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We stay out west, as we've returned to the Lone Star State to check out the Texas Rangers. The league's greatest offensive force resides in the Ballpark at Arlington, but is it enough for the Rangers to be a success in 2009?

The Texas Rangers

Last Season’s Result: 79-83. 2nd place in the AL West.

Major Offseason Changes

• Added nothing of note.
• Lost 3B Ramon Vazquez (Signed with Pittsburgh)
• Lost RF Milton Bradley (Signed with Chicago Cubs)

Letter Grades

• Offseason Moves: F They did nothing of note to improve the team this offseason. They signed a couple of broken down guys to minor league deals, but nothing that will make the team any more likely to compete in 2009. On top on that, they allowed Milton Bradley to get away via free agency.

• Rotation Grade: F The Rangers led the AL in runs by far, yet they weren’t even a .500 bullclub. So who do we blame? We blame this crappy rotation led by crappy Kevin Milwood and crappy Vicente Padilla. To be fair Milwood is decent enough, he’s just not an ace by any means. Brandon McCarthy on the other hand, could be an ace one day; if he could only stay healthy for any length of time.

• Bullpen Grade: D Let’s not act as if the rotation alone is to blame for the Rangers’ issues in 2008, the also had the league’s worst bullpen. I understand that the Ballpark in Arlington is a hitter’s idea of heaven, and is partially to blame for the inflated ERAs, but the Rangers lead the league in runs scored on the road as well. It really comes down to this: This pitching staff sucks! Not the most articulate position I’ve ever taken, but maybe one of the most accurate.

• Lineup Grade: A If they still had Milton Bradley, they’d get an A+. This is this league’s best offense, and they’ll score a ton of runs this season led by Josh Hamilton who is going to be a perennial MVP contender.

Player most closely linked to team’s 2009 hopes: It has to be a pitcher, since the offense is pretty much a sure thing. Padilla and Milwood aren’t great, but you know what you’re getting. So if one of the young starters can pitch 200 innings alongside the top two, it would go a long way to making the Rangers contenders. The most likely to do that would be Brandon McCarthy if he can stay healthy, but that’s a pretty big if.

Biggest Breakout Star Potential: Chris Davis. This Texas native came up to the big leagues at the end of June and in half a season put up a line of .285, 17 HRs, and 55 RBIs. So that covers the potential, combine that with the fact that next to nobody outside of Dallas knows who this guy is, and you have a tailor-made breakout star.

Best Case Scenario: Somebody pitches consistently. Anybody. McCarthy preferably, since he has the highest upside. If the Rangers get pitching, they will win a lot games with their offense.

Worst Case Scenario: Nobody pitches consistently. Not a soul. McCarthy gets hurt once again, and the rest of the staff just flounders, wasting another tremendous offensive output.

Prediction for 2009: 77-85. 2nd place in the AL West.

Local Thoughts

We have a real treat today, as our Rangers writer has really brought his A game to the PSP.

By: Joe Siegler of Ranger Fans

• Letter Grade for Offseason Moves: I'm giving it an "I". The reason for that is if you go down our roster transactions, the Rangers signed not a single player to a major league contract. Every single one of them was a minor league NRI type of deal. The only person brought in that will have a direct impact on the major league staff is the new pitching coach. Mike Maddux by all accounts so far has done a great job in getting the message across. How well that translates though is unknown. We've had something like seven different pitching coaches in the last eight years or so, so I'm hopeful this can work.

As for actual players? That's the true "Incomplete", given only a couple of them are likely to break camp (the most likely being Vizquel, Donnelly, Guardado, & Turnbow), and most of them never seen again, it's really hard to go here. Technically Elvis Andrus is an NRI too, but he's essentially been annointed the SS heir apparent, so I don't know if that counts. I don't think Andruw Jones will break, given the guys already here, I can't see where he fits.

So "Incomplete" is my grade.

• Most Essential: I'm going with Brandon McCarthy. As with most teams, what's essential is pitching. The Rangers won't have any problems scoring runs, but what will determine our success is how our pitching does. Millwood and Padilla you know what you're gonna get, and we're sending out three "kids" (relatively speaking) behind them in the rotation. Of the guys they're saying are going to be in the rotation, I think Brandon McCarthy needs to be what we sent John Danks to the White Sox for. Since he's been here, he's been "meh" (to be kind). It appears that he's turned the corner, and might have figured it out based on what we've seen so far in camp.

So I think you need McCarthy to do well. That would be three decent (if not awesome) starting pitchers, and once you get to 3 of 5, you get that feeling that "maybe this can work". 2 of 5 makes you feel like there's too many holes, but get over that hump with the third, and you feel you can carry the rest. Or I do. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my feeling.

• Breakout Potential: Pitching wise, I'm gonna say Matt Harrison. At the back end of last season he looked pretty good. He's one of the guys we got (stole) from Atlanta in the Mark Teixeira deal, and he came over as a good prospect. He's had flashes of brilliance during his time here, but at the end of last season, you got this "feeling" that perhaps he might be a guy set to go something like 15 or 16 wins and 7 losses. Can't quantify this with "facts", it's mostly a gut feeling. But then prediction kind of pieces like this are all gut feeling, aren't they? :)

Offensive wise, I think it's a tie between Chris Davis & Ian Kinsler. I think if Ian Kinsler hadn't gotten hurt, he would have challenged Dustin Pedroia for the MVP (Hello Evan). Kinsler doesn't get the coverage he deserves because he plays his home games in Arlington TX. But a full season of what he did in 2008 would take care of that. Chris Davis came up here mid last season and had 17 home runs and 55 RBI in just 80 games. A full season of that would qualify for a breakout season, I think. :)


• Prediction for 2009: 89-73, second place. Angels will still win, but not by as much as they have recently. Oakland's moves are good, and Seattle still needs a few years to get going again, although former Ranger coach Don Wakamatsu should help in that regard.