Rangers Notes: Free-Agent Decisions Loom for Texas

In two seasons as a starter, C.J. Wilson has won 31 games with an earned run average of 3.14 and 376 strikeouts across 427-plus innings of work.

Coming off the first two World Series appearances in franchise history, the Rangers are looking to build upon a solid foundation of core players while scanning the free-agent market for potential areas of improvement this offseason.

At the forefront of any free agent discussion in Arlington is the status of left-hander C.J. Wilson, who has posted a record of 31-15 with six complete games over 67 starts the last two years after racking up 52 saves as a late-inning reliever in his first five big-league seasons.

Wilson, a free agent for the first time in his career, is coming off an All-Star campaign in which he set personal highs for wins (16), starts (34), strikeouts (206) and innings pitched (223⅓). Not surprisingly, the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees are among the teams to have already expressed interest in Wilson, who turns 31 on Friday.

Regardless of whether or not Wilson stays in Texas, one of the Rangers’ top priorities this offseason will likely be the addition of a starting pitcher to help anchor what is — with the exception of Colby Lewis — a relatively young staff.

While Wilson is the headliner among this year’s otherwise thin crop of free-agent starters, veterans with past success like Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Aaron Harang, Edwin Jackson, Hiroki Kuroda and Roy Oswalt will draw interest from Texas and other clubs looking to solidify their rotation.

On the other end of the free-agent spectrum is first base, where Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols lead a talented class that also includes the likes of Michael Cuddyer, Casey Kotchman, Derrek Lee and Carlos Pena. Fielder and Pujols are both expected to land multi-year deals that will cost well into the hundreds of millions of dollars, leaving the others as cheaper options who may settle for shorter contracts.

In center field, where the Rangers received moderate contributions from Julio Borbon, Endy Chavez and Craig Gentry in 2011, a crop of free agents are available who may be able to contribute more to the Texas lineup, among them Carlos Beltran, Coco Crisp, Nate McLouth and Grady Sizemore.

Hamilton Undergoes Surgery for Sports Hernia

Outfielder Josh Hamilton underwent successful surgery in Philadelphia last Friday to repair a sports hernia in his left side, which limited his ability to generate lower-body power on his swing during the Rangers’ playoff run.

“The surgery went well from what we were told,” general manager Jon Daniels said to MLB.com, adding that Hamilton would return to Texas and should be fully recovered by the time Spring Training begins in late February.

A four-time All-Star, Hamilton batted just .271 (19-for-70) with one home run during the postseason while playing through the injury, though he also managed 13 RBIs and a team-high seven doubles.

“He was definitely uncomfortable in the playoffs,” Daniels said. “In all three rounds it was affecting him.”

Treanor Signs One-Year Deal with Dodgers

Veteran catcher Matt Treanor, who has been on the Rangers’ World Series roster in each of the last two seasons, was signed to a one-year contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.

Treanor, 35, spent much of the 2011 season as Kansas City’s starting catcher before being re-acquired by Texas in late August as a backup to Mike Napoli and Yorvit Torrealba.

Rangers Notes: Team Weighs Free-Agent Options

Third baseman Adrian Beltre (left) and catcher Victor Martinez could both be attractive free-agent options for the Rangers this offseason.

Baseball’s free-agent shopping season officially began on Sunday, and the Rangers may look to add upgrades at several positions, in addition to trying to re-sign ace left-hander Cliff Lee.

The area which is in need of the most improvement seems to be catcher, where youngsters Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez were either injured or failed to produce at the big-league level this year, giving way to veterans Matt Treanor and Bengie Molina before the season’s halfway point. The team would clearly like to have a consistent No. 1 catcher for an entire season, and the free-agent market provides options in the form of John Buck, Victor Martinez, A.J. Pierzynski and Yorvit Torrealba, to name a few.

General manager Jon Daniels tried to add a right-handed-hitting first baseman before this year’s trade deadline but could only muster Jorge Cantu, who batted .235 with just two runs batted in and 19 strikeouts in 30 regular-season games with Texas. While Mitch Moreland performed well after his mid-season call-up (nine home runs and 25 RBIs, including a team-high .462 batting average in the World Series), the Rangers are still seeking a right-handed bat to complement him at first. Choices among this year’s group of free agents include Paul Konerko, Troy Glaus, Derrek Lee and Ty Wigginton.

Across the infield, Michael Young is closer to a defensive liability than an asset at third base, and a move to designated hitter may not be too far off. Among free-agent third basemen this offseason, the bar is set high with Adrian Beltre – who hit .321 with 28 home runs and 102 RBIs for the Red Sox this year – but then falls off drastically with the likes of Pedro Feliz, Akinori Iwamura and Nick Punto.

Whether or not Cliff Lee decides to re-sign with Texas, the team will likely try to add depth to its starting pitching rotation, where the only guaranteed spots for next season appear to belong to left-hander C.J. Wilson and right-hander Colby Lewis. Topping this year’s list of free-agent starters are right-handers Jon Garland, Brandon Webb and Chris Young and left-handers Erik Bedard, Jorge De La Rosa and Jeff Francis.

In other news, the Rangers announced Friday that they had outrighted three players off of the 40-man roster – infielder Esteban German and right-handers Doug Mathis and Brandon McCarthy – making them all free agents. The moves brought the number of players currently on the team’s 40-man roster to 31, not including three right-handed pitchers still on the 60-day disabled list: Omar Beltre, Eric Hurley and Guillermo Moscoso.