Texas Rangers

I'm concluding my look at the four AL West bullpens with Texas. Inside are analyses of 13 relievers (there's a lot of competition for relief slots):

Frank Francisco
Neftali Feliz
Darren O'Day
Darren Oliver
C.J. Wilson
Chris Ray
Ben Snyder
Dustin Nippert
Brandon McCarthy
Geoff Geary
Warner Madrigal
Willie Eyre
Clay Rapada

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The Rangers have the right guy at the right time to lead this team into bigger and better things.

With Nolan Ryan finally getting to be the captain of the Rangers' ship, after a mutiny of former owner Tom Hicks, they can step into a future that is bright and full of contending years. Something this city hasn't seen in quite some time.

They have youth, along with veteran experience, just about everywhere you look.

They have pitching, they have hitting, but the one thing the Rangers have is the ability to hold on to a lead when they have one.

It was reported today that the Texas Rangers voided IF Khalil Greene’s contract, essentially ending any chance Greene has of playing baseball again this season.

Greene wasn't released because of nagging injuries, age, or terribly declining performance; but because his head's just not in the right place.

Living in San Diego for the better part of eight years, I got a chance to watch Khalil Greene come out of Clemson University and become arguably the best shortstop the Padres had seen since Ozzie Smith.

In 2004, his first year as a starter for the Padres, Greene hit .273 with 15 home runs, and 65 runs batted in. But it wasn't his offense that fans came to enjoy, it was his incredible highlight-reel defensive plays.

Chris Davis is a player that everybody clamored for last year.

Why wouldn’t you? He hit .285 with 51 runs, 17 HRs, and 55 RBIs in 80 games as a rookie in 2008.

Whoever had under five hours in the “How soon into spring training will Josh Hamilton suffer an injury” office pool is a winner.

On the first day of full-squad workouts at the Texas Rangers camp, Hamilton suffered a left shoulder contusion diving for a ball during outfield drills. What on earth is Hamilton doing diving for a ball during outfield drills?

I would ask if he was on crack, but I already know the answer to that question.

My last article predicted the final records for the AL West teams. I came up with this:

LA 88-74
Seattle 87-75
Oakland 84-78
Texas 82-80

Obviously, I think it's going to be close.

The next thing I wanted to do was look at the starting rotations of each team, pitcher-by-pitcher, and grade them.

Without further ado, here's my look at Texas.

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There are few things I find more comical than when an athlete who has accomplished absolutely nothing in his profession tells everyone how great he is. We see this time and time again in sports.

The latest example of this would be C.J. Wilson of the Texas Rangers.

Wilson has been in the major leagues now for five seasons and yes, he has had a couple of good years, but the reality is he has been nothing more than set-up man/reliever in his career.

As the sun rose this morning, a new feeling came over the city of Sunrise, Ariz.

A feeling, an excitement, was in the air that hadn't been there in quite some time.

Today was the day that baseball returned to the spring training facilities all over the state of Arizona.

For the Texas Rangers that feeling was one of possibility. A feeling that they could possibly be the team to beat in the AL West after so many years of watching the Angels run away from everyone else.

In 2009, the Rangers hung in the race longer than anyone expected them to.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that no matter what Endy Chavez accomplishes in the major leagues from here on out, he will always be remembered for one spectacular catch in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS when he was with the New York Mets.

That catch, which robbed Scott Rolen of a home run, will be on MLB Network’s Prime Nine: Best Post Season Catches from now until that program goes off the air. It was that good.

Here is the catch from a fan’s prospective in case you want to see it again or missed it somehow the first time around: