Texas Rangers Call Up Mike Olt

The Rangers wouldn’t deal Mike Olt.  He was a key piece of any proposed trade by other teams in the league, and the Rangers refused to let him go.  Ultimately the Rangers did work out a deal with the Cubs to get Ryan

Dempster, but they had to pass on other high-profile players because of their commitment to their third base prospect.

Yesterday, the Rangers purchased Olt’s contract from Double-A Frisco and added him to the 25-man roster.  He replaced Brandon Snyder and since he had to be added to the 40-man roster as well, replaced Colby Lewis who is out for the season.

Olt is a power-hitting third baseman who can hit for average and get on base.  He’s got a lot of talent, and he was rated the 43rd best prospect in baseball by Baseball America prior to this season.  This season, Olt was hitting .288/.398/.579 with 28 home runs.  He hit 14 home runs in 69 games last year and 15 home runs in 73 games in 2010.

The Rangers are hoping Olt can provide a jolt to their offense.  With the Angels breathing down their necks, the Rangers need any help they can get.  Although they got an extra-innings win last night against Los Angeles, the Rangers are still just just 4 games up on the Angels.  Texas has the fourth-best record in the league, but since Mike Trout‘s call-up and Albert Pujols‘ bat suddenly heated up, the Angels have been putting a lot of pressure on the Rangers.

Olt is just 23 years old and has only one full year of minor league service time under his belt.  He was drafted in the first round of the 2010 draft with the 49th pick.

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