--Jackie Moore was hired as the new bench coach on the day the World Series began. Moore had been the Astros' bench coach this year, and he is returning for his fourth stint on the Texas coaching staff. Dave Anderson got the job as third base coach.
Art Howe had been the bench coach and Matt Walbeck the third base coach this year. --The Rangers' most high-profile coaching vacancy is the pitching coach slot. Rick Peterson, who has held the job with the Mets and A's, and Dave Wallace, who has been the pitching coach for four teams, appeared to be the leading candidates. The 2009 pitching coach will be the club's eighth since the start of the 2000 season.
--LHP Derek Holland edged RHP Neftali Feliz for the Rangers' Minor League Pitcher of the Year award. Both pitchers began the season at low Class A Clinton and finished at Class AA Frisco. Holland, 22, also made an intermediate stop at high Class A Bakersfield. While Feliz, 20, was a composite 10-6 with a 2.69 ERA, Holland went 13-1 with a 2.27 ERA.
--OF Nelson Cruz, who hit .342 with 37 homers and 99 RBIs for Class AAA Oklahoma, was named the Rangers' Minor League Player of the Year, and 2B Jose Vallejo was named the system's defender of the year.
--When the Rangers walked four or fewer batters in 2008, they were 63-40. Only Tampa Bay had a higher winning percentage in such games.
--The Rangers have started talking with OF/DH Milton Bradley about returning for 2009, but the biggest obstacle is the length of the deal. The Rangers have been reticent about giving Bradley a multiyear deal because he's played in more than 130 games just once in his career. Bradley has said he won't play in 2009 unless he receives the security of a long-term deal. Bradley led the AL in on-base percentage at .436, but he played in only 126 games despite never going on the disabled list.
BY THE NUMBERS: 24,986 -- Pitches thrown by the Rangers in 2008. It was the most in the majors and the sixth-highest total by a club since the stat was first tracked in 1988. Interestingly, though they threw the most pitches, the Rangers only had the fourth-highest walk total in the AL.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It seems like conditioning is definitely going to go up a couple of notches. That's been pounded in our heads since the first day of instructs." -- LHP Kasey Kiker, the Rangers' top draft pick in 2006, discussing the club's new approach to conditioning pitchers.
