EXPECT RANGERS' BUDGET TO REMAIN THE SAME IN 2010

Whatever the Texas Rangers look like in 2010, they will probably be doing it for around the same amount of money as they did it this season.

“It (our budget) will be close, if not the same, than what it was this year,” team president Nolan Ryan said this morning as he, general manager Jon Daniels and manager Ron Washington wrapped up the 2009 season.

The Rangers opened this season with a payroll of just over $68 million, but still managed to post the fourth-best record in the American League and their 87 victories matched the sixth-highest total in franchise history.

Now the team must decide what direction it will take next year in its bid to make the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

There are questions about ownership, free agents and coaches heading into the off-season. It will also be an off-season in which the Rangers will be faced with something they haven’t had in years - lofty expectations entering next year.

“In Ron’s end of season meeting with the players, he said it perfectly,” Daniels said. “He said there were a lot of positives. There were a lot of strides, but individually, as an organization and as a team. But the biggest step forward is yet to come. The most challenging is yet to come.”

What form the Rangers will take in their bid to make the playoffs team remains to be seen. There are organizational meetings to come in which potential free agents will be discussed as well as the coaching situation.

Only Washington and Mike Maddux are under contract for 2010. The Rangers would like to see the entire staff come back next year, including hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, but nothing has been decided.

Daniels also said the Rangers have sincere interest in bringing back Marlon Byrd. But Byrd is a 32-year-old outfielder who is coming off a career year and the team already has a crowded outfield with Josh Hamilton, David Murphy, Nelson Cruz and Julio Borbon.

The Rangers were pleased with the pitching and defense this season, but the offense has room for improvement. Both Ryan and Washington said the team must improve in situational hitting, an area the team struggled in 2009.

“The situation is primary and everything else is secondary,” said Washington, who will return to his home in New Orleans later this week before heading back to Arlington for meetings next week. “That’s something we’ve certainly got to work on and make sure these guys understand. Sometimes you don’t need base hits to put runs on the board.”

Story courtesy of www.star-telegram.com