Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has signed free agent left-handed pitcher Andrew Heaney to a two-year contract covering the 2023-24 seasons.
No financial terms were disclosed. Details for a press conference to introduce Heaney will be announced next week.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Heaney, right-handed pitcher A.J. Alexy has been designated for assignment.
“Andrew is an important addition to the staff as we continue improving our roster for the 2023 season,” said Rangers Executive Vice President and General Manager Chris Young. “He was one of the most effective pitchers in the Majors over the final two months last season, and we look forward to working with Andrew on carrying that momentum into next year.”
Heaney, 31, went 4-4 with a 3.10 ERA (25 ER/72.2 IP) over 16 games/14 starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2022, enduring a pair of stints on the Injured List: April 20-June 18 (left shoulder discomfort) and June 24-July 26 (left shoulder inflammation). He recorded 110 strikeouts while issuing just 19 walks last season, as his career-best 13.62 strikeouts per 9 innings figure was the 2nd-highest mark among pitchers with at least 70.0 innings (13.81 SO/9 by ATL’s Spencer Strider).
According to FanGraphs, Heaney registered a career-best 16.8% swing-and-miss strike percentage in 2022, the highest rate among pitchers with at least 70.0 innings. He limited opponents to a .214/.285/.429/.713 (60-280) slash line, posting reverse splits vs. right-handed (.210 BA) and left-handed (.230 BA) batters.
He made the first and only postseason appearance of his career on October 14, 2022, a relief outing in the Dodgers’ 2-1 defeat in Game 3 of the National League Division Series vs. San Diego (ND, 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR).
Since the start of 2019, Heaney ranks among Major League pitchers (min. 350.0 IP) in strikeouts per 9 innings (9th, 11.07), swing-and-miss strike pct. (14th, 13.8%), strikeout pct. (15th, 28.8%), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (21st, 4.11).
The nine-year Major League veteran has gone 36-42 with a 4.56 ERA (358 ER/707.0 IP) over 137 games/126 starts with Miami (2014), Los Angeles-AL (2015-21), New York-AL (2021), and Los Angeles-NL (2022). He has struck out 760 of 2995 (25.4%) batters faced in his career, the 7th-highest strikeout percentage among active left-handed pitchers with at least 100 MLB starts.
An Oklahoma City native, Heaney pitched collegiately at Oklahoma State University before being selected by the Miami Marlins in the first round (9th overall) of the 2012 MLB Draft.
Alexy, 24, was originally acquired by the Rangers from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a trade on July 31, 2017 involving starting pitcher Yu Darvish. Alexy went 1-1 with a 11.57 ERA over 4 relief appearances spanning five total stints with the Rangers in 2022. He spent the balance of the year at Triple-A Round Rock, going 6-6 with a 5.91 ERA over 31 games/16 starts.
With today’s transactions, the Rangers remain at the 40-man limit on the Major League roster.
RANGERS SIGN THREE TO MINOR LEAGUE CONTRACTS: The Rangers have signed a total of three players to minor league contracts: C David Garcia, LHP Lucas Jacobsen, and RHP Nick Snyder.
Garcia, 22, recorded a .229 batting average, 5 home runs and 39 RBI over 70 games with Double-A Frisco and Rookie-level Arizona Complex League Rangers this season. The Venezuela native owns a career .247 batting average, 17 home runs and 154 RBI over five minor league campaigns since signing with Texas as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 2016.
The 27-year-old Jacobsen went 0-1 with 3 saves, a 2.29 ERA (5 ER/19.2 IP), and 13.7 strikeouts per 9 innings figure across 19 games/one start for Triple-A Round Rock and Double-A Frisco in 2022. He owns a lifetime 5-5 record, 6 saves, 3.80 ERA (31 ER/73.1 IP), and 14.1 strikeouts per 9 innings over 59 games/one start in four minor league seasons since being selected by the Rangers in the 27th round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Long Beach State.
Snyder, 27, was non-tendered by Texas on Nov. 18, 2022 after he posted no record and a 18.00 ERA (2 ER/1.0 IP) in 2 relief appearances with the Rangers last season. He spent the majority of the campaign with Triple-A Round Rock, going 2-2 with 2 saves and a 4.97 ERA (21 ER/38.0 IP) over 41 games/one start. The Palm City, Fla. native has gone 9-6 with 12 saves, a 3.59 ERA (57 ER/143.0 IP), and 11.1 strikeouts per 9 innings figure across 119 games/one start over five seasons in the minors. Snyder was originally selected by Texas in the 19th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla
