Pitching development takes focus at Rangers’ meetings

ARLINGTON — The Rangers are holding their annual organizational meetings in Surprise, Ariz., this week and pitching will be a prime topic of discussion.

That, of course, is nothing new for the Rangers or for most Major League teams.

The Rangers will debate the wisdom of picking up Derek Holland’s $11 million option and re-signing Colby Lewis. They will consider all the trade options, including White Sox left-hander Chris Sale, and peruse a free-agent list headed by left-hander Rich Hill and right-handers Jeremy Hellickson and Ivan Nova.

“It’s not a great free-agent market on the starting side and we are not the only team looking,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. “We will have to be creative.”

The Rangers also plan to discuss their elusive goal of developing their own starting pitching. It’s not a subject likely to produce immediate results this winter, but it could save them money and misery in future years if they can settle on the right philosophy and develop the discipline to stick to it for an extended period of time.

“That is going to be a big focus in the offseason … our pitching development, our pitching program from top to bottom,” Daniels said. “The reality is the free-agent market isn’t great. That’s a big reminder of how important it is to produce your own, advance your own, polish off your own, whatever you want to call it. That’s going to continue to be a focus for us.”

The Rangers have been quite good at producing young pitchers over the past several years …

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