The Texas Rangers have a deal in place for a potential addition to their starting rotation.
Texas is set to acquire left-hander Ross Detwiler from the Washington Nationals for two minor league players, a baseball official familiar with the deal said Thursday night.
That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because there was no announcement by either team before leaving the winter meetings in San Diego. The deal was also pending the review of medical records for the former first-round draft pick.
Detwiler is a former starter who spent last season in the bullpen, mostly working in long relief. He went 2-3 with a 4.00 ERA in 63 innings across 47 appearances, then was left off the Nationals’ post-season roster for the NL division series against the San Francisco Giants.
The Rangers are looking to add another experienced starter in their rotation with Yu Darvish, Derek Holland and Colby Lewis.
Detwiler was 10-8 with a 3.40 ERA in 33 games (27 starts) for the Nationals in 2012, and started Game 4 of the NL division series that season when he allowed an unearned run over six innings against St. Louis. He was limited to 13 starts in 2013, when he was on the 15-day disabled list for a right back muscle strain and later ended the season on the 60-day DL because of a lower back strain.
Washington drafted Detwiler with the sixth overall pick in the 2007 amateur draft, and he pitched in one inning for the Nationals in September that season. He didn’t pitch in the majors again until 15 games in 2009.
Detwiler has started 69 of his 132 major league games. He has a career record of 20-32 with a 3.82 ERA.
The Rangers are initially planning to leave the fifth rotation spot open for competition among several young pitchers already in their organization. Some of them have already made a several major league starts for Texas.<
