43-year-old Darren Oliver retired last fall after 20 seasons in the majors and the Rangers announced today that he has been appointed as a special assistant to the general manager. Not surprisingly, his efforts will be focused on pitching.
Here’s part of the announcement from Rangers general manager Jon Daniels:“We are very happy to welcome Darren Oliver into an official capacity with the Rangers,” said Daniels. “Darren will focus on pitching on both the major and minor league levels, and he will have a presence in Arlington and with our minor league affiliates. I also expect that he will be a valuable sounding board to our baseball operations group on all fronts.
“Darren has been working with us on an informal basis over the last several months and was a great asset on our trip to the Dominican Republic in January and during his several weeks at spring training camp. I am glad that we have been able to formalize that relationship.”
Oliver spent the final two seasons of his career with the Blue Jays, but he was originally drafted by the Rangers way back in 1988 and had three stints with the club. The southpaw started in the team’s first playoff game in 1996 and later made postseason relief appearances with Texas from 2010-2011. He still resides in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.
