Rangers GM Daniels sticking to plan

ARLINGTON - General manager Jon Daniels and the Texas Rangers are sticking with their plan.

That means no big-dollar spending spree this offseason and no pursuit of overpriced free agent pitching. Instead, the Rangers will keep trying to develop their young players and build from within their own organization.

"If I was a fan, the thing that I would least want the Rangers to do would be abandon what it is we have been doing. Then we're just spinning our wheels," Daniels said Tuesday. "The easiest thing for us to do would be to step up to the podium this offseason and announce three free-agent signings.

"A friend of mine in the game said always be focused on making headlines six months from now, not six hours from now, and that's kind of the approach we're taking."

Texas (79-83) is coming off its eighth losing season in nine years, but Daniels points out that the team - despite using a team-record 55 players, including 30 pitchers (seven who made their major league debuts) - overcame a horrendous April and had an extended stretch of success.

After a 7-16 start in April, the Rangers went 53-38 over the next 3½ months. They were six games over .500 and only four games out in the wild-card race in early August, but couldn't overcome inconsistent pitching and season-ending injuries to Ian Kinsler and David Murphy.

"What happened in those middle three months for me was really a team developing an identity to play winning baseball, play resilient baseball," Daniels said. "For me, that was an excellent sign of things to come, that we were capable of an extended, sustained period where we played that type of baseball."

While Daniels and manager Ron Washington met with the media Tuesday to wrap up the season, team president Nolan Ryan was in Arizona, where the Hall of Fame pitcher was working with pitchers in the instructional league.

The Rangers have organizational meetings planned in Arizona next week to set offseason plans.

Their potential free agents are designated hitter Milton Bradley, who led the AL in on-base percentage (.436), right-hander Jamey Wright (75 appearances), infielder Ramon Vazquez and right-hander Jason Jennings. The team also has to decide on a $6.2 million option for Hank Blalock, limited to 123 games the last two seasons because of injuries.

During Daniels' three seasons as GM, he has put an emphasis on scouting and player development. Midway through the 2007 season, when initially extending Daniels' contract, owner Tom Hicks endorsed the GM's plan.

This summer, the Rangers' Triple-A and Double-A teams, along with one of their Class A teams, won division titles.

Washington, 154-170 his two seasons, seems assured of returning next season though his coaching staff will be changed.

Bench coach Art Howe, the former manager that Washington referred to as his mentor, and third-base coach Matt Walbeck won't be offered contracts for next season. Jim Colborn, who filled in as bullpen coach the past two months, will return to being the team's director of Pacific Rim operations.

Andy Hawkins, who became the interim pitching coach when Mark Connor was fired Aug. 1, will be a candidate to keep that job. Daniels said others will be interviewed as well.

Howe was hired two years ago to work for Washington, who had been an assistant coach the previous 11 seasons for the Oakland Athletics, the first seven when Howe was the manager.

"It doesn't take me out of my comfort zone," Washington insisted. "I'm very confident in my abilities."

Daniels said the Rangers went into 2008 expecting it to be a "development year."

But will 2009 be the breakthrough season?

"The players on the field dictate the timeline," Daniels said. "Our goal is to continue doing what we've done which is draft and develop the best players we can.

"I don't think you can fairly answer that in the offseason,' he said. "I don't think that Tampa could sit there in the offseason last year and say next year is the year we're going all out. Baseball just doesn't work like that."