Rangers Now Shifting Focus to Lefty Relief

The Texas Rangers made their big splash fans were waiting for over the weekend when they traded three prospects — none of their top six prospects — to the Milwaukee Brewers for innings eater and proven starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo and cash.

That filled the biggest need on the Rangers' roster to bolster a rotation that had Yu Darvish, Derek Holland, Colby Lewis and a whole bunch of uncertainty. Now, the Rangers are shifting their focus to adding some more lefties to the bullpen before spring training kicks off next month.

Currently, the only notable lefty on the Rangers' roster as far as relievers go is Robbie Ross Jr., as Neal Cotts remains unsigned after a less-than-stellar season in 2014 with the Rangers that followed his superb 2013. There is also Alex Claudio, who came onto the scene late last season and showed he can be a lefty-on-lefty specialist, and Michael Kirkman, who has failed time and time again to make it with the Rangers and is coming to camp on a minor-league deal.

"We've got some guys that we like on the left side, but we don't have a lot of competition right now," Daniels told MLB.com. "There are also some veteran guys, quality pieces still on the market. Bullpen depth is still where we are looking at."

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