Rangers unlikely to sign a top-end pitcher, GM says

Though the Texas Rangers have kept in touch with free-agent right-hander Yu Darvish, a reunion probably isn't going to happen, according to general manager Jon Daniels, who suggested Friday his team's pitching staff is pretty much set.

"We've maintained contact with Darvish for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that we really like the guy," Daniels said during an appearance on MLB Network Radio. "But I still maintain I think it's very unlikely that we're going to ultimately bring in one of the upper-end pitchers."

Even with the additions of right-hander Doug Fister and left-hander Mike Minor, the Rangers' rotation is rife with question marks as spring training looms, with no starters, excluding perhaps veteran left-hander Cole Hamels, that can be confidently relied upon. Matt Moore, another newly acquired left-hander, was the fifth-least valuable qualified starter in 2017, managing a 5.52 ERA over 174 1/3 innings with the San Francisco Giants. Minor, despite commanding a three-year deal, spent last season in the bullpen, and hasn't started a game in the big leagues since 2014. Fister, who landed a one-year contract, has authored a below-average ERA in each of the last three seasons, averaging just 125 innings per year. Finally, Matt Bush, their tentative fifth starter, has never started a game in his professional career. (Martin Perez, incidentally, will miss at least the first month of the season after fracturing his non-throwing elbow in December.)

If one or more of their rotation candidates don't pan out, the Rangers also have right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx, who started six games for the club last year, and potentially veteran left-hander Jonathon Niese, who missed the entire 2017 campaign following knee surgery and signed a minor-league deal with the club Tuesday.