According to Baxter’s story, which sheds light on the issue of their being no openly gay athletes in the MLB, NBA, NFL or NHL, when he talked to Hunter about his feelings regarding the possibility of having an “out” teammate, he churned out the following statement:

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“For me, as a Christian … I will be uncomfortable because in all my teachings and all my learning, biblically, it’s not right. It will be difficult and uncomfortable.”

While Hunter’s astonishing selfishness and inability to look beyond a teammate’s sexual orientation should be a personal issue for him to deal with, the fact of the matter is that the issue becomes much larger when he says things publicly that could discourage his teammates from being who they are.

As Baxter points out in his article, about 4,000 athletes spent time on the rosters of the four major sports in 2012, so the chances are, in his 16 seasons in the Majors, Hunter has unknowingly spent time with a “closeted” gay or bisexual teammate.

It is easy to understand why those teammates did not come out publicly to their organization. It’s because of players like Hunter. Players like Hunter and Tampa Bay shortstop Yunel Escobar, who was suspended for three games while with Toronto last season for wearing eye black displaying a homophobic slur in Spanish, make it hard for players to come out because they fear being being treated differently.

Like a lot of homophobic people, Hunter blames his intolerance on his religion, which is even more shameful. Your religious choice does not come with a get-away-with-being-homophobic-free card.

While some MLB teams like the Dodgers, Giants, Phillies, Red Sox, Orioles, Mariners, Cubs and Rays have been busy progressing beyond discrimination by making videos for the “It Gets Better” campaign — a program that creates support for LGBT youth suffering from bullying — players like Hunter and Escobar are taking the sport backwards.

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Even Rangers pitcher Derek Holland landed in hot water last season when a homophobic slur was sent out from his Twitter account in response to someone calling him a “pathetic excuse” for a pitcher. Holland denied that he sent out the tweet, claiming that he was on the mound or in the dugout at the time. He blamed the act on a hacker.

Last season the Rangers also created two public service announcement anti-bullying videos, and though it did not address LGBT students specifically, it was a genuine video from the club and is being shown in schools in the DFW area.

Outfielder David Murphy and shortstop Elvis Andrus star in the videos. Murphy’s is in English and Andrus’ is in Spanish.

Like Hunter, Murphy is a well-known Christian in the sport, but Murphy focuses on stopping bullying, rather than becoming a bully himself.

Due to his statements, that’s exactly what Hunter has become. He has discouraged his teammates from being themselves by telling them that it would make him feel weird.

If Hunter wants to remain a fan favorite, he should think about how his actions affect other people, apologize and retract his statements.

Until he does, someone needs to ask him if his uniform is 100 percent cotton.

With the off-season focus stabilizing on whether or not the Rangers will make a move to land a power bat to the lineup as we prepare to head into the new year, it’s time to focus on an aspect that could be just as important: the bullpen.

As ESPNDallas.com’s Richard Durrett said here, the team’s bullpen is going to have a very different feel to it in 2013, but who exactly will the fans see jogging to the mound from right-center field in the mid-to-late innings at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington?

First, let’s take a look at who is set in the bullpen:

• Joe Nathan will be the closer…

Now that that list is summed up we can move on to who will not be rejoining the team’s bullpen next season:

• Alexi Ogando: Don’t panic. Ogando is still on the team. He’s just moving back to the starting rotation and could fit nicely in the number three spot to break up lefties Matt Harrison and Derek Holland if the team does not land a middle-of-the-rotation starter by the beginning of the season.

• Mike Adams: Adams signed a two-year, $12 million deal with the Phillies around the same time that all the Josh Hamilton hub-bub was happening, so it might have gone unnoticed by some fans. Nevertheless, he commanded too much money and the Rangers were never really interested in retaining him for that price. Man I’m going to miss his warm-up music.

• Koji Uehara: This one stings a little. Uehara provided a lot of energy for the ‘pen and pitched really well towards the end of the season. In fact, during the epic collapse, he was one of the only guys that remained dominant. He signed a one-year, $4.25 million deal with the Red Sox on Dec. 6. He will be missed.

• Mark Lowe: All I can say is thank goodness Lowe will not be plaguing the team any longer. I always wanted to cheer for the guy because he is from my hometown, Sugar Land, TX, but one’s blind cheers can only go for so long. I don’t know why Ron Washington kept putting him in in close games, but he never panned out on the team and it seemed like he gave up the game-winning home run too many times (World Series Game 6, anyone?) for me to continue singing his praises.

• Scott Feldman: Scooter signed with the Cubs for one-year, $6 million in late November. So he won’t be in the bullpen, or in the rotation, or in the bullpen again, or in the rotation again for the 2013 campaign.

• Joakim Soria: The Rangers signed the former Royals closer to a two-year, $8 million deal earlier this off-season, but will not get him back until May as he is still rebounding from Tommy John surgery. The team took a similar risk with Nathan last year and it panned out relatively well. When Soria becomes healthy he will become the setup man for Nathan. The eighth and ninth inning guys will provide a lot of veteran leadership that could rub off on the following plethora of young talent.
  

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• Robbie Ross: Unless Ross injures himself or messes up somehow in spring, he will be on the roster; it’s just a matter of where. Jon Daniels said recently that the team has contemplated moving him to the rotation if they do not land another starter. He will be competing with the next two fellows for that spot. If he is selected, the Rangers would have three southpaws in their starting five.

• Martin Perez: Though he did not pan out last season, Perez is still widely-regarded as one of the top young pitchers in the game and could be a No. 5 starter for the team. If not, he will probably get a chance to start the season in the bullpen.

• Justin Grimm: Grimm got a couple of spur-of-the-moment starts last season. He filled in the rotation when Holland went down and held his own when you consider he jumped from Double-A to the Majors in a matter of days. He will get a look from the office during spring, but should be considered as an outside shot, as Ross or Perez will land it most likely. If he does not get the starting job he could add another cog in the bullpen as he also appeared in three games out of the ‘pen in 2012.

• Tanner Scheppers: Scheppers was once looked at as a major starting prospect in the farm system, but, due to injury, has evolved into a middle reliever. He had a 4.45 ERA in 39 games last season. He proved himself, and, if he improves, he will surely land a spot.

• Michael Kirkman: Kirkman has run the gauntlet in the past few seasons, going back-and-forth between the Majors and Triple-A. He was supposed to be up all year last year, but Ross stole the lefty spot during spring training and never relinquished it. When the plague hit the Rangers pitching staff, he was called up and pitched in 28 games, posting a 3.82 ERA. He stands a solid chance to begin the season in the bullpen.

• Wilmer Font: This 22-year old got a look when the rosters expanded last season and, frankly, did not make the most of his opportunities, giving up two earned runs in two innings. He has a little more of a biased chance to make the squad just because he appeared last year, but he will really need to impress at spring training to do so.

• Josh Lindblom: Though he has said all the right things since coming over in the Michael Young trade, fans will consistently think of him as Young’s replacement. Lindblom denies that he wants any part of that. For the sake of the front office, he needs to make the opening day roster and pitch really well out of the ‘pen. He has considerable major league experience, though all of it comes in the National League.

• Jeff Beliveau: Beliveau provides another left-handed option in case something happens to Ross or Kirkman (or if Ross makes the rotation). He was picked up off waivers from the Cubs on Dec. 21 and was immediately placed on the 40-man roster. He played most of last season in the minors, but posted a 4.85 ERA in 17.2 innings in the Majors in 2012.

• Cory Burns: The Rangers traded the Padres for Burns in late November to add depth to their bullpen options. He provides just that and has another outside chance of making the 25-man roster. He appeared in 18 innings with the Padres last season, posting a 5.50 ERA in those innings.

• Tommy Hottovy: Hottovy is another left-handed bullpen candidate acquired through waivers this off-season. He came from the Royals, where he posted a 2.89 ERA in only 9.1 innings last season. He as a decent chance at popping up in the bullpen this season, but it is fairly unlikely that the team will take him above the other lefties in line ahead of him (However, him and Beliveau stand about the same chance at making the team at this point).

• Yoshinori Tateyama: The Japanese right-hander has been up and down over the past two seasons with the Rangers and was signed to a minor league contract earlier this month. He was used primarily to mop up other pitchers messes this season and did not do so well in that role. Yoshi did much better as a middle reliever in 2011 and has a lot of upside if he can limit the long ball. I would argue that, though he is the only player I included that is not on the 40-man roster, he has a considerable chance to make the major leagues out of spring training if he pitches well.

A lot of Rangers followers are calling this the worst offseason in club history, a notion I refuse to acknowledge based upon how poorly the franchise performed for so long. But nonetheless, there is no doubting that this winter has stung a little bit.

Hamilton, Mike Napoli, Zack Greinke and James Shields are all now off the board for the team, so it will now explore other options. In addition, all signs point to the Diamondbacks holding on to Justin Upton, so that’s basically out the window as well.

General Manager Jon Daniels and CEO Nolan Ryan have both said that they feel comfortable with the current roster, but the problem is that no one actually feels that way, especially with the Angels now having arguably the best lineup in the Majors. And it is ridiculous to believe that the team will not make any more moves before spring training. It will happen. It’s just a matter of who will be signed and how much longer the frustrated fan base will have to wait.

Right now, Ian Kinsler is moving to first base, Jurickson Profar is at second, Mitch Moreland is the primary DH and David Murphy is hitting third in the lineup. That’s not awful but it can’t match the other American League powerhouses.

The team has a few notable free agent targets left on the board in Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, A.J. Pierzynski, Adam LaRoche and Edwin Jackson.

The Rangers primary need is a left-handed power bat, so Pierzynski and LaRoche make a lot of sense from that standpoint.

Pierzynski, who I have targeted in the past as being a villain of the MLB, is making more and more sense with the team’s current starter Geovany Soto and the backup being Eli Whiteside. Unless Soto has a “comeback player of the year”-worthy season and Whiteside all of the sudden decides that he can consistently produce at the Major League level, the team will not have much offense from behind the plate in 2013. I’m on board if Daniels and Co. pursue Pierzynski.

LaRoche is coming off one of the best seasons of his career as he slugged .510, posted a career high 33 HRs, knocked in 100 runners and had a WAR of 3.8. He would be the perfect fit for the No. 3 hole in 2013.

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Though he is not a “power bat,” perhaps the best fit for the team at this point is Nick Swisher. I’ve been all over the Swisher-to-Texas idea since I realized he was going to be a free agent. He’s a fit every way you look at it. He could hit in the No. 2 or No.5-8 spot in the lineup, is a switch hitter and can play RF and 1B. He would allow Nelson Cruz to make the much-needed move to DH and could sub in for Kinsler or Moreland (or LaRoche) when needed. Though another villain of the game, he is a tremendous clubhouse guy and always seems to be having a good time. He could add that off-the-field spark that the Rangers might need.

The addition of Bourn would possibly make the Rangers the speediest team in the Majors with Kinsler, Elvis Andrus, Profar, Leonys Martin and Craig Gentry already on the squad, but he is not exactly what the team needs at this time because the team lacks power.

After pursuing Greinke and kicking the tires in a trade for R.A. Dickey it seems that the team will look to add a mid-rotation starter, rather than the prototypical ace it sought early on. Jackson would be just that: a solid starter that would come in behind Matt Harrison in the rotation. But, with the market for starting pitchers so high, Jackson may command too large a contract if the team is looking to add some offense as well.

Through trade, they could look at Chris Capuano of the Dodgers — a team that has about eight rotation candidates with the addition of Greinke.

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Now, Rangers faithful will remain optimistic that the team has some sort of blockbuster in the works, whether it be swinging Upton after all, trading for a pitcher like David Price or forking over the entire farm for a big time duo like the Marlins’ Logan Morrison and Giancarlo Stanton. The team very well could pull off something like this, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Whatever the case, count on Daniels keeping a cool head despite the buzz going on around him. The cards are stacked against the Rangers front office at this time, but it’s their turn to make a move.

I don’t know when the moves will come, but they will soon enough. We’ve just got to remain patient. Even more patient than we are already remaining.