If there's one thing we've figured out here over recent years, it's that you win October baseball games with pitching, regardless of how good your offense is. Look out the Texas Rangers, who have always been good offensively but now have some pitchers. Heck, look at the San Francisco Giants.
So when you have a good pitcher, you have to keep him, and it appears the Rangers are working on doing just that with Matt Harrison.
The 27-year-old lefty went 18-11 in 2012, pitched a career-high 213 1/3 innings and finished with a 3.29 ERA after going 14-9 with a 3.39 ERA in 2011.
“We’re still talking,” Harrison told The Dallas Morning News. “We’re excited about the possibility of a long-term deal, but we still have thinking and talking to do.”
The Rangers did this same thing with Derek Holland last offseason, giving him a five-year deal worth $26 million, a bargain comparatively speaking for a guy that was about to hit free agency. Now, Harrison is set to be a free agent after the 2014 season and the Rangers would like to avoid that with Harrison, who should be in line to get more money than Holland after the past two seasons he's put up.
