I would like to see the Rangers make a deal for a second lefty in case Ross gets an opportunity to start and needs more seasoning in the minors. There are two lefties I have liked for quite some time that are now available on the market and wanted to see what everyone else thought about signing either Sean Burnett or JP Howell.

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121108&content_id=40211120&vkey=news_tex&c_id=tex

They already have. They traded for the Royals' Hottovy. He pitched pretty well for them down the stretch.

Mike Gonzalez (remember him?) is a FA too. WAS wants to keep both he and Burnett, or at least one of them.

I am aware of the pickup for Hottovy but I don't know that I am that on board with him yet as anything more than a "take a flyer on" type player. Just would be nice to get a well accomplished lefty reliever in here in case Ross moves to the Starters group or regresses.

I'd like another lefty too. If they try Ross in the rotation I hope they pick another guy up too. I expect the bullpen to look significantly different this year.

Is anyone really giving Ross a realistic shot and grabbing a rotation spot? I mean the guy was destined for AA as a starter last pring until he settled in our LOOGY role. No way he's ready to face major leaguers for 6+ innings this year.

He was far from a LOOGY and was used much more like a 2 inning 5th-7th inning bridge guy.

The way I remembered it he broke camp as a loogy and his role expanded as other guys in the pen struggled.

Either way, my point is Ross is still far from a viable rotation option IMO

Right now Robbie Ross would be a 2.0 WAR pitcher, at best. We will do better than that out of the last rotation spot.

Consider this: The one position on the roster that's easiest to fill is the LOOGY role. That's why, if you're left-handed, you can pitch as long as you want.

I imagine this situation will be reevaluated before the 2014 season, but right now, Robbie Ross is a two-pitch pitcher. That doesn't get the job done over the course of a 180-200 inning season. It's the same reason why Alexi Ogando fell apart in the 2nd half back in 2011. Ross has a heavy fastball and a dynamic slider, extremely effective for one hitter, three hitters, even five hitters.

But without a change up, he will not find himself in our rotation. And I believe that's what 2013 is going to be about as far as his progression is concerned. Right now he has two above average pitches, with his slider probably leaning closer to the plus side. He can be a wipeout lefty if he adds even an average change up.

Just not right now.

Yeah, I'm with Eric on this one. Give Ross some time to build up his pitches before inserting him into the rotation. He made a significant jump last year, which skipped his refinement process. He may end up being a great starting pitcher, but give him time.

I think you guys are missing my point here and that's that if we deem him a future starter then I personally don't see why it would benefit him to pitch as a bullpen arm instead of working in the minors on his second and third offerings...at no point did I say he needed to be our number 5 starter. What I am saying is that if we deem it that he is a starter I liked Burnett or Howell as our lefty in the bullpen or god forbid we get two lefties in there as it was obvious we wore out Ross in the second half and could have used some help in that regard...why not go with one of these other options and build Ross in the mold of a starter.