The Rangers' bullpen shuffle finally has its ending. Luis Curvelo, designated for assignment last Friday to clear a 40-man spot, went unclaimed on waivers and has now been outrighted to Triple-A Round Rock.
The move itself is bureaucratic housekeeping, but the backstory is worth knowing. Texas DFA'd Curvelo to make room for Marco Gonzales, who got recalled as a fresh arm after the Rangers burned through 5 relievers covering 6 innings in a game where Jacob deGrom exited early with triceps fatigue. Curvelo, plus infielders Cam Cauley and Ben Peoples, got squeezed out in the reshuffling.
It's not exactly a shock the 25-year-old Venezuelan righty didn't get a waiver claim. Over 26 career MLB appearances across two seasons, Curvelo posted an ERA north of 7.00, struck out just 19% of hitters and walked more than 12% — numbers that don't scream must-stash bullpen piece for a contender in mid-August.
The results weren't any better in the minors this year. Curvelo carried an 8.42 ERA and a 14% walk rate across 25 2/3 innings at Triple-A, so the outright reads less like a surprise and more like Texas finally making it official.
For the Rangers, this is a small but telling data point on where their pitching depth stands down the stretch. Between deGrom's health scares and a bullpen that's been stretched thin enough to need five arms in one game, Texas needs its depth options to actually be reliable — and Curvelo simply hadn't shown that at either level this season.
He'll now report to Round Rock as organizational depth rather than a 40-man option, which means any path back to Arlington runs through re-signing to a minor-league deal or a fresh DFA-and-claim scramble somewhere else. For now, he's off the roster and out of the immediate bullpen picture.