Here’s how Delino DeShields learned the Texas Rangers had traded him for Corey Kluber
Big news from Florida: Derek Holland is settling down.
The former Texas Rangers pitcher, now in Pittsburgh Pirates camp in Bradenton, Florida, proposed to longtime girlfriend Terra Young. In a major upset, she said yes.
Though gone from the Rangers, Holland continues to make his home and to run his charity, the 60 Feet 6 Foundation, in the Metroplex. He is also the MLB player who is most generous with his time to the Do It For Durrett Foundation.
He’s an easy guy to cheer on.
Here’s the Surprise Five from Monday at Rangers camp.
1. The initial news Dec. 17 gave Delino DeShields a jolt of excitement.
His Rangers had acquired Corey Kluber from the Cleveland Indians.
The only problem was they weren’t his Rangers anymore.
“I had a couple missed calls from my agent and JD, and I was like, ‘Ah s---,’” DeShields said Monday after exiting the Indians’ game against the Rangers at Surprise Stadium. “I just knew right then I was a part of it.”
The Rangers sent DeShields, their center fielder, and right-handed reliever Emmanuel Clase to the Indians for Kluber, the two-time Cy Young winner. The trade came only days after the Rangers moved outfielder Nomar Mazara to the Chicago White Sox.
A group of young players who had debuted together with the Rangers, including Joey Gallo, suddenly had two pieces gone. DeShields said he had discussed the Mazara trade only a night before he was dealt.
“We did everything together on the road, and we spent a lot of time together,” DeShields said. “We knew it would come to an end at some point. We didn’t think it would be this year, but that’s the business side of baseball.”
DeShields’ father, former MLB player Delino DeShields, helped his namesake through the process. The elder DeShields had been traded in his career, for a right-hander named Pedro Martinez, and had kept his son prepared for the possibility of being traded.
“When I was coming up, he always said, ‘You’re not just playing for one team. You’re playing for 29 other teams,’” DeShields said. “I’m just grateful to have a jersey on and to get to play the game I love to play.”
2. The home run Sam Huff hit Sunday continued to be talked about Monday.
It was that impressive.
“It was a bomb,” said Gallo, who knows a thing or two about hitting mammoth home runs. “It was into the wind, too.”
Huff’s first spring homer hit near the top of the 30-foot batter’s eye at Camelback Ranch, 410 feet away from home plate. It was one of three homers for the Rangers, with Gallo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa going deep.
Kiner-Falefa has two spring homers. Gallo has one.
“I told him this is the only time I’ll ever be ahead of him,” Kiner-Falefa said.
The power surge was snuffed out in the 3-2 victory against the Indians, but the Rangers entered the day second in the majors with 15 home runs. Manager Chris Woodward said that hitters are able to hunt fastballs right now against pitchers who might be struggling some, but he also credited the Rangers for their collective approach.
“Our guys have worked pretty hard,” Woodward said. “To look at Kiner, for example, he put a lot of work in this off-season and did a lot of things that led to him being able to hit a 415-foot home run that maybe he’s never done.”
3. A cool moment was orchestrated by the Rangers and the Indians to bring together two baseball-playing brothers.
Tyler Freeman is a shortstop for the Indians and one of their top prospects. Cody Freeman, an infielder, was the Rangers’ fourth-round pick last year out of high school.
There’s a catch: Woodward grew up with their father, Greg, in Covina, Calif., and went to the same high school.
Greg’s boys brought out the lineup cards before the game, and they would be united again late in the game.
Cody, 19, sent a seven-inning chopper to his brother, who threw across the diamond for the third out. But Cody got come payback, as he caught Tyler’s pop-up to end the game.
“I’ve seen them since they were little,” Woodward said. “It was a cool moment.”
Baseball teams are always mindful of these opportunities. Elvis Andrus, for instance, played in a spring game with his brother, Erold, a Rangers minor-leaguer in 2011. Rougned Odor played with his brother, Rougned Odor, in the same game two years ago.
4. Former Rangers reliever Tony Barnette was back at Surprise Stadium and could be found before the game in the press box, but it might have taken a few media members a moment to realize it was him.
Barnette retired from baseball after last season and also retired his beard. A clean-shaven Barnett looks like he’s 21, not the 36 he actually is. The voice, though, is unmistakable.
A Glendale resident just to the south of Surprise, Barnett is working as an adviser with the Yakult Swallows, the team with which he became a star closer in Japan before leaving for the Rangers for the 2016 season.
5. Players’ kids have invaded the Rangers’ clubhouse, and that’s always a good thing.
Three Fraziers, two Gibsons and an Andrus and a Lynn were hanging around Monday morning and afternoon, and a few of them were quite chatty.
Kyle Gibson’s oldest daughter, Hayden, turns 6 on Friday and says she wants a lot of things for her birthday. She also said one of her favorite TV shows is “PJ Masks” and that she and brother Mills also watch a lot of “PAW Patrol.”
Mills, 3, is hooked on the “Mighty Pups.”
Who isn’t?
