DeShields Jr.'s Speed Gets Him on Roster

The Texas Rangers announced that Delino DeShields Jr. will start the season on Monday on the Opening Day big-league roster and travel with the team to Oakland.

DeShields, who is basically a one-trick pony, happens to have that one trick that the Rangers lack in otherwise with the exception of Leonys Martin and Elvis Andrus — speed, and lots of it.

The son of the former big-leaguer of the same name, DeShields has some pop in his bat but his meal ticket has always been his speed, and the Rangers took a chance on him in the Rule 5 draft in December, snatching him away from the Houston Astros, who have since come out and let it be known DeShields had some character issues and was seen as a bad teammate.

So far this spring, so good on that front, even if it is a small sample. If he can help the Rangers with some pinch-running situations and be a capable backup in center field to Martin, he'll be a nice roster piece for the Rangers. If the Rangers had not put him on their big-league roster to start the season, they would've had to return him to Houston, per the Rule 5 rules.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us