Rangers notes: Moreland avoids arbitration
News was flying at the Omni Dallas Hotel ahead of the Rangers’ Dr Pepper Awards Dinner.
The Rangers avoided arbitration with Mitch Moreland, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $2.95 million. Moreland, who figures to get most of his playing time at DH, can earn another $25,000 if he reaches 500 plate appearances.
The agreement allows the Rangers to again avoid going to an arbitration hearing. They haven’t been to arbitration since losing to Lee Stevens in 2000.
With Moreland in the fold, all Rangers eligible for salary arbitration in 2015 have agreed to contract terms.
Prospect invitations
Six prospects received internal spring training camp invites, headed by top prospect Joey Gallo. The slugging third baseman is joined by the top pitching prospect, Alex “Chi Chi” Gonzalez, along with fellow right-hander Alec Asher and Keone Kela, a hard-throwing reliever.
Catcher Pat Cantwell and outfielder Jared Hoying were also invited.
The Rangers’ spring roster has 58 players, including a full 40-man roster plus 18 nonroster invitees.
Ohlendorf signs
Right-handed pitcher Ross Ohlendorf signed a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training, and right-handed reliever Gonzalez Germen was claimed on waivers by the Cubs.
Germen had been claimed on waivers by the Rangers on Tuesday, but he was designated for assignment Wednesday when the Rangers acquired catcher Carlos Corporan from Houston.
Rangers award winners
Adrian Beltre and Yu Darvish were honored for being the Rangers Player and Pitcher of the Year on Friday night at the Rangers’ Dr Pepper Awards Dinner . Others honored included:
▪ Rougned Odor, Rookie of the Year
▪ Elvis Andrus, Jim Sundberg Community Achievement Award
▪ Matt Harrison, Harold McKinney Good Guy Award
▪ Robinson Chirinos, Richard Durrett Hardest Working Man
The minor league award winners were:
▪ Joey Gallo, Tom Grieve Player of the Year
▪ Alex “Chi Chi” Gonzalez, Nolan Ryan Pitcher of the Year
▪ Hanser Alberto, Defender of the Year
▪ Phil Klein, Reliever of the Year
Other honorees included:
▪ Aaron Levin, Bobby Jones Player Development Man of the Year
▪ Roger Coryell, Don Welke Scout of the Year Award.
▪ Rick Helling, Mark Holtz Alumni Award
Finnegan honored
Former TCU star and Royals left-hander Brandon Finnegan, who became the first player to pitch in the College World Series and the major league World Series in the same year, received the Rangers’ Texas Professional of the Year Award. TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle attended the awards.
“I grew up a Rangers fan, so it’s pretty cool to get an award from them, especially getting drafted by them out of high school,” said Finnegan, who attended Fort Worth Southwest High School. “It kind of caught me off guard. [The Royals] were the ones who told me actually.”
Stefan Stevenson
817-390-7760
Twitter: @StevensonFWST
Fan Fest
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Globe Life Park, Arlington
Tickets: $10 for adults, $8 for season ticket holders and $5 for children 13 and under. Available at texasrangers.com/fanfest or the first-base ticket office.
Autographs: The first 5,000 fans will receive scratch-off cards indicating whether they have won a spot in one of the following autograph sessions: Adrian Beltre and Ivan Rodriguez, 10 a.m.; Prince Fielder, 11 a.m.; Elvis Andrus, noon; Shin-Soo Choo, 3 p.m.
Other autograph sessions will be posted on the videoboards one hour in advance. Players will sign approximately 225 autographs.
Other Rangers signing autographs: Jorge Alfaro, Jeff Banister, Robinson Chirinos, Michael Choice, Ross Detwiler, Jon Edwards, Yovani Gallardo, Joey Gallo, Alex “Chi Chi” Gonzalez, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland, Phil Klein, Colby Lewis, Nick Martinez, Mitch Moreland, Rougned Odor, Spencer Patton, Martin Perez, Jurickson Profar, Robbie Ross Jr., Tanner Scheppers, Jake Smolinski, Nick Tepesch, Jake Thompson, Shawn Tolleson, Tomas Telis.
Participating in Q&A sessions: Elvis Andrus, Jeff Banister, Jon Daniels, Derek Holland, Fergie Jenkins, Colby Lewis, Rangers TV/Radio Announcers, Women’s Baseball 101 with Emily Jones, Karen Banister, and Jenny Lewis.
Participating in clinics: Dave Magadan/Bobby Jones/Tony Beasley (batting); Andy Hawkins/Mike Maddux (pitching).
Fergie Jenkins Foundation Booth: Fergie Jenkins, Rollie Fingers.
Rangers alumni signing autographs: Mike Bascik Sr., Mike Bascik Jr., Jerry Browne, Tim Crabtree, Danny Darwin, German Duran, Cecil Espy, Jeff Frye, Larry Hardy, Toby Harrah, Ken Hill, Dave Hostetler, David Hulse, Mike Jeffcoat, Fergie Jenkins, Jim Kern, Kevin Mench, Darren Oliver, Jeff Russell, Curtis Wilkerson, Bump Wills.
This story was originally published January 23, 2015 at 8:59 PM with the headline "Rangers notes: Moreland avoids arbitration."