TEXAS RANGERS
| The Rangers are probably still the best team in the West. They lost a whole bunch of good players but they still have Pudge and Palmeiro and Greer and Kenny Rogers and Rick Helling. Kapler and Mateo should be terrific and the bullpen is awesome. Justin Thompson is a bit of an unknown entity; he might be great or his arm might fall off. I doubt that any team in the West will win 90 games this season, but the Rangers should still be able to win if they can stay healthy. |
| LUIS ALICEA (IF, 35, S) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 ANA 128 388 98 16 7 5 59 37 69 65 253 375 369 22 8 1998 TEX 101 259 71 15 3 6 51 33 37 40 274 372 425 4 3 1999 TEX 68 164 33 10 0 3 33 17 28 32 201 316 317 2 1 |
| Alicea has been a fine, underrated player for a long time now. But he had a horrible 1999, and at his age it seems unlikely that he will be able to come back, or that he will even get a chance. |
| FRANK CATALANOTTO (IF, 26, L) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1998 DET 89 213 60 13 2 6 23 25 12 39 282 325 446 3 2 1999 DET 100 286 79 19 0 11 41 35 15 49 276 327 458 3 4 |
| Catalanotto played 32 games at first base, 32 more at second, and 21 at third. He doesn't hit enough to play first; he could play one of the other positions if his defense was good, but he didn't play very well last year. He has a decent shot of sticking around a few years in a utility role; if Sparky Anderson were still managing the team, he would play until he was 40. |
| MARK CLARK (32, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 NYM-CHC 14 8 32 31 3 0 0 205 213 59 123 382 1998 CHC 9 14 33 33 2 1 0 214 236 48 161 484 1999 TEX 3 7 15 15 0 0 0 74 103 34 44 860 |
| He pitched very badly, and his career might be over. Clark has been a fine pitcher in the past, and if he is sound he is capable of pitching well again. But obviously something was wrong last year, and at his age I doubt he will make a comeback. |
| ROYCE CLAYTON (SS, 30, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 STL 154 576 153 39 5 9 75 61 33 109 266 306 398 30 10 1998 STL-TEX 142 541 136 31 2 9 89 53 53 83 251 319 366 24 11 1999 TEX 133 465 134 21 5 14 69 52 39 100 288 346 445 8 6 |
| Clayton's a servicable shortstop who can play the field and hit a little bit. Last year was his best season, but I don't think he will continue to hit as well. The Rangers seem to like him, so he will get another 500 at bats in 2000, will probably hit around .260. |
| FRANCISCO CORDERO (23, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 A 6 1 50 0 0 0 35 54 36 15 67 099 1998 AA 1 1 17 0 0 0 8 17 19 9 18 486 1999 AA 4 1 47 0 0 0 27 52 35 22 58 138 |
| A great pitching prospect with the Tigers, he was dealt to Texas in the Gonzalez trade. He needs a full season at Triple-A, and will get it; the Rangers have no shortage of right-handed relievers. Looks very good for the future. |
| TIM CRABTREE (30, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 TOR 3 3 37 0 0 0 2 41 65 17 26 708 1998 TEX 6 1 64 0 0 0 0 85 86 35 60 359 1999 TEX 5 1 68 0 0 0 0 65 71 18 54 346 |
| Crabtree had arm troubles in 1997, and the Blue Jays gave up on him. The last two years, he has been one of the best setup men in baseball. If his arm problems do not reoccur, he will pitch well again in 2000. |
| CHAD CURTIS (OF, 31, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 NYY 115 349 99 22 1 15 59 55 43 59 284 362 481 12 6 1998 NYY 151 456 111 21 1 10 79 56 75 80 243 355 360 21 5 1999 NYY 96 195 51 6 0 5 37 24 43 35 262 398 369 8 4 |
|
On another team, he would be a mediocre regular. On the Yankees, he is
a superb backup who hits game-winning home runs in the World Series. He can
run and get on base, and hit the occasional homer. He is quite valuable in a
limited role. ADDENDUM: Curtis has been dealt to Texas, and will take Roberto Kelly's job (Kelly has gone to New York). |
| DOUG DAVIS (25, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 A 5 3 9 8 1 0 0 49 29 33 52 310 1998 A 11 7 27 27 1 1 0 155 129 74 173 324 1999 AA-AAA 11 4 25 23 1 0 0 152 142 56 153 272 |
| Davis appeared in two games with Texas last year; he threw 2 2/3 innings, and gave up ten earned runs, giving him an ERA of 33.75. Despite the ignominious start to his career, Davis is a brilliant young pitcher who should be a star if he stays healthy. He may start the year in the minors, but I expect him to be pitching well for the Rangers by mid-season. |
| KELLY DRANSFELDT (SS, 25, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 A 135 466 106 20 7 6 64 58 42 115 229 294 339 25 16 1998 A 67 245 79 17 0 18 46 76 29 67 322 390 612 7 2 1998 AA 58 226 57 15 4 9 43 36 18 79 252 309 472 8 1 1999 AAA 102 359 85 21 2 10 55 44 24 108 237 288 390 6 3 |
| Dransfeldt is a young shortstop who looked impressive in 1998, but took a step backwards last year. The Rangers already have a shortstop, so Dransfeldt will probably be back in the minors in 2000. He will get a chance to play, eventualy, but I doubt that he will ever be a regular. |
| RYAN GLYNN (25, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 A 8 7 23 22 5 1 1 134 148 44 96 497 1998 AA 9 6 26 24 4 1 0 157 140 64 111 344 1999 AAA 6 2 16 16 2 1 0 90 81 36 55 339 |
| A fine young pitching prospect with the Rangers, Glynn got his first crack at major league hitters last season, and was overmatched. I like him for the future, though; he is probably a year away from emerging as an effective pitcher, and should spend the year in either Triple-A or long relief. |
| RUSTY GREER (LF, 31, L) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 TEX 157 601 193 42 3 26 112 87 83 87 321 405 531 9 5 1998 TEX 155 598 183 31 5 16 107 108 80 93 306 386 455 2 4 1999 TEX 147 556 167 41 3 20 107 101 96 67 300 405 493 2 2 |
| He is one of the better outfielders in the league. He hits for average, has some power, has very good strike zone judgment, plays good defense. He is durable and very consistent. Every good team needs a guy like Greer in their lineup. |
| BILL HASELMAN (CA, 34, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 BOS 67 212 50 15 0 6 22 26 15 44 236 290 392 0 2 1998 TEX 40 105 33 6 0 6 11 17 3 17 314 327 543 0 0 1999 DET 48 143 39 8 0 4 13 14 10 26 273 320 413 2 0 |
| Haselman is an outstanding backup catcher, a guy who plays very rarely, but always manages to make a significant contribution at the plate. He has no chance of ever being a regular, but everyone needs a second-string catcher, and Haselman is one of the best. |
| RICK HELLING (29, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 FLO-TEX 5 9 41 16 0 0 0 131 108 69 99 447 1998 TEX 20 7 33 33 4 2 0 216 209 78 164 441 1999 TEX 13 11 35 35 3 0 0 219 228 85 131 484 |
| He gave up 41 home runs, which led the league, but otherwise pitched as well as he did in 1998. He is a power pitcher who doesn't get strikeouts, and I'm usually skeptical of those types of pitchers. I don't expect Helling to have a long career, but for now he's okay, and the Rangers will score lots of runs for him this year. |
| JONATHAN JOHNSON (26, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 AA-AAA 6 12 23 22 5 0 0 130 153 44 80 521 1998 AAA 6 6 19 18 1 0 1 112 109 32 94 490 1999 AAA 8 4 21 8 0 0 2 68 91 23 38 625 |
| Johnson pitched in one game with Texas in 1999. At the moment, his career is going nowhere. He appears to have good control, but has nothing else to recommend him. I don't see him having much of a career. |
| GABE KAPLER (OF, 25, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 A 137 519 153 40 6 19 87 87 54 68 295 361 505 8 6 1998 AA 139 547 176 47 6 28 113 146 66 93 322 393 583 6 4 |
| Kapler was a super-hot prospect after driving in 146 runs at Jacksonville in 1998. He skipped Triple-A and joined the Tigers, but had a disappointing rookie season. Now, he has been dealt to the Rangers. I still like Kapler; he is young, and a superb athlete who is built like a Greek God. It is extremely likely that he will emerge as an outstanding player in a very short time. |
| DANNY KOLB (25, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 A 4 10 24 23 3 0 0 133 146 62 83 487 1998 AA 12 11 28 28 2 0 0 162 187 76 83 482 1999 AAA 5 3 11 8 0 0 0 60 74 27 21 510 |
| At the moment, Kolb does nothing that makes you think he will ever be a good pitcher. |
| COREY LEE (25, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 A 15 5 23 23 6 2 0 161 132 60 147 347 1998 AA 10 9 26 25 1 0 0 144 105 102 132 451 1999 AA 8 5 22 22 0 0 0 128 132 44 121 444 |
| Lee appeared in one game with Texas, after a solid season at Tulsa. He has the potential to be a quality pitcher, but needs to put in some time at Triple-A before he gets a shot in the big leagues. |
| ESTEBAN LOAIZA (28, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 PIT 11 11 33 32 1 0 0 196 214 56 122 413 1998 PIT-TEX 9 11 35 28 1 0 0 170 199 52 108 519 1999 TEX 9 5 30 15 0 0 0 120 128 40 77 456 |
| Loaiza had a pretty good year for the Rangers, both in the bullpen and the starting rotation. He is basically the same pitcher that he was five years ago, and doesn't seem to be making any progess. I would expect more of the same in 2000. |
| RUBEN MATEO (CF, 22, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 A 99 385 121 23 8 12 63 67 22 55 314 359 509 20 5 1998 AA 107 433 134 32 3 18 79 75 30 56 309 371 522 18 8 1999 AAA 63 253 85 12 0 18 53 62 14 36 336 385 597 6 3 |
| The Rangers' top prospect, Mateo was playing on a regular basis, and was looking good, when he broke his wrist. He is very young, is a contact hitter with power and speed. He looks like he should be one of the best players in baseball for the next ten years. |
| MIKE MUNOZ (35, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 COL 3 3 64 0 0 0 2 46 52 13 26 453 1998 COL 2 2 40 0 0 0 3 41 53 16 24 568 1999 TEX 2 1 56 0 0 0 1 53 52 18 27 393 |
| Munoz has toiled as the lefty in the bullpen since 1989; after five good seasons in Colorado, Munoz moved to Texas and had another good year. Oddly enough, lefties hit .290 off him, righties .235. He should reverse those numbers if he wants to stick around much longer. |
| DARREN OLIVER (29, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 TEX 13 12 32 32 3 1 0 201 213 82 104 420 1998 TEX-STL 10 11 29 29 2 0 0 160 204 66 87 574 1999 STL 9 9 30 30 2 1 0 196 197 74 119 426 |
| Oliver rebounded from a poor 1998 season to pitch at his level of ability. He is an average pitcher; his record the past three seasons is 32-32. His lifetime ERA is 4.55. He isn't going to do any better than he did last year. |
| RAFAEL PALMEIRO (1B, 36, L) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 BAL 158 614 156 24 2 38 95 110 67 109 254 329 485 5 2 1998 BAL 162 619 183 36 1 43 98 121 79 91 296 379 565 11 7 1999 TEX 158 565 183 30 1 47 96 148 97 69 324 420 630 2 4 |
| He had knee surgery before the 1999 season, and spent most of the year as a DH, not playing any first base until September. Despite this, he managed to win a Gold Glove... Palmeiro's career statistics are listed under the Mark McGwire comment. He has had a remarkable career, was once traded by the Cubs because he lacked power, but is now one of the top power hitters in the game. He is getting older, but he still appears to be improving his strike zone judgment, walking much more often than he struck out last year. |
| MATT PERISHO (25, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 ANA 0 2 11 8 0 0 0 45 59 28 35 600 |
| Perisho is a young pitcher, now with the Rangers. He was rushed by Anaheim in 1997; last season he was at Oklahoma, and was okay. He should have a career in someone's bullpen, could be a solid fourth/fifth starter. |
| IVAN RODRIGUEZ (CA, 28, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 TEX 150 597 187 34 4 20 98 77 38 89 313 360 484 7 3 1998 TEX 145 579 186 40 4 21 88 91 32 88 321 358 513 9 0 1999 TEX 144 600 199 29 1 35 116 113 24 64 332 356 558 25 12 |
|
There seems to be a growing sentiment that Rodriguez is the
best defensive catcher of all time. This is from guys who've been
around a lot longer than I have, like Johnny Bench. He's by far the
best that I've ever seen in my relatively short tenure as a
baseball fan (I wasn't around to see Buck Ewing). You probably know
that Ivan threw out 53% of baserunners last year; this is just one
element of being a good catcher, but Rodriguez seems to do
everything exceptionally well. Rodriguez will be only 28 years old next year, if you can believe that. He has made steady progress as a hitter, starting out as Tony Pena, then turning into Ernie Whitt, then Ted Simmons. Now he's Roy Campanella (what's next? Josh Gibson?) There are some reasons to expect a decline; for one thing, most players have their best seasons at age 27. Also, most catchers begin to decline rapidly after playing more than 1000 games (Rodriguez has played 1168) These are just general rules, of course, and can be broken by exceptional players. Rodriguez certainly fits in that category; though he works awfully hard, there is no obvious sign that he is about to decline. He's one of the best all-around catchers ever. |
| KENNY ROGERS (35, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 NYY 6 7 31 22 1 0 0 145 161 62 78 565 1998 OAK 16 8 34 34 7 1 0 238 215 67 138 317 1999 OAK-NYM 10 4 31 31 5 1 0 195 206 69 126 419 |
| Rogers had another good year, and even pitched well in the Big Apple. He is among the better pitchers in baseball; he is now back in Texas where he is most comfortable, and should have another good season in 2000. |
| DAVID SEGUI (1B, 34, S) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 MON 125 459 141 22 3 21 75 68 57 66 307 380 505 1 0 1998 SEA 143 522 159 36 1 19 79 84 49 80 305 359 487 3 1 1999 SEA-TOR 121 440 131 27 3 14 57 52 40 60 298 355 468 1 2 |
|
Segui is a slick-fielding first baseman who also hits a little. The
Blue Jays acquired him to be a DH for two months, but he got hurt instead.
At this writing, he is still with Toronto, and is being pegged as their
DH again in 2000; without his defense, he is an average player at best. ADDENDUM: Segui has been dealt to Texas. Palmeiro has sore knees, so Segui should get some playing time at first base. |
| MIKE SIMMS (1B, 33, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 TEX 59 111 28 8 0 5 13 22 8 27 252 298 459 0 1 1998 TEX 86 186 55 11 0 16 36 46 24 47 296 381 613 0 1 1999 TEX INJURED |
| Simms is a huge man who had was great in a platoon role in 1998, but last season was victimized by ankle problems and batted only twice. Simms is not young, but he can crush left-handers, and should be good in a platoon role. The ankles have had a long time to heal, but if he is not sound this year I wouldn't expect him to ever come back. |
| JUSTIN THOMPSON (27, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 DET 15 11 32 32 4 0 0 223 188 66 151 302 1998 DET 11 15 34 34 5 0 0 222 227 79 149 405 1999 DET 9 11 24 24 0 0 0 143 152 59 83 511 |
| After a brilliant 1997 season, Thompson has regressed. He was bothered by arm woes last season, and ended the year by having shoulder surgery. He is with a new team (the Rangers), and is still young enough to turn things around if he is healthy. I think he has a good chance of coming back; his chances of winning a Cy Young Award are probably gone, but he should stick around a few years as a solid #2-3 starter. |
| MIKE VENAFRO (27, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 A 4 2 35 0 0 0 10 45 51 21 35 343 1998 AA 3 4 46 0 0 0 14 52 42 26 45 310 |
| He was the Rangers' token left-handed reliever, and did a pretty good job, holding lefties to a .193 batting average (with only one extra-base hit). He doesn't impress me a great deal, and I don't expect him to get any better, but he should be okay as long as he keeps throwing strikes. |
| JOHN WETTELAND (34, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 TEX 7 2 61 0 0 0 31 65 43 21 63 194 1998 TEX 3 1 63 0 0 0 42 62 47 14 72 203 1999 TEX 4 4 62 0 0 0 43 66 67 19 60 368 |
| In my own humble opinion, he didn't pitch all that well last year. He piled up a bunch of saves, mostly because his team was great, and he had fantastic setup men. But Wetteland has pitched very well in the past, and will probably be good again this year. |
| JEFF ZIMMERMAN (28, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 NORTH 9 2 18 16 3 0 0 118 94 35 140 282 1998 AA 3 1 41 0 0 0 9 63 38 20 67 129 |
| Baseball's answer to Kurt Warner, Zimmerman emerged out of nowhere to have a brilliant rookie season. He was a front-runner for the Rookie Of The Year Award for the first half of the season, and I am still not convinced that he did not deserve the award. He appears to be the real deal, but will remain a setup man for now. |