Grant: Rangers acquired Tom Wilhelmsen to avoid dire situations they had at end of 2015 season

In the final two months of the crazy 2015 playoff race, the Rangers' quartet of late-inning relievers worked overtime. In the final week, their schedule bordered on violating labor laws.

The aim is to avoid such dire situations in 2016.

That's why it became a quintet Monday.

Welcome, please, Tom Wilhelmsen, to the ensemble of late-inning guys. The Rangers acquired the right-hander, who throws 95 mph and has set up and closed, from Seattle in a five-player deal. Deposed center fielder Leonys Martin and superfluous long man Anthony Bass were sent to Seattle. The Rangers will also get outfielder James Jones -- a potentially cheaper version of Martin -- and a player to be named.

According to general manager Jon Daniels, the player will be a significant addition to the deal. The Rangers will likely add the player after the winter meetings, giving them extra roster flexibility for another month.

Wilhelmsen joins Shawn Tolleson, Sam Dyson, Jake Diekman and Keone Kela to give the Rangers five options to pitch the final three innings. The returning quartet combined for a 1.61 ERA, a .203 opponents' batting average and 111 strikeouts in 95 innings after Aug. 1. Wilhelmsen in that stretch: 2-0 with 12 saves in 14 attempts, a 1.88 ERA and a .186 opponents' batting average.

"He's one of the better back end guys in the game," Daniels said. "He joins a group at the back end of our pen to really give us depth, a power pen with multiple different looks. They are a group of guys who can pitch in any capacity in a winning situation. I really like how it sets up."

How it sets up is like this: There is no setup.

Daniels didn't call Tolleson, who saved 35 of 37 chances last year, the team's closer. He didn't say he wasn't, either. The point: It may be kind of undefined.

"We view the bullpen as a whole as a real strength," Daniels said. "In the middle of November, we're not going to lay out roles."

In a perfect world, Banister wouldn't lay out roles at all. Remember last May when, by necessity, Banister did away with roles in the bullpen? He'd love to do away with them for good. There are times, he contended last spring, when the save situation arises in what is technically a non-save situation, such as the seventh or eighth inning.

In all likelihood, Tolleson will still get the bulk of the save opportunities, but he won't need to pitch three, four or, as he did in the last week of the season, five days in a row. Ditto for Dyson.

When Tolleson needs a day off, Wilhelmsen has closer experience. If Tolleson and Wilhelmsen both need a day off, Dyson should be fresh. If Diekman has already been used against a string of lefties, Tolleson, whose change-up is quite effective against lefties, might be an earlier option.

The key is flexibility, both with the personnel and the resources. The acquisition of Wilhelmsen and Jones should give the Rangers additional flexibility on the latter issue, too. The duo will likely make about $3.5 million in 2016. Martin made $3.75 million and was heading for arbitration where player salaries never go down backward.

The only place Martin was going backward was in the Rangers' eyes. He had been a disappointment at the plate. The club made no secret of its disappointment when Martin opted not to go to Arizona to stay prepared when left off the playoff roster.

Still, because of his defensive abilities and offensive potential, there was legitimate interest in him at the GM meetings in Florida last week. Jones offers a somewhat similar defensive profile, though he doesn't possess Martin's elite throwing arm.

"I think he had an emotional reaction and maybe didn't handle it the best way," Daniels said of Martin. "But it was something we could have easily moved past. We were either going to get value for him, or we would have kept him."

The Rangers opted for value.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant