<
>

Deadline looms to tender arb-eligible players

The Texas Rangers, and the rest of the MLB clubs, have until 10:59 p.m. CT to offer contracts to players who are arbitration-eligible.

In the Rangers' case, that's five players -- pitchers Neal Cotts, Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando, first baseman Mitch Moreland and outfielder Craig Gentry -- who are eligible. All five are expected to be tendered by the deadline.

The most interesting of that group is Moreland, who continues to get prepared for the season but whose role is still up in the air. At this point, the Rangers are committed to Prince Fielder as their everyday first baseman, which would make Moreland the leading candidate to be the designated hitter. The club could also look to trade Moreland. Either way, the Rangers need to tender him so that they have that asset as the offseason heads toward next week's Winter Meetings in Orlando.

MLBTradeRumors.com does a great job of projecting arbitration salaries and they've done so with the five remaining Ranger candidates. Here's a look:

Cotts: $1.5 million

Feliz: $3 million

Gentry: $1.1 million

Moreland: $2.7 million

Ogando: $2 million

As you can see, Feliz is projected to earn the most money with Moreland not far behind.