Happy birthday to David Elder, who turns 35 today.
Elder was the Rangers 4th round draft choice in the 1997 draft, taken out of Georgia Tech. A small, hard-throwing righthander, Elder was dealt in one of John Hart's first deals after being hired as the Ranger g.m., getting sent to Cleveland in exchange for John Rocker.
Elder didn't do much for the Indians, pitching okay in 15 games in 2002 out of the pen, getting rocked in 2003, and not appearing in the majors after that. Still, you have to say that the Rangers would have been better off keeping Elder and not getting involved with the John Rocker circus.