Texas Rangers left-hander Matt Harrison has been too busy this offseason to worry about what the club is trying to do with its pitching staff.
Being the father of a newborn daughter eats up a lot of your free time.
But Harrison, who won 14 games for the Rangers in 2011, has seen the team linked to right-hander Roy Oswalt. With the addition of Yu Darvish, Texas already has six starters competing for five spots. If the Rangers sign Oswalt, that will make the competition that much tougher and could mean trouble for Harrison.
The low-key Harrison isn't getting too worked up about it.
"If they feel they can bring in someone to help them a little better, that's what they need to do," he said. "I'm not really too worried about it. I have the same goals I did last year. We'll see where it goes. It's kind of tough to swallow when your name always comes up, but we'll see where it goes."
There are no guarantees Oswalt will wind up with the Rangers, and even if he does, it doesn't mean the injury-prone Oswalt will help. The Rangers have taken gambles on starters with injury concerns in each of the last two seasons. Rich Harden and Brandon Webb were each bombs with the club, combining for 18 starts and five wins.
Oswalt, 34, made just 23 starts for Philadelphia in 2011 because of back problems and went 9-10. Harrison is just 26 and is coming off his first healthy full season for the club.
Now he's looking to build on that.
"It was a big season for me," he said. "I was able to stay healthy and make all of my starts. I have to take what I did and go from there. I showed them I can pitch at this level. If I go to spring training and do my job, then it's in their hands."
Harrison, whose last start came in Game 7 of the World Series, threw his first bullpen Thursday. He's anxious to get to Surprise with his wife and daughter and prove his worth again.
He's not getting worked up about that either.
"We've got a good rotation now and a good thing going," said Harrison, who spent Thursday on the team's caravan in Sherman and Oklahoma City. "I'm going to spring training to be a starter and we'll go from there. I know that's the only thing I can control."
