Recent Rangers Moves

This week I’ll catch up on all of the Rangers’ trades and acquisitions from the last few weeks, and analyze them.

On March 9th, the Rangers acquired Edwar Ramirez from the New York Yankees for cash considerations:
I like this trade, because we basically got a major league relief pitcher for nothing. Edwar had a good year with the Yankees in 2008, going 55.1 innings with 3.90 ERA, but then struggled in ’09, going only 22 innings with a 5.73 ERA. But he pitched well in Triple-A, as he had a 3.18 ERA in 51 innings with Scranton Wilkes-Barr (that’s a long name for a city). Cash considerations means that the Yankees might get some cash from the Rangers depending on how Ramirez performs. The Rangers ended up trading Ramirez to the A’s right after that, though.
Grade: C, it isn’t meaningful enough for a high grade

Then, on March 13th, the Rangers claimed Hernan Iribarren off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers. This was a good move, as the Rangers needed more infielders since Khalil Greene couldn’t make it with his social anxiety disorder, and when the Rangers claimed him he actually had a shot to make the team. But he didn’t perform well in Spring Training, as in his 19 total at-bats (Brewers and Rangers) he had just three hits, all of them singles. He has 27 career major league at-bats, and has five hits, a .185 batting average.

On March 22nd, the Rangers traded Ray Olmedo to the Milwaukee Brewers for Matt Treanor:
I like this trade, also, because Ray Olmedo was not going to make the team, and the Rangers needed another catcher in case Salty wasn’t ready to go at the start of the season. Matt has a career .232 batting average in 736 major league at-bats. He is a good defensive catcher, with a career .988 fielding percentage. Like Iribarren, Treanor did not end up making the team, but could be an option to fill in during the season if they need temporary help.
Grade: B-, Matt could still end up being helpful if Salty gets injured again

On March 24th, the Rangers traded Edwar Ramirez to the Oakland Athletics for Gregorio Petit:
I’ve already covered Edwar Ramirez, so I’ll just cover Petit for this trade. Gregorio Petit had 54 major league at-bats for the A’s between ’08 and ’09, and hit .278. Last year with Triple-A Sacramento, Petit hit .244 with five home runs and 32 RBI’s in 357 at-bats. Petit had a very good chance of being the Rangers’ utility infielder until they traded for Andres Blanco, who eventually ended up getting the job.
Grade: C+, Petit could have been valuable, while Ramirez probably wasn’t going to make the team. Ramirez may have had more long-term value though.

On March 27th, the Rangers acquired Andres Blanco from the Chicago Cubs for either a player to be named later or cash:
This is a very good trade, as even though Blanco isn’t the nicest guy (I found that out at the Rangers Spring Training game in Frisco on Saturday), he still will be a solid utility infielder for the Rangers. He is a very good defensive player, and hit well with Triple-A Iowa last year, with a .304 batting average. The Rangers gave up almost nothing to get him, and he should help the team throughout the year. I don’t see any way this ends up being a bad trade. Unless the player to be named later is a legitimate prospect, which is doubtful, even if Blanco doesn’t perform, we didn’t give up anything for him.
Grade: A-, it’s not a big enough trade to go above an A-

On April 1st, the Rangers traded Edwin Escobar to the San Francisco Giants to keep Ben Snyder:
Ben Snyder was the Rangers’ Rule-5 draft pick that they received from the Orioles as part of the Kevin Millwood trade. Snyder didn’t make the team, so he would have gone back to the Giants had the Rangers not made this trade. Ben did not have a good spring (9.00 ERA), but has good stats in the minors, with his ERA not rising above 3.75 in his minor league career. Edwin Escobar went 2-5 with a 5.00 ERA in 13 games with the Arizona League Rangers last year. Escobar has some potential but I think Snyder’s is higher and he’s much closer to contributing to a major league team.
Grade: B-, once again this wasn’t a big enough trade to go much higher

On April 1st, the Rangers claimed Ryan Garko off waivers from the Seattle Mariners. This is a great move. The Rangers have been trying to get Garko since last summer, and he will be the backup corner infielder for the Rangers to start the season. The Mariners waived him after he had a bad spring, batting in the low .200s. Ryan will be a big addition, and I’d much rather have him than Matt Brown or Max Ramirez.

On April 2nd, the Rangers traded Luis Mendoza to the Kansas City Royals for cash:
Luis was out of options and wasn’t going to make the Rangers’ roster. The Rangers got nothing for him (not surprising). In his career, Luis has a 7.73 major league ERA in 80 innings, and personally, I’m happy to get rid of the guy. He just wasn’t performing, but was still in the mix for a bullpen job early this spring.
Grade: C, it doesn’t matter at all

Also, on the day that I left Surprise, news broke that Ron Washington took cocaine last season. It was a stupid thing to do, and I can’t believe he would do it. I really still don’t know what to think of it, and I’m hoping that it will make the players more determined, so that they can show that their manager is a good one.

I enjoyed spring training, but I’m glad it’s over. I can’t wait for opening day tomorrow.

Come back next week for a breakdown of week 1 of the season.