Where will Banister use Rangers' best reliever?
The gang will all be here Monday, as the rest of the position players report to Texas Rangers spring training.
As best as I could tell Sunday, only three are missing — Destin Hood, Andy Ibanez and Adrian Beltre. Beltre is expected to be in the clubhouse Monday, and that's who the media has been waiting on all off-season after he was excused from Fan Fest last month.
His arrival is always an event. He is the Rangers' best player, and he's also their most veteran player. His opinions about how the front office handled the off-season are always newsworthy.
That might never be more true than this spring, with Beltre going into the final year of his contract. He wants to win this season, possibly he last of his career.
The media is patiently standing by.
Here's the Surprise Five from Sunday.
1. The Rangers are back to selecting from internal candidates to fill the closer's role this season, barring the addition of a late-innings closer. This comes after the Rangers cut off negotiating with Seung-Hwan Oh on Saturday because of concerns about the health of his arm.
Alex Claudio was the closer at the end of last season and would figure to be the favorite to be there at the start of this season. No, he's not in the same mode as the traditional closer, except for getting outs.
He did that more efficiently in 2017 than any reliever in baseball, at 13.6 pitches per inning. That allowed him to pitch more often and to get more than three outs.
Claudio was so good that he might be his own worst enemy in the closer's race. Manager Jeff Banister talked Sunday about using the Rangers' best reliever at the most important part of the games.
The example Banister used during his daily media chat was Rangers are up 4-2 in the top of the sixth with one out and a runner on first. The starter is tired and a change has to be made.
That might be the most important part of the game when Banister would want his best reliever. Claudio, who can go multiple innings, could then pitched the seventh to get the game to Keone Kela and Jake Diekman or some other combination.
As things stand, reading the tea leaves, Claudio and Diekman are the top candidates. The Rangers like Kela's stuff, but Banister said that the right-hander needs to prove that he can stay healthy.
The free-agent market is thinning out. Tony Watson came off the board at a bargain price, and Sergio Romo is gone, too. Greg Holland is clearly the best still available, but he figures to go for far more than the Rangers are willing to pay.
2. The assumption is that Claudio, Diekman, Kela, Tony Barnette and Chris Martin will be in the bullpen on Opening Day and two spots will be decided this spring.
Count Steve Delabar among the front-runners.
He has impressed early on, very early on, in camp. He came ready to get outs and win a spot as a non-roster invitee.
Also count Jose Leclerc as a front-runner. Banister has gushed twice already about the right-hander, who has "electric" stuff capable of one of the league's top swing-and-miss rates last season but also has too many mechanical issues to be a consistent strike-thrower.
Unlike Delabar, though, Leclerc is on the 40-man roster.
Kevin Jepsen has some fans. Austin Bibens-Dirkx would seem to be the leading candidate to be the long man if the Rangers go with a true long man. The guess here is they will.
3. Darwin Barney said that at his advanced age of 32, any opportunity to be in a big-league clubhouse for spring training is a good opportunity, which prompted the following question to Banister:
Isn't Barney selling himself short?
"He is selling himself short," Banister said.
Barney is a former Gold Glove winner, and defense always plays. He isn't known for his bat, but he's been capable enough with it to keep hanging around.
He knows what job is at stake and what his role will be if he makes the club. Furthermore, Barney knows how to be a utility man and what it takes to come off the bench after four or five days off and be sharp.
It's a skill that older players have as they are able to draw on their experiences. Young players have won the Rangers' utility job in past springs only to get sent down within six weeks or two months to go get everyday at-bats in the minors.
Jurickson Profar is only 25 but will be on the Opening Day roster, barring a trade, because he is out of minor-league options. Can the Rangers take two utility infielders?
Not if they go with 13 pitchers, which a six-man rotation would require. Here's the road to the 25-man roster: Nine regular position players, six starting pitchers, seven relievers, one backup catcher, one backup outfielder who must play center field and Profar.
That doesn't add up well for Barney or Trevor Plouffe. Or Willie Calhoun, Ryan Rua, Carlos Tocci or Drew Robinson, who are in contention to play left field and/or back up Delino DeShields in center.
Maybe the six-man rotation isn't the best thing for the team.
4. Position players like Barney and Plouffe had an optional workout day but showed up anyway. So did Jurickson Profar and Shin-Soo Choo, who always shows up.
Plouffe provided the most news of any player, saying that he is not interested in going to the minor leagues should he not make the team. He's a big-league player, he said, and would rather spend time with his kids than in Triple A.
To that end, he underwent a swing overhaul from the same coaches who overhauled J.D. Martinez, one of the top free agents still looking for a job. A high-paying job. To Plouffe's credit, he knew the kind of season he had in 2017 (not good) and was in no position to be too choosy.
The Rangers were in on Plouffe from the start of the off-season, so much so that they had him come to Arlington for a workout. A deal didn't come together until last week, but the Rangers were always his first choice.
He finds himself in the same boat as Barney in terms of making the roster, but he has the same mind-set. He knows he's not going to play his natural position much — Beltre will take care of that — and that he will have to play anywhere and be able to hit off the bench to make the team.
The good news for guys like Barney and Plouffe is that scouts will be at every game they play and teams will need players of their ilk. If a job with the Rangers can't be won, there might be an opportunity elsewhere.
That might be their best bet.
5. At one point Sunday, Cole Hamels, Doug Fister, Matt Moore and Mike Minor were throwing bullpen sessions side by side by side by side. That's 80 percent of the rotation, or maybe 66.7 percent if the Rangers go through with their threat of a six-man rotation.
Hamels' goal was to get through 45 pitches on the same ball. The first time he found the dirt, well, he wasn't happy. Fister seemed to get through his bullpen without any apparent issues.
Moore, who was slowed Saturday because of some knee soreness, and Minor also didn't get too animated.
Martin Perez, meanwhile, was helping out with pitchers fielding practice. He's still not allowed to participate because of his broken right elbow, but he's continuing to throw bullpens with his left arm. Here's betting he doesn't miss a start to open the season, as he has vowed.
That group has a history of eating innings, which makes every bullpen better. But to eat innings, they have to be effective. They've been that, too.
The question is if they can collectively do that in 2018.
The media is patiently standing by.
This story was originally published February 18, 2018 at 8:06 PM with the headline "Where will Banister use Rangers' best reliever?."