Rangers agree to terms with RHP Yoshinori Tateyama on minor league contract

Arlington, Texas – The Texas Rangers announced today that right-handed pitcher Yoshinori Tateyama has re-joined the club by agreeing to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training camp.

Tateyama, who turns 37 on Wednesday, has spent the past two seasons in the Texas organization after 11 years in the Japanese Pacific League.  He made 53 appearances with the Rangers in 2011-12, going 3-0 with a 5.75 ERA (39 ER/61.0 IP), posting 17 walks against 61 strikeouts.  In 2012, he made 14 appearances over 3 stints with the Rangers, allowing 17 earned runs in 17.0 innings.  He spent the balance of the season at Triple-A Round Rock, going 4-0 with 6 saves and a 1.13 ERA (5 ER/39.2 IP) in 32 relief outings.

Tateyama was on the Rangers’ postseason rosters for both the 2011 American League Championship Series and the 2012 American League Wild Card Game.

With this transaction, the Rangers now have 54 players on the club’s spring training roster, including 39 on the 40-man roster and 15 non-roster invitees.

NELSON CRUZ WINS 2012 JIM SUNDBERG COMMUNITY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

The Rangers also announced today that Nelson Cruz has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 Jim Sundberg Community Achievement Award. The award is presented annually to a member of the Rangers organization who has made a significant contribution in the community.

For the last two years, Cruz  has donated funds and participated in activities as part of the Texas Rangers Foundation’s partnership with Matthew and Camila McConaughey and their just keep livin foundation. The partnership includes the creation an after-school program centered on nutrition, exercise and wellness for high school students in Arlington, Dallas, and Fort Worth. The program has had a dramatic impact over the last two years.

In 2012, Cruz made a significant donation towards the purchase of a fire truck for the city of Las Matas Santa Cruz in the Dominican Republic. He also helped facilitate the donation of two ambulances donated by American Medical Response to Las Matas Santa Cruz, which is located near Cruz’ hometown of Montecristy, DR. The project was initiated by Cruz with assistance from the Arlington Fire Department in the spring with the vehicles presented to Las Matas Santa Cruz in September.

Cruz will receive his award at the 2013 Texas Rangers Dr Pepper Awards Show, which will be held in conjunction with Texas Rangers Fan Fest on Friday, January 11 at the Arlington Convention Center. Other award winners include Player of the Year Adrian Beltre, Pitcher of the Year Matt Harrison, Rookie of the Year Yu Darvish, and Harold McKinney Good Guy Award recipient Joe Furukawa. Other award winners will be announced in upcoming weeks. Tickets for Fan Fest, which will take place January 11-12, are on sale at texasrangers.com/fanfest or by calling 972-RANGERS.

WINTER BALL UPDATE

Dominican Winter League: OF Nelson Cruz joined Cibao on December 8 and is batting .324 (11-34) with a double, home run, and 4 RBI in 9 games with the Giants…Cruz’s teammate INF Leury Garcia ranks among the DWL leaders in stolen bases (T4th, 9), batting (10th, .293), and hits (T10th, 41)…OF Leonys Martin (Licey) finished his season on December 2 and batted .281 (9-32) with 2 walks over his final 8 contests…RHP Johan Yan (Cibaenas) is 1-0 with a 1.53 ERA (3 ER/17.2 IP) and 4 saves over 21 relief appearances with Cibaenas, notching all 4 saves within his last 5 outings, T5th-most in the DWL…OF Engel Beltre (Licey) leads the DWL with 7 triples.

Venezuelan Winter League: After an 0-for-15 start, SS Elvis Andrus (Magallanes) is batting .313 (10-32) with 3 doubles, a home run, and 5 RBI over his last 7 games…LHP Joe Ortiz (La Guaira) is 1-2 with a 4.08 ERA (8 ER/17.2 IP) over 21 relief appearances, while holding opposing left-handed batters to a .063 average (1-16) with 6 strikeouts and just one extra-base hit (2B)…RHP Ben Rowen (Caracas) has made 3 appearances for the Lions since joining the club on December 9, with 2 of the 3 outings scoreless and 3 strikeouts.

Puerto Rican Winter League: C Jorge Alfaro finished his season with Ponce on December 2, batting .292 (19-65) with 2 doubles, a triple and 10 RBI in 18 games with the Lions.

Mexican Winter League: C Jose Felix is batting .304 (21-69) with 7 doubles and 14 RBI in 23 games with Guasave.