first start of the season just before the All-Star Break. He’s the nominal fourth starter. They pressed 20-year-old Didier Fuentes into MLB work for which he was clearly not ready. He’s now back in Triple-A.

More to come.