Giants trade Clayton Blackburn to Rangers

The Rangers have acquired righty Clayton Blackburn from the Giants for infielder Frandy De La Rosa and cash, according to team announcements.

Blackburn, 24, heads to Texas after being designated for assignment by San Francisco earlier in the week. He received interest from multiple teams after becoming available, according to reports.

Blackburn, a 16th-round pick in 2011, struggled to a 4.36 ERA in 136.1 innings at Triple-A Sacramento and gave up five earned runs in three innings so far this year. The former top prospect never appeared in the majors for the Giants despite being ranked among the organization’s top ten prospects in four consecutive seasons from 2012 to 2015.

Blackburn will immediately join Triple-A Round Rock, providing depth for a Rangers team that has starters Andrew Cashner, Chi Chi Gonzalez and Tyson Ross dealing with some injury issues.

De La Rosa, 21, hit .250/.330/.351 with seven homers at Single-A Hickory last season but was not seen as a top-30 prospect in the Rangers’ system at the time of the deal. He began this year at High-A Down East.