Veteran pitcher will be invited to Major League Spring Training camp; Club also agrees to terms with five other players on minor league contracts
Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Nick Tropeano on a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training camp.
Tropeano, 31, has seen Major League action in seven of the last eight seasons, including a 1-0 record and 2.25 ERA (2 ER/8.0 IP) over 5 relief appearances with San Francisco and New York-NL in 2021. He spent the bulk of last season at the Triple-A level, combining to go 3-0 with a 3.69 ERA (19 ER/46.1 IP) and 9.9 strikeouts per 9 innings with Sacramento (SF), Syracuse (NYM), and Oklahoma City (LAD). The Long Island native has a 14-14 record with a 4.22 ERA and 8.0 strikeouts per 9 innings over 54 games/39 starts spanning a seven-year MLB career with Houston (2014), Los Angeles-AL (2015-16, 2018-19), Pittsburgh (2020), San Francisco (2021), and New York-NL (2021).
The club has also agreed to terms on minor league contracts with five additional players, and each of those five players will be in minor league camp: infielder Trey Hair, right-handed pitcher Jesus Linarez, left-handed pitcher Sal Mendez, catcher Jordan Procyshen, and third baseman Josh Sale (pronounced sah-lay).
Hair, 26, played 66 games for High-A Hickory in 2021, posting a .291/.380/.513/.893 slash line with 13 home runs and 48 RBI after signing on June 16 and joining the club mid-season. Originally selected by Tampa Bay in the 34th round of the 2017 MLB Draft, Hair has played three affiliated minor league seasons in the Tampa Bay (2017-18) and Texas (2021) farm systems, in addition to playing parts of three seasons (2019-21) in independent leagues.
Linarez, 25, paired a 4-4 record with a 3.84 ERA (26 ER/61.0 IP) across 29 games/5 starts for Down East (A) and Hickory (A+) in 2021, holding opposing hitters to a .226 (51-226) batting average. The Dominican Republic native has gone 18-12, 3.06 ERA (115 ER/338.1 IP) over seven minor league seasons in the Texas organization since signing with the club as a non-drafted free agent on June 3, 2014.
Mendez, who turns 27 on February 25, split last season between Round Rock (AAA) and Frisco (AA), going 6-4 with a 4.87 ERA (35 ER/64.2 IP) over 28 games/2 starts. The left-hander has spent his entire professional career in the Texas organization since being selected by the Rangers in the 40th round of the 2013 MLB Draft.
Procyshen, who turns 29 on March 11, spent the entirety of the 2021 campaign at Double-A Frisco after signing a minor league contract with Texas on April 9. The native Canadian batted .197 with 5 home runs and 20 RBI in 45 games for the Roughriders, making 30 starts behind the plate and 7 appearances (9.2 IP) as a reliever: 2-1, 2.79 ERA.
Sale, 30, hit .284/.394/.593/.986 with 34 home runs and 104 RBI for Gastonia of the independent Atlantic League in 2021, trying for the league lead in home runs. It was his first professional season since 2014, when he played 90 games for High-A Charlotte in the Florida State League, his final year in the Tampa Bay Rays organization after being selected in the first round (17th overall) of the 2010 MLB Draft.
