Acting on information relayed by the Ector County Attorney’s Office, the Texas Rangers have launched an investigation involving ECISD Police Chief Henry Jackson.

County Attorney Cathy Linch said her office passed on information about Jackson that was given to one of her investigators by anonymous callers. Ranger Sgt. Jess Malone said Wednesday he’s been working on an investigation for three or four days.

“I can’t discuss the details of a criminal investigation by policy,” Malone said. “Several issues have come up. We’re just investigating overall, looking for any existing criminal activity.”

Efforts to reach Jackson for comment were unsuccessful Wednesday. Jackson was not at work Wednesday, and his home number is unlisted. Ector County Attorney Cathy Linch said her office contacted the Rangers after receiving reports Jackson had allowed a family member to pose as an ECISD police officer to get after-hours security jobs. “Apparently, how we got involved, several people called to report it to one of my investigators — we’d been contacted by people complaining about it,” Linch said.

Because the County Attorney’s Office does not conduct criminal investigations, Linch said she wanted to pass on the information to a law enforcement agency.

“It would involve an investigation of a law enforcement agency, so it made more sense to send it to the Rangers,” she said.

Malone said he plans to do a thorough investigation and report the results to Ector County officials.

“What we do, I do the investigation, then I forward it to the county attorney or the district attorney,” he said. “They will make the determination if a criminal violation exists. If so, they’ll file a formal charge, and we’ll go from there.”

Ector County Independent School District Superintendent Wendell Sollis said Jackson remains on active duty and has not been suspended.

“We’ve not taken any action,” Sollis said. “We’re pending the outcome of their investigation, really.”

Jackson, who’s been with the district for 11 years, supervises 23 officers. Sollis said the school district would help the Rangers any way it can. In fact, Sollis said he’s already been in touch with Malone.

“I’ve talked with him on the phone and told them we’re willing to work with him to bring resolution to this issue,” Sollis said. “We’re making ourselves available. I’ve let him know we’ll cooperate and do what we need to do to get this thing moved along and bring closure to it. We’ll work with them as cooperatively as we can.”

Meanwhile, Malone said when the accusations arose, he contacted Rangers Chief Ray Coffman in Austin. “He approved the investigation,” Malone said. “The chief (Jackson) is an agency head, and that’s protocol we follow.”

Malone said it may be two or three weeks before the investigation is completed.

“If there are any charges, the chief would be arrested like anyone else — go to jail, be magistrated and be able to post just bond like anyone else,” he said.

Ector County Independent School District Super-intendent Wendell Sollis said Jackson remains on active duty and has not been suspended.

Ector County Attorney Cathy Linch said her office contacted the Rangers after receiving reports Jackson had allowed a family member to pose as an ECISD police officer to get after-hours security jobs.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Yu Darvish is visiting Texas for the first time during a 30-day window the AL champion Rangers have to negotiate a contract with the pitcher.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels confirmed reports from Japanese media that Darvish was in the Dallas-Fort Worth area Tuesday. Daniels wouldn’t discuss the state of negotiations with Darvish or any plans for meetings during the visit by the 25-year-old right-hander.

The Rangers put out a statement later Tuesday that said Darvish was visiting Texas for the first time and was with his representatives. The team said it was releasing no details about the visit and not commenting during the negotiation process.

“He felt it was appropriate to make the trip at this time,” the Rangers said.

The Rangers, who have won consecutive AL pennants, put in a record bid of about $51.7 million for the right to negotiate with Japan’s best pitcher. A 30-day negotiating window began when their bid was accepted Dec. 20 by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. They only pay the fee if they sign the player.

Darvish, the son of an Iranian father and a Japanese mother, went 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA last season. He had 276 strikeouts to lead the Pacific League.

Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was a member of the Japanese team that won the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Darvish, who turned pro in 2005 at age 18, has superb control and throws seven effective pitches.

Texas has lost its No. 1 pitcher in free agency after each of the last two World Series.

Cliff Lee left after the 2010 season to return to Philadelphia, and left-hander C.J. Wilson agreed to a $77.5 million, five-year contract with the AL West rival Los Angeles Angels last month.

As the trade deadline passed in 2011 the Texas Rangers were praised all over the baseball world for picking up Mike Adams and Koji Uehara. The weak point for the Rangers in the first half of 2011 had been the bullpen and one of the main problems was finding a setup man for Neftali Feliz. Most felt that the Rangers had completely turned the tables by picking up two of the best setup men in baseball. Once they arrived in Texas, both Adams and Uehara struggled, but Adams was able to work through most of his issues. Uehara, on the other hand, continued to struggle during the regular season and on into the postseason.

Uehara came over from Japan in 2009 and started 12 games for the Baltimore Orioles. He went 2-4 with a 4.05 ERA and moved to the bullpen for 2010. In 2010, he appeared in 43 games out of the bullpen and saved 13 games with a 2.86 ERA and began to establish himself as one of the premiere bullpen arms in baseball. Then 2011 came along and he took his success to another level. Before being traded to the Rangers, Uehara appeared in 43 games and had an ERA of 1.72. At that point he was as dominant as could be and was just what the Rangers needed.

Then he arrived in Texas and everything changed. With the Rangers he only pitched 18 innings, but gave up five homeruns which was only one less than he gave up in the 47 innings he pitched for the Orioles. He actually only allowed 9 earned runs with the Orioles in 2011, but allowed 8 in his short time with the Rangers.

Once the postseason arrived, the trend continued. He pitched in the division series and the ALCS before being left off of the roster for the World Series. He allowed three runs in one appearance in the ALDS while not recording an out and then pitched in two ALCS games where he allowed two homeruns in 1 1/3 innings of work.

Many felt that Uehara was tired down the stretch, but whatever the case was, it was not the type of performance that the Rangers expected. The Rangers gave up Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter for Uehara and while neither of them fit into the Rangers long term plans, they still gave up solid talent.

Hopefully it was a fatigue issue with Uehara and he can rebound in 2012. Before Uehara ever threw a pitch for the Rangers in 2011 he had thrown more innings than he had in all of 2010. There have been rumors of the Rangers trying to move him, but at this point it does not seem like a likely outcome.

If Uehara can rebound, he can add even more depth to a potentially loaded bullpen. The Rangers now have Joe Nathan to close out games and Mike Adams should be his setup man. There is also the possibility that Alexi Ogando could be moved back into the bullpen when everything is said and done, which could allow Uehara to work a right-handed specialist type role that could help keep his innings down as well.

Uehara struggled to the point where he lost confidence in himself in 2011 and obviously fans lost confidence in him as well. Ron Washington would never let anyone know that he lost confidence in Uehara, but that was obvious when he was left off the World Series roster. A productive Uehara would provide one more dimension to a loaded roster and if there is ever a place on the field that a player can rebound quickly it is in the bullpen.

John Bowman is a lifelong baseball and Texas Rangers fan that loves to ponder the deeper aspects of the game. Some of his first baseball memories involve Arlington Stadium nachos, Charlie Hough’s knuckeball, dirt on Pete Incaviglia’s uniform and the voices of Mark Holtz and Eric Nadel as he fell asleep. Follow him on Twitter @TexasWinColumn

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – The Texas Rangers have acquired former first-round pick Brandon Snyder from Baltimore for cash.

Terms of the deal announced Tuesday weren’t released. The 25-year-old infielder was taken 13th overall by the Orioles in the 2005 draft.

Snyder hit .273 in limited action with Baltimore over the past two seasons. He has primarily played first base in the minor leagues. Last season, he hit .261 with a career-high 14 home runs and 71 RBIs for Triple-A Norfolk.

The addition of Snyder gives the Rangers 38 players on the 40-man roster.

The Rangers also assigned utility man Brad Nelson to a minor league deal. Nelson hit .281 with 24 homers and 83 RBIs last year for Round Rock, the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Yu Darvish is visiting Texas for the first time during a 30-day window the AL champion Rangers have to negotiate a contract with the Japanese pitcher.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels confirmed reports from Japanese media that Darvish was in the Dallas-Fort Worth area Tuesday. Daniels wouldn’t discuss the state of negotiations with Darvish or any plans for meetings during the visit by the 25-year-old right-hander.

The Rangers put out a statement later Tuesday that said Darvish was visiting Texas for the first time and was with his representatives. The team said it was releasing no details about the visit and not commenting during the negotiation process.

“He felt it was appropriate to make the trip at this time,” the Rangers said.

The Rangers, who have won consecutive AL pennants, put in a record bid of about $51.7 million for the right to negotiate with Japan’s best pitcher. A 30-day negotiating window began when their bid was accepted Dec. 20 by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s Pacific League. They only pay the fee if they sign the player.

Darvish, the son of an Iranian father and a Japanese mother, went 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA last season. He had 276 strikeouts to lead the Pacific League.

The 6-foot-5 Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was a member of the Japanese team that won the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Darvish, who turned pro in 2005 at age 18, has superb control and throws seven effective pitches.

Texas has lost its No. 1 pitcher in free agency after each of the last two World Series.

Cliff Lee left after the 2010 season to return to Philadelphia, and left-hander C.J. Wilson agreed to a $77.5 million, five-year contract with the AL West rival Los Angeles Angels last month.

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