The 2013 Texas Rangers had a lot of things go wrong, beginning with the lack of players acquired during the off-season. Then when they did acquire a player, it turned out to be a completely ineffective Lance Berkman. That was the no. 1 thing that went wrong for the 2013 Texas Rangers.
Berkman was supposed to be a replacement for Michael Young, and he was nothing like. Now I am not saying that Michael Young is still anywhere close to his prime, but he is a lot closer to his prime than the 2013 version of Lance Berkman was. Berkman missed over half the season, and other than the first month, was completely ineffective.
Actually, i should have started with the not re-signing of Mike Napoli, Michael Young and yes, Josh Hamilton. It was pretty obvious that those guys would have made a difference for the 2013 Rangers. And I hear there is a chance that Napoli and maybe Jarrod Saltalamacchia could come back in 2014, and i would be all for that. The bats were not good in 2013, and another factor to that was
Nelson Cruz. The fact that Nelly got suspended was a big hit to the Rangers offense. He was leading the team in Home runs when he was suspended, and the Rangers really never had a deep threat after that. Beltre spent most of the season with a hurt hamstring, but he still carries the offense for the most part. Kinsler had a down year, Moreland is not looking well, and the rest of the offense is not showing any power.
The starting rotation, although it was a strength for most of the season, was hurt for the majority of it. At no point sis the Rangers have their starting five healthy at the same time for the entire season. Who knows if Colby and Harrison will ever get back. The Rangers had a great first half, but never looked the same after acquiring Matt Garza, who was nothing short of a disaster for the Rangers. He was a terrible pickup on hind site for the Rangers. Of course, the team would always be good if you could always look in hind site.
The last thing I will mention
is a complete lack of timely hitting. The Rangers couldn’t hit with runners in scoring position if their lives depended on it in 2013. And ultimately, that was their downfall.
The Rangers need a good off season so we the fans can have something to get excited about for the 2014 season. Time to start thinking about the next season. Enjoy the off season and thanks for reading!
