Back on Feb. 6, it was reported that the Rangers had agreed to a deal with free agent reliever Seung-Hwan Oh. There's generally a few days worth of lag between a reported signing and the team making it official, within which window there's a physical.
News broke Saturday afternoon that the Rangers are moving on from Oh without the deal having been finalized. The issue, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, was in the MRI. The report says that the team found "disconcerting issues" in Oh's arm, via the MRI.
Oh, 35, was outstanding for the Cardinals in 2016, working his way into the role of closer and pitching to a 1.92 ERA on the season. Last year, though, he regressed to a 4.10 ERA and 1.40 WHIP (down from 0.92 the previous year). His strikeout rate went from 11.6 K/9 to 8.2. Opposing hitters slashed .285/.330/.464 against him on the year.
Knowing now that there's something problematic in his arm makes it even tougher to see a team taking a shot at him on a big-league deal.
As for the Rangers, they still could use some bullpen help. Lefty Mike Minor and righty Matt Bush appears ticketed for the rotation as things stand, leaving Jake Diekman and Keone Kela to setup for closer Alex Claudio. Other names that could be in the late-inning mix would be the likes of Tony Barnette, Chris Martin and Jose Leclerc.
Past All-Star closer Greg Holland, the best free agent relievers would be names like Matt Belisle, Tyler Clippard, Huston Street, Drew Storen, Jason Grilli and Kevin Siegrist.
