Rangers Notes: Texas Moves Forward after Big-Name Departures

Ian Kinsler (right) and Adrian Beltre remain as part of the core of a Rangers lineup that saw the loss of three key contributors this offseason.

Following  the loss this winter of fully one-third of their regular lineup via trade (Michael Young) or free agency (Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli), the Rangers are looking to integrate their offseason additions with a stable of existing talent that has helped the club to three consecutive playoff appearances.

Having lost out on its attempts to land top-tier free agents such as Hamilton, starter Zack Greinke and outfielder B.J. Upton, Texas added veterans Lance Berkman and A.J. Pierzynski to the batting order while bolstering the bullpen with late-inning relievers Jason Frasor and Joakim Soria.

Berkman has already been tapped to fill Hamilton’s No. 3 spot in the Rangers’ lineup, although it’s unlikely that the 36-year-old switch-hitter will come close to matching Hamilton’s power output of 43 homers and 128 runs batted in.

“He takes very good at-bats,” Texas manager Ron Washington said about Berkman. “His experience will help. He will do it on the field, but he won’t just do it there. He will do it by word of mouth and through his experience. Guys will gravitate to him.”

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski, meanwhile, would like to put the exits of Hamilton, Napoli and Young in the rear view mirror and focus on helping his new club re-establish its position as a perennial American League pennant contender.

“You can’t worry about that,” Pierzynski said of the offseason player departures. “You just have to worry about what you can do this year and try to go into spring training and go into things like this to get to know these guys.

“You just worry about what you can control. You can’t worry about who’s not here, and who left, and who went where — you just have to worry about who is here, and what we can do to win games with those guys.”

On the mound, right-handed starters Ryan Dempster and Roy Oswalt are out of the picture, along with late-inning bullpen members Mike Adams, Mark Lowe and Koji Uehara.

Most of the young rotation appears set in the form of southpaws Matt Harrison and Derek Holland and righties Yu Darvish and Alexi Ogando, but Texas may still be looking to add a more experienced starter before spring training begins.

In the bullpen, Adams is gone as the primary setup man for closer Joe Nathan, with right-hander Joakim Soria being signed early last month to replace him.

Soria, however, missed the entire 2012 season after undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery, and he won’t be ready for major-league action until at least May or June while recovering from the procedure.

“I’d like to start when the season begins in April, but that’s not realistic,” he told ESPNDallas.com. “I’m still looking at late May, but it’s probably more like the first few days of June. It depends on how it goes with the bullpen [sessions].”

To fill the void as Soria continues to work his way back, the Rangers picked up veteran Jason Frasor two weeks ago, and he is expected to compete with Josh Lindblom and a handful of other candidates for the interim setup role.

McClellan Agrees to Minor-League Deal

Texas added another bullpen option on Tuesday when right-hander Kyle McClellan was signed to a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to big-league camp next month in Surprise, Ariz.

The 28-year-old McClellan has made 261 career appearances over parts of five seasons (all with the St. Louis Cardinals), and he brings a lifetime record of 19-23 with a 3.69 earned run average to the Rangers.

McClellan spent much of last season on the disabled list following surgery to repair damage in his elbow and shoulder, although he is progressing well and should be ready to throw when spring training begins.

On Wednesday, Texas picked up two more pitchers who will start the spring in minor-league camp — left-hander Ryan Feierabend and right-hander Kevin Pucetas. While Feierabend got into 25 games with Seattle in 2006-08, Pucetas has no prior major-league experience.

Rangers Notes: Hamilton Sits with Mystery Ailment

All-Star Josh Hamilton has not played in almost a week as he deals with headaches and blurred vision.

Outfielder Josh Hamilton was pulled from last Tuesday’s game in Anaheim due to vision problems and has not played since, missing the other five games on the Rangers’ 3-3 road trip with issues believed to be related to a sinus infection.

Hamilton had gone 0-for-1 with a walk Tuesday against the Angels before being replaced in center field by Leonys Martin in the bottom of the fourth inning, and it was reported following the game that he left because he was experiencing “blurry vision and a headache.”

On Monday, the 31-year-old All-Star spent part of the regular season’s final off day making an appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” a move seen by some as unnecessary while Texas is still trying to secure a playoff berth.

“The Rangers have clinched nothing,” wrote Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPNDallas.com. “Hamilton’s departure [from the game] seems more about mental toughness … He didn’t feel good, so he took the rest of the night off.”

Texas had put up three runs in the third inning last Tuesday to take a 3-1 lead over Los Angeles, but the wheels fell off for the Rangers almost as soon as Hamilton was replaced by Martin. The Angels would rally for eight earned runs in the ugly frame against a combination of three Texas pitchers, easily cruising to an 11-3 rout behind ace Jered Weaver.

Wednesday featured a matchup of southpaws in the Rangers’ Derek Holland and Los Angeles starter C.J. Wilson, and Texas batters chased their former teammate with three run-scoring extra-base hits in the third inning of a 6-2 win over the Angels.

Right-handers Yu Darvish and Zack Greinke each tossed eight quality frames Thursday and recorded 17 strikeouts between them, but Adrian Beltre snapped a 1-1 tie in the top of the ninth with a two-run homer versus Ernesto Frieri to give the Rangers a 3-1 win and another series victory.

In Seattle on Friday, Martin Perez allowed four runs over just four innings of work while the Rangers were held to three total runs by starter Hisashi Iwakuma and the Mariners’ bullpen, part of a 6-3 loss at Safeco Field.

Left-hander Matt Harrison delivered yet another strong performance against Seattle on Saturday, but his lone blemish — a solo home run given up to Michael Saunders — proved to be the difference in a 1-0 shutout for the Mariners.

Texas avoided a potential sweep Sunday afternoon veteran as Ryan Dempster recorded eight strikeouts across six-plus quality innings, and he was supported by home runs from Mike Napoli and Geovany Soto off Jason Vargas in the fifth, helping the Rangers to a 3-2 win.

Scheppers Sidelined with Bruised Knee

During the Angels’ eight-run uprising last Tuesday in Anaheim, Texas reliever Tanner Scheppers was involved in a messy play at home plate after he uncorked a wild pitch with the bases loaded and got tied up with Chris Iannetta while awaiting the throw from Napoli.

Iannetta scored easily as Napoli’s wayward throw ricocheted off the back of umpire Jim Wolf, but his feet-first slide caught Scheppers off guard and resulted in the pitcher taking a hard landing on his right leg.

Meanwhile, Mike Trout raced around third base and scored on the play as well, sliding under Scheppers as he lay on the ground near home with what’s been diagnosed for now as a bruised knee.

Lineup Struggles in Key Situations

The Rangers’ offense has failed to come through lately when the opportunity to score presents itself, going just 3-for-36 (.083) as a team with runners in scoring position on the recently-completed six-game road trip.

Rangers Notes: Texas Finishes Interleague Play on Hot Streak

Adrian Beltre watches his opposite-field solo home run Tuesday during the Rangers’ 7-3 win over San Diego.

Texas wrapped up interleague play this season by winning eight of its final nine games against National League opponents — 14 out of 18 overall — and will resume A.L.-only competition on Monday with the best record (45-28) in baseball.

David Murphy’s two-out, bases-loaded single in the top of the first inning last Monday held up as the difference in a 2-1 Rangers victory over the Padres in San Diego, and Scott Feldman earned his first win of the season Tuesday backed by two RBIs apiece from Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz.

Behind eight quality innings from starter Yu Darvish, Texas completed the three-game sweep on Wednesday with a 4-2 win at Petco Park. Darvish allowed a two-run single to Anthony Bass in the bottom of the second, but he rebounded to retire 19 of the next 21 batters faced while recording a total of eight strikeouts.

Friday saw right-hander Roy Oswalt make his A.L. debut against the Rockies in Arlington, throwing six scoreless frames before yielding a run and being relieved by Robbie Ross in the seventh. The Rangers supported him with two runs in both the first and fourth innings en route to a 4-1 Texas victory.

“I won’t tell you I wasn’t nervous,” Oswalt said after picking up his first American League win, in which he also scattered nine hits and struck out six batters. “If you don’t have butterflies, you might as well get out of the game.”

An active roster spot was made available for Oswalt when first baseman Mitch Moreland was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, an injury he suffered while trying to beat out a double-play grounder in the second inning of Tuesday’s game in San Diego.

Colby Lewis was roughed up for seven earned runs on 12 hits across just four innings on Saturday afternoon, as Colorado won by a final of 11-7 despite the Rangers’ six-run effort in the bottom of the sixth.

Texas came back to win the rubber game of the series on Sunday, 4-2, behind a three-RBI performance from rookie outfielder Leonys Martin, who doubled and tripled while also scoring his first run of the year.

Feldman Shuttled Back to Bullpen

Right-hander Scott Feldman, who had made seven starts since joining the Rangers’ rotation due to injuries in mid-May, was told last week that he was being returned to his long relief role in order to clear a starting spot for Roy Oswalt.

Manager Ron Washington said Wednesday that Feldman would go back to the bullpen for now while right-hander Justin Grimm stays in the rotation to make his second major-league start this Monday versus Detroit.

“It’s just tough to keep going back and forth,” Feldman told ESPN Dallas. “Basically, telling me that I’m not in the plans for the second time this year, spring training and then now, that’s fine … But it doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.”

Feldman had posted a 1-6 record with a 6.54 ERA in his seven starts over the past month, although subpar defense led to unearned runs which accounted for nearly a quarter of the scoring output against him during that period of time.

Hamburger Designated for Assignment

To clear to a 40-man roster spot for Oswalt, the Rangers designated relief pitcher Mark Hamburger for assignment on Friday, giving the club 10 days with which to trade or release the 25-year-old right-hander.

Hamburger had appeared in 21 games for Triple-A Round Rock this season, going 0-2 with an earned run average of 6.55 in just over 45 innings of work. He saw big-league action in five games with Texas in late 2011, earning his only MLB victory in an extended relief appearance against the Angels last September.

(UPDATE: Hamburger was claimed off waivers by San Diego on Monday and assigned to Triple-A Tucson.)

Rangers Notes: Washington Given Two-Year Extension

Ron Washington has the highest winning percentage (.527) of any skipper with at least 300 games managed in Texas Rangers history.

Having led Texas to the first two World Series appearances in franchise history, manager Ron Washington was signed to a two-year contract extension Monday that will keep him in the Rangers’ dugout through the 2014 season.

Washington, entering his sixth year as Texas’s skipper, has increased the club’s win total in each of the last four seasons, from 79 in 2008 to a team-record 96 in 2011. He has also guided the Rangers to back-to-back playoff berths and subsequent American League pennants, joining the late Johnny Oates as the only managers in club history to win A.L. West division titles with Texas.

“I knew that through time things would fall into place … And things have certainly done that,” Washington told ESPN Dallas. “I think what causes improvement is dealing with the fact that you don’t know everything. I always try to tell that to my players.

“I’m open-minded. I’m willing to learn and willing to say I’m wrong,” he said. “I’ve gained a lot of experience in this game from a lot of people and I try to use those experiences to get better.”

The 59-year-old Washington, a New Orleans native, has managed 810 games from the Rangers’ dugout, trailing only Oates (983) and Bobby Valentine (1,186) for the most in team history. Washington’s 427 wins as Texas manager place him third behind Oates (506) and Valentine (581) in that category as well.

Washington became the Rangers’ 17^th full-time manager when he was hired on Nov. 6, 2006, succeeding Buck Showalter as the Texas skipper. Only five current big-league managers have been at the helm of their respective clubs longer than him — the Twins’ Ron Gardenhire, the Tigers’ Jim Leyland, the Rays’ Joe Maddon, the Phillies’ Charlie Manuel and the Angels’ Mike Scioscia.

Hamilton Admits to Alcohol Relapse

All-Star outfielder Josh Hamilton admitted Friday that he had suffered a recent setback in his continuing struggle against alcohol and drug abuse, reportedly consuming several drinks at a Dallas establishment on Monday.

Hamilton, the 2010 American League Most Valuable Player, watched his longtime “accountability partner” depart last month as Johnny Narron was named the Milwaukee Brewers’ new hitting coach.

Michael Dean Chadwick, Hamilton’s father-in-law, had been hired to fill the vacancy in early January, only to step down due to “family considerations” less than two weeks later.

“I feel terrible about this, [I] let a lot of people down,” Hamilton said at a press conference Friday at Rangers Ballpark. “The last four days I really beat myself up. There’s nobody that feels worse than I do.”

“It was just wrong,” he continued. “That’s all it comes down to. I need to be responsible, period, and I was not responsible. Those actions hurt a lot of people who are very close to me.”

This marks the second time in Hamilton’s stint with Texas that he has publicly acknowledged hitting a roadblock on his quest for sobriety. In August 2009, photos surfaced of an intoxicated Hamilton drinking and partying at a bar in Tempe, Ariz., the previous January.

Outfielder Hudson Inks Minor-League Deal

The Rangers bolstered their stable of speedy outfielders last weekend when they signed 25-year-old Kyle Hudson to a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to big-league Spring Training camp.

Hudson, a fourth-round pick by Baltimore in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, had been designated for assignment by the Orioles on Jan. 13, then given his release six days later.

In 68 games with Triple-A Norfolk last season, Hudson batted .298 with 26 stolen bases, 33 walks and 39 runs scored.

Rangers Notes: Hamilton’s New Coach a Familiar Face

Entering his fifth season with Texas, Josh Hamilton is a four-time All-Star and took home the 2010 American League Most Valuable Player award.

Following the departure of Johnny Narron — who was hired as Milwaukee’s new hitting coach this offseason — the Rangers announced that Michael Dean Chadwick will assume Narron’s role as an “accountability partner” for John Hamilton.

Narron had been with Hamilton since his comeback from a drug suspension with the Cincinnati Reds, but Chadwick has some more personal insight into the 2010 American League MVP – he is Hamilton’s father-in-law.

The two have built their relationship since 2002, when Hamilton first began dating Chadwick’s daughter Katie. Josh and Katie were married two years later, and she has helped see him through substance abuse issues, recoveries, suspensions and his ultimate rise to the majors in 2007.

Following the ’07 season, Hamilton was dealt from the Reds to the Rangers as part of a three-player trade that sent pitchers Danny Ray Herrera and Edinson Volquez to Cincinnati.

“Josh is in a different place today than when we first acquired him, both personally and professionally,” Texas general manager Jon Daniels said.

“Everybody agreed when we first traded for Josh, we felt [Narron] was a key person, and he was. We’re a lot more comfortable where Josh is right now. We view this more as support for Josh at this point.”

(UPDATE: The personal connection didn’t last very long, as it was reported on Jan. 16 that Chadwick won’t serve as Hamilton’s accountability partner after all. Instead, citing “family considerations,” he will remain with his wife and younger daughter in Raleigh, N.C., where he owns a homebuilding company.)

No Darvish Deal as Deadline Approaches

With less than a week to go until the Wednesday, Jan. 18 deadline for exclusive negotiating rights between the two sides, the Rangers and right-hander Yu Darvish have yet to come to terms on an actual deal that would put him in a Texas uniform in 2012.

The main holdup at this point, as reported late Saturday by Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, is the proposed length of the contract; Darvish and his representatives want a five-year deal so he could become a free agent at age 30, while the Rangers are pushing for a six-year contract.

Earlier in the week, Texas president and CEO Nolan Ryan told ESPN Dallas that he expects the club and Darvish to reach an agreement before Wednesday’s 4 p.m. (CST) deadline.

“My expectation is that we’ll get something done,” Ryan said. “It’s a process, so during the period that we negotiate with someone, we really don’t talk about it. I’m optimistic we’ll get something done.”

Adams Has Surgery for Hernia

Right-handed reliever Mike Adams underwent surgery earlier this month to repair an abdominal hernia, and the procedure may leave him a few steps behind his fellow bullpen pitchers when Spring Training begins.

“Hopefully, by the time [regular-season] games start I should be ready to go and able,” Adams told MLB.com. “I might be a week behind, but I don’t see it in any way affecting me beyond mid-March.”

After being acquired from San Diego at the July 31 trade deadline last year, Adams posted a 2-3 record with an ERA of 2.10 in 27 regular-season games for Texas.

The 33-year-old Adams then went 2-0 with a 3.24 earned run average across 11 appearances in the playoffs and World Series.