Baseball Guru
02-15-2005, 08:42 AM
http://www.fanball.com/bb/article.cfm/ID.3435
By John Tuvey, Senior Editor
February 10, 2005 5:00 PM ET
Spring Training Home: Surprise Stadium – Surprise, Arizona
First Cactus League Game: March 3 at Royals
The big news last spring was the Rangers unloading Alex Rodriguez and his salary to the Yankees, with Alfonso Soriano joining the club and shaking up the middle infield. How would such a move impact a team that had lost 91, 90, 89, and 91 games the previous four seasons? Of course, the Rangers responded by winning 89 games and staying in the AL West race until the waning days of the season. Is another 18-game improvement in the offing?
Notable offseason transactions
Nothing this offseason made quite the same splash as unloading A-Rod, but that doesn't mean the Rangers sat around doing nothing. They made a run at Carlos Delgado, who spurned their advances because he didn't want to DH, and opted out of the bidding for Magglio Ordonez. The consolation prize turned out to be Richard Hidalgo, who signed in mid-December as a free agent. Hidalgo struggled in 2004 but is slated to be the Rangers' everyday right fielder, as dreams of his 2000 season (.314, 44 homers, 122 RBI) dance in John Hart's head.
The rest of the Rangers' signings are bit players, complementary pieces to the franchise's key players like Mark Teixeira, Soriano, Michael Young, and Hank Blalock. Greg Colbrunn could see significant time as the team's DH against left-handed pitching, assuming he can stay healthy, while Sandy Alomar, Jr. will be looked to for 50 games behind the plate and Mark DeRosa will back up most of the infield spots and give Soriano, Young, and Blalock an occasional day off. DeRosa will team with outfielder David Dellucci to replace Eric Young, who backed up several positions for last year's Rangers.
Even fewer big names were added to the pitching staff, though Pedro Astacio is penciled in at the bottom of the rotation, while Ryan Bukvich, claimed off waivers after being traded from Kansas City to the Padres, could figure into the bullpen mix.
What to watch
The Rangers' infield is a fantasy player's dream, as the quartet combined for 120 homers, 412 RBI, 36 steals and 399 runs. The first four hitters in the Texans lineup both set and clear the table, and the team will go as far as these bats take them.
The outfield gets less attention, but both Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix are bona fide sleepers. Mench hit 26 homers in just 125 games last year and at age 27 is staring a potential breakout season right in the mug. If he's able to avoid the nagging injuries that have bothered him in the pass, Mench could team with Hidalgo to give the Rangers five 30-homer sluggers. Nix is three years younger and struggled a bit during his on-the-job training in centerfield last season. If he falls into an extended slump, Gary Matthews, Jr. could see a spike in playing time.
The Rangers are banking on Kenny Rogers to head up their staff, but after his resurgent 18-win campaign in 2004 Rogers is threatening to retire if he doesn't get a two-year contract extension. It's a gamble, to be sure, especially with ultra-slimy agent Scott Boras involved, but you can't blame the Rangers for not wanting to commit too much money to a 39-year-old hurler. If Rogers folds 'em and walks away, Texas would have to turn to Ryan Drese and Chan Ho Park for veteran leadership. Ouch.
Francisco Cordero came into his own as the club's closer with 49 saves last season, but aside from his role there is little definition in the Texas pen. Carlos Almanzar and Ron Maha are the leading set-up candidates, though R.A. Dickey flashed promise at times last season and Brian Shouse is extremely tough on lefties. Keep an eye on chair-thrower Frank Francisco, who gets enough strikeouts to warrant attention in AL-only leagues despite his setup role.
Position battles
The infield is settled, and the only question mark in the outfield is whether or not Nix can play well enough to keep his job. The Rangers are still interested in acquiring another hitter who could potentially step into the DH role, which currently will be a combination of a Delluci/Colbrunn platoon and a place for one of the infielders to get a day off. If 22-year-old phenom Adrian Gonzalez shows signs of developing power, he may claim the gig all for himself before the season is over.
Behind the dish, the team would love to turn things over full-time to Gerald Laird, who was the AL rookie of the month last April before tearing ligaments in his thumb and missing essentially the remainder of the season. He's slated to start the year in Triple-A, with Alomar backing up Rod Barajas. Don't be fooled by Barajas' surprising 15 home runs from a year ago; it was four more than his career total in more than 500 games to that point. Laird could potentially win back his job with a stellar spring.
Barring a Rogers retirement, the Rangers rotation is mostly in place. It would take a phenomenal spring from Juan Dominguez or Joaquin Benoit to earn an every-fifth-day gig. The biggest question mark—figuratively and literally—is 6-foot-10 Chris Young, who was very effective in five Triple-A starts and solid in seven late-season starts for the big club as well.
By John Tuvey, Senior Editor
February 10, 2005 5:00 PM ET
Spring Training Home: Surprise Stadium – Surprise, Arizona
First Cactus League Game: March 3 at Royals
The big news last spring was the Rangers unloading Alex Rodriguez and his salary to the Yankees, with Alfonso Soriano joining the club and shaking up the middle infield. How would such a move impact a team that had lost 91, 90, 89, and 91 games the previous four seasons? Of course, the Rangers responded by winning 89 games and staying in the AL West race until the waning days of the season. Is another 18-game improvement in the offing?
Notable offseason transactions
Nothing this offseason made quite the same splash as unloading A-Rod, but that doesn't mean the Rangers sat around doing nothing. They made a run at Carlos Delgado, who spurned their advances because he didn't want to DH, and opted out of the bidding for Magglio Ordonez. The consolation prize turned out to be Richard Hidalgo, who signed in mid-December as a free agent. Hidalgo struggled in 2004 but is slated to be the Rangers' everyday right fielder, as dreams of his 2000 season (.314, 44 homers, 122 RBI) dance in John Hart's head.
The rest of the Rangers' signings are bit players, complementary pieces to the franchise's key players like Mark Teixeira, Soriano, Michael Young, and Hank Blalock. Greg Colbrunn could see significant time as the team's DH against left-handed pitching, assuming he can stay healthy, while Sandy Alomar, Jr. will be looked to for 50 games behind the plate and Mark DeRosa will back up most of the infield spots and give Soriano, Young, and Blalock an occasional day off. DeRosa will team with outfielder David Dellucci to replace Eric Young, who backed up several positions for last year's Rangers.
Even fewer big names were added to the pitching staff, though Pedro Astacio is penciled in at the bottom of the rotation, while Ryan Bukvich, claimed off waivers after being traded from Kansas City to the Padres, could figure into the bullpen mix.
What to watch
The Rangers' infield is a fantasy player's dream, as the quartet combined for 120 homers, 412 RBI, 36 steals and 399 runs. The first four hitters in the Texans lineup both set and clear the table, and the team will go as far as these bats take them.
The outfield gets less attention, but both Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix are bona fide sleepers. Mench hit 26 homers in just 125 games last year and at age 27 is staring a potential breakout season right in the mug. If he's able to avoid the nagging injuries that have bothered him in the pass, Mench could team with Hidalgo to give the Rangers five 30-homer sluggers. Nix is three years younger and struggled a bit during his on-the-job training in centerfield last season. If he falls into an extended slump, Gary Matthews, Jr. could see a spike in playing time.
The Rangers are banking on Kenny Rogers to head up their staff, but after his resurgent 18-win campaign in 2004 Rogers is threatening to retire if he doesn't get a two-year contract extension. It's a gamble, to be sure, especially with ultra-slimy agent Scott Boras involved, but you can't blame the Rangers for not wanting to commit too much money to a 39-year-old hurler. If Rogers folds 'em and walks away, Texas would have to turn to Ryan Drese and Chan Ho Park for veteran leadership. Ouch.
Francisco Cordero came into his own as the club's closer with 49 saves last season, but aside from his role there is little definition in the Texas pen. Carlos Almanzar and Ron Maha are the leading set-up candidates, though R.A. Dickey flashed promise at times last season and Brian Shouse is extremely tough on lefties. Keep an eye on chair-thrower Frank Francisco, who gets enough strikeouts to warrant attention in AL-only leagues despite his setup role.
Position battles
The infield is settled, and the only question mark in the outfield is whether or not Nix can play well enough to keep his job. The Rangers are still interested in acquiring another hitter who could potentially step into the DH role, which currently will be a combination of a Delluci/Colbrunn platoon and a place for one of the infielders to get a day off. If 22-year-old phenom Adrian Gonzalez shows signs of developing power, he may claim the gig all for himself before the season is over.
Behind the dish, the team would love to turn things over full-time to Gerald Laird, who was the AL rookie of the month last April before tearing ligaments in his thumb and missing essentially the remainder of the season. He's slated to start the year in Triple-A, with Alomar backing up Rod Barajas. Don't be fooled by Barajas' surprising 15 home runs from a year ago; it was four more than his career total in more than 500 games to that point. Laird could potentially win back his job with a stellar spring.
Barring a Rogers retirement, the Rangers rotation is mostly in place. It would take a phenomenal spring from Juan Dominguez or Joaquin Benoit to earn an every-fifth-day gig. The biggest question mark—figuratively and literally—is 6-foot-10 Chris Young, who was very effective in five Triple-A starts and solid in seven late-season starts for the big club as well.