Texas Rangers

The mighty Rangers have had a great run of success and almost won it all.  They’ve got immense power, but also played good defense and had top-drawer pitching.  An exciting club to watch and to cheer for, they keep things interesting, play hard, and have a lot of hard-nosed characters to keep us entertained.  They considered buying Prince Fielder, which would have weighed them top-heavy with power, and certainly made them favorites to win the AL, but they don’t look shabby as they are now, having paid through the nose to acquire Japanese ace Yu Darvish, who required a $50 million posting fee.  Will he turn into the first-year Dice-K Matsusaka or the subsequent years?  Matsusaka was an ace in Japan who signed for a similar posting fee plus contract with the Red Sox.  He was lights-out, a true ace, in his first year and made the contract he got look very good indeed.  But in subsequent years he has been average at best, a #3 or #4 starter.  This is his last year in Boston, a chance to bounce back.  Darvish seems to have a better power build and perhaps mental makeup, but it’s always a gamble when such different baseball cultures overlap.  Josh Hamilton’s contract is a question mark and could prove disruptive—a powerful hitter, he has struggled with addiction problems that seem to have reared their heads once more.  Rest assured, however, that Ron Washington’s men will hit a lot of home runs, play hard, and be there in the post-season.

In: Yu Darvish (free agent), Joe Nathan (free agent)

Out: CJ Wilson (free agent)

Strength: this team can flat-out hit, and they take nothing for granted.  They play hard, dirty their uniforms, and won’t rest until the end of the 9^th.  They’ve won before and know how to do it.

Weakness: the Rangers lost their ace to free agency (the mighty Angels), and closer Neftali Felix will try his luck in the starting rotation.  If Felix and Darvish live up to expectations, then the rotation will not have suffered, and indeed will have improved.  But those are two big ifs, and it’s tough to lose a #1 starter, even for champions like the Rangers.

Manager: Ron Washington

Projected Rotation: Colby Lewis, Derek Holland, Yu Darvish, Neftali Felix, Matt Harrison

Projected Closer: Joe Nathan

Projected Starting Lineup:

            Ian Kinsler 2B

            Elvis Andrus SS

            Josh Hamilton RF

            Michael Young DH

            Adrian Beltre 3B

            Nelson Cruz LF

            Mike Napoli C

            Mitch Moreland 1B

            Craig Gentry CF