This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry's Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- On Friday, the Rangers announced the signing of Jalen Beeks as another bullpen arm, while designating Alexis Díaz for assignment in the process.
With less than 10 days until camp breaks, Beeks was a needed addition for the makeup of the bullpen. But it leaves some questions for construction come Opening Day.
“There's a number of things I think about with the bullpen and the construction of it,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “There’s still a lot of openings and guys are fighting for positions. It's always challenging when some guys are facing Double-A bats and you’re trying to figure out what is real, what's not early on. … I think I have an idea of what the bullpen is starting to look like. But I think I still have the same questions I had in the offseason, as I do right now, of who the last couple spots are gonna be given to.”
Here are some questions that arise from the Beeks signing:
The Latz situation
Whether Jacob Latz breaks camp as the fifth starter or the long man out of the bullpen will undoubtedly have a domino effect across the entire pitching staff, at least in the short term. By adding another left-handed reliever, that opens up an easier lane for Latz to be the fifth starter.
At least from the outside looking in.
“I had four or five lefties in my bullpen in Miami,” Schumaker said. “There's still competition for the fifth spot. Latz, [Kumar] Rocker, [Austin] Gomber, everybody in there is still in a real competition. [Cal] Quantrill too. We still have, what, eight days before we leave. I still want to see what this thing looks like ‘till March 24, when we play against Kansas City [in Arlington].”
Who gets the last couple of bullpen spots?
The Rangers signed veteran arms like Chris Martin, Jakob Junis and Tyler Alexander this offseason. Robert Garcia is a virtual lock for the roster. They would also like to keep Rule 5 pick Carter Baumler in the bullpen, though that limits flexibility down the line, as he can’t be optioned without being offered back to the Orioles for $50,000.
That leaves two “open” spots, assuming Latz is in the bullpen.
There are a number of options to this point, including Luis Curvelo (40-man), Cole Winn (40-man), Peyton Gray (non-roster invitee), Gavin Collyer (NRI) and Josh Sborz (NRI).
“You're trying to put guys in situations so you can try to make the best decision you can,” Schumaker said. “They’re not easy decisions [when they’re playing on the backfields]. They're games, but they're not real games. It's hard to really understand what this is going to look like with some of the bubble guys. You get the information from our front office. You get the information from our staff. You try to make the best decision you can.”
Who closes?
This is the one thing that hasn’t changed all that much since the start of spring. When pitchers and catchers reported, Schumaker named Martin and Garcia as the two most likely to get the opportunity to close games to start the season. That will likely remain the case, at least early on.
Who knows what that looks like by the summer, or even September.
“I've been in situations where your sixth inning guy ends up becoming your closer,” Schumaker said. “Ryan Franklin, in 2011, was our closer at the All-Star break. Jason Motte ended up being our closer at the end. Two years ago, when I was with Miami, Dylan Floro was our closer, and it ended up being Tanner Scott. I just don't know what's going to happen here. I’d love someone to take a hold of that role, for sure. I don't want to say closer by committee either. I think we'll see what happens.”