ARLINGTON -- The Rangers are so close to being able to keep Carlos Tocci in the organization long term, they are willing to go to extremes to make it happen.
For example, on Tuesday they sent down a perfectly good reliever.
This may take a bit of explaining, but here goes: To activate Ronald Guzman from the seven-day concussion disabled list, the Rangers had to make some kind of roster move. They chose to option Martin, who has pitched well despite a 4.13 ERA, because they don't yet have the flexibility they would like with Tocci.
"You get into certain situations where you have to be able to protect some of the other players on the team," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said.