ADDITIONS: C Sandy Alomar Jr. (free agent from Chicago White Sox); OF Richard Hidalgo (free agent from NY Mets); RHP Pedro Astacio
(free agent from Boston); 1B-DH Greg Colbrunn (minor league free agent from
Arizona).
LOSSES: OF Brian Jordan (signed with Atlanta); INF-OF
Eric Young (signed with San Diego); DH Brad Fullmer (unsigned free agent); DH
Herbert Perry (unsigned free agent); RHP Colby Lewis (claimed on waivers by
Detroit); RHP Mickey Callaway (released); RHP Jeff Nelson (signed with Seattle);
RHP Jay Powell (signed with Atlanta).
1: 2B Alfonso Soriano
2: 3B Hank Blaylock
3: SS Michael Young
4: 1B Mark Texiera
5: LF Kevin Mench
6: RF Richard Hidalgo
7: DH David Dellucci/Greg Colbrunn
8: C Rod Barajas
9: CF Laynce Nix/Gary Mathews Jr
The Rangers offense was potent for the first half of 2004 but
slumped in the second half. A primary concern for Texas was getting
deeper, and they did that with the additions of Hidalgo and Colbrunn. Both
players bring the potential for big bats from the right side, but both have also
been injury prone. Dellucci saw his first season as a full time starter in
2004 and barely managed a .200 average in the second half, and Nix also wore
down in the Texas heat late in the season. Dellucci and Colbrunn will
split time at DH, Nix and Hidalgo will get spelled by Mathews Jr. If the
offense maintains its production through a full season then they might be looked
at a serious contenders rather than the 'overachievers' they were considered
last year.
They will have speed at both the top (Soriano and Young) and
bottom (Nix, Matthews Jr.) of the order, and power everywhere. Barajas
will likely start the season in the eighth hole, but if he really has come into
his own (15 homers and 58 RBI in 358 at bats in '04) he could move to the six
hole quickly.
BENCH: Mark DeRosa (INF) was handed the keys to 3rd base
in Atlanta last year and couldn't get the job done. He's coming off knee
surgery that could leave him a little less versatile than the Rangers would
like, but should at least be able to back up at second and third base.
Perhaps a bigger acquisition than Hidalgo and Colbrunn was bringing Sandy Alomar
Jr. in to backup Barajas. The Rangers are a lot of things, but experienced
is not one of them. Barajas is still raw, and Alomar will help to smooth
out the edges, but beyond being a backup catcher Alomar, and his 18 seasons of
MLB experience, can help show a team nobody thought would contend last year what
it is like to win meaningful games.
STARTING ROTATION:
LHP Kenny Rodgers
RHP Ryan Drese
RHP Pedro Astacio
RHP Chan Ho Park
RHP Chris Young
To say the starting rotation is a question mark would be a
Texas sized understatement. Rodgers won a career high 18 games last year
and was a unquestioned Ace, but he's 40 years old. Drese was a
breakout pitcher last year with one of the better sinkers in the league, but he
really started pressing at 175 innings and goes into his first season where the
hitters will have seen him. Astacio is a train wreck, Pedro Martinez's arm
with a body that's been worked on like an old Chevy. He's pitched less
than 50 innings in the last two seasons combined, but the Rangers are walking
around Spring Training talking about getting 1000 innings out of their starting
rotation. That should be even more amusing with Park as the #4. He's
supposed to be healthy for the first time since he came to Texas from the
Dodgers, and he's throwing in the low 90s again, but the last time he was
effective he was throwing 95, and that is a long way back in the rearview
mirror. Young was an August call up last season, and as with any
6'10"lefthanded starter there were Big Unit comparisons, but he's still
essentially a rookie, meaning this rotation has nothing even close to a 'sure
thing.'
The Rangers aren't looking for a Cy Young to emerge, and the
1000 innings goal is probably a little unrealistic, but all this rotation really
needs is to improve on the 61 quality starts they posted last year (a number
that finished dead last in the American League). If that number is closer
to 90 the Rangers should be in good shape because their bullpen might be the
best in the league.
BULLPEN:
Closer: Francisco Cordero
Set Up: Frank Francisco
RHP: Carlos Almanzar
RHP: Doug Brocail
RHP: R.A. Dickey
LHP: Ron Mahay
LHP: Brian Shouse
Cordero has emerged as a big time closer, and one more season
like last year's 49 save campaign with propel him to official 'Elite Closer'
status. He comes into the Spring with even more confidence in the slider
that made him so dominant last season and anchors a bullpen that won the 'Triple
Crown' last season, leading the league in ERA, Bullpen Winning Percentage and
Converted Save Percentage. Francisco on the other hand has had
soreness in his arm from almost his first toss of the Spring, enough that the
Rangers have shut him down temporarily. There are no plans to give him an
MRI at this time, but there will be a very slow schedule for him this
Spring. Almanzar is, like Astacio, a guy desperately trying to come back
from arm injuries, and will, more than any other pitcher in the Rangers pen,
have to prove himself to get meaningful opportunities. Brocail remains a
solid middle relief guy, and Dickey will likely split his time between long
relief and spot starts, and would be the most obvious choice to replace Astacio
in the rotation if injuries arise. Unlike many clubs the Rangers have one
set up guy (Francisco) instead of a lefty/righty tandem, but Mahay and Shouse
keep the Rangers solid from the left side. Mahay has added value in that
he's nearly as effective against right handers while Shouse is one of the better
lefty specialists in the league. The bullpen is by far the biggest
strength of this club, and since there are so many question marks in the
rotation that doesn't look like it will change soon.
BIGGEST QUESTION MARK: It would be easy (and correct) to say the
starting rotation, but instead we'll go with Kevin Mench. He appears to be
on the verge of becoming a dominant hitter from the right side, and could anchor
the very potent lineup, or he could have been a flash in the pan, and the
Rangers newfound depth with return to being a thin bench without much pop.
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Rod Barajas. Last season showed everyone that
the Arizona Diamondbacks should have taken a look at Barajas as their 'catcher
of the future' before allowing the Rangers to scoop him up. This season
could be the one where Barajas announces himself as the heir apparent to Ivan Rodriguez. With Sandy Alomar Jr. in the locker room, and the confidence of
knowing the starting job is his, Barajas should seize the opportunity to become
on of the best catchers in the league.
PROJECTION: Buck Showalter is quite possibly the most underrated
manager in the big leagues and held this team together seemingly with his bare
hands last season. For months the pundits and prognosticators predicted
the Rangers would fall off, and they did, in late September. Most assumed
the Rangers would make a big offseason push for starting pitching, but after the
Park debacle the Rangers elected to go with cheaper, less proven talent (Astacio
and Young) and depend on the bullpen that carried them throughout '04.
With the A's losing two of their 'Big Three' and the Mariners just starting to
rebuild a team that lost 99 games last year, the Rangers can finish in the top
half of the division, but seem unlikely to challenge the Angels as AL West
champions.