Nolan Ryan has spent parts of the past two weeks at the Arizona instructional league being held at the Rangers' Spring Training facility in Surprise, Ariz.

He has spoken with the Rangers' top young pitching prospects and watched them work out. He has met with the farm system's pitching instructors and other officials. He has talked pitching with the Rangers' scouts.

Ryan is delivering the same message to one and all: He is serious about addressing the Rangers' perennial pitching problems. He is trying to find answers to the No. 1 question posed by the franchise's fan base and that's simply this: Why don't the Rangers ever have enough good pitching?

"That's a good question," Ryan said. "I don't think the emphasis has been the same as it has on the offensive side. I think we're going to put a little more emphasis on it."

The Rangers haven't exactly ignored it. Their two highest-paid players this season were Kevin Millwood ($12 million) and Vicente Padilla ($11 million) and, over the past six First-Year Player Drafts, eight of 11 players taken in the first or supplemental rounds were pitchers.

Yet the decade-long problem continues. Since the beginning of the 2000 season, Rangers pitchers have a combined ERA of 5.14, the highest in the Major Leagues. They have allowed the most hits and the second-most walks, while compiling the fewest complete games and the third-fewest strikeouts. They have been through seven pitching coaches and will begin searching for No. 8 next week.

Ryan, who was named the Rangers' club president on Feb. 6, wants to change that culture. He is mandating a change and he will personally oversee the organization's pitching program from top to bottom.

The Rangers will hire a pitching coach, and they are going to look for the best candidates available. Andy Hawkins, who finished the season in the position, likely will be the bullpen coach on a revamped coaching staff that likely will have Jackie Moore as the dugout coach and possibly Perry Hill as the infield coach.

The new pitching coach -- the Rangers likely will interview former Athletics and Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson -- will still be in charge of the day-to-day operations of the Major League staff. But he won't be allowed to stray from the overall philosophy established by Ryan.

"Obviously, we're going to bring in the most qualified person for the job but our expectations are they will be in agreement with what we are trying to do," Ryan said.

What are the Rangers trying to do?

No. 1 is conditioning. Ryan was a fanatic at physical conditioning when he played and ended up pitching a Major League-record 27 seasons. He celebrated his seventh career no-hitter on May 1, 1991, by riding an exercise bicycle for 30 minutes in the clubhouse afterward while talking with the media.

Second, Ryan wants his pitchers throwing more to build up arm strength and be able to throw more innings. Especially the starters. Since the beginning of the 2000 season, Rangers starters have the fewest innings of any rotation in the Major Leagues. After that comes an emphasis on mechanics and throwing strikes.

"It's going to take hard work and dedication," Ryan said. "I don't think there is anything magical about it. We need everybody throughout the system understanding what we are doing and how we go about it. This spring will really be the opportunity to get it done."

The two trips to instructional league were Ryan's first chance to start spreading the new pitching gospel.

"There is going to be a certain percentage of pitchers who take to it wholeheartedly," Ryan said. "Some are going to give it lip service and some who are probably going to resist it."

And if they do resist?

"They're probably going to some other organization and miss the opportunity of pitching for the best offensive club in baseball," Ryan said coolly. "But I feel like we have their attention. They're down there working hard. They need to know the organization is behind them and supporting them and we are raising the level of expectations."

Ryan wants to stop "coddling" the organization's pitchers. He wants to start pushing them at all levels. He is trying to reverse an overall trend in baseball.

According to Ryan, pitching has become so expensive in baseball and so valuable that clubs have become overly concerned about protecting from injury. That's why teams went from four-man to five-man rotations and a mere six innings became the benchmark for success. Keeping pitchers healthy has been the No. 1 goal and the buzz phrase is "erring on the side of caution" when any physical issue comes up.

Ryan has a response for that.

"How many of our pitchers got hurt last year?" Ryan said.

With the exception of Scott Feldman -- the one pitcher they tried to protect from too many innings -- the answer is: all of the above.

"We'll take it step-by-step," Ryan said. "Will there be some fallout as far as injuries? Probably. Will it be drastic? I don't know. We still have to get it done."

Ryan makes it clear he is not interested in excuses and doesn't believe that Rangers Ballpark in Arlington or the summer heat in Texas are two obstacles that will keep the organization from having championship pitching.

"I don't," Ryan said. "Will we lead the American League in pitching? Probably not. But does that mean we can't have a competitive pitching staff and be effective? No.

"We have to have a different mind-set that the ballpark isn't an excuse and the heat isn't an excuse. Then we have to get it done."

Ryan said he is not expecting a dramatic turnaround in one winter. He made it clear there are no quick fixes. He called it a step-by-step approach that begins with better conditioning. But he does expect to see some results in 2009.

"There will be improvement," Ryan said.