Pardon My Bias

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The Texas Rangers have been on fire during these dog days of summer. The Rangers don’t see it as the dog days. While most struggle through the middle of the season, the hot weather, and straggling injuries, the Rangers find themselves with a chance to make a deep run into the post season. Due to a good pitching staff, solid hitting, and reliable defense in a weak division, the Rangers have pretty much guaranteed themselves a slot in the playoffs in the fall.

The Rangers have come out with a 58-41 record through their first 99 games and have a 7 game lead over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In a division that has recently been dominated by the Angels, the Rangers have come out and surprised many. The Rangers just finished an important series with the Angels which they won 3-1 to solidify their lead in the AL West.

A lot of the success can be credited to a solid pitching staff for the Rangers. They have a solid rotation in C.J Wilson, Tommy Hunter, Colby Lewis, and recently acquired Cliff Lee. The Rangers made a major commitment to winning this year when they won the Cliff Lee sweepstakes. Lee was the mid-season pick-up that many contenders wanted in order to fortify their pitching rotation. The Rangers were able to outbid the defending champs New York Yankees when one of the Yankees prospects offered in the trade suffered an injury. The Rangers staff has an ERA of 3.84 which ranks the 8^th in the league, and a superb closer in Neftali Feliz.

Cliff Lee has been a proven pitcher in the post season and won the Cy Young Award in 2008 when he played for the Cleveland Indians.  Last year, Lee was put in a similar situation when he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies to add to their rotation for the post season. Lee posted a 2-0 record in the first two rounds of the playoffs and was given the start in Game 1 of the World Series by manager Charlie Manuel. Lee pitched a complete game gem getting the win 6-1 over the Yankees. He also got a start in Game 5 where he led the Phillies to their second win in the World Series.  Lee has been a proven pitcher on the biggest stage under the brightest lights, and that type of experience will help the Rangers come October.

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The Rangers hitting has been amongst the tops in the Majors led by slugger all-star Josh Hamilton. The middle of that line up with Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, Vladimir Guerrero, Josh Hamilton, and Nelson Cruz packs a lot of power with all of them hitting over .300 average. They rank 2^nd in batting percentage and first in hits. They are also in the top 10 in RBIs, stolen bases, and slugging percentage. Guerrero is proving many experts wrong who thought his career was on the downfall after a poor year with the Angels last year. Guerrero has been on fire belting 20 bombs and driving in 78 so far. He’s on pace for a 30+ HR and 125+ RBI season, numbers no one saw coming. Power hitting combined with strong pitching is a dangerous combination and will result in wins in the post season.

The Rangers had a promising season last year when finished 2^nd in the AL West with an 87-75 record, their first winning season since 2004. This year, I think the Rangers finish with 97 wins. I like the Rangers to win the AL West over the Angels because they have dominated them so far throughout the season. Even though the Angels picked up right-hander Dan Haren from the Arizona Diamondbacks to make a run for the AL West, I don’t think the Angels have the hitting needed to win it. The Rangers are clicking on all cylinders and I think make it to the ALCS against the New York Yankees. I still like the Yankees to win it all, but making it to the ALCS would be a huge accomplishment for the Rangers who have not made it to the playoffs since 1999.

Good news for the other 29 teams in Major League Baseball.  Cliff Lee, the 2008 AL Cy Young winner, has been traded to the Texas Rangers and not the New York Yankees.  More on how Cliff Lee helps the Rangers later on, I would first like to imagine how dominant the Yankees would have been and how unfair it would have been to the rest of the MLB.

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If the Yankees managed to get Cliff Lee, I would have been ready to announce the Yankees as the 2010 World Series Champions.  With Lee, the Yankees would easily have had the best rotation in baseball today, and arguably one of the greatest 5 man rotations in MLB history.  The Yankees already have C.C Sabathia (11-3, 3.19 ERA), Andy Pettitte (11-2, 2.70 ERA), and Phil Hughes 11-2, 3.65 ERA).  Not to mention A.J. Burnett (7-7, 4.75 ERA) who is expected to turn his season around sooner or later.  If you add Cliff Lee with his 8-3 record and 2.34 ERA, the Yankees staff would seem virtually unbeatable.  And if one of their top pitchers had an “off” day, the Yankees offense isn’t too shabby either.  With players like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira,  Jorge Posada, Curtis Granderson, and Robinson Cano the 2010 New York Yankees would be geared to repeat as World Series Champs.  What other team could beat these Yankees in a 7 game series?

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If the Yankees were able to bring a Cy Young winner for the mere price of a minor league catcher who has potential, what a steal that would have been.  It would’ve essentially given the Yankees a monopoly on talent in the MLB.  They already have the best (and most expensive) collection of talent that has already led them to a World Series ring in 2009 and currently has them atop the MLB with a 55-31 record.  This possible deal would have really hurt the MLB in my eyes.  Yes, it is true that when the Yankees win, the MLB wins (financially).  But there has got to be a line drawn somewhere.  To stockpile all this talent  takes away the notion that any baseball team can win any series in the playoffs.  The odds of having that pitching staff and that offense seems more like an All-Star lineup rather than a MLB team.  While I can’t fault the Yankees for their competitiveness and financial capability of putting the best team on the field, I can fault the MLB for not having some type of salary cap.  How else are small-market teams like the Oakland A’s and Tampa Devil Rays going to be able to compete consistently(regardless of how well they draft talent)?

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Now onto how this addition puts the Texas Rangers in AL pennant contention.  In years past, the Rangers have always seemed to fade in the summer as the that increased in Texas and so did their unproven pitching staff.  Now with the best pitcher they’ve had since Nolan Ryan, the Rangers have their workhorse to lead them into the post season. The addition of Cliff Lee will only help the Rangers increase their lead over the AL West.  With a great mix of veteran talent in Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero, Michael Young,  and Ian Kinsler, the Rangers seem to finally have the pieces in place to reach the post season for the first time since 1996.