The most significant thing the Rangers have done to improve the team was to replace the Manager. Jerry Narron tried as hard as he could but there were time when he just seemed to be a little lost. Buck Showalter seems to be the big name signing that might help kick the team into action. Buck has already started talking about the players in the organization that he likes. His comments
about R.A. Dickey being the type of guy that he would want to be in the trenches with indicate that it isn't necessarily totally about talent for a Showalter lead team, there has to be a lot of effort.
So far the Rangers have been mainly stripping away layers of arguably overpayed players in order to A) reduce payroll and B) make room for talented players from the Farm system. Those released so far during the off season are as follows:
John Rocker
Bill Hasselman
Ivan Rodriguez
Frank Cattalanotto
Todd Holandsworth
Kenny Rogers
Hideki Irabu
Dennys Reyes
Ruben Rivera
Donnie Sadler
Calvin Murray
Antony Telford
Rich Rodriguez
Travis Hafner (traded to Indians)
Aaron Myette (traded to Indians)
On the flip side of all of the losses the Rangers picked up a few players. In the trade with the Indians they received Einar Diaz to be their starting Catcher. Ryan Drese also is coming to Texas in the trade and he will have an opportunity to try out for the Starting rotation in Spring Training. Out of Free Agency the Rangers picked up Doug Glanville and Ugueth Urbina.
If the Rangers are going to be active before the Season starts they are most likely to look for more pitching. There have been rumors of ex UT pitcher Roger Clemens coming back to his home state. Fans locally are hoping that the Rangers might be able to work out a trade to bring a #1 or #2 here. Amongst names mentioned are Pedro Astacio, Bartolo Colon and Javier Vazquez. After pitching very well in Texas last year while he was here there is some hopes of seeing Ismael Valdes on the team again.
At this point in time the Opening Day lineup looks like being:
1 Doug Glanville CF
2 Hank Blalock 3B
3 Alex Rodriguez SS
4 Rafael Palmiero 1B
5 Juan Gonzalez RF
6 Carl Everett LF
7 Herbert Perry DH
8 Einar Diaz C
9 Michael Young 2B
Bench:
Todd Greene
Jason Hart
Ryan Ludwick
Kevin Mench
Mike Lamb
Starting Pitchers:
Chan Ho Park
Joaquin Benoit
Colby Lewis
Ryan Drese
Doug Davis
Relief Pitchers:
Ugueth Urbina CL
Francisco Cordero
Rob Bell
Danny Kolb
Jay Powell
Todd Van Poppel
Jovanny Cedeno
One of the other potential scenarios for the Rangers is Ivan Rodriguez not signing elsewhere, sitting out for the first month of the year and signing a low priced deal when the Rangers are allowed to sign him again.
The Rangers are hoping for some players to be ready for mid-season callups. Amongst the players are Ryan Dittfurth, Ben Kozlowski, Gerald Laird, Mark Teixeira and Lance Nix. Drew Meyer probably needs another year before he will be ready to play.
Fantasy Spin:
Very few pitchers on this team are worthy of inclusion on a Fantasy team. # who might be looked at are Chan Ho Park who pitched much better in the second half of the season. Ugueth Urbina finished with 40 saves for the Red Sox last season. Francisco Cordero was close to unhittable and might hope to match the sort of performance Octavio Dotel had with the Astros last year.
Hitting is a totally different matter in Texas. Alex Rodriguez will be one of the first players selected on many Fantasy teams. Rafael Palmeiro will be popular amongst those looking for HRs and RBIs. If he is healthy Juan Gonzalez always has MVP potential. Carl Everett had a tremendous 2nd half last year once he recovered from his injuries. Hank Blalock could be a sleeper if he can make the step from AAA to the big leagues. Once he is ready to be called up Mark Teixeira will be very popular amongst Fantasy players. My personal favorite sleeper in 2003 is Michael Young. He is improving his offense as he gains Major League experience. If you play in a league that uses defense he will be especially valuable because he is rapidly becoming the best defensive 2B in the AL.
