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Texas Rangers

SI Prediction: 3rd in AL West

The pitching is still thin, but Millwood will get better defensive support -- and help is on the way. Gail Burton/AP FAST FACTS Manager Ron Washington Third season with Rangers Team Page | 2009 Schedule THE NUMBERS LIE | DON'T LIE 3 Top catching prospects under the age of 26 on the Rangers' 40-man roster. Young backstops are arguably the most valuable currency in the majors, and Texas's trio of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 23, Taylor Teagarden, 25, and Max Ramirez, 24, can rake, though Teagarden is the only finished product defensively. Long term, there isn't room for all three on the big league roster, but any of them would bring good value in a trade for a club on the rise. CONSIDER THIS The Rangers' off-season decision to move Gold Glove incumbent Michael Young from shortstop to third base had merit. Hardware aside, Young has never had good defensive statistics, though his performance improved a bit last season. Texas intends to make room for 20-year-old Elvis Andrus, who held his own as the youngest player in the Double A Texas League last season. Andrus is athletic but raw: As a defender he's prone to mistakes, while at the plate he lacks power and has a so-so contact rate. With the Rangers focused on 2010 and beyond, they would be better off opening the year at short with 41-year-old Omar Vizquel, who despite his age remains an above-average gloveman. That would allow Andrus to continue his development in Triple A with an eye toward a midseason call-up. BATTING ORDER POS. PLAYER B-T PVR BA HR RBI SB 2B Ian Kinsler R 36 .319 18 71 26 3B Michael Young R 111 .284 12 82 10 CF Josh Hamilton L 7 .304 32 130 9 RF Nelson Cruz R 116 .330 7 26 3 D Hank Blalock L-R 146 .287 12 38 1 LF David Murphy L 138 .275 15 74 7 1B Chris Davis L-R 61 .285 17 55 1 C Jarrod Saltalamacchia S-R 184 .253 3 26 0 SS Elvis Andrus (R) R 254 .295 4 65 54 BENCH POS. PLAYER B-T PVR BA HR RBI SB C Taylor Teagarden (R) R 231 .319 6 17 0 OF Marlon Byrd R 233 .298 10 53 7 ROTATION PITCHER PVR W L K/9 WHIP ERA RH Kevin Millwood 150 9 10 6.7 1.60 5.07 RH Vicente Padilla 98 14 8 6.7 1.46 4.74 LH Matt Harrison 158 9 3 4.5 1.57 5.49 RH Scott Feldman 206 6 8 4.4 1.43 5.29 RH Brandon McCarthy 180 1 1 4.1 1.27 4.09 BULLPEN PITCHER PVR W SV K/9 WHIP ERA RH Frank Francisco 61 3 5 11.8 1.15 3.13 LH C.J. Wilson 220 2 24 8.0 1.64 6.02 LH Eddie Guardado 227 4 4 5.3 1.22 4.15

For years now the X factor for the Texas Rangers has not been on the 25-man roster. No, the key ingredient has been the Ballpark in Arlington. The cozy hitters' park-along with the heat and humidity of Texas summer nights -- has helped make the Rangers one of the best hitting clubs in baseball year after year. The Rangers have finished in the top five in the American League in runs scored every year since 2001. Last year they led the league. They could again in 2009.

Unfortunately, when you play at the Ballpark, there is a top half of an inning in addition to a bottom half. And the Rangers, as usual, were not especially adept at getting through the top half of innings. They finished with a league-worst 5.37 ERA. One especially telling statistic: Texas scored almost six runs per game at home and still had a losing record there.

"We're going to hit," Rangers starter Kevin Millwood says. "There's no doubt about that. I think we're going to catch the ball better than we did last year. The question is, How well are we going to pitch?"

That's the question in Texas every year, but the answer this year could be slightly different. The Rangers, for the first time in forever, have some hot young arms who could make a huge impact on the team by the time the summer rolls around.

In the early months the Rangers will rely on their usual confusing jumble of average young starting pitchers and high-priced veterans, starting with the 34-year-old Millwood. The Rangers signed Millwood to a five-year, $60 million deal back before the '06 season, and so far he has given Texas 200-plus innings just once in three years. Last season was especially rough, as two DL stints with a strained right groin limited him to 168 2/3 innings, with a 5.07 ERA. "I pretty much sucked," says Millwood, who led the AL in ERA as recently as '05, with Cleveland. "I kept trying different things and nothing was working."

Sounds like the same old story. But now the Rangers have some of the best minor league pitching talent in baseball. And unlike in past years it looks as if they plan to use it. This is a team that traded away Edinson Volquez and John Danks, who combined for 29 wins and a 3.27 ERA last season with the Reds and the White Sox, respectively. The Rangers insist they plan to hold on to two of the best pitching prospects in the game -- power righty Neftali Feliz, 20, and power lefty Derek Holland, 22. One, or maybe even both, could force his way into the rotation as early as June.

As for the offense, it will continue to score lots of runs, even with the loss of Milton Bradley, who led the American League with a .999 OPS last season before signing with the Cubs in the off-season. In the heart of the lineup is comeback kid Josh Hamilton, who had 32 homers and 130 RBIs, but there are plenty of other hitters surrounding him. Second baseman Ian Kinsler (.319 average, 41 doubles, .517 slugging percentage) had some injury problems, but he emerged as an offensive force in the mold of the Phillies' Chase Utley. Five-time All-Star Michael Young initially balked at moving to third base to make room at shortstop for young sensation Elvis Andrus -- Young won the Gold Glove there last year -- but he has settled into a mentoring role for the rookie. A career .300 hitter with an average of 94 RBIs the last five seasons, Young has the bat to be a corner infielder.

Because of all that offensive firepower, the Rangers have decided that they can sacrifice a little hitting in order to get better defensively and help support that pitching staff. Andrus may struggle offensively in the early going, but the Rangers say they can handle that. He's fast and has scouts and baseball executives happily babbling about his outstanding range. He'll learn a thing or two as well from his backup, 11-time Gold Glover Omar Vizquel.

The Rangers are really set up to make their move in 2010, when those gifted young pitchers will be ready and Andrus will be established at shortstop, but it has been 10 years or so since Texas has contended, and nobody wants to wait any longer.

-- Joe Posnanski

Issue date: April 6, 2009