Editing Dave Righetti (section)

===Draft and minor leagues===
At Cottrell's urging, the Rangers selected Righetti on January 11, 1977, in the first round (10th overall pick) of the amateur [[sports draft|draft]]. The Rangers selected Steve in the sixth round, and told Dave that they would only sign Steve if he signed. Both Righetti brothers signed with the Rangers.<ref name=si/> Dave made his professional debut that year in [[minor league baseball]] with the [[Asheville Tourists]] of the [[Class A (baseball)|Class A]] [[Western Carolinas League]], where he pitched to an 11–3 [[win–loss record (pitching)|win–loss record]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&s_site=mercurynews&p_multi=SJ&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB71842CA18AB0D&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | title=Mercury News: Search Results | date=June 16, 1991}}</ref>

In 1978, Righetti pitched for the [[Tulsa Drillers]] of the [[Class AA]] [[Texas League]]. In a July game against the [[Midland RockHounds]], Righetti recorded a league-record 21 [[strikeout]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-113224824|title=Righetti roped career-making strikeout gem: Tulsa lefty broke Texas League record by fanning 21 over nine innings|first=Mark|last=Emery|work=[[Minor League Baseball]]|date=March 23, 2015|access-date=March 24, 2015}}</ref> [[Jerry Walker]], a scout for the [[New York Yankees]], was present in the stands. Yankees owner [[George Steinbrenner]], while negotiating a trade with Rangers owner [[Brad Corbett]] that offseason, specifically waited until late in their negotiations to ask that Righetti be added to the trade.<ref name=si/> On November 10, 1978, the Yankees acquired Righetti, along with [[Juan Beníquez]], [[Mike Griffin (pitcher)|Mike Griffin]], Greg Jemison, and [[Paul Mirabella]], while the Rangers acquired [[Sparky Lyle]], [[Domingo Ramos]], [[Mike Heath (baseball)|Mike Heath]], [[Larry McCall]], [[Dave Rajsich]], and cash. The Yankees introduced Righetti as "the next [[Ron Guidry]]".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2NQxAAAAIBAJ&pg=3403,1553399&dq=dave-righetti&hl=en|title=Dave Righetti hopes to be back on course|last=Gammons|first=Peter|date=February 13, 1983|newspaper=[[Reading Eagle|Reading (Pa.) Eagle]]|access-date=February 14, 2017|author-link=Peter Gammons|via=[[Google News Archive]]}}</ref> Righetti was almost traded to the [[Minnesota Twins]] in January 1979; the Twins and Yankees were unable to complete a deal in which Righetti, [[Chris Chambliss]], [[Juan Beníquez]], and [[Dámaso García]] would have moved to Minnesota in exchange for [[Rod Carew]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mBQOAAAAIBAJ&pg=6523,5452839&dq=superdome+yankees|title=Yankees, Twins still dickering|last=United Press International|author-link=United Press International|date=January 30, 1979|publisher=[[St. Petersburg Times]]|via=[[Google News Archive]]|access-date=June 19, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>