3 Rangers Who Don’t Belong on the 40-Man Roster

Adrian Sampson

The Rangers clearly need more pitching help in their rotation. The front end of their rotation is starting the season on the injured list after their respective surgeries. The rest of the bullpen has notable injury concerns of their own. They lost a ton of talent in the offseason with the departures of Aroldis Chapman, Will Smith, and Chris Stratton. The bullpen already had plenty of question marks in their World Series run, and they didn't do much to address those concerns.

From that perspective, adding Adrian Sampson, an experienced right-handed pitcher with a familiarity with the organization makes some sense. The 32-year-old was with Texas for three years until 2019. In his final season in Arlington, he went 6-8 with a 5.89 ERA over 125.1 innings.

Following his time with the Rangers, he went to play in the KBO League in South Korea for a season before making his return to the MLB with the Chicago Cubs. Yet, he hasn't been an impact arm ever since.

He is on a minor league deal with an invitation to major league Spring Training camp. He will have a chance to make the final roster but his recent performances don't indicate a high likelihood of that happening.

Dealing with knee issues, Sampson only threw 28 minor league innings in 2023, going 0-3 and posting a 9.32 ERA. It's hard to see how he rediscovers his old form again.