Texas Rangers sign former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder following series loss

McKinney, 30, was released from a minor league deal with the Mets last week.

He's a left-handed hitting first baseman/corner outfielder who has played at the big league level with seven different clubs.

McKinney carries a .209/.284/.386 batting line in a little under 1000 MLB plate appearances.

He'd been out to a rough start for the Mets' top farm team, hitting .184/.285/.307 with 34 strikeouts over 33 games.

In 2018 McKinney made his big league debut with the New York Yankees. He made it into just two big league games before theYankees traded McKinney to the Blue Jays alongside Brandon Drury in exchange for J.A. Happ.

He spent three years with Toronto in total and got into a combined 122 games during that time while slashing .230/.291/.439.

He was DFA'd by the Jays following the 2020 season, however, and spend 2021 bouncing between multiple clubs.

He ultimately appeared in a career-high 116 games that year but hit just .192/.280/.358 across 300 plate appearances with the Brewers, Mets, and Dodgers before being non-tendered by the Rangers that November.

As a depth option with the ability to handle first base and all three outfield spots, it's easy to see why the Rangers brought him back on a fresh minor league deal, whether that's to see if they can tap into the potential that made him a top prospect a decade ago or simply to fill out their Triple-A depth chart.

McKinney has a much more solid .266/.354/.487 slash in parts of eight Triple-A seasons. He'll try to find that form in the Pacific Coast League.

Will Billy McKinney ever make it back to the MLB level or will he be stuck playing in the Pacific Coast League?

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