Rangers designate right-hander for assignment

The Rangers announced Sunday that they’ve designated right-hander Shaun Anderson for assignment. In a corresponding move, right-hander Gerson Garabito had his contract selected from the minors. 

Garabito is scheduled to start Sunday's game against the Twins, which would be his major league debut.

Anderson was selected to the club’s roster earlier this month after signing on a minor league deal back in April. A third-round pick by the Red Sox in the 2016 draft, Anderson made his big league debut with San Francisco in 2019 and pitched to mediocre results in a swing role, with a 5.44 ERA and 4.77 FIP in 96 innings of work across 28 appearances (16 starts). 

Major league innings have been hard to come by for the righty since then, as he made just 35 big league appearances across five organizations between 2020 and 2022. The results left something to be desired as well; he pitched to a 6.85 ERA with a 5.57 FIP in that time.

The righty’s struggles at the big league level led him to try his luck overseas during the 2023 campaign, and he signed with the Korea Baseball Organization’s KIA Tigers. Anderson pitched as a starter with the club and found some success overseas, with a 3.76 ERA in his 14 appearances. 

He returned to stateside ball late in the campaign on a minor league deal with the Phillies, but his improved results in Korea did not carry over as he surrendered 28 runs (including 11 homers) in 11 starts for the club’s Triple-A affiliate down the stretch.

That didn’t stop the Rangers from signing Anderson to a minor league deal back in April, however, and he was selected to the roster earlier this month. Anderson ultimately made just two appearances in a Rangers uniform before being DFA’d. 

In 3 1/3 innings of work, he allowed two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out three in a performance that was good for a 5.40 ERA and 2.23 FIP. The Rangers will now have seven days to trade Anderson or attempt to pass him through waivers. 

As a player who has already been outrighted previously in his career, Anderson would have the opportunity to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency should he clear waivers.

Replacing Anderson on the club’s roster is Garabito, a 28-year-old righty who made his pro debut with the Royals back in 2013. Garabito worked his way through the minor leagues across seven seasons in the Royals system before electing minor league free agency and joining the Giants, for whom he pitched to a 4.71 ERA in 11 appearances at the Triple-A level during 2021 season. 

Garabito subsequently left affiliated ball to pitch in Nicaragua, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic over the next three seasons, racking up a 2.86 ERA in 69 1/3 innings of work during that time.

Garabito returned to stateside ball when he landed with the Rangers on a minor league deal prior to the 2024 season and has impressed in seven appearances split between the Double- and Triple-A levels with a 2.05 ERA in 30 2/3 innings of work with an enticing 30.8% strikeout rate. 

The Rangers evidently have seen enough for Garabito to offer him his first shot at big league action, which figures to come against Minnesota on Sunday amid a slew of injuries to the Rangers rotation that have left key pieces such as Nathan Eovaldi and Jon Gray sidelined.