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          Texas Rangers Report

          Burning Questions: Who will be the starting pitchers?

          • Calvin Watkins, ESPN Staff WriterOct 17, 2014, 11:00 AM ET
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              Calvin Watkins covers the Houston Rockets and the NBA for ESPN.com. He joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He's covered the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers as well as colleges, boxing and high school sports.
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          We conclude our Burning Questions series for the Texas Rangers by looking at the starting rotation.

          Now that we know who the manager is, Jeff Banister, we can no longer speculate. Well maybe we can still do that, in terms of what the team will do.

          GM Jon Daniels said the club is making starting pitching its No. 1 priority, but the payroll -- $133.5 million last season -- will stay in the same range.

          Will the Rangers be able to go after top-tier free-agent pitchers Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields? Probably not unless something changes with the ownership's stance on adding a high-priced free agent.

          The Rangers can look at Justin Masterson, who after his trade to St. Louis compiled a 7.04 ERA in nine games/six starts. Masterson won 14 games in Cleveland in 2013.

          Brandon McCarthy, after a 3-10 start in Arizona, was traded to the New York Yankees and he excelled with a 2.89 ERA and a 7-5 mark.

          Those two seems fair to explore from a financial standpoint.

          Right-handed starter Colby Lewis (10-14 in 2013) is a free agent. When the season ended, Daniels said he had preliminary talks with Lewis’ agent about a new contract.

          Will things change with Banister in charge?

          Lewis is a quality back-of-the rotation starter who got stronger as the season moved along. He had a 3.86 ERA in the second half of the season with a 7.2 K/9 rate in August. Lewis’ hip and elbow issues are nothing to worry about and he’s probably worth signing to a two-year deal.

          The front end of the rotation has ace Yu Darvish and No. 2 man Derek Holland. The Rangers have a bunch of kids and some vets, Matt Harrison for one, coming off injuries. Martin Perez, a promising young starter, is coming off Tommy John surgery and won’t be around until next summer.

          Finding a quality No. 3 starter or someone who can be considered a strong No. 2 is a must.

          It might be asking too much to depend on Nick Martinez or Miles Mikolas to become reliable starters in 2015. If those two perform well in spring training, maybe give them a shot.

          There is much uncertainty about the Rangers' rotation for the 2015 season.