Kanekoa Texeira

I’m going to be honest, I don’t understand DFA’ing Kanekoa Texeira. Yeah, he’s not a superstar or anything, but he’s leaps and bounds better than Sean White or Garrett Olson. Sure, that 5.30 ERA looks bad, but he hasn’t really deserved it.

Texeira has ran a decent 6.75 K/9 and a clearly bad 4.82 BB/9. However, he has added an above average 44.8% ground ball rate, leading him to a 3.37 FIP and 4.32 xFIP. For comparison, White was running a 3.75 FIP and 5.30 xFIP in his time in the majors this year. Garrett Olson doesn’t have major league data this year, obviously, but that’s just because he’s awful.

As our rule five selection, we’ll have to work out a trade with the Yankees if we want to keep Texeira. Texeira is an interesting arm, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Zduriencik try to throw the Yankees a bone or some cash considerations to keep Texeira in the system. The demotion is just baffling though. Yes, Colome should’ve gone away, but really anyone but Sean White or Garrett Olson should have replaced him.

Texeira didn’t need replacing. I love the Mariners’ front office, but sometimes it seems like results based analysis creeps into their heads in situations where it shouldn’t. Sure, the results of Griffey and early season Sweeney weren’t enough to force them to make a move, but some bad luck outings by Texeira and he’s cut? I just don’t get it. It’s not like he’s going to allow 33% line drives all year. Pitchers can’t really control LD rate that much.

Kanekoa Texeira isn’t good. But he isn’t bad, and he’s young, cheap, and has upside. I am baffled to see the Mariners dump him at this point. It’s not a significant roster move, but it just doesn’t make sense.