Rangers claim former top prospect off waivers from division rival to begin offseason

Just a day after the Dodgers won the World Series, the Texas Rangers got started with their offseason plan to rebound from a huge falloff in 2024. They started to retool by claiming former top pitching prospect, Roansy Contreras, off waivers from the Angels.

Rangers claim former top prospect Roansy Contreras from AL West rival.

Back in 2022, Contreras was the 71st ranked prospect in all of baseball and fifth in the Pirates organization. That season, Contreras was emerging as a top young arm in baseball, posting an earned run average of 3.79 in 95 innings pitched a WHIP of 1.27. Not bad for a rookie, but he ran into issues shortly after that.

On came 2023 and Contreras made the Opening Day roster. Things went downhill very fast, which eventually resulted in a shutdown and restarting in a few months in the Florida Complex League. He worked his way back up to Triple-A, but the results were still very poor. Contreras’ velocity also went down that season.

In 2024, his velocity returned to what is was in 2022 and he got a chance in the Pittsburgh bullpen. In 16.1 innings, Contreras had an opponent batting average of .288 and a WHIP of 1.65 before being designated for assignment.

The Angels acquired him and he got another chance in the big leagues. Contreras performed decently. In 52 innings, he posted an earned run average of 4.33 with a WHIP of 1.29 and an opponent batting average of .223.

Contreras offers six pitches to the Rangers now. In terms of Run Value, his slider was his worst pitch in 2024, having a -7 mark. But, it was his best pitch in 2022 and 2023 with a positive Run Value. His fastball in 2023 had a run value of -15, but was solid at two in 2024.

Those are his primary pitches. If he can consistently pound the strike zone instead of walking hitters at a rate over 10%, he could once again be an effective pitcher. Spring Training will be important for Contreras, and the Rangers will have to see if he can make an impact in 2025.