Ryan trying to move past end of Texas' series

DALLAS (AP)

Nolan Ryan has been in baseball long enough to experience plenty of disappointments.

None were like the Texas Rangers twice being within one pitch of their first World Series championship and not winning it.

''Not necessarily ones of that magnitude,'' the Hall of Fame pitcher and Rangers president said Tuesday. ''You have to move on, you can't dwell on it. It comes under the category of history, and that's where we are. We just have to start preparing for next year and hope that we get that opportunity again and that we can capitalize on it.''

Texas lost World Series Game 6 in 11 innings against St. Louis, which twice was down to its last strike. The Cardinals also won Game 7.

Still, the Rangers are the two-time defending American League champions after having never even won a playoff series in the franchise's first 49 seasons.

At the winter meetings, Ryan said getting so close two years in a row doesn't necessarily change the Rangers' offseason philosophy of trying to improve the team. Whether that is by adding pitching or position players depends on what opportunities are out there.

''When you look at our ballclub, you don't see what I call a glaring need,'' Ryan said. ''Obviously, we're not looking to go out and make a blockbuster deal on moving some of our position players. ... We're very comfortable with our ballclub, but we certainly come here with an open mind hoping that we can improve our ballclub.''

One of the most-talked about free agents this week is left-hander C.J. Wilson, who has gone 31-15 with a 3.14 ERA over 67 starts the past two regular seasons for the Rangers since making the transition from the bullpen. He reportedly has offers from several teams.

''I don't know what to make of it. They're exploring all of the possibilities and probably enjoying the position they're in,'' Ryan said. ''Where that's going to end up, I don't know, and I don't know if it will get resolved this week.''

Wilson was winless this postseason while becoming the first pitcher ever in the same season to have a loss in the division series, championship series and World Series after also being the loser in the All-Star game. The AL loss in July cost the Ranger home-field advantage in the World Series again, putting them on the road for the final two games against NL wildcard team St. Louis this year after losing in five games against San Francisco in 2010.

Even if Wilson doesn't return, the Rangers already have potentially six starters.

Hard-throwing closer Neftali Feliz is moving to the rotation after the Rangers signed closer Joe Nathan to a two-year deal last month. Colby Lewis, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison and Alexi Ogando all won at least 13 games last season. Scott Feldman was a 17-game winner in 2009 before surgery on his right knee, and he seems to be healthy again.

''You never have enough pitching,'' Ryan said. ''If we're unable to sign (Wilson), we'll continue to explore any possibilities that might strengthen us.''

Other options could include free agent left-hander Mark Buehrle or right-hander Roy Oswalt, a pitcher Ryan knows well from their days in the Astros organization.

''They're veteran pitchers that are great competitors and I think just about any pitching staff could use either one of those guys,'' Ryan said.

Ryan took part in the announcement of an exhibition game April 3 between the Rangers and Mexico City Red Devils, whose 15 Mexican League titles are more than any other team.

Baseball's strikeout king, a hard-throwing right-hander who won 324 games while pitching a record 27 seasons, was asked if he felt there would ever be another 300-game winner in the major leagues. The winningest active pitcher is Tim Wakefield with 200 wins, followed by Roy Halladay with 188.

''It's hard to say about that, it really comes down to how long somebody wants to pitch. The limited innings they are pitching now that also limits the number of decisions they get,'' Ryan said. ''It's a bigger challenge today than probably it was 15 years ago just because of the way starting pitching is being used, so it's hard to predict.''