Season Previews

Who is the Worst Team in the AL West

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Now that players have reported to their respective Arizona and Florida camps, we are all thinking (daydreaming) about how our favorite clubs will fare in 2021. Who will win it all? Who will be the surprise team? We getting a tease of that answer over the next month as spring training leads up to the regular season.

It’s a joyful time now to be sure. What with the season on the horizon and images of sunny blue skies and t-shirt wearing fans in stadiums, there are reasons for hope again. But there always has to be that one pessimist who brings things back down to reality. Sorry Ranger fans; that guy is going to be me. Here is the fifth installment of my “worst teams in baseball” series focused on the Texas Rangers, the worst team in the AL West.

Projected Division Outcome

The AL West is a three team race, and it is anyone’s guess who will win it. Houston has been gutted offensively, losing key guys like George Springer and Josh Reddick. It will be interesting to see how they rebound from those major losses. Oakland, coming off of a division title in 2020, also lost shortstop Marcus Semien and closer Liam Hendricks in the offseason, which will make it much harder to repeat. The Angels will be stout offensively as always, and I am a lot higher on them as opposed to a lot of other writers, but what about that darn pitching? Seattle has a solid base to future success with 2020 unanimous ROTY Kyle Lewis and a roster full of young talent, but are still a year or two from contending for a division title. Finally, Texas, fully committed to a rebuild, is left at the bottom. Here are my official predictions for the AL West in 2021:

  1. Houston Astros
  2. Los Angeles Angels
  3. Oakland Athletics
  4. Seattle Mariners
  5. Texas Rangers

2020 Rewind

The Rangers rounded out their 2020 shortened regular season with a 22-38 record, making them the second worst team in all of baseball. Finishing just above Pittsburgh, they floundered despite pre-season hope after a solid 2019 with a 78-84 record. The Corey Kluber acquisition didn’t go as planned. The Rangers were let down with poor hitting and nearly as bad pitching, which is…. not a good combination.

At the plate, third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa lead the charge with a respectable .280 batting average. Aside from Kiner-Falefa, nobody else hit much for average, but right fielder Joey Gallo and second baseman Rougned Odor both managed to hit 10 homeruns apiece. The Rangers were also able to promote centerfield prospect Leody Taveras, who struggled in 2020 hitting .227 and 4 homeruns, but was able to gain much-needed experience in the big leagues. Both Kiner-Falefa and Gallo won gold gloves in 2020, which was a positive that came out of a struggling group of position players.

On the mound, starter Lance Lynn turned in a solid year with a 3.32 ERA, making him a valuable trade asset. He was eventually traded to the White Sox for #91 overall prospect Dane Dunning in the offseason. 25-year old starter Kyle Cody came up to the majors in 2020 and performed well. He’ll boast about his 1.59 career ERA (in 22.2 innings pitched) in the locker room this spring.

The bullpen proved to be both decent and dreadful at times, but has a couple of solid arms to build around, including one 2021 breakout candidate Jonathan Hernandez who looks to be one of the most dominant relievers in all of baseball in the years to come.

Looking Ahead at 2021 and Beyond

It really is no secret that the Rangers are rebuilding. Texas made some changes at the top of the organization in the offseason, hiring former major league pitcher Chris Young to be their new VP and GM (the ninth in Ranger’s history). With new management comes new ideas, which involved parting ways with Lance Lynn for prospects, Corey Kluber is now a Yankee, and fan-favorites/long-time Rangers Shin-Soo Choo and Elvis Andrus are trying on new colors this year. While Rangers fans may not like this, the rebuild will hopefully jolt the team towards a deep Playoff run – they haven’t been out of the first round of the Playoffs since 2011.

The Rangers have added some much needed depth to the roster, so there’s something to be said for their brand of rebuild. They added first baseman Nate Lowe by way of Tampa Bay, center fielder David Dahl, Japanese right-hander Kohei Arihara (who will be fun to watch), catcher Jonah Heim and DH Khris Davis in a trade with Oakland, and signed starter Mike Foltynewicz to a one-year “prove it” deal. These guys will compete with the roster already in place, which wasn’t totally hopeless. This team will surprise some people.

Look for a breakout season, with lots of homeruns, from Joey Gallo and the continued development of Isaiah Kiner-Falefa in 2021. The hitting figures to be decent in Texas in the season ahead, but pitching will hold this team back from hovering around a .500 record, leaving the Rangers just out of reach of 4th place in the division with around 65-70 total wins. I see the Rangers as big time sellers at the deadline, probably dealing a lot of the fun players listed above.

Here is the Texas Rangers projected 2021 Opening Day roster, according to Chris Halicke of Fan Nation:

Catcher: Jose Trevino, Jonah Heim

First Base: Nate Lowe

Second Base: Nick Solak

Third Base: Roughned Odor, Charlie Culberson

Shortstop: Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Outfield: David Dahl, Leody Taveras, Joey Gallo

Designated Hitter: Willie Calhoun, Khris Davis

Utility: Brock Holt

Starting Pitchers: Kyle Gibson, Mike Foltynewicz, Kohei Arihara, Jordan Lyles, Dane Dunning, Kyle Cody

Relief Pitchers: Jose Leclerc, Jonathan Hernandez, Joely Rodriguez, Brett Martin, Brett de Geus (Rule 5), Josh Sborz, Taylor Hearn

When considering the “beyond,” aka the young players in the farm system for the Rangers, they look to have decent prospects on the way and are ranked 13th overall as a team in Bleacher Report’s 2021 team farm system rankings. Third baseman Josh Jung (#63 overall) was drafted 8th overall in 2019 and has a ton of power. Catcher Sam Huff (#78 overall) has developed nicely after being drafted in the 7th round back in 2016. Right-handed pitcher Dane Dunning (#91 overall) made his debut last season for the White Sox and came to Texas via trade. The Rangers, despite only having three players in the top 100, have a very deep farm system. This propels them up lists like Bleacher Report’s, despite their lack of “top prospects,” because they are just solid top to bottom. Look for the Rangers to gather even more young talent come the trade deadline, propelling them into a very prosperous future!

-Alex Wolfe

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