The General Manager's Almanac…Farewell to the Crippler

A near-daily monitoring of the off-season Hot Stove:

Not that this is earth-shattering stuff but a lot of stuff gets done in the off-season that never gets announced by clubs…

For example, the Rangers have signed left-handed pitcher Matt Merricks, which is a good thing because they have lost Erasmo Ramirez to the Oakland Athletics.

Both are left-handed but Ramirez, famous for his changeup that was nicknamed "The Crippler," has actually pitched in 84 games in the Major Leagues while Merricks has only once seen the light of day above Class A ball.

Merricks was a sixth round pick by the Atlanta Braves in the 2000 draft who has pitched 111 games, including 76 starts, in the Minor Leagues with a record of 26-37 with a 3.70 ERA. He averages 8.76 strikeouts and 3.82 walks per nine innings but has pitched just six games at the Double A level.

Apparently the Rangers signed this guy a week ago but it doesn’t appear that he has been invited to big league camp.

Ramirez has signed with the Athletics and he is getting an invitation to their camp. Ramirez was one of the three players acquired from the Giants for first baseman Andres Galarraga on July 24, 2001 and was 8-4 with a 4.01 ERA in his 84 appearances with the Rangers. He did not pitch for them this season.

That’s not a bad record, but he didn’t throw particularly hard and he had options so the Rangers were constantly shuttling him back and forth between Triple A and Arlington. Now he is with the Athletics, joining Brian Shouse and Fabio Castro among the left-handed relievers that have exited the Rangers organization in the past year.

The Rangers have also re-done catcher Miguel Ojeda’s contract. They had a $500,000 option on him for 2007 with a $25,000 buyout but apparently that has been re-worked recently and he is apparently the Rangers first choice as the backup to Gerald Laird in 2007.

He was 4-for-13 (.308) with four RBI in five games for the Rangers last season after being acquired from the Colorado Rockies.