Texas Rangers pitchers Miles Mikolas and Aaron Poreda are expected to be sold to Yomiuri of the Japanese Central League, according to Evan Grant.

Mikolas and Poreda are both on the 40 man roster, and both appeared in the majors last season. However, Mikolas is out of options, and he didn't appear to have a great chance of making the 25 man roster next season, while Poreda struggled with command and injuries.

Selling Mikolas and Poreda would clear a couple of spots on the 40 man roster, which will be needed later this month when the Rangers need to add players to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Luke Jackson and Jorge Alfaro are locks to be added, while Odubel Herrera, Jerad Eickhoff, and Hanser Alberto are also candidates to be protected.

Even with Mikolas and Poreda leaving, there are probably roughly a half-dozen players currently on the 40 man roster who will end up getting removed, one way or the other, between now and the end of the offseason, to make room for players protected from the Rule 5 draft and players added via free agency or trade.