SEOUL– Texas Rangers’ South Korean pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong has been sent to the minor leagues after going unclaimed on waivers.
Before hosting the Houston Astros in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday (local time), the Rangers announced that Yang has been outrighted to the Triple-A Round Rock Express.
The move came one day after the Rangers designated Yang for assignment and took him off their active roster.
Once a player is designated for assignment, or DFA’d in baseball parlance, he is immediately removed from the 40-man roster and from the 25-man active roster if on it. The player can be traded or placed on irrevocable waivers within seven days. And if the player clears waivers — meaning, if no team picks that player from waivers — then the player may be sent outright to the minors or released.
Yang was also DFA’d and cleared waivers in June, and was outrighted to the minors then too.
The 33-year-old is 0-3 with a 5.60 ERA in 12 appearances, including four starts. Yang has an identical win-loss record and ERA in Triple-A this year.
Yang has bounced between the majors and Triple-A multiple times in his first season in the United States, coming off 14 mostly successful campaigns with the Kia Tigers in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
Yang signed a minor league deal with the Rangers in February but failed to break camp with the big league team and instead started the season in the minors.
Yang received his first callup in April and pitched in his first big league game on April 26.
Following the demotion in June, Yang was brought back up on Aug. 24. Yang made one relief outing four days later and then was shipped back to the minors again on Aug. 31.
But as the active rosters across the majors expanded from 26 to 28 players on Sept. 1, the Rangers called up Yang. The club also had a few players sidelined following positive COVID-19 tests.
Yang, though, wasn’t able to seize the opportunity. In three relief appearances during his latest big league stint, Yang gave up four runs on nine hits, including two home runs, in 4 1/3 innings.
Source: Yonhap News Agency