Rangers vs. Rays: Why Texas Is Team to Beat in American League

The Texas Rangers are pretty good.

In all the madness surrounding the final day of the season, it's understandable that a lot of people have forgotten about the Rangers. But now, it's time to remember.

Not only are the Rangers good, but they should be the favorite to beat the Tampa Bay Rays and, after that, they should win the American League.

They boast arguably the best offense in the American League. They are better than the New York Yankees in every major category except home runs and runs scored.

When it comes to the playoffs, however, it's not smart to live and die by the home runs, because, well, most teams usually end up dying. Accordingly, I would take the Rangers' team batting average (20 points better than the Yankees and almost 40 points better than the Rays) over home runs.

As I alluded to earlier, the Rangers are the defending AL Champs. In last year's playoffs, they won in Tampa three times, and they won in Yankee Stadium twice more.

When a team is able to go on the road and earn victories in October, they are a force to be reckoned with. They have the confidence necessary to win, and I don't see how that will be undermined.

When the Rangers look at their matchup (Rays), they are probably grinning.

Obviously, teams that are playing this late in the season are all good teams. That being said, the Rays shouldn't be here and they know it.

I don't mean to say the Rays aren't talented enough to be here because they are definitely talented enough to be in the playoffs. However, they just made a ridiculous run in September and I wouldn't be surprised if they had a serious mental hangover for the playoffs.

They just did what many people thought was impossible. How are they supposed to keep that going through the playoffs? Unfortunately for Tampa fans, they probably won't.

The Rays are a young team and they are happy to have made the playoffs. Now, they will probably not put up much of a fight to a superior team that has more experience.

The Rangers have a great offense, have an unmatched confidence and have a relatively easy first round matchup.

Accordingly, they should be the favorite to win their second consecutive American League Crown.