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Rangers camp report
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Five things to know about the Texas Rangers:
1. Until the Rangers round up some pitching -- something they haven't done successfully for, oh, decades -- there's no reason to take them seriously as an AL West contender. Their rotation ranked last in the majors in innings pitched in 2007, and no Rangers starting pitcher has thrown as many as 120 pitches in a game since September 2005. Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla and Jason Jennings, among others, have to do more. "The bottom line is, we need you out there," GM Jon Daniels says. "A quality start is a 4.50 ERA. We're defining quality by mediocrity in our industry. I'm not mocking that. I'd sign up for some quality starts, given where we've been."
2. In two of the past five seasons, the Texas bullpen has delivered some of the heaviest workload in major league history. The 2003 Rangers pen threw 601 1/3 innings, the most ever by a big league pen. The 2007 Rangers rank fourth all time at 592 inning pitched.
3. After some internal debate, manager Ron Washington has decided to go with second baseman Ian Kinsler as his regular leadoff man. There was some thought to using designated hitter Frank Catalanotto in the leadoff slot against right-handers, but the Rangers like Kinsler better higher in the lineup. "He's a good player right now," Daniels said of Kinsler, who signed a five-year, $22 million extension last month. "Does he want to be great? I think he does. He has leadership qualities, and he wants to get better. I'd like him to be doing that in a Rangers uniform for a long time."
4. While things were tense for a while last season between Washington and the players, multiple Rangers say they're better now. The adjustment phase took a couple of unexpected detours, and among the changes this year, Washington is delegating more work to his coaches. New third-base coach Matt Walbeck, a former backstop, is working with catcher Gerald Laird this spring after Laird and Washington clashed last summer. "We've all had a year to get to know each other, get to know each others ins and outs," Millwood said. "The clubhouse has been great all spring."
5. Finally, the soil beneath the Rangers is rich and fertile. Baseball America ranks the Texas farm system fourth among the 30 major league teams heading into 2008. That's a feat in and of itself, but even more impressive considering that the publication had the Rangers 28th a year ago. That's the largest jump any team has ever made in the Baseball America organization rankings. Though it might take a couple of years, expect to hear a lot about pitchers Blake Beaven, Neftali Feliz, Eric Hurley, Kasey Kiker and Michael Maine, and position players Elvis Andrus, Julio Borbon, German Duran and Taylor Teagarden.