Texas Rangers Information
These aren't your daddy's Texas Rangers anymore. New blood has filtered through the Lone Star State and new management is poised to take over the franchise as the current owners, Hicks Investment is awash in red ink. The team is poised to be taken over by an investment group led by Chuck Greenburg and former Hall of Fame Pitcher Nolan Ryan.
The offseason was productive none the less. For a team with little to no payroll left, they made a number of moves that can place them squarely in the race for the AL Pennant. While they lost a number of players, RHP Kevin Millwood, C Ivan Rodriguez, INF Omar Vizquel, OF Andruw Jones, LHP Eddie Guardado, OF Marlon Byrd, INF Joe Inglett, RHP Joaquin Benoit, 1B/DH Hank Blalock and RHP Jason Jennings.
Arriving to spring training are LHP Darren Oliver, RHP Rich Harden, RHP Chris Ray, LHP Clay Rapada, INF Matt Brown, OF/DH Vladimir Guerrero, INF Khalil Greene, RHP Colby Lewis and OF Endy Chavez.
The projected pitching rotation is shaping up to be RHP Rich Harden, RHP Scott Feldman, RHP Tommy Hunter, RHP Colby Lewis and LHP Derek Holland. The projected Bullpen, unless someone overtakes Holland, looks to be RHP Frank Francisco (Closer), RHP Neftali Feliz, LHP C.J. Wilson, LHP Darren Oliver, RHP Darren O'Day, RHP Chris Ray and RHP Dustin Nippert.
The projected Lineup for the Rangers has CF Julio Borbon leading off with 3B Michael Young, LF Josh Hamilton, DH Vladimir Guerrero, 2B Ian Kinsler, 1B Chris Davis, RF Nelson Cruz, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia and SS Elvis Andrus . The projected reserves look to be C Taylor Teagarden or Toby Hall, OF David Murphy, INF Esteban German, INF Joaquin Arias or Matt Brown.
The Rangers are no strangers to bouncing back from tough times. They are trying to win an AL West title after being swept by the Yankees in ‘99. The start of the ’07 season was just as bad for the Rangers, ending the month of may with a 19-35 record, as well as various injuries. They redeemed themselves in June, however, having the first month in the season with a 14-12 winning record. Also noted in June was Sammy Sosa, hitting his 600th home run against the Cubs. Can we expect a World Series from the Rangers? Unlikely - although they do have a strong offence, they fail at having a qualtity pitching staff.
Buck Showalter has had quite a career as a manager in the major leagues. He might forever be known as “The manager of the Yankees directly before Joe Torre” and he was also the manager that put everything in order in Arizona so that Bob Brenly could replace him and win the World Series in his first year there. After his stint at ESPN as an analyst, Showalter returned to the majors to lead the Texas Rangers of the always competitive AL West. In 2003, Showalter was said to have been in some heated conversations with all-world player Alex Rodriguez, and that was part of the reason Rodriguez was sent to New York in the off-season. In exchange for A-Rod, the Rangers acquired second baseman Alfonso Soriano, possibly the only player with in the league with legitimate 40 stolen base/40 homer potential.
In more than 40 years, the Rangers have only made 3 playoff appearances, all coming in the last 10 years. Each time, they met up with the New York Yankees, and each time, they were soundly defeated. In 2004, the Rangers will look to bounce back to the playoffs and find a way to get through the first round. If there was a stadium created to be a hitter’s paradise, you’d be likely to find it in the form of The Ballpark at Arlington, home of the Rangers. The dimensions of the field wouldn’t appear incredibly advantageous to the hitters, but pitchers are almost fearful when they have to pitch there.
The pitching has undoubtedly been the downfall of the Rangers over the years. They signed pitcher Chan Ho Park to an astronomical deal in 2002, and they’ve been somewhat strapped for cash because of it. On the other hand, this has allowed them to work with their farm clubs and develop young pitching talent which is much less expensive. Kenny Rogers, in his third separate term with the club, will lead the staff. R.A. Dickey and Ryan Drese are the youngsters expected to improve the overall pitching performance of the club.
The Rangers offense is loaded with talent and potential, and playing in a bandbox like The Ballpark at Arlington is certain to help the stats as well. The Rangers unloaded veterans Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez to Baltimore and Kansas City in the off-season. This was partially because of salary-cap reasons and partially in order to give the young ball players more playing time. Michael Young, a middle infielder with an amazing upside, will lead off the batting order. Soriano will be placed in the middle of the lineup, and will have protection from Mark Teixeira and Hank Blalock. Blalock is the 23 year old third baseman who could end up being the new cornerstone of the team, and Teixeira is the 24 year old first baseman who has the task of replacing Palmeiro. The wild card for the Rangers might be Laynce Nix, a 23 year old center fielder with blinding speed and a quiet confidence.