Rangers Add An Arm; Feliz To Rotation?

Yesterday afternoon, the Texas Rangers acquired Clay Rapada, a left-handed reliever from Detroit, for cash considerations or a player to be named later.

Rapada is a sidearm pitcher who Texas is hoping will compete for a spot in the bullpen at spring training.

The move appears to be the Rangers' attempt to bolster the relief corps to the point that they could consider moving stud fireballer Neftali Feliz into the starting rotation.



Rapada, 28, appeared in just three games for the Tigers last season and is 3-0 with a 4.94 ERA in 27 1/3 major league innings. He has 21 strikeouts and 18 walks. Last season for Triple-A Toledo, he had a 2.20 ERA against left-handed batters with 23 strikeouts and six walks in 16 1/3 innings. That makes him a candidate for the situational lefty spot in the bullpen, a spot held down by Eddie Guardado. Guardado is expected to retire.

"Rapada's had quality success against left-handed hitters, mostly in the minor leagues," said Rangers GM Jon Daniels, who said Rapada switched from a more conventional pitching motion to a sidearm delivery when he was with the Cubs a few years ago. "Like a lot of guys, he scuffled early on in his career in the big leagues. He'll come in and compete for a spot."

To make roon for Rapada on the 40-man roster, Willie Eyre was outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Rapada is also an affordable option for the cash-poor Rangers, as he's not arbitration-eligible and would make less than $500,000 if he's on the Opening Day roster.

Texas Locates The Missing Offense, Hammers The Padres

On a night when starter Kevin Millwood claimed to have, "the worst stuff I've had all year", the offense decided to break out the bats and give him more than enough support to notch his 8th win of the year.

"My fastball and location weren't very good," said Millwood, who hit two batters and walked three while battling for six tough innings. "It feels good to win, but I wanted to go deeper in the game and give the bullpen a break."

The bullpen was up to the task, however, as Jason Grilli, Willie Eyre & Doug Mathis each pitched an inning of hitless, scoreless baseball.



The offense appears to have found a bit of it's old spark, scoring runs in the first innings, giving Millwood plenty of room to breathe.

David Murphy had another big game, hitting a 3-run blast in the 2nd inning. Chris Davis also kept his hot hitting going, going 1-for-3 with a walk.

On the whole, Texas pounded out 13 hits and worked 6 walks, putting 12 runs on the board.

Kevin Millwood feels good about the 3-game winning streak saying, "It seems like we're getting back on track."

Before the season began, everyone seemed to think the pitching would be the key to Texas taking the next step. Suprisingly, it's been the pitching that has carried the heaviest load. It not appears as though it is the offense that will need to show better consistency if the Rangers are to truly make a run at the AL West.

Third baseman Michael Young thinks the offense will get things figured out.

"There's not a magic formula," Young said. "We're a confident group of guys. We're focused on having good at-bats, whether it's a two-pitch at-bat or if we work the count a little."