The Rangers have signed 35-year old righty reliever Yoshinori Tateyama to a 1-year deal. Tateyama was 1-2 with 4 saves and a 1.80 ERA last season for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan. Tateyama has pitched 12 seasons in Japan appearing in 438 games in which he was 35-43 with 27 saves and a 3.43 ERA. He will likely work in middle relief for the Rangers in 2011 if he makes the team out of spring training.

The Rangers have signed 32-year old righty swinging catcher Yorvit Torrealba to a 2-year, $6.25 million dollar deal. Torrealba played in 95 games for the Padres last season and he was 88 of 325 (.271 avg, .721 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 7 homers, 37 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. He has now played in 669 games in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 542 of 2,106 (.257 avg, .708 OPS) with 237 runs scored, 45 homers, 272 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. I like this signing for the Rangers as Torrealba is battle tested in big games. He also works well with a pitching staff.

Ron Washington finished second in the A.L. Manager of the Year voting behind Ron Gardenhire of the Twins. I think Washington got robbed here but sometimes that happens to crackheads. Washington led the Rangers to a 90-72 (55.6%) record during the regular season and he was 8-8 (50%) in the post season as he guided the Rangers to their first ever World Series appearance. Washington now has a 331-317 (51.1%) record during the regular season in his first four years with the Rangers. Washington might eventually get one of these awards.

32-year old lefty starting pitcher Cliff Lee finished in 7th place in the A.L. Cy Young Award voting. Lee started 28 games for the Angels & Rangers last season and he was 12-9 with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He only walked an amazing 18 batters in 212 1/3 innings last season! Lee has now pitched in 222 games (218 starts) in his 9 years in the majors and he is 102-61 with a 3.85 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He won the A.L. Cy Young Award in 2008 for the Cleveland Indians. Lee is by far the best starting pitcher on the free agent market so the Rangers will hopefully be able to re-sign him.

22-year old righty reliever Neftali Feliz has won the Rookie of the Year Award in the American League. Feliz did it by pitching in 70 games (0 starts) for the Rangers in which he was 4-3 with 40 saves, a 2.73 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. Feliz only gave up 43 hits in 69 1/3 innings during the regular season for the Rangers last year and he whiffed 71 batters as he was electric. He also pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for the Rangers during the post season and he was 0-0 with 1 save, a 1.23 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. Feliz only gave up 3 hits in 7 1/3 innings during the post season and he whiffed 11 batters. Feliz has a very bright future for the Rangers.