Though there is nobody on the roster standing in his way, A.J. Griffin has not yet been officially named the Rangers' fifth starter.

With good reason: The club is still working to add more pitching depth.

The Rangers and Cleveland have engaged in talks recently, three major league sources said, centered around a reliever-for-starter trade. The Rangers believe they have depth to spare in the bullpen; the Indians have six starters for five rotation spots.

With Coppell's Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco solidified at the top of the Indians rotation, Cleveland might be willing to deal from the group of Tyler's Josh Tomlin, Cody Anderson or Trevor Bauer. According to reports from Cleveland, the Indians set their rotation this week with Anderson and Tomlin in the Nos. 4-5 spots and Bauer headed to the bullpen.

Bauer, 25, is the kind of hard-thrower that Rangers manager Jeff Banister likes, but he struggles with command. He led the AL in walks (79) last year and has 139 over the last two years, ranking second in the league only to Ubaldo Jimenez (145). Bauer also has 313 strikeouts over that same time.

In 2014, he averaged 94 mph with his fastball, which he threw 50 percent of the time. It was the ninth highest average velocity for a major leaguer with at least 150 innings. The velocity last year, however, dropped to 92.8 mph, right in line with San Diego's Tyson Ross and Oakland's Sonny Gray. Bauer complements the fastball with a big overhand curve.

Tomlin, 31, has had both shoulder and elbow surgeries since 2013, but returned from the shoulder surgery to go 7-2 with a 3.02 ERA in 10 starts last year. Anderson, 25, made his major league debut last year and went 7-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 15 starts.

The Rangers have tried to involve other teams in a reliever-for-starter deal this winter, most notably Arizona. Those talks centered around right-hander Archie Bradley in exchange for either right-hander Shawn Tolleson or right-hander Keone Kela.