BY PAT DORWIN
SPORTSWRITER
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
ARLINGTON - RYAN BRAUN - WHO STOPPED THE NEAR-RECORD 21-GAME LOSING SKID BY THE RANGERS EARLIER IN THE SEASON, AND FORMER AMERICAN LEAGUE MVP JUSTIN MORNEAU WERE SENT PACKING THURSDAY, JULY 22.
BRAUN AND MORNEAU, TEXAS' FIRST- AND THIRD-ROUND SEASON TWO DRAFT PICKS, ARE HEADED TO BALTIMORE WHERE THE ORIOLES (58-38) SIT ATOP THE AL EAST, 4.5 GAMES AHEAD OF TAMPA.
THE RANGERS, WITH THE MAJORS' WORST RECORD AT 33-64, PICK UP VETERAN FIRST BASEMAN MARK TEIXEIRA (HITTING .299 WITH 20 HOMERS AND 60 RBI'S), PITCHER BARRY ZITO, THE STARTER IN LAST WEEK'S ALL-STAR GAME AND UP-AND-COMING LEFTFIELDER CHRIS COGHLAN.
"OBVIOUSLY, WE'VE TURNED OUR ATTENTION TO 2011," SAID TEAM PRESIDENT NOLAN RYAN, "AS HAD THE INTERIM FRONT-OFFICE PERSONNEL."
RYAN, PART OF HE GROUP THAT RECENTLY PURCHASED THE TEAM, SAID THE TRADE MATCHED UP WELL CONTRACT- AND COST-WISE.
FORMER RANGER TEIXEIRA IS IN THE OPENING YEAR OF A 7-YEAR DEAL THAT PAYS HIM $126 MILLION, TOPPING OUT AT ALMOST $21 MILLION IN 2016, WHEN HE'LL BE 36 YEARS OLD.
ZITO, 31, HAS ALREADY MATCHED HIS 2009 WIN TOTAL WHILE COMPILING A 10-2 MARK WITH 101 STRIKEOUTS AND 102 HITS ALLOWED IN 130 INNINGS OF WORK. THE 6-FOOT-4, 215-POUND BREAKING BALL SPECIALIST HAS QUALITY STARTS IN 12 OF 19 OUTINGS WITH THREE SHUTOUTS WHILE POSTING A 2.63 ERA.
HIS FOUR-YEAR DEAL PAYS HIM $5.9 MILLION THIS SEASON AND TOPS OUT AT $6.9 MILLION IN THE FINAL YEAR.
"WE'VE BEEN KEEPING AN EYE ON HIM SINCE LATE LAST YEAR," RYAN SAID. "HE'S LOOKED UNHITTABLE TO ME AT TIMES AND WE THINK HE'S RETURNED TO HIS DAYS OF PITCHING OUTSTANDING BALL IN OAKLAND."
THE 24-YEAR-OLD COGHLAN WILL STAY IN LEFT FIELD, LEAVING ROOKIE GRAHAM DOLAN OUT IN THE COLD FOR NOW, ALTHOUGH COGHLAN CAN ALSO PLAY RIGHT FIELD, SECOND BASE AND THIRD BASE.
COGHLAN IS BATTING .310 WITH SIX LONGBALLS AND 32 RUNS DRIVEN IN, A YEAR AFTER POSTING .321, 9, 47 NUMBERS IN NEARLY FULLTIME WORK FOR THE MARLINS.
"WE'LL DEFINITELY BUMP HIS SALARY UP FROM ITS CURRENT $400,000 IF HE CONTINUES HIS STRONG PLAY," RYAN SAID OF COGHLAN.
AN OPTION TO GET THE SLUMPING DOLAN INTO THE OUTFIELD MIX WOULD BE TO TRADE SECOND BASEMAN IAN KINSLER, WHO IS HITTING JUST .223 AND HAS A 3-YEAR CONTRACT NEARING $20 MILLION.
"PEOPLE FORGET IAN IS ONLY 27 YEARS OLD," RYAN SAID. "HE'S IN THE MIDST OF A SECOND STRAIGHT POOR SEASON BUT HAS TONS OF NATURAL POWER."
BRAUN CONTRIBUTED STELLAR DEFENSE IN LEFT ALONG WITH A .295 AVERAGE, 22 HOMERS, 54 RBI'S, 25 DOUBLES AND SEVEN STEALS FOR THE RANGERS.
"(HITTING COACH) CLINT (HURDLE) SAW SOME HOLES IN RYAN'S SWING THAT THE PAIR COULDN'T SEEM TO FIX," SAID RYAN.
BRAUN (SIX-YEARS, $46.8 MILLION) SAID HURDLE WAS CONCERNED ABOUT BRAUN'S PERFORMANCE AGAINST RIGHT-HANDED PITCHERS.
"BUT THE NUMBERS DON'T SEEM TO INDICATE THAT," SAID BRAUN, HITTING .292 VS. RIGHT-HANDERS OPPOSED TO .302 VS. LEFTIES.
BRAUN'S BIGGEST DISCREPANCY CAME AT HOME, WHERE THE RANGERS PLAY DISMAL BALL, WHERE HE HIT ONLY .240 WHILE POUNDING AWAY AT .359 ON THE ROAD. MORNEAU HIT ONLY .212 AT HOME, WHILE POSTING A .315 AVERAGE AWAY FROM ARLINGTON.
MORNEAU, IN THE INITIAL SEASON OF A FIVE-YEAR, $36.3 MILLION DEAL, HIT .265 OVERALL FOR THE RANGERS WITH 16 HOMERS AND 48 RBI'S.
"THE KEY TO THE TRADE WAS (COLE) HAMELS," RYAN SAID.
HAMELS (TWO-YEARS, ALMOST $15 MILLION) IS JUST 4-8 OVERALL WITH AN ERA APPROACHING 5.00, IS A YEAR REMOVED FROM A 10-11, 4.32 SEASON WITH PHILADELPHIA.
"OVERALL, HAMELS IS 10 GAMES OVER .500 FOR HIS CAREER," RYAN SAID OF THE 26-YEAR-OLD LEFTY. "I WISH HIM WELL IN RETURNING TO HIS EARLIER YEARS."
THE DAY BEFORE THIS BLOCKBUSTER, RYAN PULLED OFF A DEAL WITH THE MARLINS, SENDING THREE LIGHTLY REGARDED STARING PITCHERS TO FLORIDA FOR TOP-NOTCH CLOSER FRANKIE RODRIGUEZ. THE 28-YEAR-OLD RIGHTY IS BACK TO HIS OLD SELF, RYAN SAID.
RODRIGUEZ HAS POSTED 26 SAVES WITH A 1.72 ERA A YEAR AFTER HIS 35 SAVES CAME AT THE EXPENSE OF A 3.71 ERA. HE MAKES $8 MILLION THIS YEAR AND $8.4 MILLION IN 2011. TEXAS ALSO ACQUIRED LEFT-HANDED HITTING CATCHER DESHAWN WAECHTER, WHO IS HITTING .316 IN 19 AT-BATS AND WILL PLAY MOST EVERYDAY FOR TEXAS, RYAN SAID.
WAECHTER, 23, HAS A 3-YEAR, $90,000 CONTRACT.
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