2009 MLB Preview: #23 Texas Rangers
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Offseason Movement: The Rangers signed a bunch of used-to-be’s to minor league contracts, including OF Andruw Jones, SS Omar Vizquel and pitchers Kris Benson, Derrick Turnbow and Brendan Donnelly. Truth be told, all of these players could wind up helping Texas in some way this season save for Jones, who has had a brutal spring and most likely won’t be kept.
Top Prospect: Derek Holland, LHP
Neftali Feliz, who the Rangers got from the Braves in the Mark Teixeira trade a couple years ago, deserves mention here as well. But Holland’s dazzling 2008 season in the minors (14-2, 2.05 ERA in 29 starts) gives him the nod over the 19-year old Feliz. Holland, who is Texas’s Nolan Ryan Minor League Pitcher of the Year, probably won’t make the Opening Day roster this season, but he could be called up by mid-summer if he continues to dominate the minor league hitters.
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