PORT CHARLOTTE, FLORIDA (TICKER) — The Texas Rangers today agreed to terms with Danny Patterson on a one-year deal and renewed the contract of fellow righthanded reliever Alan Levine. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Patterson was one of closer John Wetteland’s most reliable setup men last season, going 2-5 with two saves and a 4.45 ERA in 56 games. He allowed 64 hits in 60 2/3 innings with 19 walks and 33 strikeouts.
The 28-year-old Patterson, who was paid $208,000 last year, will be eligible for arbitration after the 1999 season. He is 12-11 with three saves in 117 major league appearances.
Levine was 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 30 games with the Rangers last year, also appearing in 12 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City. He was picked up by Texas after being designated for assignment by the Chicago White Sox on January 15, 1998.
Roster Transaction
- Placed Ricky Williams on the restricted list after his
decision not to play ball in 1999. That keeps Williams Rangers’ property. - Rangers renewed contracts for Danny Patterson & Al Levine
for one year. Patterson is eligible for arbitration after 1999.
Roster Transaction
- Signed Mark Brandenburg to a minor league contract.
Roster Transaction
- Agreed to terms with pitcher Dan Kolb, catcher Cesar King, and outfielder Ruben Mateo.
Wetteland strains ankle, out two weeks
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Texas Rangers closer John Wetteland strained his right ankle during a workout Monday and is expected to miss the next week or two.
Wetteland, who had 42 saves and was 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA, will be sidelined while the swelling goes down.
“It’s frustrating because I put in a lot of sweat and hard work to get back to where I was feeling pretty good,” Wetteland said. “It just shows that the ankle is an important part of the body, too.”
Wetteland had elbow surgery in the off-season and has been throwing without any problems.
Rangers pitchers and catchers reported to camp last week. The full squad is due in on Thursday.
Juan Gonzalez on cover of Baseball Digest
In somewhat of a rarity, a Texas Ranger was covered nationally. Juan Gonzalez is on the cover of the March 1999 Baseball Digest. It’s an article entitled “The Majors’ Overlooked Run Producer”, and runs 4 pages. It speaks very highly of Juan. Unfortunately, BBD does not have full coverage of their magazines on the Internet, but they do have a web site for the magazine at http://www.centurysports.net. You can view information about the current issue of the magazine there (as of right now, they have the February 1999 issue online). Here is a picture of the March cover that I scanned myself. Click on it to see a larger version.
First Spring Training Workouts held
Well, today is the first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers in Spring Training. I picked up these two pictures today off the AP News Wire of Ranger Spring Training. Click on either of them for a larger version. The one on the left is of Johnny Oates & Aaron Sele.
Raffy has knee surgery & minor leaguers sign
From Joe: Oh great. This is the same thing that’s been bothering McLemore for the last couple of years. Everyone’s saying that Raffy will be fine for opening day. It just strikes me as funny that someone has surgery right before the start of spring training, and they say he’ll be fine. Sounds fishy to me. :( Don’t get me wrong, I do hope he’s fine, but it worries me.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers first baseman Rafael Palmeiro underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a slight cartilage tear in his right knee.
Palmeiro, who signed a $45 million, five-year contract to return to Texas after five years in Baltimore, is believed to have injured himself while running stairs as part of a workout last week.
Doctors said he might be limited a bit at the beginning of spring training, but he should be able to play in exhibition games. He’s expected to be ready for the start of the season.
Team orthopedist John Conway said the tear was in the area of the groove on which the kneecap slides.
As a left-handed hitter, Palmeiro gets his power by stepping into the ball and planting his right leg. He hit .296 with 43 homers and 121 RBI for the Orioles last year.
The Rangers also announced that they signed four rookies on the major league roster to contracts: pitchers Derrick Cook, Ryan Glynn and Jonathan Johnson and infielder Kelly Dransfeldt.
The team now has agreed to terms with 33 of its 40 roster players.
Roster Transaction
- Agreed to terms with pitchers Derrick Cook, Ryan Glynn and Jonathan Johnson and infielder Kelly Dransfeldt.
Ricky Williams back to Phillies?
From Joe: This actually makes sense, especially if the Eagles pick him in the draft.
The most closely watched player in the Texas Rangers’ camp will not be the reigning MVP, Juan Gonzalez, or the returning high profile free agent, Rafael Palmeiro. It will be a minor leaguer — guy by the name of Ricky Williams. The Rangers would love to give the Heisman Trophy winner a long look and then send him to Class A Savannah. But to do that they need to work out a deal with Philadelphia, which lost him in the Rule 5 draft.
That deal is proving to be difficult. The Phillies want someone who will play in the big leagues but the Rangers only offered a fringe prospect. To complicate matters, the Phillies have been in contact with the Eagles, who may take Williams with the second pick in the NFL draft. If that’s what the Eagles have in mind, the Phillies want Williams back so he can pursue a two-sport career in the same city — just the same way Deion Sanders once did in Atlanta.
This originally appeared here