Yesterday the Rangers acquired hard-throwing left hander Pedro Figueroa on a waiver claim from the Tampa Bay Rays. Figueroa is an enigma so far in his career. He throws in the 97-98 mph range, but doesn’t have much control. He is 28 years old, so he has that going for him, but this will be his third team. He spent most of last season pitching for the Triple-A Sacramento team. He pitched mainly in their bullpen and he went 3-4 with an ERA of 4.10 and a WHIP of 1.523.

The Rangers are mainly looking at him as low-risk high-reward guy. If they can get his control problems fixed then they may have a guy who can really contribute to that bullpen and give them another power arm out there. If Robbie Ross makes the rotation out of Spring Training then they will have a need for another left-hander in the bullpen. The pitchers competing for the left handed spots in the bullpen right now are: Michael Kirkman, Neal Cotts, Joseph Ortiz, and Figueroa. Cotts who was their best left-handed reliever and who Ron Washington counted on in the second half figures to make the team. So the competition will really be between Kirkman, Ortiz, and Figueroa for that second left-handed spot. If Figueroa gets his control problems figured out he will have a good shot, if he doesn’t then the Rangers will send him to the minor leagues and hope he can figure them out there. Whatever happens this is a no-lose pick-up for the Rangers.