The focus for the Texas Rangers this offseason has been to lock up their core players with long term contracts. Much of the focus has been on players like Mike Napoli and Josh Hamilton who can become free agents after the 2012 season; however there is a great benefit to locking players up before they become arbitration eligible as well. Arbitration years can be expensive and when a team is confident in the ability of a player it is a great way to save money in the long run.

The Rangers are reportedly trying to lock Derek Holland up with a five year contract before he becomes arbitration eligible. Holland would become arbitration eligible after 2012 and a five year deal would not only take care of his arbitration years, but would also take care of his first year of free agency.

Top end of the rotation starters do not come around often and while Holland is still young and will have peaks and valleys, he has shown the potential to become at least a #2 starter. Holland went 16-5 in 2011 with a 3.95 ERA and four shutouts. He threw the most shutouts in the major leagues with the exception of Cliff Lee and has the type of stuff that can completely control a game. His struggles during the season and on into the postseason were frustrating, but he is young and showed growth during the regular season. He also showed the ability to pitch up to his ability on the brightest stage possible when he carried the Rangers to victory in Game 4 of the World Series. While C.J. Wilson could never conquer the spotlight of October, Holland finally showed that he completely had that ability. For a team like the Rangers, a pitcher has be able to perform during the regular season and on into October.

Not only do top end of the rotation pitchers not come around often, but they are not cheap either. Right now everyone in baseball is focused on which team had the winning bid for Yu Darvish and how much it will take for that team to actually ink him to a contract. The total for Darvish is expected to be over $100 million and he has never thrown a pitch in the major leagues. There is the possibility that Darvish could turn out to be an ace in the major leagues, but that is uncertain at this point. With Holland, the Rangers have a very good idea in what they are getting and it will come much cheaper than a free agent.

The Rangers have a list a mile long of core players that are in need of long term contracts, but starting with pitching and specifically with Holland is an excellent place to begin. The Rangers still have a busy offseason ahead of them and most of it will come from working out deals with players already on their current roster.

John Bowman is a lifelong baseball and Texas Rangers fan that loves to ponder the deeper aspects of the game. Some of his first baseball memories involve Arlington Stadium nachos, Charlie Hough’s knuckeball, dirt on Pete Incaviglia’s uniform and the voices of Mark Holtz and Eric Nadel as he fell asleep. Follow him on Twitter @TexasWinColumn.

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Erik Bedard made his first start in 20 months and the Seattle Mariners’ left-hander didn’t show much rust.

Bedard got his latest comeback under way with five solid innings in a 6-4 loss to the Texas Rangers on Monday night.

Bedard (0-1) allowed five runs — three earned — and four hits. He gave up homers to Nelson Cruz and Elvis Andrus, but struck out three and walked two in a positive step as he tries to bounce back from a series of shoulder injuries.

“I didn’t forget how it was,” Bedard said. “I didn’t have too many butterflies. I tried to throw strikes and get people out.”

His previous start was July 25, 2009, before undergoing his third season-ending left shoulder surgery in a three-year span in August 2009. He missed all of last season.

Seattle manager Eric Wedge liked what he saw from Bedard.

“He threw the ball well and hadn’t been out there in a long time,” Wedge said. “I thought he did a good job of controlling the ballgame, mixed his pitches well. … I was really pleased with his performance.”

The 31-year-old Bedard went 3-1 with a 3.15 ERA in six starts during spring training, so Wedge wasn’t surprised that he was able to perform as well as he did.

“He’s a veteran guy with a great mindset,” Wedge said. “He had a great approach every time he was out there all spring. He took it into tonight and it was good to see. I was happy for him. He gave us a chance to win the ballgame and that’s all you can do.”

Milton Bradley had three hits for the Mariners (2-2).

Homers have become a regular thing for Cruz, the third player in major league history to open a season by going deep in four straight games. Andrus, however, hadn’t hit one in 705 at-bats.

“We’ve got a solid offense,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “Anybody in the lineup can get you. Tonight Elvis got us going. And Cruz came back and got another one. … Anytime you’ve got that lineup, that’s what it’s all about.”

Cruz went to the plate in the fourth guessing he’d get a first-pitch curve from Bedard. Instead, the lefty threw a changeup and Cruz adjusted with a drive over the center-field wall to give him four of Texas’ 13 homers this season.

“In that at-bat I was thinking, hit the ball through the hole (at) second base hard, because he was throwing that curveball,” Cruz said. “I was hoping he would throw that so I could hit it the other way, but he threw me a changeup and I turned on it.”

Cruz joined Willie Mays (1971) and Mark McGwire (1998) as the only players to go deep in each of their first four games of a season.

The Rangers (4-0) are one of four unbeaten teams in the big leagues.

Gusty 20 mph wind made fly balls and popups a challenge for fielders. With two outs in the first, Rangers first baseman Mike Napoli was in foul territory lining up Bradley’s popup. But the ball sailed fair and dropped between Napoli and second baseman Ian Kinsler, with Bradley being credited with a single.

The Rangers capitalized on Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki’s error to make it 3-0 in the second. After Napoli drew a two-out walk, Yorvit Torrealba’s line drive to right kicked off the heel of Suzuki’s glove.

Julio Borbon, the No. 9 hitter, followed with his two-run triple to right-center.

The Mariners rallied in the fourth on ex-Ranger Justin Smoak’s RBI double and Miguel Olivo’s run-scoring groundout, but Cruz’s solo shot on a changeup in the bottom half made it 4-2.

Chone Figgins’ RBI groundout in the fifth pulled Seattle within 4-3, but Josh Hamilton’s two-out RBI double in the fifth restored Texas’ two-run pad.

Michael Young hit a leadoff double in the sixth and scored on Torrealba’s double-play grounder, making it 6-3.

Bradley doubled in the eighth against Arthur Rhodes and scored when Olivo singled with two outs.

The Mariners were able to somewhat limit a Rangers offense that scored 26 runs while sweeping a three-game weekend series from Boston.

“We’re not looking for moral victories,” Wedge said. “They’re a strong-hitting ballclub and I felt like we gave ourselves a chance. But we didn’t finish innings off, a mistake or two hurt us — but we were right there in it.”

NOTES: Bradley improved his batting average to .353. … Texas RHP Alexi Ogando is scheduled to make his major league starting debut Tuesday night against the Mariners. Ogando went 4-1 with a 1.30 ERA in 44 relief appearances for the Rangers last season. … Mariners RHP Michael Pineda will start in his major league debut Tuesday night. … Smoak extended his hitting streak to 14 games dating to last season with a second-inning single.

Nelson Cruz became the third player in major league history to homer in the first four games of a season, Derek Holland pitched six effective innings and the Texas Rangers remained one of four unbeaten teams with a 6-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night.

Texas (4-0) is off to its best start since opening 7-0 in 1996, following up a three-game weekend sweep of Boston.

Baltimore (4-0), Philadelphia and Cincinnati (both 3-0) are the other undefeated teams.

Cruz joined Willie Mays (1971) and Mark McGwire (1998) as the only players to go deep in each of their first four games of a season.

Holland (1-0) was given the No. 4 spot in the rotation out of spring training and he cemented his role by allowing three runs and seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Neftali Feliz worked a perfect ninth for his first save.

Elvis Andrus got the Rangers’ offense rolling in the first inning with his first homer in 705 at-bats, and Julio Borbon contributed a two-run triple.

Seattle lefty Erik Bedard (0-1) allowed five runs _ three earned _ and four hits over five innings in his first start in 20 months.

Bedard gave up two homers, but he struck out three and walked two in a positive step in his comeback from a series of shoulder injuries.

His previous start was July 25, 2009, before undergoing his third season-ending left shoulder surgery in a three-year span in August 2009. He missed all of last season.

Milton Bradley had three hits for the Mariners (2-2).

Gusty 20 mph wind made fly balls and popups a challenge for fielders. With two outs in the first, Rangers first baseman Mike Napoli was in foul territory lining up Bradley’s popup. But the ball sailed fair and dropped between Napoli and second baseman Ian Kinsler, with Bradley being credited with a single.

Andrus, who didn’t homer last season, hit the seventh of his career with nobody on in the first. When he ran down the dugout steps, his teammates remained seated with blank expressions. Manager Ron Washington was the first to offer congratulations, followed by the rest of the team.

The Rangers capitalized on Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki’s error to make it 3-0 in the second. After Napoli drew a two-out walk, Yorvit Torrealba’s line drive to right kicked off the heel of Suzuki’s glove.

Borbon, the No. 9 hitter, followed with his two-run triple to right-center.

The Mariners rallied in the fourth on ex-Ranger Justin Smoak’s RBI double and Miguel Olivo’s run-scoring groundout, but Cruz’s solo shot in the bottom half made it 4-2.

Chone Figgins’ RBI groundout in the fifth pulled Seattle within 4-3, but Josh Hamilton’s two-out RBI double in the fifth restored Texas’ two-run pad.

Michael Young hit a leadoff double in the sixth and scored on Torrealba’s double-play grounder, making it 6-3.

Bradley doubled in the eighth against Arthur Rhodes and scored when Olivo singled with two outs.

NOTES: Andrus’ previous homer was on Sept. 2, 2009, against Toronto. … Texas RHP Alexi Ogando is scheduled to make his major league starting debut Tuesday night against the Mariners. Ogando went 4-1 with a 1.30 ERA in 44 relief appearances for the Rangers last season. … Mariners RHP Michael Pineda will start in his major league debut Tuesday night. … Smoak extended his hitting streak to 14 games dating to last season with a second-inning single. … RHP Brandon Webb threw 70 pitches during Rangers batting practice and had control problems. The former NL Cy Young Award winner is on the 15-day disabled list as he attempts a comeback from a 2009 shoulder injury that kept him out all of last season.

The Texas Rangers have signed outfielder Endy Chavez, right-handed pitcher Seth McClung and infielder Brian Barden to minor league contracts.

Arlington, TX (Sports Network) – The Texas Rangers have signed outfielder Endy Chavez, right-handed pitcher Seth McClung and infielder Brian Barden to minor league contracts.

The 32-year-old Chavez spent all of last season in the Texas organization returning from right knee surgery in July, 2009. He played in 54 games for Seattle in 2009 and over parts of 10 major league campaigns with the Royals, Expos/Nationals, Phillies, Mets and Mariners, has batted .270 with 19 homers and 190 RBI.

The 29-year-old McClung didn’t pitch at the major league level in 2010 after being released by the Florida Marlins on March 30. Over six seasons with Tampa Bay and Milwaukee, McClung has compiled a 26-34 mark with a 5.46 ERA.

Barden hit .179 in 35 games for the Marlins last season and batted .353 with Triple-A New Orleans. The 29-year-old started his major league career in 2007 with Arizona and has a lifetime batting average of .211 with four homers and 14 RBI with the Diamondbacks, Cardinals and Marlins.

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