Rangers make changes as they head into off-season

Baseball doesn’t stop, not even in the initial moments after the final out of a team’s season.

As soon as Will Venable struck out Wednesday to complete the Texas Rangers’ 6-3 gut-wrenching loss in Game 5 of the American League Division Series, next season was already hanging in the air.

For every mention of the Rangers’ high hopes in 2016, much has to happen during the off-season to allow them to trek back to the postseason.

And the work is under way.

Decisions are also pending on Rangers players who can become free agents.

A blueprint for the 2016 roster will undergo a first draft in the coming days, first with an internal review of the players in the organization and a dissection of free agents who might be a fit.

By the time the final out of the World Series is recorded and the off-season business begins in earnest, general manager Jon Daniels and his staff want to be ready to launch into the hot stove league, though they might not be as busy with the core group returning and with the July 31 acquisitions of Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman and Sam Dyson serving for 2016, too.

“We’re just starting our meetings,” Daniels said. “Obviously, we have meetings during the summer and are constantly analyzing where we’re at. As we said at the time, I think we did a lot of our heavy lifting in July.”

Here are some of the things that will be considered:

Gallardo, Lewis

Two members of the starting rotation, right-handers Yovani Gallardo and Colby Lewis, can become free agents, and both will likely get that opportunity despite combining for 30 victories.

The question with Gallardo, a Fort Worth resident, is whether to make him a qualifying offer, which this year is expected to be worth $16 million. Gallardo, who turns 30 in February, wants a multiyear contract in his first crack at free agency, but $16 million to pitch another season at home might be somewhat tempting. Even that seems doubtful. No player has ever accepted a qualifying offer.

Lewis, 36, won a career-high 17 games and is beloved within the organization. With Gallardo potentially gone, pitching depth thinned by the Hamels trade and Yu Darvish out until May, the Rangers will need rotation help. Lewis just makes sense, even with Chi Chi Gonzalez ready to take a rotation spot.

“I would expect this winter, between Colby, Yovani and/or somebody outside the organization, that we will look to add some stability to the organization,” Daniels said.

Talented trio

Third baseman Adrian Beltre could need surgery to repair ligament damage in his left thumb and possibly his left index finger, and while his ALDS back injury was said to not be anything more than a nasty strain, the Rangers might want back specialist Dr. Drew Dossett to take another look.

Beltre will turn 37 early next season, the last of his six-year, $96 million contract. He is considered one of the toughest players in the game, because he is constantly playing through injuries. Outfielder Josh Hamilton is also regularly injured, though his woes in 2015 are thought to be related to not having a proper spring training.

With the health of Beltre and Hamilton a concern, top prospect Joey Gallo will be on the roster radar. He needs to solve Triple A before advancing to the majors, but the Rangers also might feel compelled to have an offensive threat on hand who can play third base and left field.

“He helped us win a couple games,” Daniels said. “Ultimately, the big leagues are hard. I think he will ultimately be better for all the challenges he faced this year, but he’s got more development time ahead of him.”

Upgrades

The group of hitters who did enough to lift the Rangers to the AL West title are all under contract for 2016, so there don’t seem to be any holes, assuming everyone is healthy. Daniels, though, will ask if the Rangers can be better at certain areas.

Catcher could be one area, though the free-agent market is typically thin on catching help. The Rangers like what Robinson Chirinos and Chris Gimenez did behind the plate, and Gimenez has become Hamels’ preferred catcher. Darvish is also a Gimenez fan.

Mike Napoli, a fan favorite and a terror on left-handed pitchers, can also be a free agent. The Rangers would like to have the right-handed hitter back, but he believes he can still be an everyday player.

The Rangers are heavy with left-handed hitters, something they’d like to see balanced out.

“There are some areas that I would expect that we’ll look to upgrade,” Daniels said. “I think we’ll have a lot of conversations with other clubs and kind of see where the market is. I don’t feel like there are any glaring holes if we are healthy.”

Don’t forget Profar

Infielder Jurickson Profar, who has missed the past two seasons because of shoulder injuries, is still highly regarded by the club and is expected to be fully healthy by spring training.

The catch is he no longer has a spot to slide into.

Daniels won’t do something as extreme as trade shortstop Elvis Andrus and his bulky contract to create a spot for Profar, who will likely spend time in the minors to catch up on two years’ worth of lost at-bats. He also needs to stay healthy and prove that he can make throws from shortstop and third base.

“No. 1, we’ve got to get him healthy, get him playing, and then it’s a question of how does he look in spring training and what’s best for him and what’s best for us,” Daniels said. “Does he compete for a multi-position spot on the club? It’s a pretty unique skill set for a manager to have.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Rangers make changes as they head into off-season."