MVN: Most Valuable Network

Yesterday, the Rangers made the following roster moves to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft:

• Sold RHP Kameron Loe, 27, to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
• Designated RHP Wes Littleton, 26, for assignment
• Purchased the contract of RHP Willie Eyre, 30
• Purchased the contract of INF Jose Vallejo
• Purchased the contract of RHP John Bannister
• Purchased the contract of RHP Omar Poveda

They also traded John Mayberry Jr. for CF Greg Golson from the Phillies organization. These moves brought the 40 Man Roster to its full 40.

The two transactions I have the most issue with are the designation of Littleton for assignment so they could take him off the 40 Man Roster. He's been healthy and a good to average reliever for this team and a viable candidate for the bullpen. It seems they made this move to add Willie Eyre to the 40 Man Roster. Eyre missed all of last season due to Tommy John surgery. He's 30 years old and playing in the Arizona Fall League sporting a 6.49 ERA against mostly High A and AA players who are in their early 20's. Coming off Tommy John surgery and being 30, he probably wouldn't have been drafted by another team. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose Littleton for a guy not ready to pitch in the Majors and who could have been stashed on the AAA roster.

I would assume they left Pedro Strop off the 40 Man because he's also coming off a season ending injury and won't be ready to pitch at the start of the season. But, he's much younger than Eyre and more likely to be picked in the Rule 5 Draft. The stipulation for players selected is that they have to stay on the 25 Man Roster all season. In his case, a team could select him, add him to the 25 Man Roster, then put him on the Disabled List until they have a spot to stash him on the active roster but not have to pitch him except in blowout situations.

If one of Texas' Rule 5 eligibles is selected for the $50,000 draft price and is not maintained on the active roster/disabled list all season, the drafting team has to sell him back to the Rangers for $25,000 unless the Rangers decide they don't want him back, in which case they can make a trade agreement.

Greg Golson is another player from the state of Texas that the Rangers seem to be stockpiling. He went to high school in Austin and was a University of Texas signee before accepting his Philadelphia pro contract. He is considered a five-tool player, with a powerful arm and excellent range in center field. He's also another speed guy who has been successful on 78 percent of his stolen base attempts. His hitting line leaves something to be desired but so did Mayberry's. Golson is a career .265/.309/.406 hitter compared to Mayberry's .255/.330/.472. He also has high strikeout numbers so that speed won't translate into a top of the order hitter. The key to the trade is the position difference. Good defense at the Ballpark in Arlington requires a CF'er who can track down balls in the expansive outfield. Supposedly Golson can do that. Mayberry was a college first baseman who transitioned to RF. I wish Mayberry the best because he did nothing to alienate the Ranger organization. He just didn't produce like you'd want your 1st rounder to do. I'm assuming Golson will start out at Oklahoma, keeping Julio Borbon at Frisco to at least start the season. Of course, it could also be a move to strengthen Texas' ability to consummate a trade with its now plentiful list of Major League capable OF'ers. I'll be interested to see what this does to the overall outfield depth of the organization because Texas left of OF Ben Harrison who is Rule 5 eligible. He put up good numbers last year at AA/AAA but is kind of old (27) to be considered a prospect. Dustin Majewski is another older (27) OF'er who could figure into the Oklahoma OF mix if he stays with the organization. Mayberry's former teammate Stephen Murphy is another Rule 5 eligible that was left off. He showed good power this year with a suspect OBP. There's also the overmatched Brandon Boggs who will probably start out at AAA as well.

Now, lets see what pitching we can get via free agency or trade along with finding any team to take DH/1B/LF Frank Catalanotto off our hands so we can use his roster spot as well.