Rangers promote top prospect Olt

The Texas Rangers told teams third baseman Mike Olt was off-limits at the trade deadline because he was too important to their own future to be dealt.

The future starts now.

On Wednesday night, the Rangers purchased the contract of Olt from Class AA Frisco, where he was hitting .288 with 28 homers and 82 RBI. Olt hit homer No. 28 on Wednesday, driving a ball into the swimming pool behind the right field fence at Frisco.

To clear a spot for Olt, the Rangers optioned infielder/outfielder Brandon Snyder to Class AAA Round Rock.

For now, Olt, who turns 24 on Aug. 27, will be used as a bench player. He can play either corner infield position and may get a look in the outfield, too. The Rangers looked for bench help at the trade deadline but came up empty. Texas had given Snyder only 15 at-bats since the All-Star break. He was 3-for-15 with eight strikeouts.

"We've been looking to strengthen the bench and put our best club out there," general manager Jon Daniels said after the Rangers' 11-10, 10-inning win over the Los Angeles Angels. "Listening to our people, we feel that Mike can help in a role on this team. ... We wanted to give Mike a chance. We felt he's earned it.

"He's a good athlete and a baseball player. He's going to figure some of those things out. There's going to be a learning curve, but we wouldn't have brought him up if we didn't think he was ready."