Glanville traded, Ramon Nivar called up.

[jayC]

Doug Glanville was traded to chicago for a spare minor league prospect , and the rangers bring up the heralded Ramon Nivar. The infield is in place, the outfield might be, and the bullpen is pretty good with four good lefties, plus cordero.

I heard norm also speculating ARod might be traded, hicks said that the team has heard from four other teams interested in A-Rod. Maybe the Dodgers or Mets?

[Dooby]

Wow, too bad Palmeiro didn't get a homer last night, we'd have traded him.

I listened to Diamond Talk last night. They were heralding Nivar. Ben said he hated Glanville because he was keeping Nivar in Triple A.

They said Nivar's problem is he swings at everything. LITERALLY, he swings at EVERYTHING. Fuson said he saw Nivar do something he'd never seen before: with two men on, he swung at a pitch that bounced in the dirt and hit it into center left field and got 2 RBIs and a double. He goes stretches where his on base percentage is the same as his batting percentage. In fact, after one particular game, it was actually lower than his batting average because he got a sac-fly.

Supposedly, he is wicked fast and plays center field foul line to foul line because of his speed, desire and ignorance of the position.

[MFFL]

The kiddie corps is alive and well in Texas

[jayC]

Story from ranger website:
Rangers bring up Nivar
By Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com Get tickets



ARLINGTON -- Rangers outfield prospect Ramon Nivar has made it to the big leagues and Doug Glanville has switched leagues.
On Wednesday, the Rangers acquired outfielder Jason Fransz and cash considerations from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Glanville.

To replace Glanville on the roster, the club has purchased the contract of Nivar. He will join the club for Wednesday's game with Boston and will be making his Major League debut. Fransz has been assigned from Lansing to Class A Clinton of the Midwest League.

"Doug Glanville has been a true professional in every sense during his time with the Rangers," Rangers general manager John Hart said. "He worked hard to come back from an injury to produce at his usual high standard. We wish him the very best with the Cubs.



"At the same time, we are excited about getting an opportunity to watch Ramon Nivar at the Major League level. He has been outstanding this season and has made a remarkably smooth transition from the infield to the outfield. We also add to our young outfield depth with the acquisition of Jason Fransz, a player we really liked in the June 2002 draft."

Nivar, 23, has combined for a .345 average with six home runs and 49 RBIs in 102 games with Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Oklahoma this season. He ranks second among all minor league players with 140 hits, one behind San Diego's Josh Barfield. The switch-hitter opened the year with Frisco, hitting .347, which still ranks as the highest among Texas League qualifiers, with four home runs and 37 RBIs in 79 games. Nivar also led the league in hits with 110 at the time of his promotion to Oklahoma on July 2.

He hit .337 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 23 games.

Nivar opened the season as a middle infielder before moving primarily to center field in June. With Frisco he appeared in 54 games at second base, 17 at shortstop, and eight in center field. With Oklahoma, 20 of his 24 starts have been in center field with the other four at second base.

Fransz, 22, batted .262 with nine homers and 42 RBIs in 77 games with Lansing of the Midwest League in 2003. The right-handed batter was the Cubs' eighth-round pick in the June 2002 First-Year Player Draft from the University of Oklahoma.

Glanville, who signed as a free agent in December, is hitting .272 with four home runs and 14 RBIs in 52 games. He was on the disabled list from April 15-June 7 and had surgery to remove a torn tendon from behind his right knee on April 23.

Jesse Sanchez is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[Drbio]

Supposedly, he is wicked fast and plays center field foul line to foul line because of his speed, desire and ignorance of the position.

There was a report that while Nivar was in the minors he was asked as the center fielder to assist in the placement of the left and right fielders. His response was something to the effect of "you guys guard the lines and I will take care of everything else.".


The man is fast.

[The Crippler]

There was a report that while Nivar was in the minors he was asked as the center fielder to assist in the placement of the left and right fielders.

He sounds like Kelly Leak. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[MFFL]

Ranger prospect Nivar projected as a future star
07/13/2003
By TODD WILLS / The Dallas Morning News

The words most used to describe soaring Rangers prospect Ramon Nivar are "raw" and "green." And yet, this season, he has been the least tinkered with hitter in the club's minor league system. He had two hits in his first game for Double-A Frisco. He was batting .390 at the end of April. He hit .381 in May. When he left Frisco on July 1 for Triple-A Oklahoma, he was batting .347 and had been leading the Texas League in hitting for two months.

Nivar hasn't slowed down at Oklahoma. He was 6-for-8 in his first two games for the RedHawks and was batting .312 going into Friday's game against Omaha.

His coaches have let his natural talent take a life of its own.

"With Ramon, I let him chart his own progress," RoughRiders hitting coach Paul Carey said. "It's what do you need? When a guy is going good, you leave him alone."

There is a strong possibility Nivar will end the season ranked as the Rangers' top prospect. He will be the organization's lone representative in Sunday's Major League Baseball Futures Game at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. Laynce Nix also was scheduled to play in the game but is ineligible after being promoted to the Rangers on Wednesday.

Nivar, 23, from the Dominican Republic and known for his first five minor league seasons as Ramon Martinez, will play for the World team against the U.S. team.

There is no question that Nivar has burst on the scene this season as the Rangers' most intriguing prospect. The reasons:

• His speed. Nivar, the fastest player in the organization, has yet to go more than two games without a hit. When his undisciplined hitting style gets him in a rut, he still gets on base with bunts and infield singles. He can create runs with his speed on the bases, a rarity in the Rangers organization.

• His plate coverage. Nivar, who is listed as a switch hitter but has batted right-handed all season, can hit any pitch. He rarely walks, but he rarely strikes out. He had 20 strikeouts compared to 23 walks in 317 at-bats for Frisco. And Triple-A pitchers aren't confusing him. He hasn't struck out at Oklahoma in 35 at-bats. RoughRiders manager Tim Ireland said Nivar has the best hand-eye coordination he has ever seen.

• His natural ability to play center field. Nivar, who started the season at shortstop and played mostly at second base for Frisco, was shifted to center field in mid-June. He made two dazzling catches in his first five games in center field last month for Frisco, including a sliding grab with his back to the wall, and in front of Rangers general manager John Hart in Round Rock.

Oklahoma manager Bobby Jones said Nivar has made all the right throws and taken all the right angles to balls in five games in center in Oklahoma. "He's a natural out there," Jones said.

The Rangers also like Nivar because from all appearances, he's not going to get sidetracked. On the road, Nivar rarely leaves his hotel room – even for a cleaning crew. He does not drink alcohol.

He doesn't own a car, a cell phone or pager. He is still working on mastering English. He is the youngest of seven children. His wife of seven months, Luchy, lives in the Dominican Republic.

Nivar was an excellent role model for 20-year-old right-hander Jose Dominguez, another Dominican promoted to Frisco last month.

"Ramon is all about baseball," RoughRiders pitcher C.J. Wilson said.

Nivar, signed by the Rangers when he was 17 and now in his sixth minor league season, hit just .241 at Class-A Charlotte two years ago. He had never hit lower than .285. "It was a humbling experience," he said.

His reaction: working hard and praying more. He hit .305 last year with 39 stolen bases in his second season in the Florida State League.

"I've just been feeling better and better every day," Nivar said. Whether they want to play me in center field or second base, I am ready for whatever they want me to do."

Nivar has been splitting time between center field and second base for Oklahoma. He is among a group of potential center fielders in the Rangers' system, joining Laynce Nix and Ryan Ludwick, both in the big leagues. There are several coaches within the organization who believe Nivar is the Rangers' center fielder of the future.

"There's a huge upside to him being in center," Ireland said. "He has the mentality of a center fielder. He tracks balls well. I think he could be special."

[Drbio]

Originally posted by: The Crippler

He sounds like Kelly Leak. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

LOL! I wonder how many of us actually know who this was? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]