Ogando could be destined for Rangers bullpen

A year after winning 13 games and making the All-Star team as a starter, Alexi Ogando seems headed back to the bullpen with the Rangers.

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Alexi Ogando won 13 games and made the All-Star team last year, his first as a starter for the Rangers.

Now he appears destined to return to the bullpen.

The Rangers aren't yet close to finalizing their opening day rotation, and officially they have seven starters vying for spots.
It's still possible that Ogando could emerge as a starter, but the odds seem to be against him.

For one thing, four of the five spots in the rotation are more or less spoken for, with the Rangers committed to starting Colby Lewis, Yu Darvish, Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz. That would leave Ogando, Matt Harrison and Scott Feldman as options for the final spot.

Of those three, Ogando would be the most useful as a late-inning option in the bullpen, and that could well be the decision-maker.

The Rangers are continuing to work Ogando as a starter this spring. He started a "B" game against the Royals Sunday morning.

Of course, the Rangers worked both Ogando and Feliz as starters early last spring, eventually keeping Ogando in the rotation and returning Feliz to the closer role.

Since then, the Rangers signed Joe Nathan to be their closer, and told Feliz that he would be a starter.