Rangers Notes: Offseason Needs Shift into Focus

Shin-Soo Choo could give the Rangers a left-handed power hitter in the outfield, something missing since the departure of Josh Hamilton.

Trying to move past another stumbling finish to a disappointing season (not to mention the loss of the most notable icon in franchise history), the Rangers will be in the unfamiliar position of trying to improve their offense via free agency or trades this winter.

The Texas lineup that lost Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli and Michael Young heading into this year did not fare as well as many had hoped, and Nelson Cruz’s late-season suspension highlighted multiple weaknesses in the batting order.

Cruz is going to be an unrestricted ‘Type A’ free agent for the first time in his career this offseason, and while the Rangers are expected to make him a qualifying offer of roughly $14 million, the Dominican slugger could elect to seek a more lucrative multi-year contract from another club on the open market.

Alex Rios has already supplanted Cruz as the team’s everyday right fielder, and both Craig Gentry and Leonys Martin saw regular playing time down the stretch, but Texas could look to add a left-handed power bat to the outfield mix.

Some of the top names available to that end include Shin-Soo Choo, Jacoby Ellsbury, Curtis Granderson and Grady Sizemore, each of whom is 33 years old or younger and has reached double figures in home runs at least once in their career.

Barring a blockbuster trade this offseason, the Rangers appear to have most of their infield set with Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus and Ian Kinsler, but they are likely to seek a utility man to replace free agent Jeff Baker.

In addition, the club could look for a more reliable power source than Mitch Moreland at first base, with Kendrys Morales, Justin Morneau and former Texas slugger Mike Napoli among the top players available at that position.

Behind the plate, both A.J. Pierzynski and Geovany Soto are eligible for free agency in a class that features a considerable gap between the most coveted name on the market — Atlanta catcher Brian McCann — and the next-best option.

The Rangers figure to be in the running for McCann’s services, and it would not be surprising if they brought back Soto because of the successful rapport he appears to have developed with starter Yu Darvish.

Aside from Darvish, left-hander Derek Holland is about the only other sure bet to begin next season in the Texas rotation, although 22-year-old Martin Perez certainly earned himself strong consideration by posting a 10-6 record across 20 starts this summer.

Matt Garza, acquired from the Cubs in a July trade, is eligible for free agency after winning just four of his 13 starts with the Rangers, but he’s thought to be one of the better pitchers on the market this offseason.

Also drawing interest this winter will be a handful of serviceable veterans who have shown the ability to surpass 200 innings pitched in a season, including Dan Haren, Ubaldo Jimenez, Ricky Nolasco, Ervin Santana and Jason Vargas.

Finally, the Texas bullpen does not figure to see a great amount of turnover next year, although some roles could be shifted if closer Joe Nathan decides to turn down his 2014 contract option and become a free agent.

Davis to Serve as Controlling Owner

With Nolan Ryan resigning from his ownership post, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said last week that Ray Davis will replace Ryan as the controlling owner of the team.

Davis, who already serves as co-chairman of the organization with Bob Simpson, is expected to be bestowed with his new title at the annual meeting of MLB owners in mid-November.

Following six years as a Rangers executive, Ryan announced two weeks ago that he will be stepping down from his front-office position at the end of this month, at which time he will sell his stake in the team to Davis and Simpson.

Leyland Retirement Could Open Door for Maddux

While he does not appear to among the finalists for the vacant Cubs’ managerial job, Texas pitching coach Mike Maddux is now being discussed as a potential candidate to replace Jim Leyland in Detroit.

Leyland announced he would not return as manager just two days after his Tigers lost to the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, and Maddux has said he would “absolutely be interested” in the Detroit opening.

“This team is built to win now,” Maddux said of the Tigers. “I would try to put my own brand on it and just try to fill Jim Leyland’s shoes — not that anyone will be able to fill his shoes.”

Rangers Notes: Yankees Slug Way to Series Win

Ryan Tucker gave up a solo homer to Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson in his lone inning of work on Friday.

On the heels of a disappointing West Coast road trip, the Rangers were hoping for any momentum they could get entering Friday’s series opener against the Yankees.

Unfortunately, New York jumped on Texas left-hander Matt Harrison for two runs in the first inning and one more in the second on the way to a 4-1 win over the Rangers Friday in Arlington.

The Yankees’ second batter of the game – Curtis Granderson – followed Derek Jeter’s leadoff single with a two-run homer, and Harrison’s own throwing error allowed another run to score in the second inning.

Granderson homered again in the seventh, and Texas didn’t score until New York starter Ivan Nova was removed from the game in the eighth inning. With two on and two out, Julio Borbon singled into right field to drive home Mike Napoli with the Rangers’ lone run of the game.

On Saturday, Michael Young and David Murphy connected for solo home runs early off Yankees starter Bartolo Colon while Texas scored a total of five runs in the first two innings.

For the second night in a row, however, a Rangers left-hander was hit hard as Derek Holland allowed an RBI single to Mark Teixeira with two outs in the third before Robinson Cano hit a bases-clearing triple, pulling New York to within a 5-4 margin. The Yankees then tied the game in the sixth inning when Nick Swisher clubbed a solo home run against veteran reliever Brett Tomko.

But the Rangers took the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the sixth New York left-hander Boone Logan. After Mitch Moreland hit a leadoff double and went to third on a single by Chris Davis, Borbon executed a suicide squeeze bunt to bring Moreland home and Young followed with a single to drive in Davis.

Veteran southpaw Arthur Rhodes struck out both batters he faced in scoreless relief outing to earn the victory for Texas. Closer Neftali Feliz, making his first appearance since going on the disabled list on Apr. 20, tossed a perfect ninth inning to notch his sixth save of the year.

Right-hander Dave Bush made a spot start for Alexi Ogando on Sunday, as Ogando is still trying to give a blister on his pitching hand time to heal.

The Rangers took advantage of an unusually wild CC Sabathia and an unusually shaky New York defense for four runs in the first two innings Sunday, but Bush couldn’t hold the 4-0 lead as the Yankees came back, went ahead, and then held on for a 12-5 win in Arlington.

Texas took an early lead for the second straight game when Sabathia issued a pair of first-inning walks and two New York fielders – Alex Rodriguez and Brett Gardner – committed errors in the frame, which ended with the Rangers ahead 3-0. Outfielder Craig Gentry worked a leadoff walk in the second, stole then second base and came around to score on a single by Elvis Andrus.

Given a 4-0 lead to work with in the third inning, Bush promptly allowed each of the first four Yankee batters to reach base against him, and two of them scored before he got Nick Swisher to strike out with the bases loaded.

While New York went to work against Bush, Sabathia settled into a groove across the middle innings, keeping Texas from scoring again until the bottom of the seventh.

Meanwhile, Bush tossed a shutout fourth inning before giving up a leadoff home run to Derek Jeter – his first of the season – in the top of the fifth.

Relievers Ryan Tucker and Arthur Rhodes didn’t fare much better, as they combined to allow three runs on five hits and a walk in three innings of work. Rhodes, in fact, gave up wind-blown home runs to the first two hitters who faced him – Jeter and Curtis Granderson.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, what was a close game turned into a blowout when right-hander Cody Eppley took the mound in the eighth, as he let the first three batters reach base before watching catcher Francisco Cervelli hit a grand slam beyond the center field wall.

Next up for Texas is a three-game home series against the Oakland Athletics beginning Monday at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The scheduled starters for Texas are LHP C.J. Wilson (4-1, 2.92 ERA), RHP Colby Lewis (2-4, 5.21) and LHP Matt Harrison (3-4, 4.35).

Cruz Headed to DL with Strained Quad

The Rangers got a dose a bad news Saturday morning when they learned that All-Star outfielder Nelson Cruz will miss at least two weeks with a strained right quadriceps muscle, placing him on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to May 4) and recalling outfielder Craig Gentry from Triple-A Round Rock to take his place on the active roster.

Cruz, who is hitting .219 with seven home runs and 18 runs batted in this season, was pulled from the seventh inning of last Tuesday’s game in Seattle with tightness in his right quad, and he had not played since. The hope was that his quad muscle would loosen up once the team returned to Texas on Friday, but that didn’t happen.

This marks the fourth stint on the DL for Cruz since the beginning of last season, and the earliest date he could be re-instated is Thursday, May 19.

As for Gentry, he has spent the entire season up to this point with the Round Rock Express, where he batted .239 with four doubles, four stolen bases and nine runs batted in. The 27-year-old had stints at the big-league level in each of the last two seasons, appearing in 31 games since making his major-league debut in 2009.

Rangers Notes: Lee’s Return Caps Off Sweep of Yankees

Cliff Lee won his first game in over a month Sunday, holding the Yankees to one run on just two hits with five strikeouts over eight-plus innings.

After missing his last start due to a strained lower back muscle, left-hander Cliff Lee returned to the rotation Sunday and allowed one run on just two hits across eight-plus innings en route to a 4-1 victory over the Yankees. In five starts since his last win on August 6, Lee had a record of 0-3 with an 8.29 earned run average before receiving a trigger-point injection to relieve the back pain. The win helped the Rangers complete a three-game series sweep of New York for the first time since April 7-9, 1996.

Outfielders Julio Borbon, Nelson Cruz and David Murphy are each batting well above .300 this month and made key offensive contributions in the sweep over the Yankees. Borbon set a new career high with four runs batted in on Friday, Cruz hit a pair of late home runs the same night and scored the winning run both Friday and Saturday, and Murphy extended his career-best hitting streak to 11 games Sunday with a seventh-inning single off New York right-hander Jonathan Albaladejo.

In addition to giving Texas a 4-1 home record against the Yankees this season, the series produced a couple of anomalies for the team as well. On Friday, the Rangers established a new club record by using 11 pitchers in one game before Cruz’s game-winning home run led off the 13^th inning. And Saturday, the team won a game via a walk-off hit-by-pitch for the first time in franchise history when outfielder Jeff Francoeur was plunked by Yankees closer Mariano Rivera with the bases loaded to send home the winning run.

Right-hander Neftali Feliz struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning Sunday (Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira and Lance Berkman) to nail down his 36^th save of the year, tied for the second-most ever by a rookie pitcher. The 22-year-old closer needs just two more saves to move past the rookie record of 37, set in 2000 by Mariners right-hander Kazuhiro Sasaki.

And the team recalled first baseman Chris Davis from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday to be used as a left-handed pinch-hitter and occasional defensive replacement for Mitch Moreland or Jorge Cantu. In 103 games this season for Oklahoma City, Davis led the RedHawks with a .327 batting average, 31 doubles, 80 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .520.