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: Questions Loom for Long Winter Ahead

Manager Ron Washington guided Texas to back-to-back pennants before a second-place division finish in 2012.

This offseason began much earlier than planned for the two-time defending American League champion Rangers, and now the club finds itself facing key on-field personnel decisions in the coming months.

Texas held first place in the A.L. West for all but three days this year, leading by as many as 6.5 games before watching Oakland catch fire in the second half and ultimately move into first place on the final day of the regular season.

Any discussions regarding the Rangers’ plans going forward begin and end with outfielder Josh Hamilton, a five-time All-Star and former American League MVP who will be an unrestricted ‘Type A’ free agent for the first time in his career this winter. It was reported last Tuesday that Texas will not make an initial offer to the 31-year-old slugger, instead opting to let him explore what kind of options become available on the free-agent market.

“We’re not going to make a kind of preemptive proposal at this point,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “If you put yourself in [Hamilton’s] shoes, if you’ve got this far, you’re going to test the market, find out what’s out there. I think that’s understandable.”

In five seasons with the Rangers, Hamilton has averaged just over 28 home runs and 101 RBIs per year, batting .305 during his time in Texas while leading the league with a .359 average in 2010.

The solid career numbers have been obscured at various times by Hamilton’s proneness to injury and off-field issues, and he took recent criticism for what appeared to be a lack of concentration that mirrored his declining offensive production in the closing weeks of the 2012 season.

Should Hamilton depart, which seems more likely than not, the Rangers could look to replace his production with a second-tier outfielder from the free-agent market — Michael Bourn, Ryan Ludwick, B.J. Upton and Delmon Young are all available — or potentially via trade.

On Sunday, The Chicago Tribune hinted at a possible deal between Boston and Texas that would bring center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury to the Rangers and send left-hander Derek Holland to the Red Sox, although there is nothing yet to substantiate that rumor.

Along with Hamilton, catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli and infielder Alberto Gonzalez are also free agents, as are right-handers Mike Adams, Ryan Dempster, Scott Feldman, Mark Lowe, Roy Oswalt and Koji Uehara, with Feldman having a $9.25 million team option that is unlikely to be exercised.

Presuming the departure of Dempster, Feldman and Oswalt (all of whom have starting experience), Texas will be seeking rotation help with only three healthy starters penciled in for next year — righty Yu Darvish and southpaws Matt Harrison and Derek Holland.

After having his 2012 season cut short by elbow surgery, veteran Colby Lewis signed a one-year deal in September and hopes to return to the mound sometime next spring or summer.

As for another member of this year’s starting rotation, right-hander Neftali Feliz isn’t expected to be back nearly as soon while he recovers from reconstructive Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow.

Infielder Hernandez Declares Free Agency

Switch-hitting infielder Luis Hernandez, who saw action in just two big-league games for Texas this season, declared and was granted free agency over the weekend.

Prior to his brief September call-up, Hernandez, 28, had spent nearly the entire year at Triple-A Round Rock, where he batted .262 in with 23 doubles and six triples in 129 games for the Express.

The Rangers have some backup infield help in the form of 19-year-old prospect Jurickson Profar, who can play both shortstop and second base, but he will probably need more seasoning and the club may look to add depth via trade or free agency.

Rangers Notes: Prospect Profar Makes Immediate Impact

Jurickson Profar crosses the plate after homering in his first career at-bat Sunday versus the Indians.

Nineteen-year-old infielder Jurickson Profar was called up when active rosters expanded on Sept. 1, and the following day became the youngest Texas player to hit a home run when he connected for a solo shot off Cleveland’s Zach McAllister in his first big-league at-bat.

Profar started at second base and went 2-for-4 in his major-league debut, later adding a double and helping the Rangers to an 8-3 victory in the rubber game of their series with the Indians at Progressive Field.

“I guess it’s a pretty big thing,” Profar said following the game, in which he passed Ivan Rodriguez (19 years, 276 days) as the youngest Ranger to hit a home run (19 years, 195 days). “I was a little bit nervous, but I’m with a lot of great players, so I just went out and played.”

Adrian Beltre had continued his hot hitting on Friday with two doubles and two singles against Cleveland, paving the way for a 5-3 Texas victory, before the Indians evened the series with four first-inning runs off Scott Feldman as part of their 4-3 win Saturday.

The Rangers then moved to Kansas City for a four-game set at Kauffman Stadium, where Geovany Soto clubbed an early three-run homer on Labor Day while Yu Darvish worked seven quality frames as Texas doubled up the Royals by an 8-4 final.

Recent trade acquisition Jeremy Guthrie won his fourth straight decision for Kansas City on Tuesday, 6-3, but the Rangers came back with one-run victories both Wednesday and Thursday to secure another series win.

Wednesday saw Adrian Beltre hit a three-run home run in the first inning before Ryan Dempster and the Texas bullpen combined to hold off a late charge and beat the Royals, 7-6, and Michael Young drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth on Thursday to wrap up a 4-3 Rangers victory.

The next stop for Texas was St. Petersburg, Florida, where the Rangers went into extra innings for the second day in a row Friday only to watch the Rays’ Ben Zobrist deliver a two-run walk-off homer against reliever Mark Lowe in the eleventh.

Saturday evening featured a third consecutive extra-inning affair for Texas, as Jurickson Profar made his second career start and singled off Kyle Farnsworth in the top of the tenth to drive in the eventual game-winning run, later scoring himself as the Rangers held on for a 4-2 victory.

Thoughts of a series win versus Tampa Bay were put to rest quickly Sunday, however, when B.J. Upton went deep on the first pitch thrown by Texas spot starter Roy Oswalt, then added two more home runs to lead James Shields and the Rays to a 6-0 shutout.

Ross to DL; Perez, Scheppers among Call-Ups

Along with Jurickson Profar, the Rangers added five other players when active rosters expanded from 25 to 40 at the beginning of September, though they also lost a key bullpen piece as southpaw Robbie Ross was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left forearm strain.

Whereas Profar had his contract purchased from Double-A Frisco, the other five roster additions have seen big-league service time this year and were recalled from Triple-A Round Rock: left-hander Martin Perez, right-handers Tanner Scheppers and Yoshinori Tateyama, infielder Brandon Snyder and outfielder Leonys Martin.

In addition, Texas placed left-hander Miguel De Los Santos on release waivers Friday in order to make room for Profar on the 40-man roster. De Los Santos had gone 3-2 with a 5.22 ERA in 26 games for the RoughRiders this season.

(UPDATE: The 24-year-old De Los Santos has been claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers, it was reported Sunday.)

Rangers Notes: Road Trip Salvaged after Rough Start

Michael Young went 3-for-5 with five RBIs Sunday in Toronto, a performance that included two runs scored and his first home run since early May.

Texas dropped each of the first three contests in a four-game series against the Yankees last week before avoiding a sweep in Thursday’s finale, then took two out of three against the Blue Jays to wrap up a 3-4 East coast road swing.

Recent acquisition Ryan Dempster pitched into the seventh inning Monday in New York, but he was done in by the Yankees’ five-run bottom of the third — including Nick Swisher’s line-drive grand slam to right — as part of an 8-2 loss.

Swisher homered again Tuesday to back Hiroki Kuroda’s complete-game 3-0 shutout over the Rangers, and although Josh Hamilton went deep twice for Texas on Wednesday, he represented the team’s lone offensive output in a 3-2 defeat.

Derek Holland was supported by two early Texas runs and tossed five scoreless frames before yielding five runs in the sixth, but the Rangers pulled away with runs in each of the final four innings Thursday afternoon to secure a 10-6 victory and avoid a series sweep.

Prior to the club’s trip to Toronto, native Canadian Ryan Dempster was placed on the restricted list due to passport issues, and outfielder Leonys Martin was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to replace him on the active roster.

The Blue Jays took Friday’s opener, 3-2, despite a stellar 10-strikeout game from Texas starter Yu Darvish, whose only blemishes were a two-run homer by Edwin Encarnacion in the first inning and an RBI single by Rajai Davis in the fifth.

Right-hander Roy Oswalt made a spot start in place of Dempster on Saturday, and he combined with five relievers to limit Toronto’s offense while Nelson Cruz slugged a two-run homer off Carlos Villanueva in the top of the fifth, providing the difference in a 2-1 Rangers win at Rogers Centre.

Sunday’s rubber game saw the Texas lineup hammer 19 hits in support of lefty Matt Harrison, who allowed just two hits across eight innings of work as he and the Rangers cruised to a series-clinching 11-2 victory.

Nathan Sets Team Record for Consecutive Saves

With his 24^th save of the year Saturday in Toronto, closer Joe Nathan also converted his 22^nd straight save opportunity to establish a new franchise mark in that category, passing Francisco Cordero’s single-season record of 21 in a row set in 2004.

Since his last (and only) blown save on Apr. 14 versus Seattle, Nathan has made 43 appearances and posted a 2-1 record with an earned run average of 2.08, striking out 51 batters while issuing just eight walks over that span.

In a total of 47 games so far this season, Nathan has a 2.61 ERA and a career-best strikeout-to-walk rate of 7.38.

Catcher Hill Signed to Minor-League Deal

The Rangers agreed to a minor-league contract with veteran catcher Koyie Hill last Tuesday and assigned the 33-year-old to Triple-A Round Rock.

Already this season, Hill has spent time in the Cardinals, Reds, Cubs and Nationals organizations, seeing his only big-league action with Chicago earlier this summer and, most recently, getting released by Washington on Aug. 3.

A lifetime .210 batter across parts of nine seasons, Hill is expected to provide depth behind the plate while Mike Napoli rehabilitates a strained quad muscle and Triple-A catcher Dusty Brown recovers from surgery.

Rangers Notes: Texas Wraps up Third Straight Series Win

Yu Darvish earned his 12th victory of the season Sunday with six and two-thirds quality innings of work against the Tigers at Rangers Ballpark.

After struggling to a 9-14 record in the month of July, the Rangers have won eight of 11 games in August while taking three consecutive series versus Kansas City, Boston and Detroit.

Southpaw Matt Harrison improved his season record to 13-6 by tossing six-plus quality innings two Fridays ago as Texas held on for a 5-3 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium, with Mitch Moreland providing late insurance via a three-run home run in the top of the seventh.

On Saturday, right-hander Scott Feldman — who had lost each of his first six decisions of the year through mid-June — picked up his sixth straight win in a 4-2 Rangers victory behind two RBIs apiece from Josh Hamilton and Mike Olt.

Kansas City denied the Rangers a chance at the series sweep with a 7-6 walk-off win over Texas in last Sunday’s finale, as the Royals took advantage of errors by Alberto Gonzalez and Mike Olt to score in the bottom of the tenth inning.

Monday’s opener at Fenway Park was one to forget for Rangers starter Yu Darvish, who allowed a club-record seven doubles in a 9-2 loss to the Red Sox, but Ryan Dempster helped end the team’s brief two-game skid by picking up his first American League victory Tuesday in Texas’s 6-3 win.

Wednesday afternoon’s rubber match saw Boston come back from a four-run deficit to tie the game at 9-9 in the seventh inning — highlighted by Will Middlebrooks’s three-run homer off Alexi Ogando — before Adrian Beltre put the Rangers ahead for good with a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Texas returned to Arlington and began a weekend series against the Tigers on Friday, although Scott Feldman could not escape a sixth-inning jam that was capped off by Prince Fielder’s 20^th home run of the year, part of a 6-2 win for Detroit.

Rookie Mike Olt was the hero Saturday with a pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the ninth that gave the Rangers a 2-1 walk-off victory, and Yu Darvish pitched into the seventh on Sunday while Josh Hamilton drove in three runs to lead Texas to an 8-3 series-clinching win.

Napoli Sidelined; Lowe Returns from DL

Catcher Mike Napoli was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday due to a strained left quadriceps muscle, with backstop Luis Martinez getting recalled from Triple-A to fill Napoli’s active roster spot.

Napoli had felt tightness in his left quad earlier in the week and sat out both Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s games against the Red Sox in Boston, but he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his return to the lineup Friday.

“It’s something that’s been [an issue] all the time,” manager Ron Washington told MLB.com. “We were hoping three days and treatment would help, but it didn’t.”

Also on Friday, Texas activated right-hander Mark Lowe from the disabled list while designating infielder Alberto Gonzalez for assignment. Lowe had been on the DL since late June with a strained muscle in his right rib cage.

(UPDATE: Gonzalez cleared waivers on Sunday and has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Round Rock.)

Oswalt Adjusting to Bullpen Role

The acquisition of right-handed starter Ryan Dempster has forced an unplanned role change for another veteran righty in Roy Oswalt, who has made three relief outings and no starts since last month’s trade deadline.

Oswalt, 34, was signed in late May to provide depth and experience to the Rangers’ starting rotation, and he went 3-2 with a 6.49 ERA across six starts with Texas, although he allowed 17 combined earned runs in a pair of particularly ugly losses to the White Sox and Angels in July.

“I’m a starter. I’m not really a bullpen guy,” Oswalt said on Saturday. “It wasn’t my decision. I’m down there to throw when they need me, I guess.”

In his three appearances out of the bullpen this month, Oswalt has notched a relief victory while throwing a total of five and one-third innings, recording nine strikeouts against one walk and one home run.