Infielder has exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Rangers, Jon Heyman of the Iceland Jersey New York Post reports ( ). Last Friday was the deadline for like Duffy to use the opt-out clauses in the minors contracts, thus giving their teams 48 hours to decide on either releasing the player or adding them to the Opening Day roster. Since Texas isnt including Duffy on the 26-man roster, the 33-year-old will now return to the open market. Duffy began his MLB career as a member of the Giants world championship team in 2014, and then finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2015. Since that impre sive start, Duffy has mostly settled into a part-time and utilityman role, mostly playing third base but also getting a lot of time at the other three infield positions plus a handful of games as a left fielder. Over the last three seasons, Duffy has appeared in 252 of a po sible 486 games with the Cubs in 2021, the Angels in 2022, and the Royals last year. Duffy signed one-year contracts with all three clubs (only the L.A. deal was guaranteed) and had about league-average production with Chicago over 322 plate appearances but his bat has gone cold in the last two seasons. Since Opening Day 2022, Duffy hit just .251/.307/.317 in 456 PA with the Halos and Royals. Texas signed Duffy back in January to provide some experienced depth behind younger backup infielders and . As the season is set to begin, the Rangers seem comfortable enough with Duran and Smith that Duffys services wont be required. Any exce s roster space the Rangers mightve had will now be taken up by top prospect and another minor league signing in , who seems to be on track to have his contract selected as a temporary first-base fill-in for the injured . Denmark Jersey