2009 MLB Previews – Texas Rangers

The 133rd season of Major League Baseball is upon us. Over the next month and half, we will be taking a look at each ball club, leading up to the Expert Predictions of the esteemed staff at Sparty & Friends. We will be previewing each team, from worst to first. The franchise formerly known as the Washington Senators will be featured today’s preview.

Hey LOOK someone is talking about the RANGERS! The story that was shoved down our throat last season was the amazing comeback of Josh Hamilton from a life of drug and alcohol abuse. While truly a great story, it was really overplayed and in my opinion, hurt the Rangers as a team at times. This year the story should take the backburner and fans are going to want a little more from a team that surprised many last year. What will they get? Expect college baseball without the aluminum bats.

Last Season: 79-83 (2nd place in the AL West)

Who’s Gone: OF Milton Bradley (signed with Cubs)

Who’s New:Andruw Jones (minor league deal), Brendan Donnelly (minor league deal), Derrick Turnbow (minor league deal), and Omar Vizquel (minor league deal)

Projected Lineup:
1. Ian Kinsler (2B)
2. Michael Young (SS)
3. Josh Hamilton (CF)
4. Nelson Cruz (RF)
5. Hank Blalock (DH)
6. David Murphy/Marlon Byrd (LF)
7. Chris Davis (1B)
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia (C)
9. Travis Metcalf (3B)

Projected Rotation:
RHPKevin Millwood
RHP Vicente Padilla
RHPScott Feldman
LHP Matt Harrison
RHP Brandon McCarthy
CL Frank Francisco

Key Bench Players: Elvis Andrus until he works his way in as an everyday player…which shouldn’t take long. But hey! ”He still plays baseball?” Frank Catalanotto and Taylor Teagarden will be your best guys coming off the bench and if he makes the roster Omar Vizquel is always a good defensive replacement.

Manager: Ron Washington

Lineup Outlook- A complete opposite of yesterday’s Oakland A’s this team has decided it’s just going to out slug everyone. After rumors of the spot going to Chris Davis, Nelson Cruz will probably be hitting in the four hole after joining the team from the minors late last season. In his five glorious weeks in Major League Baseball he hit .330. Also look for the aforementioned Chris Davis to become a major part of this very lethal lineup. He is the type of hitter that can drive in 100 runs in this lineup. And of course we all know what Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, Hank Blalock, and Josh Hamilton can do. Easily said, scoring will be a plenty in Arlington.

Starting Rotation- When Kevin Millwood is your ace, you might want to start looking to make a move or two. This might be the worst rotation in the majors. In fact last season it blew away every other team for worst in the league with an ERA of 5.37. FIVE. THREE. SEVEN! As nice of a pickup that Josh Hamilton was, how great would Edinson Volquez be for the Rangers? (note he was part of that trade) Scott Feldman was a reliever turned starter last season who showed some promise, but is more of a long reliever and spot starter than an everyday major league starter. The best thing the Rangers have going for them is the fact that their number one and number two starters are in contract years. Maybe that might do something.

Bullpen- You can have a great bullpen on this team and it wouldn’t matter. Why? Because they’re relied upon to 4-5 innings each night and that certainly causes some fatigue. Joaquin Benoit and former closer C.J. Wilson are solid middlemen that can get the ball to Frank Francisco, who is potentially one of the best in baseball. The Rangers took fliers of former All Star closers Derrick Turnbow and “Everyday” Eddie Guadardo and another former All Star Brendan Donnelly. If it works it could be a stroke of genius…again though…this is the Rangers.

Prediction – 70-75 wins, 3^rd in the AL West. This team will put up numbers which will be good for quite a few wins. That being said, it will not be enough to get them anywhere near the amount of runs they need for the number of runs they will give up. If the Rangers can move a couple of their bats for a decent starting pitcher or two things may be different, but until that it’s going to be a roller coaster season for the Rangers.