— BTF's Preseason Previews
Friday, April 08, 2005
Texas Rangers Preview
Last year, I declared that in order for the Rangers to compete, they would need: several breakout performances; the Oakland offense to struggle; the Seattle pitching staff to collapse; and an Asian Flu outbreak. Well, three out of four . . . In 2004, the Rangers rode the twin horses of timely hitting and an extraordinary bullpen to finish within three games of the division title. The unexpectedness of the Rangers ride left commentator all over the country paraphrasing the Sundance Kid: “Who the f**k are those guys?!?!”
This team is still horribly misunderstood by most. The common conception is that the Rangers are a good offensive team desperately in need of pitching help. This goes to show that park effects, while acknowledged today, are still not given their proper due. The Rangers offense finished fourth in the league in runs scored, but plated only 369 of those runs on the road last season. That would make them roughly tenth in the league or on par with Minnesota’s offense. Don’t get me wrong. This team can still club the ball on the road, hitting 111 homers away from Arlington. However, what they can’t do is get on base away from home, as their team batting average routinely drops by 40 points. This is not some random statistic. It has repeated for years now – when the Rangers have good hitting clubs or bad, when their opponents have good pitching teams or bad, and when the schedule is balanced or unbalanced. These Rangers just cannot score runs nearly as well as most people think they can.
WHAT WENT RIGHT IN 2004
So, how then did they win in 2004? First, they scored much better at the Ballpark at Arlington than did their opponents (491-417). Thank you very much, Orel Hershiser. In hindsight, it made a tremendous amount of sense to make Hershiser the pitching coach, didn’t it? In his day, Hershiser was a heady pitcher with the best sinking fastball you’ll ever see. Who better to educate Rangers’ pitchers in the art of keeping the ball down? Adding the sinkerball artistry of Ryan Drese and Kenny Rogers was the key to the staff’s resurgence, as both pitchers were very effective at home. Second, this team had as good a bullpen as there can be. Buck Showalter and Hershiser constructed a tremendously deep and varied pen to handle almost any situation or matchup. Showalter’s choices were superb, allowing him to make changes with his pen in the way that Earl Weaver used to make changes with his offense. Finally, the team hit and pitched very well in the clutch last year. These last two phenomena allowed the Rangers to outperform their pythags by two games.
WHAT WENT WRONG IN 2004
The team was unable to find hitters for the left field or designated hitter positions, the easiest spots to fill. Part of this was due to Brad Fullmer’s continuing injuries, however, the Rangers broke camp foolishly counting on Brian Young to play well. To lose a pennant because your leftfielders hit only .260/.326/.401 is almost unconscionable. Julio Lugo would have been a more productive leftfielder. Also, after Drese and Rogers, the Rangers rotation was a complete mess until a few rookies showed signs of life late in the season.
OFF-SEASON PLAYER MOVEMENT
- Signed IF Manny Alexander (minor), C Sandy Alomar Jr (1yr/550K), P Pedro Astacio (1yr/800K), 1B Greg Colbrunn (minor), IF Mark DeRosa (minor), OF Richard Hidalgo (1yr/5M), P Jeff Nelson (minor), P John Wasdin (minor) and P Jeff Zimmerman (minor).
- Claimed P Ryan Bukvich (San Diego) and P Ryan Wing (White Sox) off waivers.
- Resigned P Doug Brocail (1yr/1M) and OF David Dellucci (2yr/900K).
- Traded for P Matt Riley.
- Lost IF/OF Eric Young, 1B/DH Brad Fullmer, OF Rusty Greer, OF Brian Jordan, IF Herbert Perry, IF Andy Fox, OF Chad Allen, C Ken Huckaby, P Michael Tejera, P Ben Kozlowski, P Mickey Callaway, P Jeff Nelson, P Jay Powell, P Colby Lewis and P Jeff Zimmerman to free agency or waivers.
- Traded OF Ramon Nivar.
MINOR LEAGUERS
In 2004, the Rangers continued to replenish their rapidly improving farm system. Here’s the best of what they have now, in the order of when they are likely to reach the majors.
1B Adrian Gonzalez (ETA: 2005)
Good heavens, isn’t this, like, the fifth year for Gonzalez on these lists? Still only 22 (he’ll be 23 in May), Gonzalez recovered from a 2003 wrist injury to post a nice year at AAA Oklahoma (.304/.364/.457) while solidifying his gold glove caliber defense. Gonzalez didn’t do well in his brief big league experience last year (.238/273/.381) but that’s hardly the worst debut that a young 22-year old has ever posted. He still needs to do a better job with pitch selection (which should help his power production) and there are rumblings about his lackadaisical attitude, but Gonzalez’s biggest problem is that the Rangers have a 25-year old all-star 1B ahead of him and a slugging 24-year old 1B prospect behind him. Personally, I’d move Texeira back to the OF to find a spot for Gonzalez, but it’s more likely that his eventual home will be with another organization.
RHP Juan Dominguez (ETA: 2005)
The Rangers hustled Dominguez, 24, through three levels and into the majors in 2003, but then sensibly started him back out in AAA in 2004. He was very strong there (posting a 3.13 ERA and striking out 41 in 54 innings) to earn himself a mid-season promotion to Arlington where he was effective (3.91 ERA in 23 innings). The year was not a complete success for Dominguez though. He missed several weeks with injuries to his back and knee and assorted emotional problems (including the death of his mother). His low-90s fastball, extremely good changeup and average slider give him all the physical tools that he needs to succeed in the big leagues.
SS Ian Kinsler (ETA: late-2006)
A 17th round pick in the 2003 draft out of Mizzou, Kinsler, 23, devastated the Midwest and Texas leagues in 2004. His .401/.465./687 at Clinton was so surprising that the Rangers left him there for half the season before bumping him up to Frisco, where he hit .300/.400/.480. His defense at SS is passable but probably not good to allow major league managers to play him there everyday. He’ll probably start the year at AAA Oklahoma; I would expect a year of retrenchment there before being ready in 2006.
LHP John Danks (ETA: 2007)
Danks, 20, is part of the continuing payoff that the Rangers derived from the Fuson Administration. The Rangers rushed him to hi-A despite less than stellar California League numbers, but he succeeded there, striking out 64 and walking just 14 in 50 innings. His fastball is in the 90 mph range but scouts expect him to bump that up by about five mph by the time that he’s matured. His curve ball is the best in the system, but, realizing that he’ll need a pitch to face RHers, the Rangers have been working on his changeup. He should probably start the season with the organization’s new hi-A Bakersfield club, but the Rangers have been inclined to rush him thus far, so he might start at AA Frisco.
RHP Thomas Diamond (ETA: 2007)
Diamond was the tenth pick in the 2004 draft but the ousted Grady Fuson liked him more than any of Rice’s Big Three, who all went in the top eight. Diamond has a solid low-90s fastball, a good changeup and very good control that helped him dominate the Northwest and Midwest Leagues in a brief 2004 campaign. That’s the best news. Diamond has no breaking pitch to speak of. In fact, the Rangers are still debating whether the slider or curve would suit him better. Diamond physically resembles Andy Benes and, like Benes, scouts project him as eventual number two or three starter. If Diamond’s breaking pitch doesn’t come along, he may eventually end up as a closer (in the Keith Foulke mold), the role that he filled at the University of New Orleans before becoming a starter.
SS Joaquin Arias (ETA: 2008)
The player-to-be-named in the ARod trade, Arias is extremely young and has hit .300 in two of his three minor league stops. But that’s about the extent of his contributions thus far. Scouts tout his athletic ability and premium tools, but he’ll need to do more with the stick if he’s going to make good on his promise.
PLAYERS
C Rod Barajas (2004: Barajas/Gerald Laird)
Last year, the Rangers had two backup catchers and one starting catcher in camp. When they decided to trade Einar Diaz and opted to open the season with Gerald Laird behind the plate you could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from the nation’s Ranger fans. Unfortunately, Laird’s torn thumb ligament in May elevated Rod Barajas to the starting role. Barajas did enough with the bat (hit 15 homers) to convince the Rangers that he should be the regular catcher even after Laird healed. Here’s the best that can be said of Barajas: if he continues to club extra-base hits at the 60 a year pace that he demonstrated in 2004 then his defense makes him a decent backstop. If the Rangers decided to go with a creative offensive-defensive platoon with Barajas and Laird, I’d be content. Instead they made the worst FA signing of the off-season by inking Sandy Alomar Jr. to back up Barajas, and sending Laird to AAA.
1B Mark Teixeira (2004: Teixeira)
Unlike most of his Ranger teammates, Teixeira’s excellent 2004 number are not a park illusion. While he was a monster at home (.967 OPS), he posted a fine .893 OPS on the road. Teixeira should take the next step this year by hitting .300, even though he’s a significantly better hitter against southpaws whom he doesn’t face as often as righthanders. It’s tempting to compare Teixeira, as switch hitting first baseman to Eddie Murray, but that would be wishful thinking. Teixeira is much more akin to Nate Colbert than Murray or the Macs (McCovey, McGwire, McGriff) who populate his baseball-reference comp list. If I was forced to compare him to a switchy 1B, I would say that he’s very much like Ripper Collins of the Gas House Gang Cardinals.
2B Alfonso Soriano (2004: Soriano)
What do we make of Soriano? Around these parts, we all like players who draw walks and Soriano will never do that. Of course, Roberto Clemente never drew walks at a better rate than Soriano does now, and they tell me that he was a pretty fair player. Soriano’s defense, however, is a much, much bigger problem. It’s just not possible to have a consistently successful baseball club with a second baseman that’s this bad a defensive player. Eventually, Soriano will have to move to the outfield and in order to succeed at that transition he will need to have a better season than he had in 2004.
3B Hank Blalock (2004: Blalock)
There is just no way that you can watch Blalock with a bat and predict anything but stardom for him. Plus, you can’t argue with a 23-year old third baseman who posts consecutive seasons of better than 110 OPS+. That said, Blalock still has significant holes in his offensive game. For one, he struck out an absurdly high 149 times last season. Further, he has never done anything on the road. Last year his road OPS was 150 points lower on the road, raising (!) his career splits to .943 OPS at home and just .732 on the road. Most of the difference in his home/road splits is because of his loss of batting average. Blalock usually hits about 70 points worse on the road while his teammates are usually “only” about 40 points worse on the road. Blalock will overcome these deficiencies eventually, however, when evaluating him today we should begin by thinking of him as a .250 hitter with 30 homer power.
SS Michael Young (2004: Young)
At Christmas every year Young should buy the architects of The Ballpark at Arlington some little gift . . . like a new car or something. Young is a nice ballplayer – in the way that a .270 hitting SS with 18 homer power is a nice ballplayer. I mean, that is a good player. But we should all be aware of how much benefit that Young derives from his home park. In the last three season, his home park has boosted his batting average by about 70 points creating almost all the difference between his home OPS of .858 and his road .697 OPS. The Rangers seem happy enough with Young’s defense, but his zone ratings are among the worst in the A.L. It’s not enough to move him Soriano off second base this year, but if Kinsler or someone else hits enough to make the big leagues then the Rangers will move Young back to second.
LF Kevin Mench (2004: David Dellucci/Mench/Brian Jordan)
Kevin Mench had a nice age-26 season in 2004, hitting 30 doubles and 26 homers in 125 games. But, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, Kevin Mench is not nearly the player that his 2004 numbers suggest. First, there are the park illusions which turn Mench to an .800 OPS left fielder, which isn’t very good. Then there is the problem that Mench has with right-handers. It’s not crippling (.259/.306./486) but it’s not enough for a left fielder. Ultimately, Mench’s biggest problem is his inability to get on base without swinging the bat. When Bill James used to talk about how good offensive ballparks can create illusions that allow mediocre players to clutter lineups, he might as well have been referring to Mench. What Mench needs is a left-handed platoon partner. Unfortunately, the current pervasiveness to opt for five and six-man bullpens means that there aren’t enough bats around. There’s always a cost, people. The cost of having a second lefty like Brian Shouse around to face 105 left-handers means that you have to have Mench out there to face to face 315 right handers. That’s a pretty steep price tag.
CF Gary Matthews Jr. (2004: Layne Nix/Matthews Jr./Jason Conti)
In 2004, Little Sarge will continue a long-standing Rangers tradition. He will be the latest crappy centerfielder. Laynce Nix’s multiple flaws means that he will return to AAA Oklahoma to start 2005 and Showalter will go with Matthews Jr. I don’t really know how this happens. How can any team go into the season saying, “I will cast my lot with Gary Matthews Jr?” Matthews posted his best career numbers last year, but that is, of course, an illusion. He hit .293/.364/.512 at home but .261/.339/.420 on the road. Those are essentially the same numbers that go him driven out of Baltimore, so if he wasn’t good enough for anyone then why is he good enough to be a starting CFer now? Matthews is a solid defender though.
RF Richard Hidalgo (2004: Matthews Jr./Mench/Jordan)
The 2004-2005 off-season was not a good year to go shopping for outfielders. If you needed a right fielder and didn’t have the money for J.D. Drew (or if you felt previously burned by his agent Scott Boras), then, essentially, you were forced to choose between Richard Hidalgo, Jermaine Dye or Jeromy Burnitz. The Rangers opted for Hidalgo and his one-year contract. Hidalgo has shown a tendency to sprinkle an occasional great season (2000, 2003) with several putrid ones (1999, 2001, 2002, 2004). The Rangers are gambling that 2005 will be one of Hidalgo’s great seasons; the pot odds make this a good bet.
DH David Dellucci (2004: Brad Fullmer/Eric Young/Herbert Perry)
The original plan was for Dellucci to platoon with Greg Colbrunn at DH in 2004. Colbrunn’s continuing wrist problems have delayed that plan though. Dellucci had a nice season in his 2004 contract year, drawing walks and mashing right-handers. In light of Colbrunn’s injury, however, the Rangers should re-evaluate their DH situation. I know that you don’t like to use a good fielder at DH, but, given the problems that the Rangers’ outfielders have with right-handed pitching, Texas should use Adrian Gonzalez at DH. That would free Dellucci up to sub for either Mench, Hidalgo or even Matthews against right-handers. The better but more radical solution would be to move Teixeira to left and Mench to the DH platoon, opening 1B for Gonzalez.
BENCH
How does this happen? Seriously, how does Sandy Alomar Jr. keep getting jobs? What is that you look for in a backup catcher? Reliability, right? When your starter isn’t ready to go you want someone that you can count on. Is that Sandy? He’s missed at least two weeks in every year this century. Personally, I like to have a backup catcher who can either hit or throw. Alomar hasn’t been able to do either in years. Gerald Laird missed two months of the season with a torn thumb ligament. He hit .307/.374/.352 in the first half but the lingering thumb injury destroyed the rest of his 2004 season, as he hit just .102/.154/.186 upon his return. That’s no reason to leave him in AAA this season, though. Mark DeRosa was miscast last year as Atlanta’s starting third baseman. As a starter, DeRosa makes an excellent utility player, which will be his role on the Rangers. Adrian Gonzalez made the club out of spring training because of Greg Colbrunn’s lingering wrist injury, but without a prescribed role, which makes little sense. Don’t shoot the messenger but how many guys do you know of who have had a good season in years when they have had a wrist or hand injury. I can’t think of any. With the Colbrunn injury, the Rangers plan to use Chad Allen as their starboard side DH, which is about as foolish a solution to the problem as there is. I’m sure that Allen is a nice guy, but since he can’t play center and can’t hit enough to hold a corner OF job, why would you make him your DH? What the Rangers could use on their roster right now is a guy like Laynce Nix, who can sub for their corner outfielders against right-handers. One of the team’s hopes for the future, Nix will find himself in AAA to begin the season thanks to the front office’s inability to find a better right-handed DH than an injured 35-year old. Nix has demonstrated beyond any doubt that he can’t hit lefties at this point in his career. Andres Torres can’t hit but, unlike Allen, can play some centerfield and is still in his prime (for whatever that’s worth). In my casual observation over the years, it seems that even generally crappy players can post a good season during their prime. Unfortunately, those years are usually enjoyed only by the fans of place like Fresno, where IF Cody Ransom hit .309/.397/.603 last year before being called up to the Giants. The lack of a right-handed bat on this team tempts one to ask for the promotion of the monstrous (6’6”, 245 lbs) 1B Jason Botts, who finally busted out last year at AA Frisco (.296/.401/.513). ZiPS has Botts as a .263/.343/.422 hitter right now, which is a hell of a lot better than any other righty swinger that the Rangers have right now.
ROTATION
Kenny Rogers
Remember when the Rockies had that theory about how change up pitchers would be more successful in Coors Field? Maybe they should have gone after Rogers instead of Neagle. Rogers ERA in The Hitter-Haven at Arlington was a wonderful 4.24 with just 11 homers and 21 walks in 108 innings. Of course, he also tossed 103 less than commendable road innings, but, still. Rogers was a boon to Texas in 2004, taking the mound 35 times for 211 innings of league average work. It’s in vogue to compare Rogers to Jamie Moyer but that’s really not a solid comp. While it’s not apples-and-oranges since both are aged left-handed change-up specialists, it’s more like comparing a Red Delicious to a Macintosh Apple. Sure, they have their superficial similarities but you can quickly spot the differences after the first bite. Moyer has posted his best years very late in his career (after 33) while Rogers, still solid in his graying years, posted nearly all his better years before the age of 33. Ranger fans should content themselves with just hoping that Rogers posts a league average ERA again, and doesn’t revert back to his pattern of quadrennial debacles (see: 1997, 2001).
Ryan Drese
After two horribly unlucky years, Ryan Drese finally got some support from his defense and bullpen last year. How much does decent defense and bullpen support matter? Well, in the previous two seasons, Drese had allowed hit rates of 35% and 38%, while his bullpen had allowed over 35% of the runners that he left on base to score. These two circumstances, which where completely out of Drese’s control, comined with his inability to throw strikes to boost his ERA from 3.44 in his rookie year to an average of 6.60 in 2002 and 2003. Last year, Drese coaxed tons of opposing batters to pound his vicious sinker into the ground, while his bullpen and defense did their jobs. The result? A 4.20 ERA. Don’t get too excited though. Drese gives up a ton of hits and strikes out less than four batters a game, so 2004 is probably just about the limit of his talent. Still, there are worse things to have than an innings eating pitcher who can produce a 4.50 ERA in a pitchers park.
Chan Ho Park
Park was hobbled less by injuries in 2004 than in the previous two season and he showed some improvement. His overall numbers, which included 22 homers and 13 hit batsmen in 92 innings, were still ugly. However, away from home Park posted a 4.44 ERA and walked just 14 batter in 50 innings, despite being victimized by poor bullpen support. Don’t read too much into that though, he still gave up nine homers and 54 hits on the road. Despite still owing him almost 30 million dollars over the next two seasons, the Rangers would be happy at this point if Park were just able recover to become a 200 inning, league average pitcher. Park still has the ability if he’s healthy, but to ask anything more of him is hopelessly unrealistic.
Chris Young
Young is a 26-year old 6’10” former Princeton basketball player, currently with this third organization. After acquiring him from Montreal for Einar Diaz at the beginning of the 2004 season, the Rangers have helped Young to boost his formerly 88 m.p.h. fastball into the respectable 92-94 m.p.h. range by making him come more over the top. Despite his height, Young has good, repeatable mechanics which have helped him produce good walk rates. His change of motion hurt his feel for his curveball and change but scouts think he’ll work those problems out. When that happens his strikeout rate should continue to climb over the next couple years. He’s currently older than former giant right-handed hurler Jeff Juden was when he first made the majors, but, hopefully, he’ll succeed where Juden disappointed.
Joaquin Benoit
After giving up on Danny Kolb and Doug Davis only to see them turn into fine pitchers, the Rangers sensibly found a spot on the 25-man roster for Benoit last year. Formerly as wild as Tara Reid on a meth bender, Benoit harnessed his control in 2004, walking just 31 in 103 innings. His strikeout rate is among the best on the team (which is damning with faint praise). Benoit’s biggest problem is his tendency to throw a pitch 60 feet forward only to watch it soar 400 feet in the opposite direction. The other problem for Benoit has been a “sore” shoulder this spring. It shut him down for most of the training season, but he has recently been able to throw innings and Rangers hope that he will be able to make a full return by May.
Pedro Astacio
Speaking of sore shoulders, the Rangers brought Astacio to camp and guaranteed him a rotation spot. The injury talk around him has been about his sore groin with almost no mention of the fact that he’s had had surgery for a fully torn rotator cuff and labrum. The odds of Astacio ever again being an effective pitcher are as long as . . . well . . . something really, really, really long. I have to brush up on my Dante, but I’m pretty sure that forcing an injured player to pitch in Arlington is somewhere round level five.
BULLPEN
Closer Francisco Cordero
Cordero anchored the Rangers’ bullpen, arguably the best in the league last year. Supplementing his high-90s fastball with a recently-developed slider, Cordero tore through the league in 2004. He pitched well in almost every situation last year, including in 17 back-to-back games where he gave up only a .214 batting average (albeit with a high walk rate). The biggest concern about Cordero is his walk rate which is rather high for a closer. In the 40% of his at bats that he starts with a ball, he’s hittable (.261/.377/.348). He’ll anchor the Rangers bullpen for the foreseeable future. Cordero is the last Ranger’s player from the huge 2000 trade that sent Juan Gonzalez to Detroit (unless you think that Justin Thompson still has a shot to recover).
Ron Mahay
Mahay is one of my favorite pitchers. He’s a southpaw but some gimmick with a funky-ass deliver. He’s occasionally used for a single lefty-swinging batter, but just as frequently he’ll be called upon to pitch a full inning or even three. Mahay relies on a traditional assortment of an above-average fastball, a slider for use against lefties and a splitter to combat righties. In the good old days we called guys like this Craig Lefferts, and let them pitch a hell of a lot more than 60 innings a year. Free Ron Mahay!
Frank Francisco
I think that I can get through this whole profile without mentioning the chair throwing incident . . . dammit! Oh, well. Francisco came to the Rangers from the White Sox as one-third of the payment for a three month lease on Carl Everett’s bat. Francisco discovered how to strike batters out last year at AA Frisco, fanning 30 in 17 innings, and the rocketed through 51 innings in the show, striking out 60 more and allowing only 36 hits. His high-90s heat and drop-off-the-table splitter are truly a deadly combination. Francisco walks way too many batters (4.9 per game) for modern sensibilities, but that may be the price that you pay that you have to pay for this kind of stuff. He’s complained of elbow soreness this spring.
Carlos Almanzar
Almanzar was a great story in 2004. After posting a fantastic 54/3 K/BB ration in 46 innings at AAA in 2003, Almanzar was a much sought after minor league FA going into 2004. For the Rangers last year, he turned in solid season, going 7-3 with a 3.70 ERA in middle relief. He relies on a running, sinking fastball that makes him particularly tough on right-handers, but he doesn’t strike many batters out. Still, he was effective in every situation that the Rangers through at him last year. This off-season was particularly tough on Almanzar who lost both his mother and brother unexpectedly late this spring. He’s on bereavement leave but the latest word is that he would like to return to Rangers soon to take him mind of his loss.
Doug Brocail
Another great human-interest story from the Rangers bullpen. Going into the 2004 season, Brocail had undergone two ligament transplants and was three years removed from his last big league game. It took him a while to come around, but in the second half of 2004 he was arguably the best pitcher in the Rangers pen (allowing only a 2.18 ERA and giving up a .224 batting average while striking out 30 in 33 innings). I don’t justify violence but I sure hope that someday I have friends as strong Brocail’s, who will not tolerate drunken idiots taunting me about a family tragedy.
Brian Shouse
The 36-year old Shouse posted his second terrific season as the Rangers LOOGY. For the second straight year he was unhittable by lefties (.188/.243/.313) but rocked by righties to tune of a .807 OPS. So, he typifies the ugly little secret of the LOOGY phenomenon – they’re going to be great against 55% of the batters that they face and horseshit against 45%. Is that a ratio that anyone would accept from any other kind of pitcher? Still, this is world that we live in, so Shouse will probably pitch until he’s 45, the last three of which will be as the third lefty in LaRussa’s pen.
Others
Ryan Bukvich is another great story for the Rangers’ bullpen as he was drafted as a college drop out, but, unfortunately, he’s not as great a pitcher. Bukvich throws hard and everywhere, but he’ll start the season in the majors as part of Showalter’s eight-man bullpen. R.A. Dickey was born without a ligament in his right elbow, but in this bullpen that only makes him the fourth or fifth most interesting story. A devout Christian who is widely admired by his teammates and manager, Dickey relied on a funky knuckle-curve/splitter (his “Thing”) to help him post a solid second half in the pen (2.78 ERA after a 6.39 ERA as a starter in the first half). Erasmo Ramirez is another lefty for the pen. He’s a nice non-descript hurler who doesn’t walk anyone, but couldn’t the Rangers package him off to some team that feels that they absolutely-positively need three bullpen lefties. Oops, maybe the Rangers are one of those teams. But, wait, there’s more. The Rangers swapped disappointments with Baltimore, giving up a really fast guy who can’t hit (Ramon Nivar) in exchange for Matt Riley, a really famous pitcher who can’t pitch. Riley still has a future, if he can harness his wildness. Don’t hold your breath. Nick Regilio is on the roster because of Almanzar’s bereavement leave. He won’t be there for long. In case four of the above pitchers fail, the Rangers can always fall back on the supremely wicked stuff but terribly unreliable control of Vlad Nunez. Keith Stamler was also in camp. He’s an organizational soldier, whose 2004 season was his first decent effort since A ball. If you get excited about a righty reliever who stirkes out 40 in 83 innings, you need to read more about baseball.
HOW THEY CAN COMPETE
First, they need their offense to improve. Teixeira needs to continue to build on his formidable early years. Blalock and Young need to produce more consistently. The team needs to solve its DH mess, either through the recovery of Colbrunn, or, more likely, with an acquisition. When the missing bullpenners return, the team will be able to add Nix to provide lefthanded depth. Getting Laird into the catching mix will help bolster the offense too. If the rotation can’t get reliable seasons from two more starting pitchers (like Young and Park) then the onus will once again be on the bullpen. A good bullpen can make up for otherwise deficient pythags, so it’s likely that the Rangers will once again win 85-90 games. Whether that will be enough to catch the formidable Los Angeles Angels of the Greater Los Angeles Area remains to be seen.