Rangers Designate Derek Lowe For Assignment
By Tim Dierkes [May 20 at 3:15pm CST]
The Rangers designated righty Derek Lowe to open a spot on the active roster for Josh Lindblom, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Rangers already had a 40-man roster spot open, so that tally will remain at 39.
Lowe, 39, posted a 9.00 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 2.08 HR/9, and 55.8% groundball rate in 13 relief innings this year. He had signed a minor league deal in March and made the team out of Spring Training, receiving a $1.25MM salary in the Majors. That salary should prevent a waiver claim, and result in Lowe becoming a free agent via release. At that point, a team could sign him for the league minimum $490K with the Rangers picking up the rest of the tab.
Lowe has pitched over 2,600 innings in his big league career with the Mariners, Red Sox, Dodgers, Braves, Indians, Yankees, and Rangers, and has had success as both a reliever and a starter. His 176 wins rank him 11th all-time among those born in Michigan, and his 86 saves rank tenth.