Daniels: DeShields ready to play ‘functional role’
By MLB.com Blogs Usher
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels hasn’t told Delino DeShields he will be on the Opening Day roster, but that conversation is inevitable at this point. And Daniels said Friday that DeShields’ Rule 5 status, which would essentially force the Rangers to place him on the Opening Day roster and keep him there all season or lose him to waivers, is not the determining factor in his making the club.
Get MLB.com/blogs’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Daniels says he doesn’t want to “stash” a prospect on the bench and “play with 24 guys,” commenting:
“Assuming that he’s on the team, it would because we see a functional role for him that could help [manager Jeff Banister] to win games. This isn’t kind of a timing ploy with waivers and try to sneak him back through. We like the player.”
