Rangers sign free agent RHP's Austin Bibens-Dirkx & Erik Goeddel

The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has signed free agent right-handed pitchers Austin Bibens-Dirkx and Erik Goeddel (pronounced guh-DEHL) to minor league contracts with invitations to major league spring training.
Bibens-Dirkx, 32, saw his first big league action with the Rangers in 2017, posting a 5-2 record with a 4.67 ERA (36 ER/69.1 IP) over 24 games/6 starts. He made his major league debut on May 17 vs. Philadelphia after having spent 12 seasons in the minor leagues. His first career road win came on June 11 at Washington, when he started opposite Max Scherzer and set a Rangers rookie record by retiring 19 consecutive batters faced at one point. Bibens-Dirkx became a free agent on November 6, when he rejected the Rangers' outright assignment to Triple-A Round Rock.
Goeddel, who will turn 29 years old on Wednesday, went 0-1 with a 5.28 ERA (17 ER/29.0 IP) over 33 relief appearances for the New York Mets in 2017, posting a career-best 10.2 strikeouts per 9 innings. Goeddel was with the major league club for the duration of the season following his promotion on June 21, but was assigned outright to Triple-A Las Vegas on October 25 and became a free agent on November 6.
Goeddel has spent his entire career in the Mets organization since being selected in the 24th round of the 2010 June draft, posting a 3-4 record with no saves and a 3.96 ERA spanning 110 relief appearances in the big leagues. Opposing right-handed hitters have batted just .212 with a .680 OPS against Goeddel in his career. A native of the Bay Area in Northern California, Goeddel pitched at UCLA, and was on a 2010 Bruins club that reached the finals of the College World Series.
With the signings of Bibens-Dirkx and Goeddel, the Rangers still have a full 40-man roster along with 7 non-roster invitees to major league spring training camp.
ADRIAN BELTRE AND AUSTIN BIBENS-DIRKX RECEIVE 2017 TEXAS RANGERS AWARDS
Third baseman Adrian Beltre has been selected as the recipient of the 2017 Harold McKinney Good Guy Award. In addition, right-handed pitcher Austin Bibens-Dirkx has been named the 2017 Texas Rangers Rookie of the Year.
The announcements were made today by the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, which conducted the balloting.
Despite being limited to 94 games by injuries, Beltre batted .312 with 17 homers and 71 RBI. He became just the 31st player in Major League history to reach the 3,000-hit milestone with his fourth inning double on July 30 vs. Baltimore. Beltre finished 2017 among the top 35 players in big league history in numerous offensive categories.
Bibens-Dirkx was 5-2 with a 4.67 ERA in 24 games/6 starts while seeing his first Major League action. He made his Rangers' debut in May after pitching in 318 minor league games over 12 seasons and went on to win his first three decisions with Texas.
Beltre and Bibens-Dirkx will be honored at the 2018 Dr Pepper Texas Rangers Awards Dinner, which takes place on Friday, January 19 at Gilley's Dallas. Tickets for the dinner, which will honor a number of baseball personalities and feature appearances by Texas Rangers past and present, are now on sale at www.texasrangers.com/awards.
Tickets for the Dr Pepper Awards Dinner are priced at $110.00 each with tables of ten also available. Net proceeds benefit the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation. The dinner will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Gilley's Dallas is located at 1135 S. Lamar St. in Dallas. The 2018 Dr Pepper Texas Rangers Awards Dinner is also sponsored by FOX Sports Southwest, CBS11/TXA21, and 105.3 The FAN.
RANGERS RE-SIGN TWO MINOR LEAGUERS:
The Rangers have also re-signed right-handed pitchers Luis Marte and Richelson Pena to minor league contracts, and both players will be in minor league camp this spring. Marte, who turned 24 on Friday, split the 2017 campaign between Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock, batting .244 (88-360) with 7 home runs and 42 RBI over 99 games. The 24-year-old Pena combined to go 10-7 with a 3.00 ERA (45 ER/135.0 IP) over 25 games/22 starts with Frisco and High-A Down East last season. He is currently 3-0 with a 1.60 ERA (6 ER/33.2 IP) over 11 games/4 starts with the Aguilas in the Dominican Winter League.