Rangers purchase contract of LHP Sam Freeman; designate RHP Stolmy Pimentel for assignment

Arlington, Texas - The Texas Rangers announced prior to tonight's game that the club has purchased the contract of left-handed pitcher Sam Freeman from Triple-A Round Rock. To make room on both the 25- and 40-man rosters for Freeman, the club has designated right-handed pitcher Stolmy Pimentel for assignment.

Freeman, 27, will be seeking his Rangers debut. He was acquired in a trade with St. Louis on March 28 in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. He was designated for assignment on April 5 when the club set its Opening Day roster, having allowed multiple hits in each of his 3 spring appearances with Texas following the trade. Freeman has spent the season with the Express, posting no record and a 1.13 ERA (1 ER/8.0 IP) in 8 relief appearances while holding the opposition to a .158 (5-27) average with 6 walks and 8 strikeouts.

Freeman has appeared for the Cardinals in each of the last 3 seasons and owns a 3-2 record with a 3.33 ERA (26 ER/70.1 IP) in 81 career major league outings. Born in Houston, Freeman graduated from Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas, and still resides in Lewisville, a suburb of Dallas. He pitched at North Central Texas College in Gainesville and was selected by St. Louis in the 32nd round of the 2008 June draft out of the University of Kansas.

Pimentel has gone 0-1 with a 3.97 ERA (5 ER/11.1 IP) in 8 relief appearances for Texas since he was received on a waiver claim from Pittsburgh on April 11 and added to the Rangers' active roster on April 12. The Rangers have 10 days to trade, release, or outright Pimentel to the minor leagues.

With these moves, the Rangers major league roster is still at the 40-man limit.