Texas Rangers
Even with a healthy Yu Darvish in the starting rotation and Prince Fielder in the middle of the order, things are not looking good for the Texas Rangers in 2015. The overall lineup lacks power and patience. Meanwhile, the pitching staff has one ace followed by fourth and fifth starters with only a season or two of quality production.
Predicting the Rangers to finish with a worse record than the Astros in 2015 is nothing daring. Based on how they did in 2014 and what they have done to get better this offseason, there’s very little reason to believe things will be better.
The most notable player the Rangers have brought in has been pitcher Ross Detwiler. This comes after losing outfielder Alex Rios through free agency. Acquiring a pitcher at Detwiler’s level doesn’t seem to be anything more than plugging in a veteran pitcher to fill an immediate need. Detwiler will be 29-years-old in 2015 and has only one season with 20 or more starts on his resume. He is the definition of a fifth starter.
Health was the biggest concern for the Rangers in 2014. Based on the age of many of the starting position players, injuries may linger. Fielder’s season-ending surgery was a major one and there’s no telling how long it will take him to get back to playing at his best. Third baseman Adrian Beltre will also be 36-years-old. At this age we can expect him to finally slow down. Hitting only 19 home runs in 2014 may have been the first sign of this.
Finally, the 2015 season will be Jeff Banister’s first as a big league manager and his introduction to the Rangers’ organization. Other managers with fewer games under their belt have found success in their inaugural season. However in those cases, a good team was already in place. Unfortunately the Rangers are not good even if the amount of money the players are getting paid says otherwise.