ESPN has their team preview up for the Rangers, and there are a couple of amusing items...
Their projected lineup has Hank the Bank hitting 4th, which ain't gonna happen...
And Buster Olney has this to say about the back of the rotation:
Rangers fans are already tired of Kameron Loe, Bruce Chen and Jamey Wright; imagine how they'll feel in July.
Maybe it is just my perspective, but I don't think Rangers fans are already tired of Kam Loe.
Even though Rob Neyer had originally listed the Rangers as his sleeper team, he picks them to finish 3rd in the A.L. West. Of the 10 prognosticators, 9 of them pick the Rangers to finish below .500, and Peter Gammons has them right at .500.
6 say the Rangers will finish 4th, so the Rangers are apparently below even the Mariners in the pecking order of the ESPN writers (Neyer, Gammons, Keith Law and Jim Caple have the Rangers finishing 3rd), while Buster Olney has the low mark, projecting a 70-92 finish for the Rangers.
Given that the Rangers' Pythagorean projection was 86 wins last year, given their runs scored and runs allowed, Olney is saying that the Rangers will be 16 games worse than they were last year.
That doesn't seem too realistic...