Rangers sign Juan Carlos Oviedo to MiLB Deal
The Texas Rangers have signed right-handed relief pitcher Juan Carlos Oviedo to a minor league deal, which includes an invite to Spring Training. Club exec John Blake announced the signing on twitter.
Oviedo, formerly known as Leo Nunez, saved 92 games for the Florida Marlins during the 2009-2011 season. He even posted a career-best 2.86 FIP and 9.8 K/9 in 2010.
After spending the 2012-2014 seasons recovering from Tommy John and dealing with documentation issues, Oviedo actually pitched decently with the Tampa Bay Rays last season. He finished out the year with a 3.69 ERA, 26 strikeouts, and a 102 ERA+ (where 100 is league average) in 31.2 innings.
However, the peripherals do not seem to like Oviedo’s 2014 campaign; his ERA translated to a much less impressive 4.52 FIP, he walked 4.5 batters per nine innings, and posted an abysmal 1.63 K/BB ratio.
But despite being only an average reliever in 2014, Oviedo could still make a difference in the Rangers bullpen and may even break camp with the team, should he regain his pre-Tommy John velocity.
This is a solid low-risk, high-reward signing by the Rangers. Best-case, Oviedo challenges Neftali Feliz for Texas’ closing job. Worst-case, the injury bug bites and the Rangers only surrender a minor league contract.