Rangers reliever Jeremy Jeffress charged with DWI

MLB NOTEBOOK

Texas Rangers reliever twice suspended in the minor leagues for violating drug rules, was away from the team Friday following his overnight arrest in Dallas on a drunken driving charge.

The club placed Jeffress on the restricted list before a game against Cleveland, but general manager said he expected the former Milwaukee closer acquired in a trade Aug. 1 to be back with the team Saturday.

Daniels said the AL West leaders were exploring the matter while Dallas police and Major League Baseball also conducted investigations.

“I’m glad no one was hurt from it,” Daniels said. “I don’t want to minimize the severity of what could’ve happened. Beyond that, we need to get our arms around some more of the specifics regarding the due process.”

A Dallas police spokesman said an officer made a traffic stop at 2:24 a.m. Friday and arrested the 28-year-old Jeffress after “detecting a sign of intoxication.”

Online records for the Dallas County jail show he was booked around 5:15 a.m. on a driving while intoxicated charge and that he was released on $500 bond. No attorney information was available for Jeffress.

Daniels said he spoke to Jeffress after the arrest, as did Texas catcher the primary player acquired in the trading deadline deal with the Brewers.

“I know he fights some stuff on the personal level,” Lucroy said. “Whenever you’re dealing with stuff in your personal life like that, that becomes way more important than the game. And we have to help him get through whatever he’s trying to get through, to help him be OK in life.”

The Brewers drafted Jeffress as the 16th selection overall in 2006. The right-hander was suspended for 50 games in 2007 and for 100 games in 2009, both times when he was in the minors.

The hard-throwing right-hander became the closer this season, recording 27 of his 28 career saves. As one of the setup men for Texas closer Jeffress has no record and no saves with a 4.00 ERA in nine appearances with the Rangers.

The arrest came after the first game of a 10-game homestand that includes Cleveland, Seattle and Houston. The Rangers have a slight edge on the Indians for the best record in the AL, while the Mariners and Astros are their top pursuers in the AL West.

“There’s never a good time for something like this,” Daniels said. “I don’t even want to put it into baseball terms. I’m more concerned now in trying to get our arms around the situation and look at the real-life element first, baseball second.”

To fill Jeffress’ spot, Texas recalled left-hander Dario Alvarez from Triple-A Round Rock.

BLUE JAYS RE-ACQUIRE NAVARRO

The Toronto Blue Jays have added depth at catcher for the stretch run by re-acquiring veteran switch-hitter

from the Chicago White Sox. The Blue Jays sent minor league left-hander Colton Turner to Chicago in Friday’s waiver deal. Navarro is likely to be the backup in Toronto behind

The 32-year-old Navarro spent two seasons with the Blue Jays before signing a one-year, $4 million deal with the White Sox as a free agent in December. He has struggled this season, hitting .210 with six homers and 32 RBIs in 85 games.

The 25-year-old Turner has split time between Class A and Double-A this season, going 3-1 with a 1.33 ERA in 44 games.

DEGROM TO SKIP NEXT SCHEDULED START

Trying to make a push in the crowded NL playoff race, the New York Mets plan to skip struggling right-hander

the next time through the rotation. The team said it hadn’t decided who will start in deGrom’s place Monday night against Miami, another club in the wild-card hunt. New York manager rattled off five potential candidates Friday:

and

The latter three are in the minors. Lugo, who earned his first major league win Thursday night at St. Louis, would have only three days of rest after throwing 82 pitches against the Cardinals. He exited with cramping in his right calf but was fine by Friday, the Mets said.

The 2014 NL Rookie of the Year, deGrom is 7-7 with a 2.96 ERA in 143 innings. He had been on an extended roll, lowering his ERA to 2.29, before getting rocked for 13 runs and 25 hits over 9 2/3 innings in his last two outings, against San Francisco and St. Louis.