AL West Notes: Astros, Rangers, Pierzynski

The Astros will have a new division, sharp new logo, and some new faces as well in 2013.  Chip Bailey of the Houston Chronicle looked at three areas of change for the club and asked if they are truly upgrades.  The move to install Jose Veras as the team's closer given his lack of experience in finishing games is something of a head scratcher for Bailey.  The Astros surprised a lot of people when they signed Carlos Pena to a one-year, $2.9MM deal, money that may have been better spent elsewhere.  However, Bailey tips his cap to General Manager Jeff Luhnow for his efforts to upgrade the club's rotation.  Houston made a trio of low-risk gambles in Alex White, Philip Humber, and John Ely.  Here's more out of the AL West..

• At today's introductory press conference for A.J. Pierzynski, Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels said that there is a decent chance that they'll add another bat, tweets Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest.
• Rangers skipper Ron Washington told reporters that incumbent Geovany Soto will get some playing time but Pierzynski will be the club's No. 1 catcher, Andro tweets.  The club re-signed Soto to a one-year, $2.75MM deal with $250K in incentives.
• Pierzynski says that he came to Texas in part because of his affinity for playing there and the climate (Twitter link).