Rangers Team Report

INSIDE PITCH

At age 33 and with nine years of major league experience, it would seem there isn’t a lot for Michael Young(notes) to learn. But he still found a new challenge in the offseason: figuring out how to deal with an injury.

Young missed almost all of September recovering from a strained hamstring suffered on Sept. 1. He tried to return to the lineup after just two weeks, but he aggravated the injury and had to miss another two weeks. He returned only to play during the last week of the season.

Six weeks into the offseason, Young said his left hamstring was fully recovered and he’s working harder than ever to insure that he makes himself as invincible against injury as is possible.

“I feel great,” Young told mlb.com. “I’ve already begun my full offseason workouts. My leg lifts that I have been doing are fine. I’m doing a couple of things this winter that I want to do the rest of my career that will help me stay ahead of the curve and make sure I’m able to stay on the field for 155 games.

“I’m making sure I do a lot more stretching and really focusing on my core and my flexibility. So far so good. It’s early in the offseason, but I still feel good.”

The other thing different about his offseason workouts is that they are taking place without the presence of hitting instructor Rudy Jaramillo. Jaramillo signed a three-year deal with the Chicago Cubs after turning down a one-year offer with a minimal raise from the Rangers. Jaramillo, who had been the Rangers’ hitting instructor since 1995, was the only major league hitting instructor under whom Young studied.

Young, a career .302 hitter, has had a couple of quick conversations with new hitting instructor Clint Hurdle. They expect to establish a rapport this winter.

“It will be different,” Young said, “but I’ve always said that a player is his own best coach. You can’t rely on a coach to get you out of a slump or do your job for you. I loved Rudy. He was loyal, a friend, always positive and a hard worker. I still love him. The Cubs are lucky. They are getting a great hitting coach.”

On his conversations with Hurdle: “I told him what I think our team goals should be, and he has some ideas, too. I told him if he needed an extended voice in the locker room to get his message across, I’m his guy.

“We just talked about team offense a little bit and understanding game situations; understanding when to be patient and when to be aggressive, when to step on the gas and when to take your foot off the gas, understanding what the game calls for in any particular situation.”

NOTES, QUOTES

—Though they’ve said they want him to return, the Rangers have made no offer to free agent OF Marlon Byrd(notes). Byrd, 31, played in a career-high 146 games in 2009 and hit .283 with career highs in RBIs (89) and home runs (20). If the Rangers don’t re-sign Byrd, who is seeking a three-year deal, they either will have to be willing to go with Josh Hamilton(notes) in center for a third straight year, acquire a free agent or let rookie Julio Borbon(notes) take over the position. The Rangers would like to move Hamilton to a corner outfield spot and don’t believe Borbon is yet ready to take on the responsibility of center.

• LHP Matt Harrison(notes), returning from shoulder surgery, finished off strong in the Arizona Fall League. He allowed only one hit over six innings in his final two AFL starts. Harrison allowed five runs in three innings in his first three outings. He struggled with control, failing to get an out in the third start.

• The Rangers lost a pair of free agents to the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox signed INF Omar Vizquel(notes) to a one-year deal worth $1,375,000 and then added OF/DH Andruw Jones(notes) on a one-year, $500,000 deal. The Rangers had no interest in bringing Jones back, but they were interested in Vizquel. Texas will be seeking a backup middle infielder during the offseason.

• Though he wasn’t named AL Rookie of the Year, SS Elvis Andrus(notes) was named to the Topps All-Rookie Team. Andrus lost out on the AL Rookie of the Year Award to Oakland RHP Andrew Bailey(notes). Bailey, however, did not make Topps team. Atlanta’s Tommy Hanson(notes) was chosen as the right-handed pitcher.

• According to a FOXsports.com report, the Rangers have received a lot of interest in 29-year-old OF Nelson Cruz(notes), who hit 32 homers but also seemed to fall out of favor with manager Ron Washington in the final month of the season. While GM Jon Daniels declined to comment on Cruz specifically, he did say it would take a “pretty unique deal” to consider moving a player in Cruz’s category—affordable and productive.

By The Numbers:   6—AL hitters over the past decade to have at least 30 homers but fewer than 80 RBIs. Nelson Cruz, Detroit’s Curtis Granderson(notes) and Seattle’s Russell Branyan(notes) all joined that powerful but not-so-productive club in 2009.

Quote To Note:   “I’m not pessimistic until the Texas Rangers say, ‘We don’t want you.’ I’d say it’s 50-50 up in the air. I was more optimistic at the end of the season. I thought we would get something done at the end of the season like the Angels did with Bobby Abreu(notes). But I guess they are looking at other options.”—Free agent OF Marlon Byrd, on the possibility of returning to Texas, where he has spent the past three seasons.

ROSTER REPORT

Not only did the Rangers contend until the final week of the season, they did it with an extremely young roster that bodes well for a bright future. It’s conceivable the Rangers could do nothing more this winter than let their treasure trove of young talent mature. But they do lose some veteran leadership, and young players with limited track records are famously fickle when it comes to predicting performance.

Biggest Needs:   Manager Ron Washington made it very clear in the final week of the season what he believes are the club’s most important needs: a veteran starting pitcher, another productive right-handed bat and another left-handed reliever. But before the club can address any of those issues, the question of ownership must be settled. The Rangers are up for sale, and there has been no determination of when the next owner might take over.

Departures:   INF Omar Vizquel (free agent, signed with White Sox), OF Andruw Jones (free agent, signed with White Sox).

Free Agents:   RHP Joaquin Benoit(notes), 1B/DH Hank Blalock(notes), OF Marlon Byrd, LHP Eddie Guardado(notes), C Ivan Rodriguez(notes).

While the Rangers are likely to let most of their free agents walk without even casting a second glance, there are decisions to be made on Byrd and Rodriguez. Byrd took over in center field for the injured Josh Hamilton this season, led the team in RBI and further entrenched himself as one of the club’s leaders. But he is 32, the Rangers do have financial concerns and his 20-HR, 89-RBI season was the most productive of his career. The Rangers could have signed Byrd to a very affordable two-year deal earlier this year; now it might take three years and closer to $20 million. It’s uncertain if a financially strapped club has that kind of money. Rodriguez would like to finish out his career in Texas, which seemed a ludicrous thought when he was acquired, but neither C Jarrod Saltalamacchia(notes) nor C Taylor Teagarden(notes) had a strong offensive season. And with offense being a shortcoming for the entire team, the club might need to re-examine that.

Arbitration-eligible:   RHP Scott Feldman(notes), RHP Frank Francisco(notes), INF Esteban German(notes), OF Josh Hamilton, RHP Brandon McCarthy(notes), RHP Dustin Nippert(notes), LHP C.J. Wilson(notes).

The mark of a maturing young team is a large arbitration class, which describes the Rangers’ situation exactly. There isn’t a likely non-tender in the bunch. The bigger question is whether the Rangers will try to lock up any of these players past free agency. Francisco is in his last year under control, and Wilson will be going to arbitration for the second time. The Rangers talked with Hamilton about a long-term deal last winter, but given his injury-plagued, subpar season, such a deal may get put off again. And then there is Feldman, who reached 17 wins in his first full year as a starter.

In Limbo:   OF Nelson Cruz led the team with 32 home runs but found himself on the bench more than in the lineup in the final 10 days of the season. Cruz will fall just short of qualifying for arbitration this fall. His affordable salary and his home run production this season might give him more value than he has ever previously had. The Rangers could use him to potentially fill one of their needs, while using some combination of Marlon Byrd (if he is re-signed), Josh Hamilton, Julio Borbon and David Murphy(notes) in the outfield and DH spots.

Medical Watch:  

RHP Eric Hurley(notes) (rotator cuff surgery in January 2009) is expected to be ready for spring training).

LHP Matt Harrison (thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in July 2009) is expected to be ready for spring training.

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia (thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in September 2009) is expected to be ready for spring training.