Texas Rangers acquire OFs Billy McKinney and Zach Reks from Los Angeles Dodgers for cash considerations

Both players are added to club’s 40-man roster

November 22nd, 2021

Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has acquired outfielders Billy McKinney and Zach Reks from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations. Both players were designated for assignment by the Dodgers on Friday and are added to the Rangers’ 40-man roster.

McKinney, 27, saw Major League action with three different teams in 2021, combining for a .192 batting average, 9 home runs, and 27 RBI in a career-high 116 games for Milwaukee, the New York Mets, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also played in four postseason games for the Dodgers during the Wild Card and Division Series rounds. McKinney has appeared in the Majors in each of the last four seasons (2018-21), batting .215 with 27 home runs and 68 RBI. Prior to 2021, he saw big league time with the New York Yankees and Toronto.

McKinney is a Dallas native and graduated from Plano West High School. He was selected by Oakland in the first round (24th overall) of the 2013 MLB Draft and had been committed to Texas Christian University prior to signing with the A’s.

Reks, 28, made his Major League debut in 2021, going 0-for-10 in 10 plate appearances over six games for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The left-handed hitting outfielder spent the majority of last year’s campaign at Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he batted .280/.382/.539/.921 (90-321) with 19 home runs and 67 RBI in 87 appearances. He has produced a career .295/.383/.487/.870 (362-1229) slash line, 54 home runs and 212 RBI across four minor league seasons in the Dodgers organization, seeing nearly all of his starts at the corner outfield positions (173-LF, 63-RF, 16-1B).

Reks was ranked by Baseball America as the Dodgers’ 23rd-best prospect in the 2021 mid-season update. The Chicago native was drafted by the Dodgers in the 10th round of the 2017 MLB Draft following two seasons as a walk-on at the University of Kentucky (2016-17), this after playing his first season of collegiate baseball for the United States Air Force Academy in 2013.

Following this trade, the Rangers have 39 players on the club’s Major League 40-man roster.