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Alexi Ogando rewards patient Rangers

Player personnel director A.J. Preller helped Texas take a chance on OF-turned-starter

Updated: April 17, 2011, 6:13 PM ET

A.J. Preller was roaming the backfields in the Arizona desert one afternoon in 2004 when he saw a lanky outfielder throwing a ball on a rope to the infield.

Preller, now the Texas Rangers' player personnel director, took note of young Alexi Ogando and wondered to himself if the minor leaguer had ever tried to pitch. Ogando wasn't a bad position player and he could hit the ball a little bit, but Preller saw that arm and body type and pictured a pitcher.

So when Ogando became available ...

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