OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA (TICKER) — Veteran second baseman Randy Velarde, who helped the Oakland Athletics to the American League West crown in 2000, today was dealt to the Texas Rangers for two minor league pitchers.
Velarde, who turns 38 next week, hit .278 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI during his 14th major league season. He went 5-for-20 with a double and three RBI in a five-game loss to the New York Yankees in the Division Series.
In 1999, the Texas native became the sixth player in major league history and the first since Willie Montanez in 1976 to total 200 hits while playing for two teams in one season.
Velarde hit .317 with 16 homers and 76 RBI that season, posting 115 hits for the Angels and 85 for the A’s. He was acquired by the A’s from Anaheim prior to the trade deadline.
Oakland acquired righthander Aaron Harang — Texas’ sixth-round draft pick in 1999 — and lefthander Ryan Cullen.
Harang, 22, led the Class A Florida State League in wins and ranking eighth in ERA this pas season. He went 13-5 with a 3.32 ERA with Charlotte, allowing just 128 hits and striking out 136 batters in 157 innings.
Cullen, 20, went 6-6 with nine saves and a 3.04 ERA in 48 relief appearances for Class A Savannah, striking out 103 in 94 2/3 innings. He signed with Texas as a free agent in 1999.
Velarde leaves a team that has two of the best young pitchers in the AL in Tim Hudson and Barry Zito but lacks depth at second base.
A former utility man for the Yankees, Velarde turned the 10th unassisted regular season triple play in major league history and the first in six seasons on May 29 at Yankee Stadium.
He overcame elbow surgery in 1997 to become a reliable major league starter, something he was never given a chance to do with the Yankees. He hit .285 in 530 at-bats in 1996 for the Angels but missed all of the 1997 season.
In 1,124 career games, Velarde has hit .277 with 89 home runs and 405 RBI. He was a 19th-round draft pick by the Chicago White Sox in 1985.
Velarde likely will be the starting second baseman in Texas, where Luis Alicea hit .294 with six homers and 63 RBI last season.

Catcher Ivan Rodriguez and pitcher Kenny Rogers have been selected as 2000 recipients of Rawlings Gold Gloves in the American League, it was announced today by the Rawlings Sporting Goods Company.
Rodriguez won his ninth consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove, the second most ever for a catcher behind the ten received by Cincinnati’s Johnny Bench from 1968-77. Rodriguez, who has won each year since 1992, has the longest current Gold Glove streak of any American Leaguer with his nine total awards matching Cleveland’s Roberto Alomar for the most among the 2000 A.L. recipients.
Rogers earned his first Rawlings Gold Glove, the first ever received by a Rangers’ pitcher. The Texas lefthander ends Mike Mussina’s four-year hold for A.L. pitchers’ honors.
It is the sixth time in team history that Texas has had two Rawlings Gold Glove winners in the same season, joining 1977 (Jim Sundberg, c; Juan Beniquez, of); 1979, 1980, and 1981 (Sundberg, c; Buddy Bell, 3b); and 1999 (Ivan Rodrigiuez, c; Rafael Palmeiro, 1b).
It is also just the fourth time in history that a pitcher and catcher from the same team have captured Gold Gloves, joining Minnesota’s Jim Kaat (P) and Earl Battey (C) in 1962, Pittsburgh’s Rick Reuschel (P) and Tony Pena (C) in 1985, and Kansas City’s Bret Saberhagen (P) and Bob Boone (C) in 1989.
Rodriguez, who was sidelined for the season with a fractured right thumb on July 24, appeared in just 87 games behind the plate but led all American League qualifiers with a career high .996 (2 e/543 tc) fielding percentage. He went 61 consecutive games without an error from April 23-July 13. Rodriguez threw out 16 of 33 runners attempting to steal, a 48% success rate and has thrown out 45.4% (348 of 766) of runners trying to steal in his career. Offensively, Rodriguez batted .347 with 27 homers and 83 rbi in 91 games.
Rogers led all American League pitchers with 66 total chances, 46 assists, and 6 double plays, the latter tying the club record. He had 10 more total chances and 12 more assists than any other pitcher in the league, with Seattle’s Aaron Sele placing second in both departments. Rogers also was second in the majors with 9 pitcher pickoffs, one less than Arizona’s Brian Anderson. He had a fielding percentage of .970 (2 e/66 tc). Rogers was 13-13 with a 4.55 era in 34 starts with Texas in 2000 after rejoining the club as a free agent.
The National League Rawlings Gold Glove team will be announced on Tuesday.

PHOENIX (AP) — The Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers say they will move their spring training sites from Florida to Surprise, Ariz., if the Phoenix suburb builds a stadium.
Top officials of both franchises made the commitment at a news conference with city officials Monday. The move is targeted for 2002.
Funding for the $45 million stadium would be in place if Maricopa County voters approve Proposition 302 on Nov. 7, Surprise City Manager Bill Pupo said. Two-thirds of the money would come from the measure and one-third from the city.
Proposition 302 would impose a hotel and rental car tax to fund a new stadium for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals as well as provide money to improve and construct spring training facilities. The measure also includes money for youth sports.
However, city of Surprise officials said they would seek other means to build the facility if the measure is defeated.
Surprise is a fast-growing city of about 40,000, located 35 miles west of downtown Phoenix.
“With the possibility of coming to Arizona, we didn’t think twice,” Royals executive vice president Herk Robinson said. “We are firmly committed to signing a long-term lease with the city of Surprise and feel that our relationship will be one of good citizenship that we can give to the community as well as receive.”
The Royals’ lease of their spring training site at Haines City, Fla., expires after the 2002 season, but Robinson said his team could move before then. The Rangers’ lease in Port Charlotte, Fla., expires after next season.
General managers and managers of both teams attended the news conference, along with Hall of Famer George Brett, who played his entire career with the Royals, and Rangers shortstop Royce Clayton, who lives in nearby Scottsdale.
“There’s no question that there are a lot of benefits to us to come here,” said Mike Cramer, chief executive officer of Southwest Sports Group, which owns the Rangers and the NHL’s Dallas Stars. “It’s an easier trip for our fans coming from Dallas. The quality of the league here is tremendous. The support for the league here has been tremendous.”
Royals manager Tony Muser participated in Arizona spring training for 19 years with the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.
“It seems as though we’re always the visiting club when we play in Baseball City,” Muser said. “There’s never a feeling of roots. As a manager you hear bits and pieces when you are in Florida `Are we going to have a chance to go to Arizona?’
“The first time I talked to Herk about it, I said if the opportunity ever comes up, it’s a great place to train. The weather is consistent. It’s a little bit easier to get in shape. It’s just a better process all around.”
Clayton, who trained in Arizona when he was with San Francisco, said travel during the spring is a big consideration.
“Spring training can be tough if you have to travel far differences,” he said. “The Arizona area offers short trips between ballparks. Florida is tough. I was in culture shock having to go out to Florida, so I’m looking forward to coming back to Arizona if we can make that happen.”
Anaheim, the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco all train in the Phoenix area. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox and Colorado train in Tucson.
SURPRISE, ARIZONA (TICKER) — The Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals are moving to the Cactus League.
The American League teams today signed a letter of intent with the Phoenix suburb of Surprise, Arizona to share a $45 million spring training complex beginning with the 2002 or 2003 season.
Both the Rangers and Royals currently hold spring training in Florida. The Rangers’ lease with Port Charlotte, their winter home for 14 years, expires after the 2001 season.
The Royals are scheduled to remain in Baseball City, Florida through the 2002 season, but their lease contains provisions that will allow the team to leave early. Kansas City has had the same spring home for 13 seasons.
Funding for the facility in Surprise would come in large part from the passage of Proposition 302, which calls for the expenditure of $331 million for a stadium for the the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and additional funding for tourism, the Cactus League and youth sports.
Even if the measure is defeated by the voters on November 7, both teams still hope to move to Arizona.
“If the proposition does not pass, we’re committed to find ways to make it work,” Royals executive vice president Herk Robinson said.
The Cactus League currently has 10 members and in recent years has been recruiting Grapefruit League teams to move their spring facilities west. The most recent addition was the Chicago White Sox in 1998.