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.