Rangers Season Preview

I started a website, Bullpen Banter, with a few buddies from Minorleagueball.com, an SBN affiliate. We had a round table chat about the Rangers and thought we should share it with you and get your feed back. We think there is some good content here. Enjoy.

Michael Herrick: The Rangers still have a strong offense but they're working on shoring up the defense and pitching bit by bit.  The defensive charge is led by shortstop Elvis Andrus who was absolutely tremendous with the glove as a rookie.  His bat was substandard but he's very young and there is still some untapped potential offensively.  Julio Borbon should provide excellent defense in centerfield and will be a terror on the bases.  Flanking Borbon are two big mashers in Nelson Cruz and Josh Hamilton.  Cruz had a great year in first chance as a starter and he is an above average defender in RF.  Hamilton was injury plagued last year but hopefully a move to LF will help keep him healthy and in the lineup.  He should be an above average defender in left to go with his massive power at the plate.  Should he be hurt again, some combination of Endy Chavez and David Murphy will provide good defense but won't be able to make up the offensive loss.  Michael Young had a bounce back year at the plate posting a wOBA of .385 but continuing to be a poor defender at a third different position.  Ian Kinsler hit 31 HR setting a career high but saw a 35 point drop in his wOBA. He posted a .241 BABIP so he was a bit unlucky, and he did improve his walk rate so I think we'll see a bounce back for him and can see him in the .380+ wOBA range in 2010.  What the Rangers get from the catcher tandem of Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden is a guess at this point.  I've never been very high on Salty but he's still young enough he could live up to some of the early hype.  Teagarden is a guy I've liked for awhile, but he needs a real shot to see if he's more than a backup or not.  Chris Davis is likely just keeping 1B warm for Justin Smoak, as he'd need to make massive improvements in his K and BB rates to be even an average player at 1B.

Scott Feldman had a huge year in 2009 thanks to his cutter.  One of the best things I think the Rangers have done in the last few years is bring in Mike Maddux as the pitching coach.  He helped Feldman refine the cutter and now import Rich Harden is apparently working with one as well.  Harden and Feldman is a good 1-2 punch to lead this rotation, but the next three spots seem like they could go in many different directions.  Colby Lewis was brought back from Japan after having success throwing a cutter as well, the pitch really helps negate some of the advantages The Ballpark in Arlington provides to hitters.  I figure he's a lock for a spot somewhere in the rotation.  My guess is the other two spots go to Brandon McCarthy and Tommy Hunter, since the other two candidates(Derek Holland and Matt Harrison) both have options left and can be sent to the minors.  This is probably the last year guys like Harrison, McCarthy, Hunter and even Lewis would be in the running for a rotation spot as the Rangers have a ton of young pitching talent getting ready to hit the big leagues in the next year or two.

Frank Francisco pitched well as the closer and the Rangers have CJ Wilson and Chris Ray with closing experience in the pen should Francisco falter.  The future for Neftali Feliz likely is in the rotation, though I think they might be better served letting him start the year in AAA to refine his changeup and his control.  Darren Oliver was a good pickup as a second lefty in the pen and there are some other hard throwers that could provide some value as well.

Overall the Rangers might still be a year or two away from winning the AL West, but they have the talent to be a consistent threat year in and year out for the next decade at least.

Al Skorupa: I think the Rangers are in great shape. They have a bright young GM, new ownership coming in and a phenomenal collection of young talent. I'm picking them to win the West this year. Their depth is what separates them. I see a lot of young players on the verge of breakout seasons (Davis, Borbon, Holland, Saltalamacchia to a lesser degree).

If Rich Harden can give them 100 quality innings and be healthy for the playoffs this team should be excellent. Between all the good arms they have hanging around they should be able to figure out a plus rotation, even if it takes an up and down two months to do it. The offense is more of a concern than many people realize. People think Texas = offense. This team didn't score that many runs in 2009. I like Hamilton to come back healthy and between him, the young players getting better and the addition of Vlad as a DH I think this team should be a top 5 run scoring team in the AL. They may have to go get a bat at the deadline, but that's not the worst thing in the world. Seattle and LA might need multiple bats and starting pitchers by that point.

Funny... for the first time in a long time, the biggest problem in Texas could be the offense, while the starting pitching and bullpen look good.

JD Sussman: Last season the Rangers offense was slightly above average. Despite all around good power, no, great power (.185 ISO, 3rd MLB), they didn't walk enough and struck out too often (29th in BB/K, 0.38). The hype with Josh Hamilton was a little out of control following his fireworks display at Yankee Stadium, but he is better than his 2009 indicates. That goes for Chris Davis too. Overall, the offense should be slightly better this season with a full season of Ian Kinsler and 300+ PA from Justin Smoak. But a big question for me is, for how much longer can the Nolan Ryan expect Michael Young to be worth 3+ WAR?