The Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister won the AL West in his first two seasons at the helm. They fell behind a few teams in their division and now find themselves near the bottom of the preseason predictions.
They have some explosive bats on offense and has gotten by with their pitching. Their bullpen has actually been very good have bailed out the back-end of their rotation many times a year ago. They will need to be great this season as the back-end of the rotation is bowling shoe ugly.
Can Mike Minor and Tim Lincecum end up being two of the smartest signings last offseason?
Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Texas Rangers.
2017 Win/Loss Record: 78-84
Key Additions: SP Doug Fister, SP Mike Minor, SP Matt Moore, RP Tim Lincecum, 1B Tommy Joseph, SP Bartolo Colon, RP Jesse Chavez, C Curt Casali, RP Steve Delabar, RP Deolis Guerra, RP Kevin Jepsen, SP Jon Niese, 3B Trevor Plouffe, SP Edinson Volquez & RP Brandon Mann
Key Losses: 1B Mike Napoli, OF Carlos Gomez, SP Andrew Cashner, SP A.J. Griffin, SP Tyson Ross, SP Miguel Gonzalez, OF Jared Hoying, 3B Will Middlebrooks & RP Dario Alvarez
Interleague Schedule: NL West
Projected Starters: Robinson Chirinos, Joey Gallo, Rougned Odor, Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus, Willie Calhoun, Delino DeShields, Nomar Mazara & Shin-Soo Choo
Projected Starting Rotation: Cole Hamels, Matt Moore, Doug Fister, Mike Minor & Bartolo Colon
Closer: Alex Claudio
Fantasy Sleeper: SP Mike Minor – After a career resurgence in Kansas City as a light’s out relief pitcher, the Rangers signed Minor to start games. He was once one of the top prospects as a starter pitcher, but shoulder issues derailed his career. I worry that he could start dealing with injuries again once his innings rack up. His velocity was climbing as a reliever, so hopefully he can keep it in the mid-90’s. Minor would be someone I’d target in AL-only leagues. I’m not quite sure he’s worth a draft pick in standard mixed leagues due to his innings possibly being capped at 150 innings, at most.
Prospect To Keep Your Eye On: OF Willie Calhoun – The Rangers got Calhoun when they traded SP Yu Darvish to the Dodgers at the trade deadline last season. He’s a well-rounded hitter as he hit 31 homers in Triple-A last year. He had a cup of coffee in the Majors and had success in limited at-bats. He will start the season as an everyday outfielder for the Rangers, but still has options left if he struggles.
Team Analysis: The Rangers continue to be competitive as their stars approach the tail end of their career. Adrian Beltre and Shin-Soo Choo now find themselves in time-share situations. Thanks to being in the American League, the DH spot allows them to play more. Beltre can still go, but prefers to play less games, while they should probably let one of their younger guys take Choo’s at-bats. That won’t happen as they are paying Choo a lot of money.
The Rangers made a few low risk/high reward signings this offseason. First, they signed Mike Minor and plan to revert him back to starter. He missed multiple seasons with shoulder issues and found a lot of success as a reliever last season with the Royals. It’s a very risky decision, but it could pay off. Secondly, signing Bartolo Colon might be risky as hell, but they signed him very cheap. He was one of the worst pitchers in all of baseball before he was cut by the Braves. He caught on with the Twins and pitched pretty well. He turns 45 years old in May, so I don’t know about him starting games at this point. Lastly, they signed Tim Lincecum to be a reliever. He looked awful the last time he pitched in the Majors. He spent last season working out and getting stronger. There’s a chance he could fix his issues and regain some of his old velocity.
The Rangers would be a .500 team in just about any other division. They are just playing too many good teams and will pay the price. They have a chance of competing if players like Joey Gallo and Willie Calhoun have breakout seasons, but it’s slim in the AL West.
2018 Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 76.5 (Prediction: UNDER)
2018 Projected Win/Loss Record: 71-91 (5th in AL West)
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.