The Rangers finish up the season this weekend in Anaheim. There is nothing to gain or lose for either team except Texas trying to hold on to a 2nd place finish. Like the rest of us I had hopes in the middle of the season that Texas would be in the wild card hunt, but the starting pitching was too inconsistent and marred with injuries. You can only rely on the bullpen for so long before it becomes overworked. There are however some key decisions to be made this off season.

What do the Rangers do with its catchers? Texas has put off dealing one of its catchers about has long as it can and a decision has got to be made. I wrote an article at the beginning of the year that implied Texas only had one legitimate major league starting catcher, Gerald Laird. That stance has changed now that Teagarden has shown he can hit, and there are scouts for several teams that say Salty can be an effective big league catcher if given more reps behind the plate (Boston is very high on Salty). Max Ramirez’s future is probably at 1st or DH but he will hit in the big leagues. Laird will bring the most return and I for one am desperate for them to trade one of these guys for some starting pitching. In fact, I would trade just about any of our young players for some starting pitching. Earlier this week, manager Ron Washington said the Rangers need a right-handed hitter with power. He also said, “”You could always use two good starters and two good bullpen pieces. We’ll go into the winter, see what’s out there and see what fits. You never know. We may go with what we have. But we’re always looking.” I had a difficult time with this statement because when I think of the history of the Texas Rangers I think of right-handed power hitting. I would like Texas to say it needs two good starters instead of we could always use them. The reason the season went in the tank is because the Rangers were having to score 10 runs a game to win. Texas should go into this winter looking to make a deal for a Zach Greinke, Jonathan Sanchez, or a Clay Buchholz type pitcher. They must trade one of their catchers and/or outfielders.

I am ready to go into next season with an outfield of Murphy, Hamilton, and Cruz. This means that Byrd is either gone in a trade or a 4th outfielder.

Who plays first and 3rd base? If you can trade Hank, which you would be trading as high now as ever, then you trade him. Otherwise, you pick up his option for 6.2 million and put him at first next year. Davis would stay at 3rd. Ideally, I would love to move Hank and have Davis at first, which is his natural position anyway. I wouldn’t mind seeing Travis Metcalf at third since he is great defensively and is becoming a better hitter.

Should Texas pursue a pitcher in free agency? No. Texas needs to continue to develop young pitchers (Derek Holland, Neftali Feliz, Tommy Hunter, Kasey Kiker, Blake Beaven) in the minors and try to get young pitching via a trade from the surplus of catching and/or outfielders. The free agent market for pitching is not kind to Texas or anyone for that matter(Think the Giants want a do over on Zito?). You will always overspend for what a pitcher has done in the past. A couple months ago teams would have loved to have Ben Sheets but now he is hurt again. It is just too big a risk. I think you will see at least one big trade from Texas this winter, for sure one involving a catcher.