There's been a certain amount of backlash from some quarters about blaming the Rangers' lack of success in 2014 on injuries...yes, those people say, injuries are a problem, but the team still should be winning more games than they have.
Dan Szymborski has a piece over at ESPN that addresses that very issue, comparing what the ZiPS pre-season projection for wins for the Rangers was to what ZiPS would have projected for the players who have actually played. Its behind the paywall (but really, ESPN Insider is cheap, so you should be subscribing already), but here is the key takeaway:
In other words, it really is almost entirely the injuries to blame. Texas' players performed about as expected overall; the difference between expectation and the results is simply due to the specific players that ended up playing (and doesn't even consider Choo's mediocre play through a number of injuries). This was the results of injuries, not choice.
In conjunction with that, Szymborski comes down on the side of those who think that the Rangers should be looking to re-load and contend in 2015, rather than go into sell-off mode and try to rebuild.
Anyway, its an interesting piece that is worth a look...check it out...