Texas Rangers Season Preview

The Texas Rangers are looking like a team that can contend for the American League wild card this season. We will preview every player on the team and what our expectations are from these players a little less then a month into the season

2B Elvis Andrus- He is this team's heart and soul and maybe the best leadoff hitter in the MLB today, with his combination of speed and power he puts fear into all pitching staffs. 70 steals is a lot to expect but we expect him to match his steals from last season with an average around .300 and 15 homeruns and over 120 runs scored. This guy should be an MVP candidate this year

SS JJ Hardy- This guy was one of the best free agent pickups of the season we believe, not just for Texas but in the league. Hardy will make this infield one of the best defensively in the league. Expectations are not high on the offensive end but 20 homeruns seem like a reasonable number for him to surpass this season, he already has 4 through 12 games. His average will probably be about .280 but anything higher will be pretty amazing.

1B Chris Davis- What can we say about a guy and his expectations after winning the AL MVP a season ago. He hit 63 homeruns last year and 162 RBI's This season expectations should be about 35-40 homeruns with 120 RBI's and even then that is an incredible season. This first month of the season he is proving that last season was not a fluke though

RF Cody Ross- This was the biggest gamble that the Rangers took this offseason. Ross could hit .280 and hit 35 homeruns or he could hit .230 and hit 15 homeruns, Our expectations of him is .260 with 25 homeruns anything less and he is a bust but anything more and he could have a breakout season.

CF Corey Brown- This is Brown's 2nd season in the big leagues and his first was viewed as a huge success. Lars Anderson overshadowed him as an offensive rookie but Corey Brown has a chance to surpass Chris Davis as the best hitter on the team, maybe this season, he hits lefties better then right handed pitchers which is rare for a young left handed hitter. We expect him to hit .280 with about 30 homeruns and maybe approaching the 100 RBI mark

DH James Loney/Nelson Cruz- The DH position is where the Rangers could use an upgrade in their lineup. James Loney is a nice player but he can't hit left handed pitching very well and doesn't have a good place in the lineup because of that. Nelson Cruz was injured for the season last year but this season is showing good power in limited at bats. There is talk that the Rangers might platoon the 2 players at the DH position. We expect an average of about .270 with 20 homeruns from these 2 players combined which might be high expectations considering their start but we believe they can turn it around

3B Jorge Cantu- This guy is the one replacing Micheal Young at 3B this season, he was signed to a reasonable contract and this guy is known for his hard work. The Rangers are a perfect fit he isn't asked to carry this offense and because of this I think at certain parts this season he will do just that and carry this offense. We project him to his .275 with 15 homeruns and 75 RBI's

C Max Ramirez- This with be Max's first full season as the Rangers' catcher and we are expecting good offensive numbers and we think he will do a good job with this pitching staff as well. We think he will hit .280 with 20 homeruns and 80 RBI's and this will help Ranger fans to forget all about Taylor Teagarden who they traded away so Ramirez could start

LF Jay Bruce- This guy will never hit for average it seems but maybe his power will start to produce in the Texas heat. Bruce plays great defense which makes up for his average a bit but anything under .250 is a bad season and he better hit 35 homeruns or Texas might be in trouble. We predict that Bruce with hit .260 with 25 homeruns which is great for a number 9 hitter

The bench- The bench is full of experienced players and they should have no problems have a couple of injuries throughout the year.

The pitching staff

Chad Billingsley- He had 15 wins last year and we predict the same kind of stats this year. He should have around 200 strikeouts with 15 or 16 wins and an ERA around 3.50

Tommy Hanson- Hanson will probably hit the DL at least once this season but he could win 20 games if he stays healthy with an ERA of 2.50 with 250 strikeouts, he is that good of a pitcher and if he doesn't miss many games will win the AL Cy Young award.

Jeremy Jeffress- He should play a big role on this pitching staff, he is injured now but when he gets back his .208 average against should lead to a lower ERA. We expect his ERA to be about 4.00 with about 10 wins

Pedro Martinez- He won 15 last season and we expect the same kind of season out of him, probably about 12 wins with a 4.00 ERA

Blake Beavan- Blake should win about 11 games and have a ERA of about 3.50 which will be quite impressive for a pitcher this young

The Bullpen- This is not the strongest bullpen but with Link closing games it could be a better bullpen then last year. Link will not dominate but he may have a good season. He has a good fastball and he has not been overused and will be looking to take over this closing role for good.

The Rangers overall season expectations. They should improve their win total from last year and maybe approach 90 wins, they should stay in the wild card race this season and if their starting pitching holds it together they should win the wildcard. They still lead the league in homeruns to start the season so we can only hope that starting pitching and homeruns can carry them all season