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Rangers To Acquire Koji Uehara For Davis, Hunter
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 30, 2011 at 4:50pm CST]
4:50pm: The Rangers get $2MM, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter
link). That will cover half of Uehara's 2012 salary.
4:31pm: The Rangers are expected to get "significant" salary relief,
according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter).
4:17pm: After weeks of searching, GM Jon Daniels has acquired some help for
his bullpen. The Rangers will acquire Koji Uehara from the Orioles for Chris
Davis and Tommy Hunter, according to Dan Connolly and Jeff Zrebiec of the
Baltimore Sun (all Twitter links).
Uehara, 36, has a 1.72 ERA with 11.9 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 47 innings this
year. He earns $3MM and has a $4MM option for '12 that vests with another 12
appearances. He'll be a welcome addition to the back of manager Ron
Washington's bullpen.
Davis, 25, has a .250/.299/.403 line in 77 Major League plate appearances
this year. He has destroyed Triple-A pitching this year, hitting 24 homers
and posting a .368/.405/.824 line in 210 plate appearances. Davis, who
struggles to hit lefties, has a .248/.300/.454 career line in parts of four
seasons.
Hunter has appeared in eight games this year and has a 2.93 ERA with 5.9 K/9
and 2.9 BB/9 so far (he was on the disabled list from late March to the
beginning of July). The 25-year-old former first rounder has also logged 30
2/3 minor league innings this season and he has a 4.99 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and
1.2 BB/9 for the Rangers' top two affiliates. Hunter was a member of the
Rangers' rotation last year, when he started 22 regular season games and
three in the playoffs.
The move hasn't yet been approved because of the money changing hands,
according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).