Willie Calhoun was fed up with the Texas Rangers. He had demanded a trade, disagreeing with their assessment that he needed to work on his swing after being sent down to Triple-A. Statistical evidence may have been on the Rangers side, but Calhoun felt that he was not given enough of an oportunity.
Now Calhoun may be about to get his wish. He has been designated for assignment, removing him from the 40 man roster to create an opening for the recently promoted Steele Walker.
Willie Calhoun set to leave Texas Rangers
Calhoun appeared to have worked his way into the Rangers’ plans back in 2019. The former top prospect had produced a .269/.323/.524 batting line in his 337 plate appearances, hitting 21 homers and 14 doubles. While his defense in left was miserable, costing the Rangers seven runs, his bat should have been enough to keep him in the lineup.
Instead, 2019 was Calhoun’s high water mark. He had floundered since, with a .223/.288/.339 batting line in his 445 plate appearances since the beginning of 2020. He had just eight homers and 15 doubles in that time frame, his power having disappeared.
He has not exactly lit Triple-A afire since his demotion. Calhoun has a disappointing .221/.267/.397 batting line in 75 plate appearances at Round Rock, hitting four homers. Although that performance is better than what Calhoun had done in the majors in 2022, it was still not even close to being enough to put him back into the Rangers’ plans.
It would not be a surprise to see Calhoun get another chance despite those struggles. He had been a former top prospect and it is possible that he just needs a change of scenery to tap into his potential. As he has three more years of team control left, he is the type of player that a team would be willing to take a chance on to see if he can be a long term solution.
The Texas Rangers have designated Wille Calhoun for assignment. He is finally getting his wish to get an opportunity somewhere else.