ARLINGTON, Texas -- All of Major League Baseball's bigwigs will be in San Diego next week for the annual winter meetings in hopes of bolstering their rosters.
The Texas Rangers will be there with a list of needs that include a starting pitcher, a catcher and an outfielder. Whether or not the Rangers fill any of those needs in San Diego is irrelevant because the offseason doesn't begin or end with the winter meetings.
The key is the Rangers better address those needs before the season starts because they know all too well what can happen if they don't. The 2014 season can happen. Despite the injuries that ended any chances of the Rangers being a competitive team in the American League West this season, they were already a starting pitcher and a bat short before the injury plague spread.
And that was after trading for Prince Fielder and signing Shin-Soo Choo in the offseason. Now the Rangers have to do whatever it takes this offseason to try and keep pace in a suddenly uber-competitive West where they looked up at every other team when the season ended.
That means the Rangers better start getting after it soon and it wouldn't hurt if they made things happen in San Diego or laid the groundwork for a big deal like they did at last year's meetings for Choo.
Standing pat isn't an option for a team with so many needs in a market where every team in December thinks it can win it all in 2015. The offseason is already off to a fast start too with big-name bats flipping while the big-name pitchers are still there.
"It's been interesting," Texas general manager Jon Daniels said of the early off-season moves by teams. "The market's moved a lot quicker on the bats, both trades and free agents. Most of the bigger-name guys that have been moved so far have been offensive players. I think that's a little reflective of the market place. Pretty much all of the names we've talked about are still out there."
Pitching is the first priority for Texas but if it comes via the free-agent market it will be after the marquee guys are gone.
"We have our guys lined up and we know how we value them," Daniels said.
The big free-agent names are Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields. Daniels continues to say the Rangers won't spend money on free-agent pitching and will focus on adding at least one more starter through a trade.
Daniels isn't keen on adding a pitcher who can be a free agent following the 2015 season but he's not ready to rule out that option either.
"If the deal's right, if the fit's right we're open to it," he said. "That's not my preference. I'd like to have somebody here that can fit in and be part of the group for more than a year but we're not ruling out anything at this point."
The Rangers had a chance at filling the outfield need in Torii Hunter, who opted to sign with the Minnesota Twins instead of coming home to Texas. Daniels said the club was after Hunter because of his power, makeup and his ability to help the clubhouse.
Hunter may have been one of the few options the Rangers would have gone after before pitching because of his unique skillset.
Players like that aren't just wanted by Daniels. New manager Jeff Banister has a wish list too as he heads to his first winter meetings as a manger.
"I hate to say that you covet players but as a manager you're always looking on the outside, looking at players that when you have a fit, whether it's a spot in your lineup or rotation, you're always looking for players that can make you better," Banister said. "I do think you value players, what these men and what they're capable of doing and how they fit in the culture of your ball club. Not everyone's a fit."
