Mound Talk

The Rangers finished 75-87 to end the season below .500 for the third straight year and 7 of the last 8 years. While the finish was disappointing they did play above .500 in the second half after they had an influx of young guys who began to re energize their club. They also were able to celebrate Sammy Sosa’s 600th home run and score 30 runs on the Orioles. At the trade deadline they unloaded Mark Texeria on Atlanta because they did not feel they could bring him back when he became a free agent after the 2008 season. They sent Kenny Lofton to the Indians for some young talent, and their best trade was Eric Gagne to the Red Sox. Gagne was going to be hitting the free agent market and would have priced himself out of Texas so the smart move was to get what you could knowing that your season was essentially over at the time. The Rangers have most of their team locked in for the 2008 season and they can focus on upgrading their teams instead of needing to find guys to plug holes. The Rangers have payroll room and should be in on some of the big name free agents this off-season. With every year their biggest concern should be to upgrade their starting staff as they finished with a 4.75 team ERA which was 11th in the American League. They have some pieces they could trade with their abundance of catching prospects and talented outfielders. One guy in particular that could be waived around this off-season is Hank Blalock. He hit very well after coming off surgery to have a rib removed, and he has always been good defensively. While there is no need to trade Blalock, if he could bring back some young pitching it would be in the Rangers’ best interest to consider.

Potential players leaving

Jerry Hariston Jr (2B) - $0.75 million

Sammy Sosa (OF) - $0.5 million

Brad Wilkerson (OF) - $4.35 million

Jamey Wright (SP) - $0.9 million

Alex Rodriguez (3B) * portion of his salary if he opts out of his contract - $7 million

While this is not a significant amount of money to come off their books, all of it will go towards normal salary increases in their returning players. The amount owed to the Yankees for A-Rod could bring them a starting pitcher for a 3 year contract worth $21 million without increasing their payroll.

Do not expect them to bring back Brad Wilkerson unless they want him to play first base because he should get a decent increase in salary that could be better spent elsewhere. If they bring back Hariston or Wright it will be with minor league contracts similar to what they made this past season. Sosa will probably not be brought back with the Rangers looking to keep developing their young players and his inability to play the outfield anymore.

Strengths Young and talented outfield - Marlon Byrd, Dave Murphy & Nelson Cruz give them a young core of outfielders. Byrd began to show the potential that clubs have been looking for since he came up with Philadelphia in 2002. Murphy came to the Rangers in the Eric Gagne trade and hit very well in his first opportunity in the majors. Nelson Cruz had his struggles at the plate in 2007 but he still has the potential to be a good player. Also in the Rangers outfield they have Frank Catalanotto who brings a veteran presence and a steady approach at the plate.

Solid Bullpen – While the Rangers starting pitching needs upgrading their bullpen is solid. Joaquin Benoit, C.J. Wilson, Frank Francisco & Akinori Otsuka give the Rangers a very nice core in their bullpen. Otsuka has been their closer in the past but there is no guarantee that he will regain the role in spring training. Any of these four could start the year as the closer but Wilson and Otsuka will be the frontrunners.

Weaknesses Starting Pitching – The Rangers have struggled for years to put a strong starting staff on the field but they have problems bringing in quality starters because their ballpark is very hitter friendly. They have not done a great job of developing talent but they have some young arms coming up. As of now they will start the 2008 season with a starting staff of:

Kevin Millwood

Vicente Padilla

Kameron Loe

Brandon McCarthy

The 5th spot will be up for grabs with Robinson Tejeda, Kason Gabbard and their top prospect Eric Hurley. Off-season Priorities The two biggest needs the Rangers need to fill are first base and another quality starter. There are no stud starting pitchers available this off-season but they could go after someone like Carlos Silva who could be a serviceable number three starter for them. Other options that I could see them going after include: Jaret Wright, Randy Wolf, Kyle Loshe or possibly a flier on Matt Clement. It wouldn’t be very shocking to see them make a push to sign Kerry Wood and try him in the bullpen.

Carlos Pena had a very good season for the Devil Rays this past year and would be a good fit for the Rangers at first base. He will have a lot of teams bidding on him but if the Rangers want him at first they have the funds to make him a competitive offer. Mike Sweeney or Sean Casey would also be guys that would make sense for the Rangers. They both would bring a good veteran presence and leadership to help their young players grow and they should come at a low cost. With Sweeney’s injury history and Casey’s lack of offense they would both make good role players that could sit to allow the at bats to be spread around.

There has been a lot of speculation that Texas will be targeting Torii Hunter because of he makes his home less than an hour from the ballpark. While Hunter will be open to the option of going to Texas I don’t expect them to offer enough to be competitive with some of the other suitors on in the market, considering they don’t seem to be contenders in the near future. The farm system for the Rangers is strong but there do not appear to be many players ready to make major contributions just yet. (Rangers Top 10 Prospects) Texas will not be very active this winter but look for them to make some key signings to help in the development of their club.