Ryan On Bullpen, Realignment, Astros

Rangers president Nolan Ryan told reporters yesterday that his team’s biggest problem has been inconsistency. Ryan believes the bullpen, a soft spot so far this year, is improving for the Rangers, who lead the AL West with a 43-38 record. Here are more of Ryan’s thoughts from Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: 

• It’s “premature” to say the Rangers will go outside of the organization for bullpen help, since it’s not clear which pitchers are available. The Rangers don’t have anything pending, but Ryan would have interest in the right pitcher. GM Jon Daniels said this week that he remains intent on upgrading the Texas ‘pen.
• Ryan likes the idea of adding the Astros to the AL West, partly because it would mean more games close to home and extra fan involvement. “I think if you had the Astros and Rangers in a pennant race it would stimulate a lot of interest in the state,” Ryan said.
• Jim Crane, who should officially become the owner of the Astros this year, will have to be patient if he wants to build through a strong farm system, Ryan said. “You have to keep putting people in the pipeline because you’re going to have all type of things happen from injuries to mis-evaluations to players not performing,” Ryan said. “There’s a tremendous fallout rate.”