Despite sweep vs. Blue Jays, here's why the Rangers have a bright future
Texas fans will have a lot to dream on this winter
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2 min read
The Rangers were eliminated from postseason play on Sunday, having dropped all three games in their best-of-five Division Series vs. the Blue Jays. It was the first time since 1999 the Rangers had failed to win a game after reaching the divisional round.
All the post-hoc huffing and howling about the Rangers' poor run differential -- they scored eight more runs than they allowed during the regular season, the thinnest margin among playoff qualifiers and a worse mark than those posted by other AL West teams (the Mariners and Astros) -- misses the point. Regression, or whatever you call it, doesn't work like that. You might've expected the Rangers to play worse than their record suggested they would, but that doesn't mean a sweep was likely or probable; comeuppance isn't a fait accompli because the calendar flips to October.
So yes, Rangers fans should feel disappointed their team's march toward the World Series stopped here, in the minimum amount of games. But the fan base should not feel dispirited for the future. There's too much to like about this roster for that.
You have to believe shaky postseason outings were blips for Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels -- the duo with the seeming kinetic potential to carry the Rangers into the ALCS and beyond -- and that each will perform like a front-of-the-rotation starter heading forward. Likewise, much of the lineup is in place -- and better yet, much of it is young and supple.
The Rangers' average batter age checked in around the league norm, but that rank is skewered by a few outliers -- namely 39-year-old Carlos Beltran and 37-year-old Adrian Beltre. Look around Texas' clubhouse and you'll find players with birth dates suggestive of improvement. There's second baseman Rougned Odor, who homered 33 times in his age-22 season; there's three former elite prospects in Nomar Mazara (21), Joey Gallo (22) and Jurickson Profar (23); and there's even shortstop Elvis Andrus -- a mainstay who, unbelievably, just turned 28.
A pair of locked-in studs complement the youth. The aforementioned Beltre, a future Hall of Famer, continues to evade head pats and the decline phase alike. This season marked the fourth time in his past five tries that he finished the year with more than 140 games played and an OPS+ north of 120. The Rangers' big midseason addition, catcher Jonathan Lucroy, will return as well. He's nothing special -- simply one of the best, most well-rounded backstops in baseball. Shin-Soo Choo could be an asset as well, provided he's on the field more often than he was in 2016.
Sure, general manager Jon Daniels will have work to do elsewhere. Ian Desmond and Carlos Gomez are free agents after impressive rebound stints in Texas -- does Daniels have the confidence in either (or both) to pay market value? And while we're playing the rhetorical game, does Daniels think Carlos Beltran at 40 is worth the investment? The Rangers also have to ponder Mitch Moreland's worth, and find at least one more starting pitcher -- remember, they were tied to Tampa Bay's lot during the summer, and it's conceivable those talks could resume in the winter. But, then, every team has some issues to address.
The Rangers certainly have theirs -- they also appear to have a better, more promising foundation in place than most teams they're sharing the couch with.
