Texas Rangers add 1B Ronald Guzman to Major League roster

Adrian Beltre named 2016 Texas Rangers' Player of the Year

November 18th, 2016

The Texas Rangers today announced the following major league roster moves:
- Right-handed pitcher Tyler Wagner received from the Arizona Diamondbacks on waiver claim
- First baseman Ronald Guzman contract purchased from Triple-A Round Rock
- Right-handed pitcher Adrian Sampson assigned outright to Triple-A Round Rock
Wagner, who will turn 26 in January, spent the bulk of the 2016 season on the disabled list at Triple-A Reno with a strained right latissimus dorsi muscle. He made 3 relief appearances for the Diamondbacks in April (3 R-2 ER/10.0 IP), and went 1-4 with a 5.06 ERA (9 ER/26.2 IP) over 5 games/starts for Reno, including his last outing of the season on May 13 at Sacramento. A fourth round selection by Milwaukee in the 2012 June draft, he has a 4.94 ERA (13 ER/23.2 IP) over 6 games/3 starts in the majors with the Brewers (2015) and Diamondbacks (2016). 
Wagner has a 2.96 ERA across 96 games/93 starts and 526.1 innings in his minor league career, along with a 1.237 WHIP figure and 7.1 strikeouts per 9 innings. The Las Vegas native was teammates with Rangers infielder Joey Gallo at Bishop Gorman High School.
Guzman, who turned 22 years old on October 10, combined to bat .274 (127-463) with 21 doubles, 6 triples, 16 home runs, and 67 RBI over 127 games with Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock in 2016. The first baseman earned both midseason and postseason All-Star honors in the Texas League, ranking among circuit leaders in batting average (2nd, .288) and slugging percentage (5th, .477). Guzman reached Triple-A for the first time in his career and established a new career high in home runs. Originally signed as an undrafted free agent on July 2, 2011, he led all Rangers with 12 RBI in spring training games in 2016.
Sampson was received from the Seattle Mariners in a November 2 waiver claim, when he was transferred from the Mariners' 60-day disabled list to the Rangers' 60-day disabled list. He was reinstated from the disabled list on November 7.  Sampson made his major league debut with Seattle in 2016, allowing 4 runs/earned runs over 4.2 innings in his lone outing on June 18 at Boston. Sampson had surgery to repair a flexor tendon in his right elbow on June 30 and is expected to be in an injury rehabilitation program for the start of the 2017 season.
With today's transactions, the Rangers have 38 players on the major league roster. The updated roster is attached.