SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Ryan Theriot is a name that has come up in discussions among Texas Rangers' brass as a potential fit for the bench in 2013.
Theriot is a veteran middle infielder with an impressive track record. He has played on the past two World Series championship teams, the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011 and the San Francisco Giants last year, and has a career .281 batting average.The Rangers haven't had a player such as Theriot the past few seasons because the team is a tough sell for bench guys with an infield full of All-Stars. Playing time is limited, and Theriot might not be interested in a part-time role after playing in a combined 236 games the past two seasons."That's always been an issue and something we've heard about from free agents," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said Tuesday. "That's why promoting guys from within gets around that, and trading for guys gets around that."The list of internal candidates to be the team's utility infielder begins with Jurickson Profar and Leury Garcia, but the Rangers seem hesitant of using young prospects with everyday potential as bench players.Garcia might make the most sense, as he is a switch hitter who can play infield and outfield."He has a legitimate skill set for that role," Daniels said.Another candidate in camp is Jeff Baker, who signed a minor league deal last month. But he has never played shortstop in the majors and struggled in the second half of last season, batting .200.So that leaves Daniels and his staff continuing to search outside options to see if there is a better match. Veteran shortstop Jason Bartlett is also on the market, but the Rangers haven't shown much, if any, interest in him.But there's no question the Rangers aren't done looking."When there's availability on the outside, you have to look at it," manager Ron Washington said.Darvish tosses BPYu Darvish threw for the first time in spring training Wednesday, a handful of warm-up pitches to A.J. Pierzynski and then live batting practice to three minor leaguers. Everything went well, or almost everything.The one blemish for Darvish was when outfield prospect Royce Bolinger, who hit one home run in 66 games at Short A Spokane last year, ripped a hanging breaking pitch over the left field fence.But it was only the first day of spring training and Darvish didn't think he'd be throwing live BP."I thought I was going to throw a bullpen and it was live BP," Darvish said. "That surprised me."Drew Davison, 817-390-7760Twitter: @drewdavison
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