Arbitration news. 22 comments


The Rangers avoided arbitration by agreeing to contracts with Keone Kela, Jake Diekman, and Jurickson Profar.

Diekman will make $2.7 million in 2018, Kela $1.2, and Profar a head-scratching $1.05 million for doing nothing much.

Kela was injured twice last season and for nearly three months in 2016, but his numbers are pretty impressive when he is able to take the ball.

A 2.79 ERA last season, with an eye-poppingly low 0.905 WHIP. He will probably compete for the closer role, but in the past two seasons he has thrown just 38.2 innings and 34.0 innings.

Diekman missed almost the entire season, coming back in September for 11 games and a 2.53 ERA. When healthy and available, he has been on of Texas’s most consistent, reliable arms in the bullpen.

Profar is, at best on this Rangers team, a utility player and is out of options, meaning, he pretty much has to stick or be traded. He started out as the favorite for left field, but ended up hitting an anemic .172 in 22 games. He’s a .229 lifetime major league hitter with very little power and not much to offer offensively so far.