ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right wrist.

Moreland underwent surgery in Cleveland on Wednesday, when a small pea-shaped bone was removed from the base of his wrist.

The Rangers say the estimated recovery time is expected to be eight to 12 weeks. He will be in a soft splint and begin rehabilitation in the next few days.

Moreland was bothered by soreness in the wrist over the second half of the season for the two-time defending AL champions. He hit .259 with 16 home runs and 51 RBI in 134 games.

As a rookie in 2010, Moreland hit .462 (6 of 13) with a home run in the World Series.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)—Joe Nathan(notes) and the Texas Rangers have agreed to a
two-year contract with a club option for 2014, a move that means closer Neftali
Feliz(notes) will shift to the starting rotation.

The two-time defending AL champions announced the moves on Monday.

Nathan, who turns 37 on Tuesday, missed the 2010 season following Tommy John
surgery on his pitching elbow and struggled to find his form with Minnesota this
year. The four-time All-Star went 2-1 with a 4.84 ERA and 14 saves in 48
appearances, losing his job as closer early in the season before reclaiming it
later.

The Rangers say they have informed Feliz that he will switch from the
bullpen to the rotation, a move that would help offset the loss of free-agent
starter C.J. Wilson(notes) if he signs elsewhere.

The two-time defending AL champions had discussed moving Feliz into the rotation last spring, but the timing wasn’t right then.

Daniels said being able to sign Nathan made that move easier now. It also would help offset the loss of free-agent starter C.J. Wilson if the left-hander signs elsewhere.

Texas planned to introduce Nathan during a news conference at Rangers Ballpark on Tuesday, the right-hander’s 37th birthday.

Nathan missed the 2010 season following Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow and struggled to find his form with Minnesota this year. The four-time All-Star went 2-1 with a 4.84 ERA and 14 saves in 48 appearances, losing his job as closer early in the season before reclaiming it later.

He pitched well in the second half, saving 11 games and holding opposing batters to a .207 average while increasing his strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Daniels said Nathan was already in Texas and passed a physical late Monday before the deal was announced. Rangers scouts watched Nathan during the season, noting that his arm strength was back and he was commanding his slider.

“He was free and easy out there,” Daniels said. “And he is an outstanding makeup guy.”

The Rangers informed the hard-throwing Feliz a couple of days ago that he will switch from the bullpen to the rotation.

He joins a rotation that still has returning starters Colby Lewis, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison and Alexi Ogando. Scott Feldman, a 17-game winner in 2009 before right knee surgery, is also a viable option.

Daniels said the Rangers still have interest in re-signing Wilson, but the former closer who won 16 games last season has a lot of options and the team has to be “very realistic.”

Feliz issued a statement through the team from his home in the Dominican Republic saying that he was happy to know the club’s decision this early.

“I have plenty of time to get ready. I have already started running,” Feliz said. “I have time to work on my changeup and all my pitches. I know I have to work hard to be ready to help my team as a starter so we can get back to the playoffs.”

Feliz was a starter through most of his time in the minors with the Rangers before he set a then-major league rookie record with 40 saves in 2010. He had 32 saves this season, but also gave up a two-out, two-run triple to David Freese in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 6 of the World Series. The St. Louis Cardinals went on to win that game in 11 innings, then won Game 7 to deny the Rangers their first World Series title.

Daniels said the blown save in Game 6 had nothing to do with the decision to move Feliz to the rotation. The Rangers were prepared to go into 2012 with the right-hander still closing if not for the opportunity to sign somebody like Nathan.

In 11 major league seasons, Nathan is 49-23 with 261 saves and a 2.87 ERA in 581 games.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

There is a lot of talk about how the Texas Rangers deal with their first base position in the free agency period but another position that might need shoring up is in center field.

Josh Hamilton(notes) played center field at the end of the season but the Rangers want him back in left. The other choices at the position include Julion Borbon, Craig Gentry(notes), Endy Chavez(notes) and Leonys Martin(notes). The star of this group appears to be Martin, who Texas signed to a five-year contract as a Cuban defector last year.

Borbon looked like he was the man when the season started and he looked good in the stolen base department but was demoted after Chavez heated up and Borbon finished his season with ankle surgery. Chavez came in and played decent, hitting .271 over 66 starts but only finished the year with 13 RBIs and 26 runs scored. Chavez went hit-less in the postseason.

Gentry spent much of the season as a bench player, starting 38 games over the season while hitting .271. He also started four games in the postseason and hit .333.

Leonys Martin however looks to be the future for the Rangers at the center field position. Martin was called up for a short period at the end of the season where he played in eight games, starting one, and finished with a .375 average, including one double and two runs scored.

In the minors in 2011, his first year with the Rangers organization, he moved through the ranks quickly. Martin hit .348 with nine doubles, two triples and four home runs in 29 Double-A games. He followed that up by hitting .263 over 40 games in Triple-A. It is obvious he has some work to do on his pitch selection but his nice hitting during his short call up to the majors is encouraging.

Now, Martin gets a chance to come into Spring Training and fight for that open center field spot in the Rangers lineup. With the bar set in 2011, he should have as good a chance to win it as anyone.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has been a Texas Rangers fan his entire life, watching the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate play for over 30 years. While Texas has moved their Triple-A team, Shawn still remains a loyal Rangers fan and dreams of the year they finally win the big one.

Source: Texas Rangers website

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Charlie Furbush takes on the Rangers today in the final road game of the season for the Mariners, who close out the 2011 campaign after today with three home games against the Oakland Athletics.

Tough to know which Furbush we’ll see today. He’s at his best when attacking the zone aggressively with his fastball to set up his breaking stuff. But the Rangers, as we know, can hit fastballs that are not perfectly located.

So, a real challenge for Furbush today. He did well against the division’s other contending team in Anaheim a few weeks back. But today, he’s facing the division’s best.