Texas Rangers Improve Bullpen Depth with Kansas City Trade

The Texas Rangers have acquired left-handed reliever Tommy Hottovy from the Kansas City Royals for a player to be named later and cash considerations.

The 31-year-old pitched in 17 games for the Royals and Boston Red Sox over the past two seasons, posting a 4.05 ERA. Left-handed batters have hit .259 off him while right-handers batted .333. In 13 1/3 innings, he walked eight and struck out eight.

"It's hard to beat that -- going to games as a kid and then getting to be part of the team and the organization," Hottovy said about playing for the Royals. "It's just one of those things that couldn't have worked out any better and I really had a blast in the time that I was here. But teams make moves and the Royals needed a roster spot and it's kind of the way things worked. Fortunately, the Rangers were interested and I'm looking forward to heading down there.

His acquisition provides the Rangers with some bullpen depth after announcing Alexi Ogando would be moving back into the starting five next season. Hottovy also provides Texas with a third-lefty behing youngsters Robbie Ross and Michael Kirkman.