Rangers acquire RHP Luke Farrell from Los Angeles Angels on waiver claim

The Texas Rangers announced Friday that the club has acquired right-handed pitcher Luke Farrell from the Los Angeles Angels in a waiver claim.

January 4th, 2019

The Texas Rangers announced Friday that the club has acquired right-handed pitcher Luke Farrell from the Los Angeles Angels in a waiver claim.
Farrell, 27, went 3-4 with a 5.17 ERA (18 ER/31.1 IP) over 20 games/2 starts for the Chicago Cubs in 2018, establishing career highs in most categories. He was sent to Los Angeles-AL in a September 3 waiver claim, but never appeared for the Angels last season. He was designated for assignment by the Halos on December 21. Prior to being designated for assignment by the Cubs on September 1, Farrell saw five stints in the majors with Chicago-NL last year: April 20-May 6, May 28-June 23, June 26-July 11, July 21, and July 22-23. He also went 1-4 with a 3.64 ERA and 1.252 WHIP over 12 games/starts with Triple-A Iowa in 2018.
 
Originally selected by Royals in the sixth round of the 2013 June draft out of Northwestern University, Farrell has a 3-4 record with a 5.28 ERA over 30 games/3 starts in the major leagues with Kansas City (2017), Cincinnati (2017), and Chicago-NL (2018). He has averaged 9.7 strikeouts per 9 innings in his big league career. He is the son of former Blue Jays and Red Sox manager John Farrell.
 
With the addition of Farrell, the Rangers now have 37 players on the club's major league roster.
 
SAMPSON AND MONTERO SIGN MINOR LEAGUE DEALS: The Rangers have also officially announced the signings of right-handed pitchers Adrian Sampson and Rafael Montero to minor league contracts with invitations to major league spring training.
 
Sampson was 0-3 with a 4.30 ERA over 5 games/4 starts with the Rangers in September, his first MLB action since 2016. He spent the balance of the season with Round Rock (AAA), going 8-4 with a 3.77 ERA over 33 games/19 starts for the Express. Sampson was not tendered a contract prior to the deadline on November 30 and became a free agent.
 
Montero, 28, missed the entire 2018 season after he was injured in late March and had 'Tommy John' ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow. In his most extensive MLB action in 2017, Montero went 5-11 with a 5.52 ERA over 34 games/18 starts with the Mets. Montero became a free agent when the Mets gave him an outright assignment on November 2.