ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers announced this evening that the club has traded catcher Doug Mirabelli to the Boston Red Sox for righthanded pitcher Justin Duchscherer.
Mirabelli will go on Boston’s major league roster. Duchscherer, who is on the Pawtucket roster of the International League, will be assigned to either Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League or Tulsa of the Texas League.
The Rangers are expected to replace Mirabelli on the active roster following tonight’s game in Los Angeles.
Duchscherer, 23, had spent the entire season at class AA Trenton in the Eastern League before being promoted to Pawtucket over the weekend. He was 6-3 with a 2.44 era in 12 starts at Trenton. The 6-foot-3 righthander has the fifth lowest earned run average in the Eastern League and has held opposing batters to a .179 (49-274) batting average.
In his last 5 starts with Trenton, Duchscherer was 4-1 with a 0.59 era (2 er/30.1 ip). He defeated Erie in his final outing on June 7, allowing three hits in seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts.
A graduate of Coronado High School in Lubbock, Texas, Duchscherer was selected by Boston in the eighth round of the June, 1996 draft. He was 7-9 with a 3.39 era in 24 starts at Trenton in 2000, tying for third in the Eastern League in shutouts and posting the league’s ninth lowest earned run average.
Mirabelli was batting .102 (5-49) with 2 homers and 3 rbi in 23 games with the Rangers this season. He started 16 games as Texas’ backup catcher and has thrown out 11 of 19 runners attempting to steal. Mirabelli was acquired from San Francisco on March 27, 2001 and has a career major league average of .218 (89-308) in 163 games with the Giants (1996-2000) and Rangers.
Justin Duchscherer – 2001 stats at Trenton:
6-3 Record, 2.44 ERA, 12 Games (12 starts), 1 CG, 73.2 innings, 14 walks, 69 strikeouts. .