Blue Jays to Sign Darren Oliver

The Texas Rangers remain deep in negotiations with Yu Darvish and it appears as if they are unable to divert their attention away long enough to retain an important piece of the ball club.

From Evan Grant:

"According to two major league sources, Darren Oliver is close to signing a deal with Toronto – the club that finished as runner-up to the Rangers in the Darvish sweepstakes."

With Texas’ finances unsettled until the Darvish contract saga ends, one way or the other, GM Jon Daniels may not be able to fully commit to spending on another player. That’s the theory being peddled by Grant. According to his article, Oliver and Daniels met in early December, but the two sides made no commitments despite a mutual interest.

Reports of Oliver and the Rangers having an interest in another season together have ranged as far back as early November, but obviously, no deal has been reached. more recently, we’ve heard of Daniels looking at re-signing Mike Gonzalez, but news on the Oliver front has been cold for some time. In other words, if the Rangers really wanted Oliver back, why couldn’t they have gotten this done much earlier in the off-season?

Without Oliver, and still without Gonzalez, the Rangers would have only Michael Kirkman as a left handed reliever with any kind of recent experience. Grant mentions the possibility of Matt Harrison returning to a bullpen role, which is possible, but I’d be surprised if Daniels didn’t look outside the organization to replace Oliver and/or Gonzalez.

If we have indeed seen the last of Oliver in a Rangers uniform, he will have compiled a 60-54 record over parts of 10 seasons with the Rangers. He appeared in 317 games, making 137 starts and posted a 4.94 ERA. In the past two seasons, however, Oliver appeared in 125 games for Texas, all in relief, and posted a 6-7 record and sparkling 2.40 ERA.

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