The Rangers have had a bad offseason, no one can deny that. That does not mean, however, that the Rangers are going to have a bad season. In case we have all forgotten, playing young guys is how the Rangers eventually got to back to back World Series and made the post season three straight years. It’s true, we have lost a couple of really talented players off the roster and missed out on some other talented players, but that does not mean that the Rangers are a team in disarray. I thought I would take a look at the Rangers depth chart and tell you all what I like and what I don’t like about it, give you my confidence level at each position on a one to ten scale. Lets call it a little post-Christmas evaluation.
Outfield:
– Left Field: David Murphy is projected to be the Rangers left fielder in 2013 and I am perfectly good with that. Murph had a great 2012 and he was amazing against left-handed pitching. I trust him to be the Rangers everyday left fielder. He is not the best outfielder we have ever seen by any stretch of the imagination, but he did a fine job there in 2012, and I am confident that he will do a fine job there in 2013. If Murph can start jacking more home runs, I could see him making an all-star game in the next few seasons. Confidence level: 7
– Center Field: Everyone knows that the loss of Josh Hamilton is a big blow offensively to this team, but I would say that it is not a giant loss defensively. Craig Gentry is projected to be the starting center fielder in 2013 and we all know that he is very fast and a very good center fielder. He is not, however, going to be able to replace Josh’s production at the plate. I am happy with this position defensively, but I am worried about the offensive drop-off that will happen. Confidence Level: 5
– Right Field: We all know Nelson Cruz is going to be the starting right fielder for the Texas Rangers in 2013 unless he gets traded. He is in a contract year so I have a feeling he is going to
show up in the best shape of his life and play as hard as he can to get a big contract after this season is over. Over the Rangers three playoff years (2010 – 2012) Nelson has had a .280 batting average, twenty-five home runs, a .515 slugging percentage and a .849 OPS.on average. Batting average, slugging percentage and OPS have all declined over the last 3 seasons. All that said, I believe that Nelson is going to have his biggest offensive season yet in 2013 if he is healthy. defensively he is not the best at his position, but he can hold his own out there. Confidence Level: 6.5
– Fourth Outfielder: Leyons Martin is on the depth chart right now as the fourth outfielder, and he is penciled in at all three outfield spots. It is time for Martin to prove to the Rangers whether he is worth all that money they invested in him or not. He has shown that he can be good but he has also shown to be a little raw when Rangers fans have had a chance to see him on the field. I will be very interested to see if Martin can take the job away from Gentry. My guess is that Gentry will be the opening day starter at center field but Leyons will be on the team. If he plays good enough and shows some pop at the plate, he could eventually replace Gentry but I don’t see that happening in 2013 unless he has improved more than I think in the off-season. Confidence Level: 4
Overall Outfield Confidence Level: 5.625 out of 10.
Infield:
–First Base: This position has been talked about quite frequently in the off-season and for good reason. Mitch had a less than stellar season in 2012, Michael Young and Mike Napoli (who is still not officially a Red Sox) are gone, and Ian Kinsler may be asked to move to first base to make room 
for Jurickson Profar. So have the Rangers lost confidence in Mitch? I am not sure I can answer that question. I believe the possible move of Ian Kinsler to first has a whole lot more to do with Profrar than it does with Mitch. That being said, I think that Ian is going to be your everyday first baseman in 2013. The Rangers depth chart has Ian still as the starting second baseman and does not even list him as a first baseman, but I think it is only a matter of time before that changes. Mitch will get playing time at first, in right field and at DH, and if Ian works out the Rangers may look to move Mitch during the season. Ian is a little short for a first baseman but we all know he has a good vertical leap and he is a great athlete. The Rangers have not had a great defensive first baseman since the departure of Chris Davis, and I don’t think that Olt, Kinsler or Moreland are going to be amazing at that position. Confidence Level: 5
–Second Base: This position is leaning in the direction of Jurickson Profar, but it still belongs to Ian Kinsler according to the depth chart. If the Rangers are going to keep Profar at the major league level, it would only make sense for him to be a starter. We already discussed what they would do with Kinsler if Profar gets the position. Profar hit a home-run in his first at bat in the majors, in case you forgot, but I expect him to be more Elvis like in his power at first. Good average, bad power numbers kind of player. Profar is a phenom just like Elvis was, and that is going to be one tough infield when those guys gel together. Ian is an underrated second baseman, in my opinion and Jurckson is supposed to be much better than Ian. That is the only reason I think the Rangers are considering replacing an all-star caliber second baseman with a rookie. Confidence Level: 7.5
– Third Base: In my humble opinion, the Rangers have the best third baseman in all of baseball 
in Adrian Beltre. Adrian was the Rangers most valuable player in 2012 and the competition was not even close. Adrian was the most consistent hitter all season long and he was spectacular in the field as usual. Adrian has been worth the money the Rangers gave him up to this point, and I don’t expect that to change over the next few seasons. This is my highest level of confidence on the team because we all know that Adrian will come through and his backup Mike Olt is a very high prospect at third base as well. Confidence Level: 9.5
– Short Stop: Elvis Andrus has been great for the Rangers in his tenure at short stop. His offensive numbers have been better each season that he has been with the Rangers, and his defense is very good. He does make some errors on the simple plays, but he makes more spectacular plays than most people do. His power numbers were up at the plate in 2012, and that is good, but his steals, which should be a big part of his game, were down. The Rangers have been working with him and everyone during the offseason to make the stealing game better in 2013, and I expect Elvis to steal many more bases in the coming season. Also Elvis is in a contract year and after the kind of off-season the Rangers have had this season, I think they would be smart to try to lock Elvis up long-term before he becomes a free agent and signs with the Yankees or Angels. Confidence Level: 8.0
– Catcher: The Rangers have Geo Soto, Konrad Schmidt and Luis Martinez listed as there catching tandem right now, but we all know that the Rangers made the A.J. Pierzynski official today. I am not sure if the Rangers are going to carry 3 catchers or not, and my thought would be
that they are not. It will be A.J. as the number one guy and Geo as the number two guy, if I had to guess. A.J. has a reputation of being a bit of a drama queen, but I have been reading up on him and it seems that he is not as bad as we have all heard. I think he is going to be a fine addition to this team and I also think he is going to help out the pitching staff. He has worked well with pitching staffs over the years and I expect nothing different this season in Texas. Geo has to be better than he was for the Rangers last year, and I have faith that he can be. He needs to throw out more runners than he did for them and he needs to bat above .200. If he can do those things the Rangers have a pretty good catching tandem to work with. Confidence Level: 7.0
Overall Confidence Level in the Infield: 7.4 out of 10.
Next we will look at the starting rotation and the bull pen.
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