TEXAS RANGERS SIGN RUBEN SIERRA TO OKLAHOMA CONTRACT; WILL JOIN REDHAWKS ON TUESDAY
FOR RELEASE: 6:00 p.m. (CDT), Monday, May 1, 2000
The Texas Rangers announced today that the club has signed outfielder Ruben Sierra to a contract with Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League.
Sierra, 34, will join the Redhawks on Tuesday in Iowa.
A four-time selection as the Texas Rangers Player of the Year, Sierra was playing for Cancun in the class AAA Mexican League where he batted .355 with three homers and 12 rbi in 16 games. He was a non-roster invitee in the Cleveland Indians major league spring training camp before being released in late March.
“Ruben was very persistent in wanting to get another opportunity with the Texas Rangers organization,” commented General Manager Doug Melvin. “We feel this is a low-risk situation and we’ll evaluate him on the triple-A level over the next couple of weeks..”
Sierra has a career major league average of .269 with 239 homers and 1041 rbi in 1662 games with Texas (1986-92), Oakland (1992-95), New York Yankees (1995-96), Detroit (1996), Cincinnati (1997), Toronto (1997), and the Chicago White Sox (1998). He spent 1999 with Atlantic City in the Independent Atlantic League, batting .294 with 28 homers and 82 rbi in 112 games.
The switch-hitter has a .280 career average with 153 homers and 657 rbi in 1,033 games with Texas. He is the Rangers’ all-time leaders in triples (43), ranks second in rbi, places third in doubles (226), extra base hits (422), and total bases (1903), and ranks fourth in hits (1,132) and homers (153-tied). Sierra was selected as the A.L. Player of the Year by The Sporting News in 1989 when he led the league with 119 rbi and a club record 14 triples. He was the Rangers Player of the Year in 1987-88-89 and 1991. Sierra has appeared in four All-Star Games with 100 or more rbi four times.
His last major league action was with the White Sox in 1998 when he batted .216 with four homers and 11 rbi in 27 games.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Rusty Greer will miss 4-6 weeks after the Texas Rangers placed the outfielder on the 15-day disabled list Saturday while he has surgery for bone spurs in his right ankle.
Greer strained his left hamstring Thursday during batting practice, and was scratched from the lineup against the New York Yankees.
The Rangers figured Greer would be out about two weeks because of the hamstring, and decided to go ahead with ankle surgery. Greer has been bothered by that problem since spring training.
Greer will have surgery in Dallas on Sunday.
The Rangers placed Greer on the disabled list, retroactive to Thursday, before Saturday’s game at Cleveland. It’s the first time he has been on the disabled list since he broke into the major leagues in 1994.
Texas purchased Jason McDonald from Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League to replace Greer, then designated pitcher Brian Sikorski for assignment.
Story #2:
CLEVELAND — Texas outfielder Rusty Greer was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday. Then the Rangers’ got some bad news.
Hours after Greer was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, the team announced that he will undergo right ankle surgery in Dallas on Sunday. Dr. Charles Cook will perform the procedure, which will remove bone spurs from the front of the ankle. Greer is expected to be sidelined at least a month.
Greer, 31, strained his left hamstring during batting practice at the stadium on Thursday and was scratched from the lineup moments before Texas’ loss to the Yankees. He had never been on the disabled list in his five-year major league career.
To fill the roster spot, the Rangers purchased the contract of outfielder Jason McDonald from Triple-A Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League. Pitcher Brian Sikorski was designated for assignment to make room for McDonald on the 40-man roster.
Greer has appeared in seven games this season, going 6-for-25 with a homer and five RBI. Last season, the left-handed hitting left fielder batted .300 with 20 homers and 101 RBI in 147 games.
Greer had his best all-around season in 1996, when he batted .332 with 18 homers and 100 RBI.
McDonald, a switch-hitter, was hitting .192 (5-for-26) with a homer and three RBI in eight games at Oklahoma. He was one of the Rangers’ final spring training cuts as a non-roster invitee and has a .242 career minor league average in 248 games.
Sikorski had been at Oklahoma. Texas has 10 days to trade, release or outright him to the minors.

Most of them have moved on to life beyond baseball: a head of construction for a builder in Fort Myers, Fla., a benefits representative for an insurance company in Durham, N.C., a factory worker in Columbus, Miss.

Second baseman Lonnie Goldberg, who will play for Yuma, Ariz of the western league, and his replacement teammates brought at least one fan to tears of appreciation.

There are some hard-luck stories. A few have scattered across the globe, chasing chances to keep playing.
For one odd but shining spring five years ago, this disparate group was something special. It made up the Rangers’ replacement team: scourge of the faux American League and Will Clark; darlings of the fans.
“We were a very close-knit group,” said outfielder Eric Mangham, living in Atlanta and recovering from a serious automobile accident. “We enjoyed that spring, and we thought we might have a chance to be in the big leagues. “It was a dream that just didn’t happen.”
* * *
The replacement spring foreshadowed what was to come for the Rangers. It was the debut of the Doug Melvin-Johnny Oates management team, brought in by then-president Tom Schieffer after the 1994 season. Melvin and Oates showed how they would operate.
Melvin specialized in finding players in out-of-the-way places. He put together the replacement club much as he would future Rangers teams: using every possible avenue.
Oates and his staff were good teachers. They molded the collection of unfamiliar players into a club that paid attention to the details.
The result was the American League’s best replacement team at 19-7. A year later, using the same formula, the Rangers would win the first title in franchise history.
“Everybody started at zero, and we came out with the best team,” Schieffer said. “It was a real good indication of what we had. It was a difficult situation for everybody, but Doug and Johnny and the coaches handled it in a very positive way.”
* * *

Jackie Davidson was the scheduled opening day starter for the Rangers’ replacement team. He works as a supervisor for a concrete firm and watches his son pitch for Everman High school.

Clark, then the Rangers’ first baseman, took several verbal shots at the replacement players, hinting at retaliation. Replacement players were viewed by some as pawns of management.
“It was a very tough situation,” said infielder Jim Clinton, who owns a restaurant in Lewiston, Mont. “We were between what the players wanted and what the owners wanted.”
The team inspired sentiment so positive that the regular major leaguers needed several years to rebuild relationships after they returned.
On the day before spring training ended in Port Charlotte, Fla., a fan handed infielder Lonnie Goldberg a letter before breaking into tears. The letter thanked Goldberg and his teammates for their effort. The club played two exhibitions at The Ballpark in Arlington, drawing more than 13,000 for each game. The crowd reception was memorable.
“Everything was first-class,” said lefthander Jack Kimel, who works for an insurance company out of Durham, N.C. “I have nothing but good feelings about what happened.
“I was never against the union. But I knew Will Clark wasn’t striking for my interests, either.”
Replacement ball ended on April 1, when the Rangers defeated the Chicago Cubs. After the game, Schieffer told the players that management would accept the union’s offer to return to work. The 234-day strike was over. The replacement players were no longer needed.
Schieffer turned emotional during the meeting, as did several players. The Rangers gave the players their game uniforms, a commemorative plate and a $10,000 bonus.
“I have nothing but fond memories,” said righthander Jackie Davidson of Everman, who was to be the Rangers’ opening-day starter. “Johnny Oates taught me so many things about life, about how to be a professional outside the lines and inside the lines. I learned from [pitching coach] Dick Bosman, too.
“They made me realize the man I had to be. I think we all benefited and grew from it.”
* * *

Johnny Monell, a designated hitter with the Rangers’ replacement team, is in his third season with the Atlantic City Surf of the Atlantic League.

Some members of the replacement gang refuse to give up the dream. At least five are still playing, but only one is with a National Association team: catcher Frank Charles, in the San Francisco organization. The others are scattered about the landscape of foreign and independent leagues.
Outfielder Tony Chance, the top overall talent on the Rangers, is in Mexico with the Monterrey Sultans for the seventh year.
Designated hitter Johnny Monell, who returned Clark’s barbs, heads into his third season with the Atlantic City Surf of the Atlantic League.
Righthander Rob Wishnevski and Goldberg were teammates with the Taichung Robomen of Taiwan two years ago. Wishnevski moved to Mexico this season. Goldberg will play with Yuma, Ariz., of the Western League.
“This is a make-or-break year for me,” said Goldberg, recovering from a rotator-cuff injury. “I don’t want to stop playing. I’m looking forward so much to getting back to playing.”
The Rangers have kept the replacement spirit alive. Outfielder Scarborough Green, in the major league camp this spring, was a replacement player with St. Louis.
Darryl Kennedy, manager of the organization’s entry in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League, was a catcher with the Rangers’ replacement team.
Edgar Cacares, a coach at Class A Charlotte, played with Kansas City’s replacement team and reached the majors with the Royals.
* * *

Tony Bouton, who works for an Atlanta technology firm, says it was hard to walk away from baseball.

Lefthander James Hurst keeps an unlisted telephone number at his home in Greenwood, Ind. Former teammates said the replacement experience scarred Hurst.
He appeared with the Rangers in 1994. In the spring of 1995, Hurst was torn between trying to keep his career going with the Rangers but not being seen as a strike-breaker.
Hurst tried to compromise by saying he would not participate in regular-season replacement games. That was not good enough for some union hard-liners, who branded Hurst a scab.
That haunted him. Hurst moved from the Rangers to Baltimore organization during the 1995 season, and the Orioles summoned him to join the team in Seattle. When Hurst arrived, righthander Mike Mussina organized a boycott. The Orioles determined Hurst was not worth the trouble and returned him to the minors the next day.
The experience soured Hurst. He walked away from the game after that season.
* * *
Righthander Tony Bouton came to the replacement spring seeking closure. The top reliever in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 1990, Bouton was released by the Rangers in the spring of 1993. He came back to say goodbye.
“It was a chance for me to mentally close out my baseball career,” Bouton said. “I knew I had another career, but it’s hard to walk away from baseball.”
Bouton returned to the real world after the strike ended and worked his way to head of sales for an Atlanta information-technology firm. Bouton recognizes life has been good to him, but he has one longing.
“I wish I was still playing ball,” Bouton said. “It’s still in my blood. I think we were all that way.”

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (AP) — The Texas Rangers sent prospect Mike Lamb to Triple-A Oklahoma on Wednesday, clearing the way for Tom Evans to be their starting third baseman.
Lamb, who hit .324 with 21 homers and 100 RBIs in the minors last season, came into spring training as the favorite to replace Todd Zeile.
But Evans, a non-roster invitee to camp who spent all last season at Triple-A, beat him out by hitting .310 and tying for second on the club with four homers, including a grand slam.
Evans played 12 games for Toronto in 1997 and seven more in 1998. The Rangers claimed him off waivers from the Blue Jays last spring.
To make room for Evans on the 40-man roster, first baseman Mike Simms cleared waivers and was designated for assignment to Oklahoma. Simms, who missed last year with an injury, can accept the assignment or become a free agent.

DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Starting a three-way trade of first basemen Thursday, Toronto sent David Segui and cash to Texas.
The Rangers then dealt Lee Stevens to Montreal, and to complete the deal, the Expos sent Brad Fullmer to the Blue Jays.
Segui hit a combined .298 for Seattle and Toronto last season with 14 homers and 52 RBIs. A .285 career hitter, he was dealt by Seattle last July 28 for pitchers Tom Davey and Steve Sinclair, became a free agent after the season, then signed a $4,325,000, one-year contract to stay with the Blue Jays.
Stevens batted .282 last season for the Rangers, setting career highs with 24 homers and 81 RBIs.
Fullmer split last season between Montreal and Class AAA Ottawa of the International League. He batted .277 for the Expos with nine homers and 47 RBIs.
Stevens will make $3.5 million after losing in salary arbitration. Like Segui, he is eligible for free agency after this season.
Fullmer’s contract was renewed earlier this month at a salary of $310,000 if he’s in the major leagues and $185,000 if he’s in the minors. He could be eligible for salary arbitration after this season and for free agency after the 2003 World Series.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (AP) — Rafael Palmeiro and Kenny Rogers remember the days when a Bush leaguer used to roam their locker room.
In fact, they were recently talking about that guy.
“A couple of days ago, I asked Raffy who he was going to vote for,” the pitcher said. “I said, `You’re going to vote for the man, aren’t you?”’
Usually, the most popular subject at spring training is the NCAA basketball tournament pool. But this year, a lot of Rangers have good reason to take a keen interest in the campaign trail.
The team’s former owner, George W. Bush, is running for president. The Texas governor is hoping a strong showing in the Super Tuesday primaries will boost his bid for the Republican nomination.
About a half-dozen players remain from the days when Bush used to regularly roam the same Gulf Coast locker room. They all said they’d vote for Bush.
“I just think it would be cool to know the dude in the White House,” pitcher Darren Oliver said.
Pitcher Rick Helling recalled Bush’s easy manner.
“I was a rookie when he was here, and probably a majority of owners wouldn’t know who I was,” Helling said this weekend. “But he was real personable and sociable. He still comes around once in a while, and it’s always like, `Hey, Rick, how are you doing?”’
Said eight-time All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez: “He’s a great guy. He’d make a good president.”
Bush was part of the group that bought the Rangers in 1989. He was active in the team’s affairs, often watching from a front-row seat at Arlington Stadium until he ran for governor.
When Bush was elected in 1994, his interest in the club was placed into a blind trust, and Tom Schieffer succeeded him as a general partner. The team was sold to Tom Hicks in June 1998, and Bush made about $15 million in the deal.
Juan Gonzalez won two AL home run titles in Texas when Bush’s main interest was baseball. Traded to Detroit in the offseason, the slugging outfielder was talking to a friend over breakfast Sunday about Bush.
“He looks you in the eyes when he’s saying something,” Gonzalez said at the Tigers’ camp in Lakeland, Fla. “That’s important to me. I know I can trust him.”
When Bush owned the Rangers, Gonzalez contributed $100 per RBI to a Texas literacy program the future governor founded. The two still visit a few times every year.
“He is a warrior. In my opinion, he’s the best presidential candidate, for the Republicans,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez and Rodriguez both said they prefer Bush over Republican rival John McCain and Democratic contenders Al Gore and Bill Bradley. As residents of Puerto Rico, however, they cannot vote in the presidential election.
Rogers, meanwhile, is talking up Bush to anyone who will listen.
“I really hope he gets elected. You just get a good feeling when you meet him,” Rogers said. “You see the other guys you have to vote for and there’s not even a choice.”
Palmeiro, who joined Rogers on the Rangers in 1989, also prefers the son of former President George Bush. The prospect of lower taxes, especially in his bracket, pleases the All-Star first baseman.
“I see the things he’s done in Texas and think he can incorporate some of those things for our country,” Palmeiro said. “Plus, he’s got good bloodlines. I’ve watched a little of the debates, and I like him.”
Only one problem for Palmeiro, who was born in Cuba but is now an American citizen.
“I’m not registered to vote,” he said. “I have to do it.”

The Texas Rangers announced today that lefthanded pitcher Matt Perisho and outfielder Ruben Mateo have agreed to terms on one-year contracts for the 2000 season. No further terms were disclosed.
The club also announced that it has renewed the contracts of lefthanded pitcher Mike Venafro and righthanded pitchers Danny Kolb and Jeff Zimmerman for the 2000 season after failing to reach contract agreements.
With today’s moves, all 40 players on the Rangers’ major league roster are under contract for 2000.
Perisho was 15-7 with a 4.61 era in 27 starts at Oklahoma and 0-0, 2.61 in 4 games/one start with Texas in 1999. Mateo batted .336 with 18 homers and 62 rbi in 63 games at Oklahoma and .238 with 5 homers and 18 rbi in 32 games with Texas last season.
Kolb was 1-2, 2.79 at Tulsa and 5-3, 5.10 in Oklahoma while going 2-1, 4.65 in 16 relief appearances in 4 stints with Texas. Venafro was 3-2, 3.29 in 65 games and Zimmerman went 9-3, 2.36 with 3 saves in 65 appearances with the Rangers in 1999.

The Texas Rangers announced today that right handed pitcher Ryan Glynn and infielder Frank Catalanotto have agreed to terms on one-year contracts for the 2000 season. No further terms were disclosed.
Glynn was 6-2, 3.39 in 16 starts with Oklahoma and 2-4, 7.24 in 13 games/10 starts with Texas in 1999. Catalanotto, acquired from Detroit last November, batted .276 with 11 homers and 35 rbi in 100 games with the Tigers in 1999.
With the signings, 34 of the 40 players on the major league roster are under contract for the 2000 season. The remaining unsigned players are pitchers Francisco Cordero, Dan Kolb, Matt Perisho, Mike Venafro, and Jeff Zimmerman and outfielder Ruben Mateo.
[ Second Wire Story ]
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (AP) — Infielder Frank Catalanotto, acquired by the Texas Rangers in the trade that sent Juan Gonzalez to Detroit, and pitcher Ryan Glynn agreed to one-year contracts Tuesday.
Catalanotto is expected to share time at second base with Luis Alicea. He hit .276 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs in 100 games with Detroit last season.
Glynn, a right-hander, was 2-4 with a 7.24 ERA in 13 games last season with Texas, 10 of them starts. He was 6-2 with a 3.39 ERA in 16 starts at Triple-A Oklahoma. He’s fighting for a spot on the big league team this spring.
From Joe: It was disclosed during the evening that Frank Catalanotto signed for $305,000, and Ryan Glynn signed for $205,000.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (AP) — Infielders Jorge Diaz and Osmani Garcia, among five Cuban national team players who fled their homeland in August 1998, agreed Monday to minor league contracts with the Texas Rangers.
Diaz, Garcia and three others left Cuba by boat and went to Nicaragua, but weren’t granted residency. They then went to Costa Rica and received residency in February 1999.
Diaz and Garcia moved to the Dominican Republic in October and have been training there since. They will continue working out there with Rangers scouting director Chuck McMichael and Latin American coordinator Manny Batista.
Diaz, who agreed to a deal with Triple-A Oklahoma, was invited to major league spring training as a non-roster player. He’s expected to arrive in Florida in early March. He turns 25 on March 16.
Garcia, 25, agreed to terms with Double-A Tulsa. He’s likely to join the Rangers’ minor league camp in late March.
Diaz and Garcia were among a group of players who tried fleeing Cuba in March 1998, but were detained in the Bahamas. All but Jorge Toca, now of the New York Mets, were returned to Cuba in May 1988.
The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Diaz — who is nicknamed “El Arana,” which means “The Spider” — was on Cuba’s national team from 1995-97.
He played for Villa Clara in the regular-season league from 1993-97, winning the championship the first three seasons as the team’s second baseman.
The 6-foot, 210-pound Garcia was Villa Clara’s starting third baseman from ’93-97 and was an all-star in 1996. He played all nine positions in 1995, but is likely to be used at first base, third base and the outfield.

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) — The Texas Rangers placed sidearming lefthander Mike Munoz on the 15-day disabled list today with elbow tendinitis and recalled southpaw Doug Davis from Triple-A.
Munoz will undergo an MRI on Thursday after experiencing soreness over the last several weeks. He left today’s 14-4 loss to Boston after pitching to only four batters.
An eight-year veteran in his second season with Texas, Munoz is 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA in seven games. He was 2-1 with a 3.93 ERA in 56 appearances last year.
Davis, the Rangers’ minor league player of the year in 1999, is 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA in four starts at Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League. He allowed 10 runs and 12 hits over 2 2/3 innings with Texas last year.