ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) — Texas Rangers righthander John Burkett, forced to leave his start on Tuesday with tightness in his shoulder, was placed on the 15-day disabled list today.
The Rangers made the move retroactive to Wednesday and called up lefthander Mike Venafro from Triple-A Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League.
Burkett lasted just two innings Tuesday against the New York Yankees, allowing three runs and seven hits. He complained of tightness in his right shoulder after the 4-0 loss and returned to Texas on Wednesday to undergo tests. A further diagnosis is expected once Burkett undergoes additional tests.
Burkett is 0-2 with a 12.00 ERA in three starts this season and has failed to last past the fifth inning.
Esteban Loaiza, who has made five relief appearances this season, is a likely candidate to replace Burkett in the rotation.
The 34-year-old Burkett also has pitched for San Francisco and Texas and owns a career record of 110-95. He was 22-7 for the Giants in 1993 and has not had a winning record since. Burkett made his only previous trip to the DL in 1997.
Venafro, 25, has no record and a 5.40 ERA with one save in six appearances for Oklahoma.

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) — The Texas Rangers today paid the Florida Marlins $100,000 to complete the deal for backup catcher Gregg Zaun and gave outfielder Mike Simms a rehabilitation assignment.
Zaun was acquired November 23 after spending three seasons with the Marlins. He was a member of their 1997 World Series championship team and is serving as the little-used backup to catcher Ivan Rodriguez this season, going hitless in four at-bats.
Zaun, who turned 28 on Wednesday, batted .188 with five home runs and 29 RBI in 106 games last season. He hit .301 in 58 games as a backup to Charles Johnson in 1997 and has 12 homers and 78 RBI in a four-year career with Baltimore and Florida.
Simms is recovering from a partial tear to his left Achilles tendon, suffered in the second week of spring training. He was assigned to Class-A Charlotte of the Florida State League, for whom he is expected to play two games before heading to Triple-A Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League.
Simms was devastating as a platoon and bench player for the American League West champions last year. In 186 at-bats in 86 games, he batted .296 with 16 homers and 46 RBI. Playing left and right field and first base, he compiled a .613 slugging percentage and a .381 on-base percentage.
The Rangers also announced that infielder Rob Sasser was claimed on outright waivers by the Detroit Tigers. Sasser was designated for assignment Tuesday to make room on the 40-man roster for righthander Jeff Zimmerman.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers claimed third baseman Todd Evans on outright waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.
Evans, who was placed on waivers Wedneday, hit .233 with one RBI in 26 games this spring. He played with Toronto seven games last year and 12 games in 1997.
Evans hit .300 with 15 home runs and 55 RBIS in 109 games with Syracuse last season.

PORT CHARLOTTE, FLORIDA (TICKER) — The Texas Rangers today signed free agent infielder Rafael Bournigal to a minor league contract, two days after he was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bournigal, who spent the last three seasons with Oakland, hit just .158 (3-for-19) in 10 games with the Pirates this spring after signing a minor league deal in January.
The 32-year-old homered in a Triple-A game this morning and is in the dugout for today’s exhibition contest against Boston. He will accompany the team to Texas this weekend when final roster cuts are made.
Bournigal, who can play shortstop or second base, is a career .249 hitter with two home runs and 71 RBI in 310 games with Los Angeles and Oakland. Last season, he hit .225 (47-for-209) with one homer, 19 RBI and six stolen bases in 85 games.
(From the ESPN Rangers Page): The Rangers signed free-agent infielder Rafael Bournigal to a minor-league contract with the Oklahoma Redhawks of the Pacific Coast League. The team also announced Tuesday it was bringing Bournigal to major league spring training as a non-roster invitee. Bournigal, 32, spent the past three seasons with the Athletics. Last season, he batted .225 with one homer and 19 RBIs in 85 games. He also did not make an error in 279 chances at shortstop and second base.

FOR RELEASE: 3:00 p.m. (CST), Tuesday, March 23, 1999
The Texas Rangers announced today that the club’s regular season opener with the Detroit Tigers on Monday, April 5 at The Ballpark in Arlington is a complete sellout.
As a result, the club also announced it will sell a limited number of standing room tickets for opening day at $5.00 apiece. Those tickets will go on sale on Thursday, April 1 at 9:00 a.m. at The Ballpark in Arlington ONLY. There will be no outlet, phone, or Internet sale of the standing room tickets.
It marks the second earliest in history that the Rangers have ever sold out the home opener. In 1994, the first year that The Ballpark in Arlington was opened, the final tickets for the April 11 opener were sold on March 12.
Season ticket and mini-plan packages for 1999 are still available for sale. In order to fill potential season ticket and mini-plan orders, the Rangers have held back a limited number of seats for the April 5 opener. In the event that some of these tickets have not been used to fill season ticket and mini-plan orders as of the close of business on Wednesday, March 31, these tickets for the April 5 opener may be available for public sale. If that is the case, those tickets will go on sale at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 1 at the Rangers’ ticket office at The Ballpark in Arlington, at all metro Dillard’s stores, at Rangers’ ETM locations, through the club’s Internet set at www.texasrangers.com, and by phone.
Tickets remain for opening night, Tuesday, April 6 against Detroit at 7:35 p.m., and all other 1999 home games. For more information, please call the Rangers ticket office at 817-273-5100.

The Rangers have added a pair of lefthanded pitchers to their Oklahoma roster. Rickey Pickett has been purchased from the Kansas City Royals and Allen McDill has been signed as a free agent to an Oklahoma contract. Both pitchers were non-roster invitees in the Royals major league camp and McDill had been released. Both report to the minor league camp today.
McDill was 6-4, 2.39 in 61 games at Omaha and 0-0, 10.50 in 7 games with the Royals in 1998.
Pickett pitched in the Giants, Diamondbacks, and Rangers organizations in 1998, going 6-6, 3.71 in 24 games/10 starts with Oklahoma. Ricky is a local boy, having been born in Ft. Worth, TX.
If you want more information on these guys, check out the ESPN Player Profiles for Ricky Pickett & Allen McDill.

From Joe: I thought Gregg Zaun was the expected regular backup to pudge?
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA (TICKER) — John Marzano, expected to serve as the backup to Texas Rangers All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez this season, suffered a broken left hand today and will be lost for up to six weeks.
Marzano, who signed a minor-league contract in January, was hit on the hand by a pitch from Boston Red Sox reliever Brad Clontz in the seventh inning of this afternoon’s 7-5 victory. X-rays revealed a break of the third and fourth metacarpal bones in the hand.
Marzano, 35, had his hand placed in a splint and will have his X-rays re-evaluated by specialist Dr. Bobby Wroten later this week.
In six games this spring, Marzano was 0-for-6 with an RBI.
He spent the last three years as a reserve with the Seattle Mariners, batting .233 with four homers and 12 RBI in 50 games last season. Marzano had a .997 fielding percentage, committing just one error in 342 chances, while starting 40 games behind the plate.
In a 10-year career with the Mariners, Rangers and Boston Red Sox, Marzano owns a .241 average with 11 homers and 72 RBI in 301 games. He was out of the majors for two seasons after undergoing elbow surgery on May 3, 1993.
Marzano spent 1995 in the Texas organization, hitting .309 in 120 games at Triple-A Oklahoma City before going 2-for-6 in two games with the Rangers late in the season.
Bill Haselman served as the backup to Rodriguez last season, hitting .314 with six homers and 17 RBI in 40 games. But he signed with the Detroit Tigers during the offseason.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Rafael Palmeiro, who underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove torn cartilage from his right knee, has rejoined his Texas Rangers teammates to begin his rehab.
The first baseman suffered the injury while jogging on March 4. He’s recuperating from surgery on the same knee on Feb. 10, but the two surgeries were unrelated. Articular cartilage was removed in the first surgery and medial meniscus cartilage was removed on Sunday.
Palmeiro is expected to miss four to eight weeks. Rangers officials said it’s possible he could be back by opening day on April 5.
Meanwhile, Rangers closer John Wetteland, who suffered a strain in the back of his right ankle, threw 15 minutes of batting practice Wednesday and is set to make his first appearance of the spring Friday against Toronto.
Mike Simms, a reserve first baseman and outfielder, will miss the start of the season and will be sidelined an undetermined period of time because of a tear of his left Achilles’ tendon, suffered while running last week.
Matt Perisho, rehabbing from left shoulder surgery, is expected to pitch Friday against Toronto.
Eric Moody, who has had stiffness in the right shoulder, was scheduled to throw off flat ground on Thursday.
Corey Lee sliced his left index finger with a knife last Friday and threw off flat ground Thursday, but the cut still bothers him.
Ruben Mateo, who has suffered from a stomach flu, made the trip with the team Thursday for an exhibition against the Yankees. He hadn’t played since Sunday.

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Texas Rangers first baseman Rafael Palmeiro had surgery Sunday to repair torn cartilage in his right knee and will be sidelined 4-to-6 weeks.
Palmeiro, who played with the Rangers from 1989-93 before re-signing as a free agent during the offseason, also had surgery on the knee on Feb. 10.
He was working out with the club and had been expected to return by the end of the week, but reinjured his knee while jogging Thursday. Dr. John Conway operated on the knee Sunday at Fort Worth, Texas.
Palmeiro, 34, has appeared in 1,368 games in the ’90s, second to Cal Ripken Jr. He has not missed more than three games in a season since 1990.
Texas said there is an outside chance he could be ready for opening day.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) — Texas Rangers first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, who signed a five-year, $45 million contract with the club during the offseason, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee today and is expected to be sidelined 4-to-6 weeks.
Rangers orthopedist Dr. John Conway removed torn medial miniscus cartilage from Palmeiro’s knee. He is expected to remain in Texas for several days to begin rehab before returning to the Rangers’ spring training camp in Port Charlotte, Florida at the end of the week.
Palmeiro underwent surgery on the knee on February 10, but experience soreness while jogging in Port Charlotte on Thursday. After an MRI revealed torn cartilage, Palmeiro was forced to undergo another arthroscopic procedure. He had not appeared in a spring game.
The 34-year-old Palmeiro spent five seasons with the Rangers before the club opted to sign Will Clark as a free agent prior to the 1994 season. Ironically, Palmeiro’s return to Texas prompted the Orioles to sign Clark as their first baseman for the upcoming season.
Palmeiro batted .296 and established career highs with 43 home runs and 121 RBI with Baltimore last season. For his career, Palmeiro has 314 homers and 1,079 RBI.
Palmeiro has been one of the steadiest players this decade. Only four players have more hits and he is in the top 10 in doubles and runs scored. Only Orioles iron man Cal Ripken has played more games in the 1990s than Palmeiro.
In five years with the Orioles, Palmeiro led the club in RBI five times and homers four times. He is the only player in Baltimore history to hit at least 30 home runs in four straight seasons. He also is the only Oriole to record at least 35 home runs on four occasions.
A solid defensive player, Palmeiro has won consecutive Gold Glove Awards. He is a career .294 hitter with 314 homers and 1,079 RBI in 1,782 games.
In 19 playoff games, the Cuban-born Palmeiro has batted .239 with four homers, eight RBI and 22 strikeouts.

“RANGERS/STARS REPORT” TELEVISION SHOW TO DEBUT SATURDAY
FOR RELEASE: 11:00 a.m. (CST), Friday, March 5, 1999
The “Rangers/Stars Report,” a 30-minute broadcast television program featuring highlights and in-depth profiles of both the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars, will debut this Saturday, March 6 at 10:30 a.m. on KXTX–Channel 39.
Rangers’ telecaster LIN Productions, a subsidiary of Southwest Sports Group, Inc., will produce the weekly program. NBC-5 Weekend Sports Anchor John Rhadigan will serve as the show’s host.
“We’re excited to be a part of a synergy between the Southwest Sports Group, LIN Productions, the Dallas Stars, the Texas Rangers and KXTX-Channel 39,” said Lee Spieckerman, President of LIN Productions and Executive Producer of the “Rangers/Stars Report.” “This is the first program of its kind to take a behind-the-scenes look at two local sports teams on a weekly basis.”
In addition to airing on KXTX-39, the show will make its premiere on NBC-5 on March 20 at 5 p.m. The show will then run every Saturday, once at 10 a.m. on KXTX-39 and then at 5 p.m. on NBC-5. The “Rangers/Stars Report” will air at 10 a.m. on March 13 on KXTX-39.
The show will highlight new feature material each week, ranging from team road trips to community involvement from both the Rangers and Stars to a behind-the-scenes look at the personalities of each teams’ players.
“We have a rare group of athletes between these two teams that have a lot of fun on and off the field and ice,” Spieckerman said. “We’re going to capture that fun in a way that no other program has done, while providing glimpses of players, families and teams that can’t be found on any local sportscast.”
Contributing reporters to the “Rangers/Stars Report” include Craig Miller, from KTCK radio and “39 On Deck”, Ginger Geoffery, who joins the show from KUSA-TV in Denver, and the broadcast teams of Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh from the Dallas Stars Hockey Network and Bill Jones and Tom Grieve from the Texas Rangers telecasts. Bob Schmelzle serves as the show’s producer.