Darren Oliver appointed as Texas Rangers Special Assistant

The Texas Rangers today announced that longtime major league pitcher Darren Oliver has been appointed as a Special Assistant to the General Manager.

The 43-year-old Oliver, who retired last fall after 20 seasons in the majors, will work with President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Jon Daniels and his staff in a variety of areas with an emphasis on pitching.

"We are very happy to welcome Darren Oliver into an official capacity with the Rangers," said Daniels. "Darren will focus on pitching on both the major and minor league levels, and he will have a presence in Arlington and with our minor league affiliates. I also expect that he will be a valuable sounding board to our baseball operations group on all fronts.

"Darren has been working with us on an informal basis over the last several months and was a great asset on our trip to the Dominican Republic in January and during his several weeks at spring training camp. I am glad that we have been able to formalize that relationship."  

Oliver, who resides in Southlake, spent his final two seasons as a reliever with the Toronto Blue Jays, going 3-4, 4.08 in 50 games IN 2014. The left-hander was honored by the Rangers as the 2014 recipient of Mark Holtz Alumni Award in January for his accomplishments over three different stints with the club.

He was selected by Texas in the third round of the June 1988 draft and made his major league debut with the Rangers in September 1993. Overall, he was 60-54 in 317 games/137 starts over his three terms of service with Texas (1993-98; 2000-01; 2010-11). He ranks sixth on the team's all-time list in games and is eighth in wins and starts. Oliver won 14 games in his first full season as a starter for the 1996 A.L. West champs and was the club's pitcher of the year the following season. In his third stint with the Rangers, he appeared in 125 games as a valuable lefty set-up man for the 2010 and 2011 American League champions.

The Rangers traded him twice and signed him as a free agent on two occasions. Oliver was 118-98 in 766 appearances/229 starts in his big league career with Texas, St. Louis, Boston, Colorado, Florida, Houston, New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels, and Toronto. He was a starter for most of his career but struggled with the Marlins and Astros in 2004 and did not pitch in the majors the following year. In 2006, he began an eight-year run as an effective reliever with four different teams, including six consecutive years in the post-season from 2006-11.