Rangers sign Shawn Tolleson and Paulo Espino to Minor League contracts

The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has signed free agent right-handed pitchers Shawn Tolleson and Paulo Espino to minor league contracts with invitations to major league spring training.
Tolleson, who will turn 30 on January 19, returns to the Rangers after spending the 2017 season in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. Tolleson underwent season-ending 'Tommy John' ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow on May 17, and he is expected to continue his rehabilitation process during the 2018 season. He spent the entire campaign on the 60-day disabled list after making 5 spring training appearances for the Rays, the last on March 23 vs. New York-AL.
Tolleson posted an 11-7 record with 46 saves and a 3.84 ERA spanning 3 seasons with the Rangers from 2014-16, including establishing career highs in 2015 in saves (35), games (73), innings (72.1), and strikeouts (76). His 46 saves still rank 8th in club history. The Allen native and Baylor University product has a career 3.92 ERA spanning 215 major league relief appearances with Los Angeles-NL (2012-13) and Texas (2014-16), and his last big league outing came with the Rangers on July 27, 2016 vs. Oakland.
Espino, who turns 31 on January 10, finished the season with Texas before he was assigned outright to Triple-A Round Rock on October 10. He became a minor league free agent on November 6. Espino had no record and a 5.68 ERA (4 ER/6.1 IP) over 6 relief appearances with Texas after being acquired in an August 26 trade with Milwaukee and recalled by the Rangers on September 1. He made his MLB debut last season with the Brewers and compiled a 6.00 ERA (16 ER/24.0 IP) spanning 12 games/2 starts overall in his first big league action.
With the signings of Tolleson and Espino, the Rangers still have a full 40-man roster along with 9 non-roster invitees to major league spring training camp.
RANGERS SIGN TWO TO MINORS DEALS: The Rangers have also signed outfielder Brett Eibner (pronounced eye-b-nur) and right-handed pitcher Zeke Spruill (pronounced SPROO-l) to minor league contacts, and both players will be in minor league camp this spring. 
Eibner, 29, appeared in 17 games with the Dodgers in 2017 before season-ending 'Tommy John' ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow on August 1. He was designated for assignment by the Dodgers on September 1 and given his unconditional release on September 4. Eibner, who player at The Woodlands (TX) High School and the University of Arkansas, owns a career .191 batting average over 87 big league contests with Kansas City (2016), Oakland (2016), and Los Angeles-NL (2017). 
Spruill, 28, spent the 2017 season with the Lamigo Monkeys in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan, posting 15 wins and a 2.56 ERA in 26 starts. He pitched for Kia in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) in 2016, going 10-13 with a 5.27 ERA in 30 games/29 starts. The former 2nd round selection by Atlanta in the 2008 June draft, Spruill went 1-3 with a 4.24 ERA in 12 games/3 starts for Arizona in 2013-14 in his only major league action, and last pitched in the U.S. with Triple-A Pawtucket in 2015.