March 06, 2006

They lose bigger in Texas

This is an easy post to write - the Rangers have some bats, and they have no pitching. Their corner infielders are blue chippers (Texiera and Blalock), they have a (questionable) Nevin at DH, and Young is quite good at SS. Wilkerson is pretty good too, but the rest of their team is just replacable parts, with Generic McOutfielders like Dellucci and Mench, and Barajas isn't going to win awards anytime soon. Still, surrounding 2 blue-chippers with average offensive players (rather than sub-par ones) is a good recipe for runs, especially at The Ballpark.

Pitching on the other hand is a different story. They overpaid for Millwood, who had an inexplicable career year last year but is quite prone to the gopher ball and starting the stage in his career when pitchers beging to decline. Eaton never got his act together in San Diego, mainly due to injuries, and is not known for his control. Padilla is also an injury risk who hasn't got his stuff back, and may never have really had much in the first place. The rest of their rotation is full of scrubs, and their good bullpen will be negated by their lousy starters. They'll probably finish around .500 and give anaheim and oakland a few headaches.

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