Four Texas Rangers will exercise right to file for arbitration, including three pitchers

Texas relief pitcher Neal Cotts is pictured during the Toronto Blue Jays vs. the Texas Rangers major league baseball game at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Thursday, June 13, 2013. (Louis DeLuca/Dallas Morning News)

Salary arbitration season picks up speed for the Rangers on Tuesday.

The club has four players — first baseman Mitch Moreland and pitchers Neal Cotts, Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando — who will exercise their right to file for arbitration. On Friday, each player will exchange proposals with the Rangers on a one-year, non-guaranteed contract.

Hearings will be held from Feb. 1-20, and the arbitrator must choose between the player’s figure and the team’s. Teams and players can reach a settlement up to the day of the hearing. The Rangers last went to an arbitration hearing in 2000, when they beat first baseman Lee Stevens.

“It is always our preference to reach a negotiated settlement,” said Matt Vinola, who has added arbitration to his duties as director of baseball operations.

The arbitration-eligible players earned a combined $4.66 million last season, with their salaries ranging from $2.9 million for Feliz to $750,000 to Cotts. Because service time is a significant factor in determining salaries, each player will receive a significant raise. The average raise for all arbitration-eligible players last year was 104 percent.

Of the four, Cotts is the most likely to emerge with a multiyear deal. He can become a free agent after this season and established himself last year as a top-shelf left-handed reliever. Cotts had an opponents’ OPS of .499, fourth-best among the 59 major league left-handed relievers with at least 25 appearances.

Briefly: Benched by Licey manager Jose Offerman for two games because of mental mistakes, outfielder Engel Beltre returned to the lineup Sunday night and had a single and a sacrifice in a 4-1 in over Aguilas Cibaenas in a playoff game in the Dominican Republic winter league. Beltre had irritated Offerman by running into four outs on the bases in the 11 playoff games. … The Rangers sent relievers Lisalverto Bonilla and Ben Rowen and catcher-first baseman Brett Nicholas to the rookie career-development program, a four-day affair staged by Major League Baseball. Beltre was scheduled to attend but received permission to stay with Licey. … Infielder Yangervis Solarte, who spent the last two years with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock, signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees.