ORLANDO, Fla. — The Texas Rangers are on the board at the baseball offseason’s marquee event.
The Rangers signed veteran infielder Tyler Wade to a minor league contract with an invite to major league spring training Monday afternoon. Wade, 31, spent the previous two seasons of his nine-year career with the San Diego Padres in a utility role.
Wade owns a .216/.294/.284 career slash line in 506 career games and posted a .561 OPS in 59 games with the Padres last season. He played second base, shortstop, third base and each outfield position for the Padres but was designated for assignment after the July 31 trade deadline and spent the remainder of the season at Triple-A El Paso.
He provides the Rangers organizational utility depth in manager Skip Schumaker’s first season. The Rangers, in an effort to replace second baseman Marcus Semien, may sacrifice a level of versatility if super utility man Josh Smith is named the everyday starter.
Rangers
“He’s played multiple infield spots, left-handed bat, he’ll be in competition in camp,” Rangers general manager Ross Fenstermaker said of Wade. “He’s somebody that’s got major league experience.”
Schumacher acknowledged Monday that Smith, utility infielder Ezequiel Duran and sparkplug rookie Cody Freeman are among the internal candidates who will compete for the second base job at spring training.
Rangers had luxury of an iron man at second in Marcus Semien. Can Josh Smith replace him?
“There are very few Marcus Semien’s that play 162 games,” Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said Monday.
Why the Rangers need to move Wyatt Langford to center field
Amid free agency and trade talks, the Rangers’ biggest changes have to come internally. Starting with center field.
Texas Rangers land on latest hitting coach, rounding out Skip Schumaker’s staff
The new hitting coach will mark the sixth newcomer on Schumaker’s staff.
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.