Due to their desire to reduce payroll this off-season, the Rangers haven't been very active. However when Texas broke onto the scene yesterday, they weren't overly frugal, signing RHP Ugueth Urbina to a one-year, $4.5M contract. Reportedly, Urbina will receive $4M in 2003 with $500,000 deferred.

While the price the Rangers paid is in line with what Urbina commands as a recognized closer, Texas had a viable closer candidate and did not need to spend money on a more established pitcher. Although the Rangers had difficulty filling the role last season when RHP Jeff Zimmerman found himself injured, RHP Francisco Cordero began to lay claim to the job at the end of the season and has certainly displayed the skills necessary to carry out the duties of a closer.

Reportedly, the Rangers still intend to groom Cordero as a closer. However, Zimmerman's contract runs through 2004, and he should be healthy by the end of the 2003 season. Cordero is only a year younger than Urbina, who should retire quite wealthy because the Expos chose to move him into the closer's role in 1997. If they plan to have Cordero close in 2004, they should certainly tie him into a multi-year contract now, as he's just entering his first year of arbitration and his salary otherwise could rise quickly.

Teams looking to cut costs repeatedly ignore opportunities to save money on their bullpen. They overlook the abundant flow of minimum wage pitchers capable of pitching effectively out of the pen and instead make the mistake of spending the little bit of money available on a reliever because they feel that fits their budget.

OF-R Doug Glanville also joined the Rangers this week, signing a one-year, $1M contract. Texas wanted a true centerfielder, since OF-S Carl Everett's injury problems prevented him from playing center most of last season. Glanville signed with the Rangers, because he felt he would have more of an opportunity to start for them.

However, although he currently appears set to leadoff and play center, his job isn't entirely secure. If healthy, Everett will most likely cover center at least part time. Prospect OF-R Ryan Ludwick needed surgery at the end of the season to insert a screw into a stress fracture in his hip, but once that heals, he'll deserve a spot on the team. I suspect the injury has convinced Texas Ludwick is better suited to right field than center, so I expect him to see significant time in right with OF-R Juan Gonzalez and OF-R Kevin Mench sharing left and DH. Under those conditions, Glanville would not only lose his starting job to Everett, he also likely wouldn't have a very large role as a reserve.

If I were looking to save money, I don't think I would have bothered spending a million on a player that might see as little time as Glanville, especially since he clearly peaked in 1999 and has been on a downward track since that point. OF-R Rontrez Johnson, who the Rangers signed to a minor league deal, would have been an excellent alternative. Unfortunately he wasn't on Texas' 40-man roster, so Oakland stole him away in the Rule 5 draft (don't ask me why the A's didn't simply sign him themselves.)

The Rangers have agreed to one-year contracts with both UT-R Todd Greene and RHP Danny Kolb, who were arbitration eligible. Greene will receive $750,000 in 2003 while Kolb will make $450,000. While Greene's work behind the plate hasn't helped the catcher learn to take a walk, he provides them with a competent reserve behind starting catcher C-R Einar Diaz. Kolb missed most of last season with partially torn rotator cuff and pitched poorly when healthy. On a smaller scale, his contract is as wasteful as Urbina's deal.

Urbina's former team also has added to their bullpen recently, signing RHP Mike Timlin to a one-year, $1.85M contract and RHP Chad Fox to a one-year deal for an undisclosed figure. I'm quite disappointed in new GM Theo Epstein spending money on his bullpen, as although the Red Sox aren't currently crunched for payroll room, they have several highly qualified young pitchers who happen to be inexpensive.

While Timlin took a considerable pay cut to sign with Boston, at this point in his career there's no reason to be paying him a salary of this size. He continues to successfully limit baserunners, but his strikeouts have been dropping for several seasons. Critiquing the Fox signing is more difficult, since we don't know his salary, however the fact remains that the Red Sox did not need to sign anyone for the major league pen.

Boston already has LHP Alan Embree and RHP Bob Howry at the top of their pen in addition to all of their excess starters, whose ranks I expect to increase by one before Spring Training as the club is still looking to add another starter. Additionally RHP Andy Shibilo and RHP Tom Davey should have received an opportunity to earn spots in the pen in Spring Training.