WHEELING AND DEALING

SUNDAY, APRIL 9, 2011

RANGERS ACQUIRE TOP HURLER IN CAIN AND OUTFIELDERS MARKAKIS, RASMUS

BY PAT DORWIN

SPORTSWRITER

DALLAS MORNING NEWS

ARLINGTON - TRADES HAVE BEEN LIKE AN OLD CLINT EASTWOOD MOVIE FOR THE RANGERS: "THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY."

NOTHING WAS UGLIER THAN DEALING CATCHER NELSON MYLES IN EARLY-MAY 2010 ONLY TO SEE HIM BLOSSOM INTO THE NATIONAL LEAGUE'S ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR.

OTHER TRADES A SEASON AGO CERTAINLY COULD BE CONSIDERED IN THE "BAD" CATEGORY, SUCH AS ACQUIRING A SLUMPING PITCHER IN COLE HAMELS.

BUT LATELY THE GOOD HAS OUTWEIGHED THE BAD - BY FAR. DEALS ARE REPLACING POOR CONTRACTS AND OFFERING HELP FOR INJURIES - AS WELL AS SETTING UP POSSIBLE FUTURE MOVES.

ON SATURDAY, TEXAS ACQUIRED 2B RICHIE WEEKS AND CF COLBY RASMUS FROM MILWAUKEE FOR SP RANDY WOLF, 2B AARON HILL AND RF DARIN LOWELL. WEEKS TAKES OVER FOR HILL, WHO DIDN'T HIT IN SPRING TRAINING OR AT THE START OF THE SEASON LIKE HE'S CAPABLE - THIS AFTER SIGNING A LOMNG-TERM DEAL IN THE OFFSEASON.

WEEKS MAY NOT STICK AROUND, HOWEVER, AS SKIP SHUMAKER AND YOUNGSTERS HUGO GARZA AND LEONARDO ORTIZ AWAIT CHANCES AT SECOND.

RASMUS WAS FIFTH IN THE NL LAST YEAR WITH 111 RBIs AND TAKES OVER CENTERFIELD FOR INJJURED JORDAN SHRADER.

WOLF, THE FIFTH STARTER, WAS EXPENDABLE AFTER THE RANGERS MADE A DEAL FRIDAY TO ACQUIRE STARTER MATT CAIN AND RF NICK MARKAKIS FROM THE REDS FOR SP LEIGH WEIR AND LF CHRIS COGHLAN.

WEIR, THE MUCH-SOUGHT AFTER 20-YEAR-OLD LEFTY, COULD NEVER CRACK THE TEXAS ROTATION ALTHOUGH HE HAD MADE THE TEAM COMING OUT OF SPRING AS A LONG RELIEVER.

CAIN GIVES TEXAS FOUR NO.1 STARTERS, ALONG WITH FELIX HERNANDEZ, A REJUVENATED BARRY ZITO AND JOSH JOHNSON, ALL ACQUIRED IN TRADES LAST SEASON, TO GO ALONG WITH A POTENTIAL NO. 1 IN MAT LATOS.

COGHLAN STARTED MOST OF 2009 IN FLORIDA AND PLAYED WELL IN LEFT FIELD IN 2010 FOR BALTIMORE, SHOWING SPEED AND FLASHING POWER, BEFORE FINISHING OUT THE YEAR WELL IN TEXAS.

HE WAS SIGNED TO A HEALTHY CONTRACT - AS PROMISED BY TEAM PRESIDENT NOLAN RYAN - BUT COGHLAN, LIKE HILL WHO ALSO SIGNED A BIG DEAL, HADN'T HIT MUCH OVER THE PAST SIX WEEKS.

MARKAKIS MORE THAN MAKES UP FOR THAT AND IS SIGNED TO A DEAL SIMILAR TO COGHLAN'S. MARKAKIS HAS LONG BEEN TOUTED AS A POSSIBLE SUPERSTAR AND COULD BREAK OUT AT AGE 27, TWO YEARS OLDER THAN COGHLAN.