Going into the 2014 season, the Rangers' biggest concern appears to be their starting pitching. The team has one, perhaps two spots to fill in its rotation, depending on who's healthy. With Matt Harrison again having back issues, there may be three openings on the staff. So that may be the key question for Texas right now.
But we've already beaten that drum in our two previous posts on the Rangers. There are other questions that Texas needs to answer positively if the team is to live up to expectations. Here are three issues that could linger throughout the season for the Rangers if they're not addressed satisfactorily during the spring.
Will Ron Washington's contract status be an issue throughout the season?
Is lame-duck status overblown in sports? Are Rangers players especially the veterans less likely to respect Washington and listen to him because his contract runs out after this season? Does lack of job security make Washington less of an authority?
Those sorts of questions will hang over the Rangers if they don't fulfill expectations this season, especially if and when the team experiences a long losing streak. "Ron Washington has lost the clubhouse! He's not getting through to his players!" Those columns have probably already been written and are just waiting for the opportunity to be filed.
To his credit, Washington isn't negotiating through the press and hasn't put Daniels on the spot by talking about his contract status. He's not taking the Don Mattingly approach to angling for an extension. That's surely because Washington is far more entrenched in his position than Mattingly was. This will be his eighth season as the Rangers manager, and he's helped guide the team from a fourth-place finish to perennial contender status. Washington knows what the expectations are and he's apparently comfortable enough with Daniels to know that he'll get a new contract if the Rangers follow through on that promise.
Washington could still get a contract extension before spring training ends. Or if the team plays well in the first half of the season, perhaps he'll agree to a new deal during the All-Star break. As Washington says, this will take care of itself. If the team wins, he'll get a new contract. If they don't win enough, the Rangers will likely decide that eight years is enough and it's time for a new voice in the dugout. It really does appear to be that simple, which is probably why Washington isn't sweating this… publicly, at least.
Can Texas get by with Geovany Soto and J.P. Arencibia at catcher?
Rangers fans didn't seem to be thrilled when A.J. Pierzynski signed with the Red Sox. A .272 average, 17 homers and 70 RBI left with him. Texas re-signed Geovany Soto to a one-year deal, but he was Pierzynski's backup last season. Surely, the Rangers were going to bring in a starting catcher replacement. Brian McCann? Could Jarrod Saltalamacchia return to Arlington? Maybe a trade for someone like Ryan Doumit?
Instead, the Rangers did indeed view Soto as their starting catcher. At the very least, he's far better defensively than Pierzynski and that was obviously the priority for Texas. Soto has been a good hitter in the past. As a rookie in 2008, he hit .285 with 23 homers and 86 RBI. Two seasons later, Soto hit .280 with an .890 OPS and 17 home runs. But his numbers have taken a dive over the past three seasons. Last year's .245 average and .794 OPS were apparently good enough for the Rangers, as long as Soto provides good defense behind the plate. Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo should make up for the offense that left with Pierzynski.
If the Rangers feel they need more pop from the position, J.P. Arencibia slugged 21 homers for the Blue Jays last season. But he also hit .194 with a .592 OPS. Additionally, Arencibia isn't viewed as a very good defensive catcher, so it's unlikely he'll be more than a fill-in when Soto needs a rest. That is, unless Soto's bat disappears. Since both catchers bat right-handed, there won't be a platoon.
Is Neftali Feliz ready to be the Rangers' closer again?
Replacing Joe Nathan after two strong seasons as Texas' closer won't necessarily be easy. But loading up on relief arms should work out in the Rangers' favor here. Neftali Feliz missed almost all of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, pitching in only six games and totaling 4.2 innings. But he apparently pitched well in winter ball. Feliz told ESPN Dallas' Richard Durrett that his fastball was being clocked at 97 and 98 mph, which is obviously very encouraging.
But is it more difficult for a reliever to work back from reconstructive elbow surgery than a starter? Starting pitchers pace themselves, stretch themselves out and are typically held to innings limits. A reliever's innings and pitch counts can be limited too, of course. Yet it's often the reliever's job to come in and just let it rip as far as throwing hard. Can he be as effective if he's not throwing 95 mph or above? Most relievers don't have the secondary pitches to compensate for a dampened fastball.
Durrett also wonders if blowing a lead in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, with the Rangers one strike away from a World Series championship, is still on Feliz's mind. Shaking off big hits and coming back the next night is an important part of being a closer. More than two years removed from that moment, it's difficult to imagine Feliz still thinking about David Freese tagging him for a game-tying double. If Feliz again has a chance to close out a World Series clincher, maybe it occurs to him. But so much time has passed.
If Feliz can't handle the mental or physical burden of being the Rangers' closer, the team also has Joakim Soria on hand to fill that role. Competition between the two should only make them better, and Texas seems set at the back end of its bullpen with Feliz and Soria taking either the closer or setup jobs. (Tanner Scheppers could be in the late-inning mix too.) Feliz has already been an established, capital-C Closer. If the stuff is there and the arm is healthy, there's no reason to think he can't succeed.
