Rangers Trade for Local Pitcher

The Texas Rangers made some headlines earlier this offseason by trading for Milwaukee Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo, who played his high school baseball at Fort Worth Trimble Tech and will be the Rangers' Opening Day starter next week.

Over the weekend, the Rangers made a move to trade for another pitcher with local ties as they sent cash and a player to be named later to the St. Louis Cardinals for left-handed relief pitcher Sam Freeman, who played his high school baseball at Hebron and his college baseball at NCTC in Gainesville.

Freeman fills a serious need and void in the Rangers bullpen and stands to be the only left-handed reliever to make the Opening Day roster, and he's coming off a really good 2014 season — his first as a full-time big-leaguer.

Freeman, 27, made 44 appearances for the Cardinals, throwing 38 innings and went 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA. He struck out 35 and walked 19.

The best thing about Freeman is that he was good against both lefties and righties — actually better against right-handed hitters, but still good against lefties — meaning he's more than just a one-batter specialist.

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