ANAHEIM — The Texas Rangers granted outfielder Billy McKinney his release Monday afternoon. His absence lasted all of two days.
The Rangers re-signed McKinney, a Plano native, to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday. McKinney originally signed a minor league deal with his hometown club on May 27 and played in two games early this month.
He was designated for assignment on July 4 after outfielder Evan Carter returned from the bereavement list and rejected an outright assignment to the minor leagues soon after to prompt his release.
The 30-year-old major league veteran started in right field for Triple-A Round Rock Express Tuesday night vs. the Albuquerque Isotopes. That game had a big league flair to it as third baseman Josh Jung (who was optioned in late June after a disastrous month with the Rangers) and first baseman Rowdy Tellez (whom the club signed to a minor league deal Friday) both made their Round Rock debuts.
Jung, who was optioned last Wednesday, has yet to play for the Express because the team’s weekend games were washed out by weather in Central Texas and Monday’s minor league off day.
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