The Texas Rangers have acquired 33-year old lefty reliever Mike Gonzalez from the Orioles for a player to be named later. Gonzalez pitched in 49 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this year and he was 2-2 with 1 save, a 4.27 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. He has now pitched in 380 games (0 starts) in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 17-21 with 56 saves, a 2.89 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. Gonzalez has only given up 277 hits in his first 351 2/3 innings in the majors while whiffing 407 batters, which is outstanding. He has walked 161 batters though, so he does have control issues at times. Still, Gonzalez should team with Darren Oliver to give the Rangers a couple of nasty relievers from the left side in September.

UPDATE: The Rangers will send 26-year old righty reliever Pedro Strop to the Orioles to complete this deal. Strop pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the Rangers this year and he was 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. He pitched in 33 games (0 starts) in his three years with the Rangers and he was 0-1 with a 7.24 ERA and a 1.90 WHIP. The Rangers have a lot of relievers that they like better than Strop, so they like this deal from their end of it.

The Rangers have acquired 35-year old righty swinging catcher Matt Treanor from the Royals ofr cash considerations. Treanor has played in 65 games for the Royals this year and he was 42 for 186 (.226 avg, .658 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 3 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 425 games in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 263 for 1,159 (.227 avg, .627 OPS) with 109 runs scored, 16 homers, 118 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Treanor is familiar with the Rangers’ pitching staff as he played for them last year. Treanor played in 82 games for the Rangers last year and he was 50 for 237 (.211 avg, .595 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 5 homers, 27 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Treanor will serve as the Rangers’ #3 catcher the rest of the year behind Yorvit Torrealba and Mike Napoli.

The Rangers have placed 28-year old righty reliever Darren O’Day on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 25th, due to right shoulder inflammation. O’Day has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 5.93 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. He has now pitched in 149 games (0 starts) in his first three years with the Rangers and he is 8-4 with 2 saves, a 2.40 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. O’Day is a solid reliever, so the Rangers hope he will get back soon to help them win the A.L. West.

The Rangers have released 24-year old righty reliever Ryan Tucker. Tucker pitched in 29 games (8 starts) in AAA-ball for the Rangers this year and he was 3-5 with 2 saves, a 5.40 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. Tucker walked 31 batters and he gave up 79 hits in only 68 1/3 innings in the minors this year, so he displayed a lack of control while not missing many bats. This is not much of a loss for the Rangers.

The Rangers have called up 23-year old lefty swinging CF Leonys Martin. They just signed him earlier this year and started him out in the minors. Martin played in 73 games in Rookie+AA+AAA-ball for the Rangers and he was 89 for 302 (.295 avg, .783 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 4 homers, 42 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. The Rangers aren’t calling Martin up to sit him on the bench, so look for him to share time in CF with Endy Chavez.