The Rangers announced this evening that they have released shortstop Nick Ahmed. Additionally, they have re-signed right-hander Hunter Strickland to a minor league deal, just a day after releasing him.
The moves follow comments from president of baseball operations Chris Young, who told reporters, including MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry, that eight non-roster veterans had been informed they would not be making the Opening Day roster. Along with Ahmed, that group includes Adrian Houser, JT Chargois, Joe Barlow, David Buchanan, Tucker Barnhart, Chad Wallach, and Matt Festa.
While contract details for all of these players remain unclear, Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports reports that the Rangers will not prevent any non-roster invitee from pursuing a major league opportunity elsewhere if they choose.
So far, Ahmed appears to be the only player from that group to take the Rangers up on their offer and request his release. The 35-year-old veteran spent the first ten seasons of his career with the Diamondbacks, earning two Gold Glove awards while primarily serving as a reliable, defense-first shortstop.
However, injuries and declining performance hampered Ahmed in the latter part of his tenure with Arizona. Over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he played just 89 games, slashing .216/.258/.332 (58 wRC+) across 264 plate appearances. That downturn led him to free agency for the first time last winter.
Ahmed ended up bouncing between NL West contenders during the 2024 season, appearing in 52 games with the Giants, 17 with the Dodgers, and two with the Padres.
Ahmed’s offensive struggles continued last season, as he slashed just .229/.267/.295 with a 59 wRC+. However, he provided steady defense for both the Dodgers and Padres while filling in for injured shortstops Mookie Betts and Ha-Seong Kim.
If a team experiences an injury at shortstop, Ahmed could be a logical fit as a glove-first stopgap option. Alternatively, he may opt to seek a minor league opportunity with a club that has less stability at shortstop than the Rangers, where Corey Seager is firmly entrenched as the everyday starter.
Strickland, a veteran of ten MLB seasons, has had a rollercoaster career. He debuted with the Giants in 2014 and was dominant out of the bullpen, posting a 2.64 ERA and 3.15 FIP over his first four seasons. However, his performance took a downturn after that. Between 2018 and 2020, while splitting time with the Giants, Mets, Mariners, and Nationals, he struggled to a 4.68 ERA and 4.92 FIP—both below league-average marks.
He briefly bounced back in 2021, recording a strong 2.61 ERA across 57 appearances with the Rays, Angels, and Brewers. However, his struggles returned with the Reds in 2022, and he didn’t pitch in the majors the following year. Strickland made his return to the big leagues with the Angels last season, posting a respectable 3.31 ERA, though his 4.45 FIP and struggles with the long ball (10 homers allowed in 73 1/3 innings) were concerns.
Now re-signed to a minor league deal, Strickland will remain in the Rangers’ system as a non-roster depth option heading into the season.
Among the other players informed they won’t be making the team, the most notable is Adrian Houser, who had appeared to be in the mix for the Rangers’ rotation following injuries to Cody Bradford and Jon Gray.
The team recently signed Patrick Corbin to a major league deal to provide additional rotation depth, but with Corbin unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, Houser’s exclusion from the big-league roster suggests the final two rotation spots behind Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, and Tyler Mahle will go to youngsters Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker. That decision comes despite both former first-round picks having uneven performances this spring.
