Rangers Offseason Report

The Rangers have done little to improve upon a struggling team from last year. I have to admit that I like the Josh Hamilton trade that went down last week, but other than that nothing gets me excited about next season. I talked to West great and former World Series hero, Scott Podsednik, about a return to Rangers organization late last month but he had not heard anything. Frankly I don't know where the Rangers would put him if they had him. They are stocked full of #4 outfielders and they don't need another one. As of right now the lineup looks like this:

C-Jarrod Saltalamacchia/ Gerald Laird
1B-Chris Shelton/Brian Broussard
2B-Ian Kinsler
3B-Hank Blalock
SS-Michael Young
LF-Marlon Byrd
CF-Josh Hamilton
RF-Milton Bradley (if healthy)
DH-Bradley/ Jason Botts

Bench
Nelson Cruz, Frank Catalanotto, David Murphy

Rotation
Kevin Millwood
Vincente Padilla
Brandon McCarthy
Kason Gabbard
Kameron Loe/ Eric Hurley, Others

Closer-C.J. Wilson

Notes: The Rangers management is saying there is a chance Milton Bradley will be healthy come opening day, but I am not buying that. Expect him to DH for the first couple of months with either Cruz in RF or Byrd and Catalanotto in LF. Keith Law from espn.com says that with the acquisition ofHamilton in CF, that he quickly becomes the best one we have had at that position in the last decade. We gave Volquez in return for him and though Edison showed some promise, he was not consistent enough. Hamilton is a bit of a risk with his troubled past and his injury trouble, but he can provide some power we were lacking in the middle of the lineup and he has a strong arm to play center. When it comes to the rotation with Volquez out, that now leaves a vacant spot and many fans would like to see Hurley fill the void. The thing with Hurley is that he lacks the experience and he struggled in AAA when he was called up there last year. I had hoped that a team would have been dumb enough to take Padilla's contract but that was just wishful thinking on my part so it looks like we are stuck with him for the next two years. The catcher position is still up in the air with Laird and Salty both looking to be the starter. Laird is a great defensive catcher and I had hoped he would be great trade bait but it did not pan out. If he had any offensive capabilities I would be screaming from the rooftops for him to start but alas he is just poor at hitting. Now there is also a question of just how good is Salty's defense and can he carry the load of handling the pitchers and throwing out would-be base stealers. Nobody questions if Salty can hit so maybe the solution is for him to play first and keep Laird as the starter, but Laird has to show that he can put up some offensive numbers. The Rangers are still looking at Bartolo Colon and Jason Jennings to fill a rotation spot but both are coming back from injuries and they are high risk possibilities. Sadly enough nobody should expect much from this team next year. The bullpen looks fine but there are too many question marks surrounding the rest of the team for them to compete with the Angels who are becoming the Evil Empire of the West.