Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has acquired minor league infielder Jose Acosta from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for outfielder Scott Heineman.

Acosta, 20, did not play in 2020 and was not a part of Cincinnati’s fall instructional league camp. The switch-hitter was originally signed by the Reds as a non-drafted free agent on July 4, 2017, at the age of 17. In his second professional season in 2019, the Santo Domingo native combined to bat .395 (77-195) with 17 doubles, 3 home runs, and 32 RBI with the Dominican Summer League (DSL) Reds and Arizona League Reds. He was selected a Baseball America DSL All-Star in 2019 after posting a slash line of .403/.503/.611/1.113 to lead the circuit in all four categories.

Over his brief minor league career, Acosta has split his time almost evenly between third base (35 starts) and second base (29 starts). He has also been successful in 38 of 42 steal attempts (90.5%) in the minors.

Heineman was designated for assignment by Texas on December 11 when the club re-signed right-handed pitcher Jimmy Herget. Heineman was re-signed by Texas on December 3, this after he was not tendered a contract offer by the Rangers prior to the December 2 deadline. He appeared in 24 games over two stints with the Rangers last season (Opening Day-September 9 and September 13), batting .154 with one home run and 7 RBI. Originally selected by Texas in the 11th round of the 2015 June draft, he has seen Major League action with the club in each of the last two seasons.

RANGERS SIGN RHP LUIS ORTIZ TO MINOR LEAGUE CONTRACT: Also today, the Rangers have signed right-handed pitcher Luis Ortiz to a minor league contract. Ortiz, who was originally selected by Texas in the first round (30th overall) of the 2014 June draft, will be in minor league camp this spring.

The 25-year-old advanced to Double-A Frisco in the Texas organization before he was traded to Milwaukee on August 1, 2016. The 6-foot-3 right-hander was later dealt to Baltimore on July 31, 2018. Ortiz’s only MLB action to date came in 2018-19 with the Orioles, as he went 0-2 with 10 runs/8 earned runs allowed in 5.2 innings over 3 games/2 starts. He was in Baltimore’s minor league camp this past spring and was not a member of the club’s 60-man Player Pool. Over six minor league campaigns, the Sanger, Calif., native has a 23-29 record and 3.73 ERA in 103 games/90 starts.