Rangers suffer Greene blow

Posted on | March 3, 2010 | No Comments

The gamble the Texas Rangers took on infielder Khalil Greene appears not to have worked after his contract with the franchise was voided because of continuing worries over his social anxiety disorder.

Greene’s story is a very sad one as he looked set to have a great career as a major league shortstop with the San Diego Padres until his fall from grace started during the 2008 season.

Greene, now 30, hit 27 home runs in 2007 despite playing half of his games in the pitching paradise of Petco Park, but his swing deserted him in 2008 and he hit only .213 before ending his season early on a massive low when he broke his hand after lashing out and hitting a storage box on the bench after striking out in the batters box.

It is quite possible his anxiety issues had already started then, but they took a turn for the worse in St Louis where he signed after a trade from the Padres, when he started out slowly and twice had to be placed on the disabled list to give him time to sort his mind out – again he did not play after late June.

Texas hoped they would be able to get him back on track when signing him to a small contract, but last month he revealed that he was not in a fit state of mind to come to spring training, leaving his professional future in a deal of doubt.

Although MLB Predictions had him down to only be a utility player this season, it does leave the Rangers with a small hole to fill in a roster that is expected to be a big challenger in a rebuilding American League West.

Internal candidates would seem to include Joaquin Arias and Esteban German, but there is still the chance of a trade or a free agent signing before the start of the season as the Rangers look to finalise their 25-man roster.

Greene’s woes apart, other news out of Texas has been positive, especially about Josh Hamilton’s shoulder, as he appeared to avoid serious injury in a warm-up accident – he will be counted on in the middle of a very powerful order this season with the Rangers expected to be among the leading run-scorers in the major leagues according to Baseball Betting experts.

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