Texas Rangers Looking to Sign Tyson Ross

The Texas Rangers are aggressively trying to to sign Tyson Ross, who was among the most effective starters in the majors before missing most of last season.

While the Chris Sale trade and Rich Hill signing earlier this offseason may be seen as the most splashy moves made to acquire pitchers, free-agent right-hander Tyson Ross may provide equal value.  The 29-year-old made just one start last season due to ongoing shoulder issues that eventually led to surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome.

Despite his effectiveness in recent years, the San Diego Padres non-tendered Ross so as to not pay him a repeat of his $9.6 million salary from last season.  Although the Padres were amendable to signing Ross for a lower amount, the righty has drawn interest from nearly two-thirds of the league.

Ross, who was an All-Star in 2014, has a 3.64 career ERA with 8.51 strikeouts per nine innings.  In 2015, Ross posted a 3.26 ERA with a favorable 2.98 FIP in 196 innings, making him one of the more reliable and durable starters across the league.  His career groundball rate of 56 percent is also a quite favorable number for teams seeking mid-rotation starters.

Since the Winter Meetings, Ross has reportedly been seeking a deal in the range of anywhere from $9 to $11 million.  But with the offseason advancing, Ross’ asking price may be lowering.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported that the Texas Rangers are advancing in talks with Ross, and that his asking price has lowered – while TR Sullivan of MLB.com reported similar findings.

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Jon Heyman of Fan Rag Sports later reported that Ross visited the Rangers today (1/4), and that Ross is deciding between six teams.  If Ross were to sign with the Rangers, the team would have a quietly formidable rotation.  With Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels atop the rotation, and Martin Perez and Andrew Cashner in the middle – Ross would give the team a remarkably solid fifth starter, granted he can stay healthy.

With A.J. Griffin as another candidate to start, Ross could take as much time as needed to recover from surgery.  But whenever Ross is healthy, he’d likely get the nod over Griffin.

While the Rangers seem to be the front runners to sign Ross now, the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins have expressed interest in Ross at various points of the offseason.  It’s unclear if those teams are the six final contenders, but all have contending rosters and a need at the back-end of their rotations.

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At 29, Ross has plenty of solid baseball left in his arm – and if he can stay healthy, signing him to a one-year deal may prove to be the best move of the offseason.