Rangers Notes: Garza Acquired for Grimm, Olt, Prospects

In his Rangers debut on Wednesday, Matt Garza pitched into the eighth inning and did not allow an earned run.

Texas added a proven starter to its injury-riddled rotation Monday when the club traded third baseman Mike Olt, right-hander Justin Grimm, right-handed prospect C.J. Edwards and one or two players to be named later to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for 29-year-old Matt Garza.

Having won each of his final five starts with Chicago, Garza brought a season record of 6-1 to Texas with a 3.17 earned run average and 62 strikeouts, and his was one of the top names available on an overall tepid midsummer trade market.

“[Garza’s] one of the better big-game pitchers in the game,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. “He’s throwing the ball as well as anybody. … He’s an extremely talented pitcher, and he’s had success in the toughest divisions and on the biggest stages.”

Across parts of eight major-league seasons with the Cubs, Rays and Twins, Garza had built a 63-62 career record over 178 starts, which included a no-hitter thrown against Detroit exactly three years ago while with Tampa Bay.

The Rangers were one of a number of teams that had shown interest in trading for Garza last summer, but those discussions stalled when the hard-throwing righty was shut down for the season after leaving a late-July start against the Cardinals with a triceps injury.

Making his Texas debut on Wednesday against the Yankees, Garza gave up only one unearned run on five hits while recording five strikeouts in seven-plus innings of work, and A.J. Pierzynski had two RBIs in the Rangers’ 3-1 victory.

“I’m excited,” Garza said after the game. “I couldn’t be more happy being in a place where I’m at, a place where I’m wanted, been wanted. It’s awesome.”

Among the players sent from Texas to Chicago in the deal, Mike Olt is considered to have the most upside as a corner infielder with power potential, although C.J. Edwards — a 48th-round draft pick in 2011 — has developed himself into a top-tier prospect over a relatively short period of time.

Even with the addition of Garza, the Rangers may not be done trying to acquire more pieces before next Wednesday’s non-waiver trade deadline, and they are specifically rumored to be seeking a power-hitting outfielder.

A few of the names to which Texas has been linked include Seattle’s Kendrys Morales, San Francisco’s Hunter Pence, Alex Rios of the White Sox and Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins.

Yankees Earn Split in Arlington

Garza’s gem Wednesday proved to be one of the few bright spots for the Rangers on a 2-5 homestand that saw them get swept by Baltimore before splitting a four-game series versus New York this week.

Yu Darvish came back from the 15-day disabled list to shut out the Yankees for six and one-third innings on Monday, and the consistent bullpen trio of Robbie Ross, Tanner Scheppers and Joe Nathan combined to allow just one hit in a 3-0 Texas win.

Tuesday featured another starter returning from the DL as right-hander Alexi Ogando made his first appearance since early June, going five innings before watching as Texas rallied to take the lead with a four-run bottom of the sixth.

In the ninth inning, however, New York was able to regain a 5-4 advantage (and ultimately win) when home-plate umpire Kerwin Danley exhibited two decidedly different strike zones for Yankees batters compared to Rangers hitters.

Following Garza’s victorious debut on Wednesday, New York salvaged a series split Thursday afternoon as Hiroki Kuroda outdueled Texas southpaw Derek Holland while the Yankees scored two late runs to set the table for Mariano Rivera and secure a 2-0 win.

Burns, Ortiz Sent Down to Balance Roster

The trade of Justin Grimm to Chicago cleared an active roster spot for Yu Darvish when he returned from the disabled list prior to Monday’s game, but the Rangers needed to create two more roster openings when Matt Garza and Alexi Ogando were added.

To that end, Texas optioned right-handed reliever Cory Burns and left-hander Joe Ortiz back to Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday.

Rangers Notes: Texas Sweeps Cards in Fall Classic Rematch

David Murphy scored the tying run on Sunday in the Rangers’ 2-1 victory over the Cardinals.

Making their first visit to St. Louis since losing Games 6 and 7 of the 2011 World Series, the Rangers left town early Monday morning with a weekend sweep over the Cardinals, who have maintained the best record in baseball for more than a month.

Derek Holland gave up three runs in the first inning Friday and another in the second but rebounded to avoid further damage while pitching through the seventh, and Texas chased St. Louis starter Tyler Lyons with four runs in the top of the second.

The two clubs stayed tied until the ninth inning, when the Rangers mounted a go-ahead rally against Trevor Rosenthal. An Ian Kinsler single, a throwing error on an attempted Elvis Andrus bunt and a wild pitch put runners at second and third with nobody out, and Nelson Cruz followed with a two-run single to help propel Texas to a 6-4 win.

Left-hander Martin Perez was called up from Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday to start opposite Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller, and although he was scored upon in each of the first two frames, Perez was backed by two-run homers from Cruz and A.J. Pierzynski en route to a 4-2 victory for the Rangers.

A rain delay of nearly three hours preceded Sunday’s nationally-televised series finale, and right-handers Nick Tepesch and Adam Wainwright engaged in a scoreless duel until Matt Carpenter gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the sixth.

David Murphy connected for a two-out double off Wainwright in the top of the seventh inning and scored the tying run when he was singled home by Leonys Martin. An error then allowed Jurickson Profar to reach, and Ian Kinsler put the Rangers ahead for good with an RBI single into left field.

After an off day in New York on Monday, Yu Darvish took the mound Tuesday against the Yankees’ Hiroki Kuroda in a matchup of Japanese right-handers, and both pitchers threw well but did not factor in the decision.

Texas and New York traded single runs in three middle innings and stayed tied, 3-3, going into to bottom of the ninth. Rangers reliever Tanner Scheppers then retired the first two men he faced before Ichiro Suzuki homered to give the Yankees a 4-3 walk-off win.

On Wednesday, Justin Grimm received early offensive support in the form of two-run doubles from Adrian Beltre and A.J. Pierzynski in the top of the third, and Nelson Cruz later added a two-run homer before Scheppers, Neal Cotts and Joe Nathan pitched scoreless relief, helping Texas beat New York by an 8-5 final.

Thursday afternoon’s rubber match saw Derek Holland toss the Rangers’ first complete-game shutout this season, holding the Yankees to just two hits with seven strikeouts while Jurickson Profar scored both Texas runs in a 2-0 victory.

Broken Hand Sends Gentry to DL

Outfielder Craig Gentry was put on the 15-day disabled list Sunday (retroactive to Jun. 21) with a non-displaced fracture in his left hand, and the club recalled Engel Beltre from Triple-A Round Rock to take his spot on the active roster.

Gentry had been hit in the hand by a pitch from Oakland’s Jarrod Parker last Tuesday, and an MRI taken over the weekend revealed the fracture.

The 23-year-old Beltre made his major-league debut as a pinch-runner late in Wednesday’s game at Yankee Stadium (and was promptly thrown out trying to steal second base), then went 2-for-3 in his first career start the following afternoon.

In 72 games as the regular center fielder at Round Rock this season, Beltre was batting an even .300 with 13 stolen bases and a team-leading 44 runs scored.

Ortiz Optioned to Clear Spot for Perez

In order to make room on the active roster for left-handed starter Martin Perez, the Rangers optioned southpaw Joe Ortiz back to Round Rock prior to Saturday’s game at Busch Stadium.

Ortiz, 22, opened the season with Texas and began the year on a roll before encountering issues with his control and effectiveness last month.

He was sent down to Triple-A earlier this month when Alexi Ogando made what turned out to be a short-lived return to the rotation, and Ortiz had appeared in two games since getting recalled on Jun. 18.

Rangers Notes: Ogando Poised for Return to Rotation

After going 13-8 and making the American League All-Star team as a starter in 2011, Alexi Ogando will move back into the Texas rotation next season.

While part of the Rangers’ offseason plan likely includes looking for a front-line starting pitcher, right-hander Alexi Ogando knows he is headed back into the rotation after making 57 relief appearances in 2012.

Two years ago, Ogando made 29 starts and was named to the A.L. All-Star team before finishing the season with a record of 13-8 and a 3.51 earned run average. In 2012, he was in the mix for a rotation spot until late in Spring Training, then wound up throwing 63 innings with 64 strikeouts and a 3.43 ERA out of the bullpen for Texas.

Last Friday, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said the 29-year-old Ogando has been informed that he will be used as a starter when pitchers and catchers report to Surprise, Ariz., in a little over three months.

“We told him to come to camp ready to start,” Daniels said. “He earned that a year ago, but with some of the changes we made, he agreed to go back to the bullpen and he handled it extremely well.”

Ogando re-joins a Texas rotation that currently includes right-hander Yu Darvish as well as lefties Derek Holland and Matt Harrison, which leaves the Rangers with at least one starting spot to fill this winter.

Former Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke is certainly the top free-agent pitcher available on the market this offseason, and while he is expected to seek a multi-year contract worth up to $100 million, Texas may be willing to spend big in order to solidify its rotation.

Aside from Greinke, other reputable starters on the market who will command less of a financial obligation include Dan Haren, Edwin Jackson, Hiroki Kuroda, Kyle Lohse, Shaun Marcum and Anibal Sanchez.

Schmidt Claimed off Waivers from D’Backs

Another area where the Rangers are looking to add depth this winter is behind the plate, and to that end Texas acquired catcher Konrad Schmidt on a waiver claim from Arizona last Thursday and added him to the 40-man roster.

Schmidt, 28, saw limited playing time in two of the past three seasons with the Diamondbacks, logging a total of 15 at-bats across eight games with Arizona in 2010 and 2012.

The Rangers appear to be planning for a future without All-Star backstop Mike Napoli, who shared playing time over the last two years with Yorvit Torrealba and, late this season, Geovany Soto. Napoli is one of the top catchers on the free-agent market, and Texas declined to make him a qualifying offer last month.

One rumored scenario could have the Rangers making a deal with the Blue Jays for 26-year-old J.P. Arencibia or catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud, though Toronto may be reluctant to part ways with the latter.

Anderson, Pettis to Swap Coaching Duties

Also on Thursday, Texas announced that third-base coach Dave Anderson and first-base coach Gary Pettis will switch roles for the upcoming season, with Anderson moving to first and Pettis going to third.

The transition was made, according to manager Ron Washington, in an effort to help the club make the most of its scoring opportunities while utilizing the base-running abilities employed by Pettis to steal 354 career bases.

“We want to use all the instincts that we can, and with Gary being the base-running guy that he is, I just wanted to get him on the other side to see if we can use his expertise on the base paths,” Washington said. “We can use Gary’s skill set better over there.”

Rangers Notes: Road Trip Salvaged after Rough Start

Michael Young went 3-for-5 with five RBIs Sunday in Toronto, a performance that included two runs scored and his first home run since early May.

Texas dropped each of the first three contests in a four-game series against the Yankees last week before avoiding a sweep in Thursday’s finale, then took two out of three against the Blue Jays to wrap up a 3-4 East coast road swing.

Recent acquisition Ryan Dempster pitched into the seventh inning Monday in New York, but he was done in by the Yankees’ five-run bottom of the third — including Nick Swisher’s line-drive grand slam to right — as part of an 8-2 loss.

Swisher homered again Tuesday to back Hiroki Kuroda’s complete-game 3-0 shutout over the Rangers, and although Josh Hamilton went deep twice for Texas on Wednesday, he represented the team’s lone offensive output in a 3-2 defeat.

Derek Holland was supported by two early Texas runs and tossed five scoreless frames before yielding five runs in the sixth, but the Rangers pulled away with runs in each of the final four innings Thursday afternoon to secure a 10-6 victory and avoid a series sweep.

Prior to the club’s trip to Toronto, native Canadian Ryan Dempster was placed on the restricted list due to passport issues, and outfielder Leonys Martin was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to replace him on the active roster.

The Blue Jays took Friday’s opener, 3-2, despite a stellar 10-strikeout game from Texas starter Yu Darvish, whose only blemishes were a two-run homer by Edwin Encarnacion in the first inning and an RBI single by Rajai Davis in the fifth.

Right-hander Roy Oswalt made a spot start in place of Dempster on Saturday, and he combined with five relievers to limit Toronto’s offense while Nelson Cruz slugged a two-run homer off Carlos Villanueva in the top of the fifth, providing the difference in a 2-1 Rangers win at Rogers Centre.

Sunday’s rubber game saw the Texas lineup hammer 19 hits in support of lefty Matt Harrison, who allowed just two hits across eight innings of work as he and the Rangers cruised to a series-clinching 11-2 victory.

Nathan Sets Team Record for Consecutive Saves

With his 24^th save of the year Saturday in Toronto, closer Joe Nathan also converted his 22^nd straight save opportunity to establish a new franchise mark in that category, passing Francisco Cordero’s single-season record of 21 in a row set in 2004.

Since his last (and only) blown save on Apr. 14 versus Seattle, Nathan has made 43 appearances and posted a 2-1 record with an earned run average of 2.08, striking out 51 batters while issuing just eight walks over that span.

In a total of 47 games so far this season, Nathan has a 2.61 ERA and a career-best strikeout-to-walk rate of 7.38.

Catcher Hill Signed to Minor-League Deal

The Rangers agreed to a minor-league contract with veteran catcher Koyie Hill last Tuesday and assigned the 33-year-old to Triple-A Round Rock.

Already this season, Hill has spent time in the Cardinals, Reds, Cubs and Nationals organizations, seeing his only big-league action with Chicago earlier this summer and, most recently, getting released by Washington on Aug. 3.

A lifetime .210 batter across parts of nine seasons, Hill is expected to provide depth behind the plate while Mike Napoli rehabilitates a strained quad muscle and Triple-A catcher Dusty Brown recovers from surgery.

Rangers Notes: Free-Agent Decisions Loom for Texas

In two seasons as a starter, C.J. Wilson has won 31 games with an earned run average of 3.14 and 376 strikeouts across 427-plus innings of work.

Coming off the first two World Series appearances in franchise history, the Rangers are looking to build upon a solid foundation of core players while scanning the free-agent market for potential areas of improvement this offseason.

At the forefront of any free agent discussion in Arlington is the status of left-hander C.J. Wilson, who has posted a record of 31-15 with six complete games over 67 starts the last two years after racking up 52 saves as a late-inning reliever in his first five big-league seasons.

Wilson, a free agent for the first time in his career, is coming off an All-Star campaign in which he set personal highs for wins (16), starts (34), strikeouts (206) and innings pitched (223⅓). Not surprisingly, the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees are among the teams to have already expressed interest in Wilson, who turns 31 on Friday.

Regardless of whether or not Wilson stays in Texas, one of the Rangers’ top priorities this offseason will likely be the addition of a starting pitcher to help anchor what is — with the exception of Colby Lewis — a relatively young staff.

While Wilson is the headliner among this year’s otherwise thin crop of free-agent starters, veterans with past success like Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Aaron Harang, Edwin Jackson, Hiroki Kuroda and Roy Oswalt will draw interest from Texas and other clubs looking to solidify their rotation.

On the other end of the free-agent spectrum is first base, where Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols lead a talented class that also includes the likes of Michael Cuddyer, Casey Kotchman, Derrek Lee and Carlos Pena. Fielder and Pujols are both expected to land multi-year deals that will cost well into the hundreds of millions of dollars, leaving the others as cheaper options who may settle for shorter contracts.

In center field, where the Rangers received moderate contributions from Julio Borbon, Endy Chavez and Craig Gentry in 2011, a crop of free agents are available who may be able to contribute more to the Texas lineup, among them Carlos Beltran, Coco Crisp, Nate McLouth and Grady Sizemore.

Hamilton Undergoes Surgery for Sports Hernia

Outfielder Josh Hamilton underwent successful surgery in Philadelphia last Friday to repair a sports hernia in his left side, which limited his ability to generate lower-body power on his swing during the Rangers’ playoff run.

“The surgery went well from what we were told,” general manager Jon Daniels said to MLB.com, adding that Hamilton would return to Texas and should be fully recovered by the time Spring Training begins in late February.

A four-time All-Star, Hamilton batted just .271 (19-for-70) with one home run during the postseason while playing through the injury, though he also managed 13 RBIs and a team-high seven doubles.

“He was definitely uncomfortable in the playoffs,” Daniels said. “In all three rounds it was affecting him.”

Treanor Signs One-Year Deal with Dodgers

Veteran catcher Matt Treanor, who has been on the Rangers’ World Series roster in each of the last two seasons, was signed to a one-year contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.

Treanor, 35, spent much of the 2011 season as Kansas City’s starting catcher before being re-acquired by Texas in late August as a backup to Mike Napoli and Yorvit Torrealba.