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

Rangers Offseason Awards

Texas improved on it's win total from last year and has a very strong core for years to come. They will probably take a step back next year with key free agents Manny Ramirez, Rich Harden and Vlad Guerreuro expected to leave. We will now tell you who we think were the best players on the Rangers this year.

MVP: Chris Davis; he hit over .300 with 162 RBI's 114 runs scored and a huge 63 homeruns. He also played gold glove 1st base the entire season. Elvis Andrus should also be looked at here he hit over .300 with 15 homeruns 73 steals and over 130 runs scored

CY Young Award: Chris Billingsley; he had 15 wins for Texas with a sub 4 ERA and was at least in the conversacion all year long for league CY Young, he dropped off in his last 10 games going 2-5 but looking at the year as a whole it was a success. Pedro Martinez should also be under consideration here with his 15-5 record, with around a 4.00 ERA.

Comeback player of the year: This has to go to Pedro Martinez and he should win this award in the AL as well. He didn't pitch last year and came back signing with Texas and had 15 wins keeping his ERA at about 4.00. Pedro made it possible for the Rangers to be a baseball team above .500.

Reliever of the Year: Daniel Gutierrez; this was given to a rookie called up about halfway through the year and by the end of the season was the team's closer. His ERA of 2.68 in over 50 innings pitched is actually quite good and is in the running for Rookie of the year for the Rangers as well.

Rookie of the Year: Corey Brown; He not only played center field for the Rangers but played it well. Lars Anderson overshadowed him a bit out in Detroit with his numbers but he is a top 5 rookie this year no question in our minds. He hit .262 but had 26 homeruns with over 70 RBI's and over 70 runs scored.

Minor League Player of the Year: Wes Bankston; he his 34 homeruns and 122 RBI's with over 130 runs scored also. His .322 average also gives him this honor. He should be able to contribute for the Rangers' bench next season with a power bat

Teagarden Traded

In a somewhat surprising move the Texas Rangers have made a deal with their in-state rivals the Houston Astros. This deal has been sent to the commissioners office for approval. The full details of this trade are still coming but the main pieces are catcher Taylor Teagarden and 2B Ryan Flaherty for IF Jiovanni Mier, catcher Derek Norris, and starting pitcher Jeremy Jeffress. This gives Texas immediate help in their rotation and gives them help for the rotation in the future. Mier though could be the key piece in this deal in terms of the most talent. It makes sense for Mier to be moved to 2nd base and stay in the minors for a year or two, but he could become a dynamic number two hitter sandwiched in between Elvis Andrus and Chris Davis. Mier and Andrus would come with speed at a top of a lineup that could cause so much trouble for opposing pitchers and catchers as they try and concentrate on the middle of the Rangers' lineup. The other part of the deal is catcher Derek Norris. Norris has pretty good power numbers hitting 15 homeruns so far in in AA baseball. The Rangers have to be pretty excited about receiving these players in a deal for Taylor Teagarden. (Below is a video of Mier)

Chris Davis quest for an historic season

Chris Davis started spring training with a smile on his face and a ray of confidence. This season hasn't wiped either of those things away yet. Chris Davis has carried the Texas Rangers this season and might be poised to carry himself into the record books. With his .328 average 21 homeruns and 63 RBI's in only 51 games he is on pace for a career changing season. Twenty Five year old Davis has hit 3rd in the Rangers lineup and carried them to a possible playoff birth at the end of June. We asked Davis why he thinks he got off to this kind of start and he said "When you have players like Manny and Taylor (Teagarden) on either side of you it becomes quite easy just to play your game" He also went on to mention to signing of Josh Hamilton. "When the Rangers signed Josh that was a big move, it gives us another hitter in this lineup that can really contribute." When asked about what he thought about the Rangers chances this season to make the playoffs his confidence didn't go down at all. "We have a very good team, some of our pitchers have struggled but with their talent they should turn it around and once our entire team is clicking there is nobody in our division better." He went on to add, "Oakland and Seattle have some nice players on their teams but we believe we have the better overall team." It may be hard to argue when you have a lineup like Texas has and considering Elvis Andrus hasn't heated up yet they will probably score even more runs. Texas' bullpen has struggled this season from every position besides closer, but they made some signings to bring immediate help to them. What is scary is that the Rangers starting pitching is starting to get it together and becoming a strength of this team. Nobody knows how this season will end, but Texas sure will be fun to watch and Chris Davis might be able to end this season how he started with a smile on his face but this time holding up a MVP trophy but more importantly the World Series Trophy, "It would be cool to win the MVP, but I don't play baseball to win MVP I play to win the World Series" Maybe Davis can bring both to Ranger fans this season.

Texas Rangers Preview

The Rangers last year was about .500 baseball, why you may ask, well you can't blame the hitting, they led the league in home runs last year by over 100. The one areas the Rangers need to improve is in the pitching and leadership. The Rangers young pitchers are getting major league ready pitchers like Holland and Kiker are ready to lead this team into the future. The bullpen has been completely revamped with 4 new faces, the most important might be the closer Boone Logan. Now if Logan starts off shaky the Rangers have plenty of pitchers who can step in, like Jeremy Accardo, and Jon Link. The bench for the Rangers has be reworked as well with free agent signings in hopes of providing the leadership that is needed. Eric Hinske is a vital part of this bench, a very undervalued left handed hitter off the bench with some pop and quite good in the field as well. The Rangers traded away Kinsler in the off season but 2 of the players the Rangers got in return will be in the starting offense for this team. The first player I want to touch on is Corey Brown the CF. This guy is a power bat capable of hitting 20 home runs this coming year well playing well roaming center field. The next guy is someone who was the cornerstone in the Kinsler deal and that is Ryan Flaherty. This is the 2nd baseman of now. He can also hit for some power but to help him out he will be hitting 9th to start out the year in the order. But this lefty hitting infielder has a chance to be special. The 2 players on offense we feel need to step up are Elvis Andrus and Taylor Teagarden. Teagarden they need not just to hit 20 homeruns this year and hit .295, but he also needs to help them behind the plate with these pitchers. The Rangers have had a history of bad pitching but maybe Teagarden can bring a calming influence with this staff in this ballpark. Andrus needs to do a couple of things. He first needs to hit leadoff and do it well, and he also needs to steal bases, at least 50 for this team to be at full production from the plate. The Rangers didn't steal that much last year but with the speed they have they are going to take some chances. Expect Andrus to be in the MVP discussion all year and the Rangers to be in the hunt as well. On trades the GM of the Rangers said he would like to upgrade his starting pitching without having to give up Andrus, Teagarden, or Davis, but some prospects for a team that has extra pitching and is willing to give it up. Prediction for the Rangers this season is that they win 87 games and are in the wild card hunt, they finish 2nd in the AL West just a couple of games behind the Oakland A's.