Right-hander Scott Feldman has been selected as the 2009 Texas Rangers Pitcher of the Year, it was announced today.
Additionally, the Rangers announced today the following hires in the baseball operations department:
•Scott Littlefield named Special Assistant, Scouting
•John Booher named Professional Scout
•Greg Smith named Major League Scout
•Matt Vinnola named Director, Baseball Operations
•Jake Krug named Assistant Director, Player Development
•Phil Geisler named East Coast Crosschecker
•Todd Walther named Professional Scout
•Matt Klotsche named Assistant, Baseball Operations
•Richard “Hoggy” Price named Equipment and Home Clubhouse Manager
Feldman will receive his award at the 2010 Dr Pepper Texas Rangers Mid-Winter Awards Banquet, which is scheduled for Friday, January 29 at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel.
Feldman earned Pitcher of the Year honors in voting conducted by the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He was 17-8 with a 4.08 ERA in 34 games/31 starts for the Rangers in 2009. Despite not joining the starting rotation until April 25, Feldman tied for fourth in the American League in wins and had the league’s seventh-highest winning percentage (.680). He also tied for the major league lead with a club-record 12 victories on the road.
Among the other honorees at the Mid-Winter Banquet will be 2009 Rangers Rookie of the Year Elvis Andrus. Additional award recipients will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
Tickets for the Dr Pepper Mid-Winter Awards Banquet are priced at $60.00 each with tables of ten available for $600.00 and are on sale at www.texasrangers.com.Net proceeds benefit the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m.
The Omni Fort Worth Hotel is located at 1300 Houston St. in downtown Fort Worth. For more information, please contact the Rangers at 972-RANGERS.
Littlefield spent five years with San Diego as that club’s national crosschecker before joining the Rangers. He previously worked with Pittsburgh as a west coast crosschecker and also scouted for Atlanta.
Booher has served as a scout in both the Florida and Boston organizations, most recently working as the Red Sox area scout for South Texas and Louisiana. Booher signed Jacoby Ellsbury during his time with Boston.
Smith had an 11-year professional career that included brief stints in the big leagues with Chicago-NL (1989-90) and Los Angeles (1991). He was the Cubs’ second round selection in the 1985 June draft. Smith spent the last two seasons as a professional scout with Cleveland after serving as an area scout in the Kansas City organization.
Vinnola joins the Rangers after 12 years in the Colorado Rockies organization. His duties will include assisting Jon Daniels and Thad Levine with day-to-day operations, as well as involvement in a many of the department’s functions. He held roles in professional scouting and baseball operations while with the Rockies, as he was involved at different points in arbitration and pre-arbitration contracts, budget management, rules administration, statistical analysis, and the Rule 5 Draft. Vinnola and his wife, Christen, have two sons, Zachary and Dominic.
Krug has spent seven seasons with the Rangers, and moves to the player development side after spending one year as the club’s eastern crosschecker in amateur scouting. He previously served as the manager of baseball operations, providing support to scouts and coordinating all aspects of the June Draft. An Arlington native, Krug joined the Rangers as an intern in 2003.
Geisler had an eight-year playing career in the minors after being selected by Philadelphia in the ninth round of the 1991 June draft. He has most recently worked as an area scout for Seattle.
Walther has spent four seasons with the Rangers, including the past year as assistant for player development and scouting. He also served as a video operations and baseball research assistant from 2006-08. The Kankakee, Illinois native began his career as an intern with Milwaukee in 2005.
Klotsche will be in his third season with the organization. He spent last year as a professional scouting assistant after covering the New York-Penn League for the Rangers in a part-time capacity in 2008.
Price will begin his first season as the equipment and home clubhouse manager in 2010, which will be his 34th season with the Rangers. He has served as the umpire room manager for the past 22 years. He was a home clubhouse assistant in 1977 and from 1980-88 under Joe Macko, and also served on the grounds crew in 1978-79. He played baseball at the University of Dallas and attended Harry Wendelstedt’s Professional Umpiring School in 1978. Price resides in Dalworthington Gardens.
