The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has acquired minor league right-handed pitchers Abdiel Mendoza and Teodoro Ortega from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for right-handed pitcher Cory Gearrin. Additionally, the Rangers have recalled right-handed pitcher Connor Sadzeck (#59) from Triple-A Round Rock.
Gearrin has gone 1-0 with a 2.53 ERA (6 ER/21.1 IP) over 21 relief appearances for Texas since being acquired in a July 8 trade with San Francisco. Overall this season, he has a 2-1 record with one save and a 3.51 ERA with the Giants and Rangers.
Sadzeck, 26, will be active for tonight's series opener against the Minnesota Twins, seeking his major league debut. He has spent the bulk of the season with Triple-A Round Rock, posting a 5-3 record with a 5.21 ERA (17 ER/38.0 IP) and 1.368 WHIP figure. He has held Pacific Coast League opponents to a .254 batting average with 16 walks and 54 strikeouts, averaging 10.2 strikeouts per 9 innings and holding right-handed batters to a .221 average and .624 OPS. Sadzeck was on the Express disabled list from June 22-August 8 with a left oblique strain, a stint which included a 3-game injury rehabilitation assignment with the Arizona League Rangers.
Sadzeck had 2 appearances for the Rangers this spring, allowing 4 runs in 1.0 inning of work before he was optioned to Round Rock on March 13. The Rangers' 11th round selection in the 2011 June draft, Sadzeck transitioned to a relief role in the middle of the 2017 campaign.
Mendoza, who turns 20 on September 19, has gone 2-3 with a 3.32 ERA (21 ER/57.0 IP) over 13 games/10 starts with Rookie-level Vermont in the New York-Penn League. The Panama native was signed by Oakland on July 2, 2015 and has held opposing batters to a .227 average over 38 games/17 starts in his first three professional seasons.
The 18-year-old Ortega was 3-1 with a 2.11 ERA (10 ER/42.2 IP) over 14 games/6 starts with the DSL Athletics this season. The Panama native signed with Oakland as a non-drafted dree agent on July 31, 2017 and made his professional debut with the DSL Athletics this season.
The Rangers now have 39 players on the club's major league roster, along with 6 players on the 60-day disabled list.