Texas placed Jon Gray on waivers, with the 33-year-old right-hander going unclaimed and continuing to occupy a $3 million slice of the Rangers’ payroll this season. The move could be revisited before the Aug. 31 cutoff, as Texas weighs the CBT consequences while trying to stay beneath penalties tied to overages.

The club has previously used waivers to manage payroll, a tactic echoed last year with Robbie Grossman and Travis Jankowski—Grossman claimed by Kansas City, Jankowski remaining with Texas after an unclaimed waiver.

At the trade deadline, Texas added Danny Coulombe, Phil Maton and Merrill Kelly to bolster relief depth. Gray has struggled, posting a 7.71 ERA across six bullpen appearances since returning from a spring-hand fracture, including a rough 2 1/3-innings stint in a 14-2 loss to Toronto.

Offense has sunk post-deadline, and the bullpen is being asked to adjust, per Bruce Bochy. Texas has four straight losses in a slide that complicates postseason math and payroll considerations as Marcus Semien heads for X-rays after a pitch hit him.

Overall, the waiver move underscores a payroll-management tilt while Texas navigates late-season roster volatility and tries to salvage meaningful innings from a bullpen-impaired stretch run.