Texas Rangers' Offseason Checklist: Same As It's Been Since 1972

First things first, after reading the entirety of this article, you will want to revert back to this sentence to reassure yourself that I am, in fact, a Texas Rangers fan.

So much of a fan, in fact, that I am willing to bet the Rangers' upcoming offseason (I know they are not yet mathematically eliminated, but come on, let's be real here) will once again be unsatisfactory to lifelong fans such as myself. Let's look at this first article as positive criticism.

The Rangers' offseason checklist is the same this offseason as it has been since 1972: pitching. The Rangers have had their fair share of quality pitchers, but the organization has never been able to assemble an entire staff that was good enough to carry the team to a world championship.

In the last decade, the pitching problem for Texas has been even more troublesome. This season, the Rangers have the highest team ERA in the league and are one of only two teams with an ERA over 5.00.  

Rangers pitching is like looking for a new house but never finding the one with everything you like and want; you wish there was a way to pick certain features from this house and that house and combine them into your dream home. Texas usually has a highly-capable starter or two in the rotation every year or so, but they can never seem to find their own dream home. 

Coming in to the 2008 season, the Rangers had high hopes of making it to the World Series, as every team does coming out of Spring Training. They felt like the had a winning combination, both offensively and defensively, that would catapult them to the top of the standings with the AL East big boys: Yankees, Red Sox, and now, Rays.

The team had good reason to think this year was redemption time for 25 years of disappointing baseball in North Texas. Last season, the Rangers had one of the best bullpens in all of baseball. The bulk of the bullpen was coming back in 2008, and the starting rotation looked solid, with Millwood, Padilla, and McCarthy anchoring the top-three spots and all looking for redemption from a disappointing season in 2007. All three are capable of winning 15 games.

Every team in baseball knows that the Rangers have offensive firepower, as they have been among the highest-scoring teams in the league the last several years. The 2008 season emerged as an offensively-gifted season.

Opposing pitchers would visit the very historically hitter-friendly ballpark in Arlington and would have to face a lineup that began with four consecutive All Stars, all selected mainly for their offensive production: Kinsler, Young, Hamilton, and Bradley.

Anyone in baseball will tell you that with those four leading the lineup card, it might be a good idea to start warming up the bullpen before the first pitch is thrown.

The middle infielders, Young and Kinsler, and the young and talented outfield make up for a brilliantly-talented defense. The outfielders, primarily made up of Brandon Boggs, Hamilton, and Marlon Byrd, each have cannons and exemplify long-range throws with consistent accuracy. Combine all these qualities with the fact that the Rangers have one of the top-ranked farm systems in all of baseball, and how can you not be positive about for 2008?

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