Arlington, Texas -- The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has hired former Major League pitcher Doug Mathis as bullpen coach. Additionally, former big league infielder Darwin Barney has been hired as manager for the Rangers’ Triple-A Nashville Sounds affiliate in the Pacific Coast League.

Mathis, 36, has served as a minor league pitching coach in both the Seattle and Toronto organizations, working at both Clinton (SEA A affiliate, 2017-18) and Buffalo (TOR AAA affiliate, 2019). He moved to the coaching ranks in 2017 after an 11-year professional career that included stints in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Mathis was originally signed by the Rangers after being selected in the 13th round of the 2005 June draft, and he spent his entire big league career with Texas, going 3-3 with a 4.84 ERA over 45 games/6 starts from 2008-10. The Arizona native was drafted out of the University of Missouri.

Mathis replaces Oscar Marin, who was hired as Major League pitching coach by the Pittsburgh Pirates on December 16.

Barney, 34, will be in his first professional coaching role at Nashville. The winner of the 2012 National League Rawlings Gold Glove Award at second base, he batted .246 over 814 Major League games in an 8-year career with Chicago-NL (2010-14), Los Angeles-NL (2014-15), and Toronto (2015-17). A non-roster invitee to Rangers spring training camp in 2018, he never signed with another club after being released by Texas on March 19 of that year. The Oregon native was selected by the Cubs in the fourth round of the 2007 June draft out of Oregon State University.

2019 TEXAS RANGERS BBWAA AWARD RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED

The 2019 Texas Rangers team award recipients, selected in balloting by the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, were announced today.

Player of the Year: INF-OF Danny Santana. In his first season as a Ranger, Santana batted a team best .283 with 28 home runs and 81 RBI in 130 games. Santana, who scored 81 runs and stole 21 bases, started games at every infield and outfield position.

Pitcher of the Year: LHP Mike Minor. A first-time A.L. All-Star selection, Minor was 14-10 with a 3.59 ERA in 32 starts. He finished among the A.L. leaders in innings (T4th, 208.1), ERA (6th), opp. BA (8th, .244), WHIP (10th, 1.238), and strikeouts (10th, 8.64). 

Rookie of the Year: INF Nick Solak. Acquired from Tampa Bay on July 13, Solak batted .293 with 5 homers and 17 RBI in 33 games. He started 32 games after his recalled from Nashville on August 20 and posted a team best .884 OPS over the remainder of the season.

Harold McKinney Good Guy Award: OF-DH Shin-Soo Choo. In his six season with Texas, Choo batted .265 with 24 home runs and 61 RBI in 151 games. Choo led the Rangers in games, runs (93), doubles (31), walks (78), and on-base percentage (.371).

Richard Durrett Hardest Working Man Award: OF Willie Calhoun. The award is presented annually in the memory of longtime Rangers’ beat writer Richard Durrett to a player who demonstrates significant improvement over the previous seasons or seasons through hard work. Calhoun batted .269 with 21 homers and 48 RBI in 83 games. Beginning July 26, Calhoun led the Rangers with 16 homers and 36 runs scored over the rest of the season. . 

Due to the ongoing construction at both Globe Life Field and Globe Life Park in Arlington, the Rangers will not have a public awards dinner or ceremony in January. All of the 2019 team award winners are expected to attend Comerica Peek at the Park at Texas Live! on Saturday, January 25. More information on the free event, which will take place Globe Life Field, Texas Live!, and Globe Life Park from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., will be announced later this month.

RAMOS SIGNS MINORS DEAL: Texas has signed outfielder Henry Ramos to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League spring training camp. The 27-year-old switch-hitter spent all of 2019 with Triple-A Sacramento in the Giants organization, batting .269/.319/.439/.757 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI. He has generated a .891 OPS figure with 19 walks against just 13 strikeouts over 31 games for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican Winter League this offseason. Still seeking his first Major League action, Ramos has produced a .275 batting average and .751 OPS over a 10-year pro career in the Boston (2010-16), Los Angeles-NL (2017-18), and San Francisco (2019) systems.

INDIVIDUAL GAME SPRING TRAINING TICKETS GO ON SALE SATURDAY AT SURPRISE STADIUM: The Surprise Stadium Box Office will open for walk-up sales for 2020 Texas Rangers individual spring training games this Saturday, January 4. Season tickets, mini plans, and specialty ticket packages for the 2020 spring training games are available for purchase at SurpriseSpringTraining.com. Online sales for individual game tickets are available at texasrangers.com. The Rangers open the 2020 Cactus League schedule on Friday, February 21 at 1:05 p.m. MT at Surprise Stadium against the Kansas City Royals (KC is the home team) with Texas’ first home game on Saturday, February 22 versus the Milwaukee Brewers at 1:05 p.m. CT.

More information is available by calling 623-222-2222.