New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers Tickets

Yankees News:

The Orioles moved quickly to close a deal on Sunday, acquiring Jaret Wright from the Yankees hours before a deadline that may have made him a free agent. New York, which had the option to buy out Wright's contract, instead sent him -- along with $4 million in cash considerations -- to Baltimore for rookie reliever Chris Britton.

In effect, the Orioles will pay Wright $3 million of his $7 million salary next season, and his presence helps round out the rotation. The 30-year-old is the second-oldest and second-highest-paid pitcher on the staff, and he's second to Kris Benson in both regards. Wright joins Benson and homegrown starters Erik Bedard, Daniel Cabrera and Adam Loewen in Baltimore's rotation.

"It had been on the radar for a little while," said Jim Duquette, the Orioles' vice president of baseball operations. "We've been talking to them for around two weeks, and it started as a mild dialogue. We had discussions with them about [Gary] Sheffield, and it grew from normal conversations on what you want to do in the offseason."

Wright's name came up early in organizational conversations in Baltimore, too. The right-hander went 7-2 in his final nine decisions and 2-1 against the Orioles, earning acclaim from an unlikely source. Leo Mazzone, Baltimore's pitching coach and Wright's former tutor in Atlanta, couldn't help but notice how hard he was throwing.

Wright has often pitched through shoulder pain, but Mazzone helped coax some of the best results of his career. He set career bests in wins (15), strikeouts (159) and ERA (3.28) with the Braves in 2004, which helped set up his contract with the Yankees. Wright was limited to 40 starts in two seasons with New York, but he posted a 16-12 record.

Rangers News:

A keynote address from owner Tom Hicks about the need for stability, a visit from Dallas Cowboys scouting legend Gil Brandt and a bowling tournament highlighted the Rangers' first organization-wide baseball meetings since 2000.

General manager Jon Daniels brought in every employee who works in baseball operations: all front office staff, Major League and Minor League field personnel, trainers and medical staff and all professional, amateur and international scouts.

"I'd say we had about 90 people," Daniels said after the four-day meetings came to an end on Friday. "They were tremendous meetings. It was a chance for everybody to get together and meet each other and get on the same page. Some of these people work on their own little island and this was their first time to be in Arlington and see the ballpark.

"It was a very honest assessment of the organization. It wasn't like we handed everybody a checklist of everything we're going to do. We talked philosophy; good baseball talk by good baseball people."

Plus one football executive who helped the Cowboys become one of the NFL's most successful franchises. Brandt was the Cowboys scouting director from 1960-89, during which time they won two Super Bowls and played in three others.

"He talked a lot about what made them successful," Daniels said. "In their first year, they were something like 0-11-1 and they sat down at the end of the year to discuss what it would take to [have] success long-term.

"They decided they would have to build from within through scouting and they ended up revolutionizing the draft, looking in-depth at makeup and using the computer. He talked about finding your own competitive advantages and trusting your own people. It was great just to listen to him."