The Texas Rangers avoided two arbitration hearings on Friday when they gave new deals to relief pitcher Neftali Feliz and relief/rotation swingman Alexi Ogando, giving Feliz $3 million for the 2014 season, when he's expected to be the team's closer, and forking over $2.625 million to Ogando, who could quite possibly be in the starting rotation.
Those deals kept the Rangers' streak of avoiding arbitration hearings with players alive and well dating back to 2000 when they went to a hearing with Lee Stevens.
But there's one player left the Rangers have to make a decision on, and it's the guy who will likely be a platoon DH in Mitch Moreland, who's eligible for arbitration this winter.
Moreland the club exchanged salary figures on Friday and they're more than $1 million apart.
Moreland wants $3.25 million in 2014, while the Rangers are offering $2.025 million, meaning the sides would have to agree on the midpoint of the two numbers to avoid an arbitration hearing, which is never a fun process for either side. That number would be $2,637,500, which for a guy that hit 23 home runs despite missing a month is fairly decent.
