Biggest Offseason Acquisition: Lance Berkman
Potential Fatal Flaw: Depth, Lack of
Ceiling: AL West Champion
Floor: Missing the playoffs
Overall: Josh Hamilton is gone. Michael Young is gone (and terrible…BUT A TOTAL PROFESSIONAL). Mike Napoli is gone. Colby Lewis is hurt. Neftali Feliz is hurt. Nelson Cruz is, well, he’s not hurt. Yet.
Make no mistake, this is not the Texas Rangers team who won consecutive AL pennants. They’re still good, but, they need everyone to stay healthy to have a chance to earn a playoff spot.
We’ll start in the rotation. Ever heard of Nick Tepesch? Great. He’s the fifth starter because of the aforementioned injuries to Lewis and Feliz (as well as to Martin Perez). Behind Tepesch? Uh…I guess that Robbie Ross could start.
Tepesch is joined by Yu Darvish, who I think will improve off of a solid rookie campaign, Matt Harrison, who you’ll remember was an All-Star in 2012, Derek Holland, who is nowhere near as good of a pitcher as he is perceived to be, and Alexi Ogando, who as of this moment is not on the disabled list, but who knows, right?
Holland is by far the weakest link of that group, assuming all are healthy. Ogando is a really good pitcher. In his one year as a starter, 2011, he made 29 starts, and posted a 1.13 WHIP and a K/BB ratio close to 3. He made the All-Star team, for what that’s worth. Harrison pitches to contact perhaps a little too much, but it hasn’t hurt him too badly. Darvish could be your AL Cy Young Award winner this season. He’s a strikeout artist who just needs to cut back on his walks. If he does that, he’s good enough to be the Rangers’ Justin Verlander.
If you’re looking for a Nick Tepesch scouting report, you read the wrong blog, though you already knew that.
Offensively is where I think Texas struggles a bit more this season. The top of the order, with Elvis Andrus, Ian Kinsler, and Adrian Beltre is really good. All of them are arguably the best player at their position in the American League. It’s the rest of the lineup that’s a problem. Lance Berkman, if healthy, should excel in Texas as a full-time DH. Say what you want about the less-than-fit Berkman, but when healthy, he’s still a very useful bat. The outfield is the problem. You’ve got David Murphy, who is best served as a platoon player because of his struggles against lefties, Nelson Cruz, who is another guy that is perceived as better than he is (career .268/.328/.494) hitter who has played only one full-season in his career (2012), and Leonys Martin, who has 54 career at-bats.
The Rangers are a playoff team. I don’t think that’s changed. But I don’t think they’re a very good playoff team. The starting pitching will carry this team, led by Darvish who will be right there with Justin Verlander and John Lackey for the AL Cy Young (JOKES!). Offensively, there’s enough at the top of the order to take advantage of the home park and score enough runs to win some games. But I don’t see a long run in the Rangers this year.
Predicted Finish: 86-76
Mid-Atlantic Bias 