Royals sign former Rangers Max Ramirez, Greg Golson

by Adam J. Morris on Dec 13, 2011 12:43 PM CST

Continuing the trend of former Rangers prospects ending up in either Kansas City or Baltimore, the Royals have announced that they have signed four players to minor league deals, two of them -- Max Ramirez and Greg Golson -- former Ranger prospects.

Max Ramirez came to Texas from Cleveland in exchange for Kenny Loftin in the summer of 2007, and while his bat was highly regarded, his defense led some to believe he would not be able to stick behind the plate. While his defense never progressed that much, his bigger problem is that he failed to hit at the upper levels -- he has a career .262/.338/.405 line in AAA, and a career .217/.343/.357 major league line.

Golson, on the other hand, was the Phillies' first round draft pick in 2004, and was sent to Texas in November, 2008, for John Mayberry, Jr., as part of an exchange of flopped former first rounders. Mayberry has gone on to establish himself as a useful bench player with the Phillies, while Golson ended up getting moved by the Rangers to the Yankees for Mitch Hilligoss.

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at some point

This just becomes ridiculous.

A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.

by NothinG on Dec 13, 2011 12:54 PM CST reply actions

Well there is our new First Baseman

"the PGT isn’t about alerting drunk guys on their mobile as to what the score was." --goET 7-24-11

Pressure? If there’s any pressure it’s the pressure pressurizing the panty cannon.

by Atticus F on Dec 13, 2011 12:59 PM CST reply actions

Fabio Castillo next?

Emily Jones: Adrian Beltre's pretty good?
Mike Napoli: Wow. How about that guy.

The truth about MLers from a MLer, Todd Coffey:
"In my heart of hearts, if it's the right contract, I would look to definitely come back to the Nationals."

by rooster on Dec 13, 2011 1:20 PM CST reply actions

Warning shot LAAA for signing Pujols!

I live to play the devil's advocate.

by AfterSchoolSpecial on Dec 13, 2011 1:21 PM CST reply actions

I remember that throw Golson made in Tampa either last year or the year before

Threw out either Crawford or Jennings at 3rd from a standstill after catching the fly ball

by bigsteve on Dec 13, 2011 1:23 PM CST reply actions

I'm trying to think of a more hyped, more disappointing Rangers prospect than Max Ramirez

in the last decade.

Garoon: Banned on LSB. Available Only Via Supplement.

by Snark on Dec 13, 2011 1:25 PM CST reply actions

yeah

Makes you wonder just how much that wrist injury affected him.

Or if he was simply overmatched at the upper levels

He is one of the main reasons I am so skeptical of Mitch returning to form after his wrist injury

by bigsteve on Dec 13, 2011 1:27 PM CST up reply actions

I'm not even sure I know what Moreland's form is...

And as you point out with Ramirez, given how little time he spent above AA — hard to say what happened.

Garoon: Banned on LSB. Available Only Via Supplement.

by Snark on Dec 13, 2011 1:34 PM CST up reply actions

If I had to guess

It wasn’t the wrist injury that kept him from being Victor Martinez-lite

Josey Wales: "And if you think intangibles really do exist, how in the F could you vote Ellsbury as the MVP?"

Adam J. Morris: "If it weren’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college."

by Gdawg on Dec 13, 2011 2:17 PM CST up reply actions

Adam J. Morris: "If it weren’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college."

by Gdawg on Dec 13, 2011 2:17 PM CST up reply actions

The gain could be larger than that for tactical reasons. As we saw in the postseason, the Rangers’ righty-heavy lineup was prone to dissection by hard-throwing right-handed relievers with big platoon splits. The Rangers sometimes played just two left-handed batters, and their core, from Young in the cleanup spot through Napoli in the No. 7 hole, was all right-handed.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/joe_sheehan/12/13/prince.fielder.rangers/index.html?sct=mlb_t11_a1

"the PGT isn’t about alerting drunk guys on their mobile as to what the score was." --goET 7-24-11

Pressure? If there’s any pressure it’s the pressure pressurizing the panty cannon.

by Atticus F on Dec 13, 2011 2:00 PM CST reply actions