EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

3. Texas Rangers

The playoff-pitiful Rangers traded power for pitching. But did they get enough?

By Jeff Pearlman

Offense Defense Starting Pitching Bullpen Manager 1999 Record 95-67 (first in AL West) Batting Order SS Royce Clayton LF Rusty Greer C Ivan Rodriguez 1B Rafael Palmeiro CF Ruben Mateo RF Gabe Kapler 3B Mike Lamb 2B Luis Alicea Bench OF Chad Curtis IF Frank Catalanotto OF Mike Simms C Bill Haselman Starters LH Kenny Rogers RH Rick Helling LH Justin Thompson LH Darren Oliver RH Esteban Loaiza Bullpen RH John Wetteland RH Jeff Zimmerman RH Mike Venafro RH Tim Crabtree RH Francisco Cordero LH Mike Muñoz Next Up... This is not what the Rangers expected. In December it appeared that free-agent third baseman Todd Zeile would re-sign with Texas, but he suddenly decided he wanted to play for the Mets. Manager Johnny Oates then tabbed hard-hitting Mike Lamb, the franchise's minor league player of the year in 1999, to man the hot corner. Now, after Lamb struggled in the spring, the position belongs to Tom Evans. Not long ago the 25-year-old Evans was considered a top prospect in the Blue Jays' organization, but then his career was derailed by an assortment of injuries. Finally healthy, Evans -- whom the Rangers claimed off waivers last spring -- has impressed the Texas brass with his power and improved ability to hit off-speed pitches. "There's a reason we got Tom Evans," Oates says. "He's very confident about his hitting, and he's opening some eyes." The Book An opposing team's scout sizes up the Rangers: "The Rangers lost a lot of offense in Juan Gonzalez, but their pitching is better so maybe they don't need as many runs. Everyone said they needed lefthanders to beat the Yankees, and they got them. When Justin Thompson comes back from his shoulder injury, they'll have three in the rotation and three more in the bullpen. Can they win the division with this staff? I think so.... I think Rogers will benefit from getting out of New York and will be a stabilizing influence on the rotation.... They picked up Francisco Cordero in the Gonzalez trade -- remember his name. He throws 97-98 and has a good slider. He could be the closer in a couple years.... Jeff Zimmerman was an All-Star, but the jury's still out on him. There has to be a reason no team picked him up all those years.... With rookies in center and at third, and a second-year guy in right, they're putting a lot of eggs in the youth basket. One or two of those lefty pitchers could be traded to fill a hole.... I'm impressed by Gabe Kapler; he has a very strong arm, plays hard and runs everything out, which you don't always see from big leaguers."

Johnny Oates had been through the drill a million times. So too had Royce Clayton and Mike Simms, two of the Rangers' players who joined their skipper for a promotional tour that visited a San Antonio YMCA in early February. You show up, chat up some kids, sign some autographs then peace out, stage left. You do not break a sweat. Not ordinarily. "That afternoon," says Oates, smiling at the memory, "was my first real look at Gabe Kapler."

Oh, yeah, the Rangers' new rightfielder, one of six players acquired from Detroit for Juan Gonzalez and two others in a blockbuster November trade, was also along for the trip. As Oates, Clayton and Simms looked on with both awe and panic, Kapler changed from his slacks and dress shirt into a pair of shorts and played a couple of intense games of two-on-two basketball with three of the kids in attendance. "I was petrified he would turn an ankle or break a bone or something even worse," recalls Oates. "But I didn't stop him. He'll never know the impact he had on those kids' lives. Right then, I knew we'd found a good one."

Kapler made a favorable impression on his new community, and showed signs this spring of making a meaningful mark on the Texas lineup.Bob Rosato

Kapler, 24, is a baseball misfit, an undeniably talented athlete who does not conform to the conventional ballplayer mold. He is a devoutly religious Jew, a bodybuilding magazine cover boy and an inveterate bookworm. During one week in the off-season he was in the middle of the following books: Tough Jews by Rich Cohen, The Three Minute Meditator by David Harp and The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams.

Kapler is also one of several youngsters who will play a critical every-day role for the Rangers in 2000. He does not, however, have any illusions that he can replace the titanic run production of his rightfield predecessor, Gonzalez (43 home runs, 140 RBIs per year over the last four seasons). "I've been asked a million times about the pressure of taking over for Juan Gonzalez," says Kapler. "That's stupid. My manager doesn't expect me to replace Gonzalez. My teammates don't expect me to replace Gonzalez. I don't think the media does, either." He snickers. "They just like having something to ask. Everyone knows Gonzalez's shoes can't be filled."

True, and so the Rangers' front office focused on other priorities during the off-season. After watching the Yankees hold the vaunted Texas offense to less than a run a game (and Gonzalez to a .130 average and one RBI) in consecutive playoff sweeps of the Rangers in 1998 and '99, Oates and general manager Doug Melvin have adopted a youth-oriented, pitching-first approach. In addition to Kapler, the Rangers acquired Justin Thompson and Francisco Cordero -- both of them live, young arms -- in the Gonzalez deal. Future closer Cordero, 22, improves an already deep bullpen that includes John Wetteland (43 saves) and Jeff Zimmerman (only 50 hits allowed in 87 2/3 innings). The 27-year-old Thompson (who will miss at least the first month as he recovers from shoulder surgery) will join free-agent pickups Kenny Rogers and Darren Oliver to give the club three quality lefthanded starters and bolster a rotation whose inability to pitch deep into games in '99 eventually took its toll on the relief corps (3.51 ERA before the All-Star break, 5.45 ERA after). Also, Melvin points out, the Rangers now match up much better with New York's chock-full-o'-lefties lineup.

"Ever since I got here [in 1994], other G.M.'s have called me about acquiring offense," says Melvin. "This is the first time they've asked about our pitchers. Last year I had an opposing player tell me how facing our staff was easy, because all the pitchers were the same. Not anymore."

There is, Melvin concedes, a risk in the franchise's new philosophy. In addition to Gonzalez, the Rangers lost third baseman Todd Zeile (24 homers, 98 RBIs) and centerfielder Tom Goodwin (39 stolen bases) to free agency. Oates still has some hefty hackers -- MVP catcher Pudge Rodriguez and first baseman Rafael Palmeiro are coming off the most productive seasons of their careers, and leftfielder Rusty Greer drove in 100 runs for a second straight season. Still, runs will be harder to come by this year. There is no true leadoff hitter, and while kids like five-tool rookie centerfielder Ruben Mateo, third baseman Tom Evans (who beat out highly-touted prospect Mike Lamb with a strong spring) and Kapler have plenty of potential, only Kapler is proven at the big league level.

Of course, three American League West titles in four years is plenty of reason for optimism. "As soon as I arrived here, I knew I was in a winning environment," says Kapler. "In Detroit it was no fun. We wanted to win, but there was no optimism. Here, winning is expected. There's no question."

Not exactly. This year there are quite a few questions.

Issue date: March 27, 2000

Copyright © 2000 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.