Two straight years the Texas Rangers have made the World Series, after previously having never been. But two straight years they lost the World Series. Last season was the ultimate gut punch, having gotten within one strike of winning it all during Game 6. But it was still progress. Can that continue in 2012? If it does, there's only one place to end up.

Major additions: RHP Yu Darvish,
Major departures: LHP C.J. Wilson, OF Endy Chavez, LHP Mike Gonzalez, LHP Darren Oliver

Probable lineup [All MLB projected lineups]
1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Elvis Andrus, SS
3. Josh Hamilton, CF
4. Adrian Beltre, 3B
5. Nelson Cruz, RF
6. Michael Young, DH
7. Mike Napoli, C
8. David Murphy, LF
9. Mitch Moreland, 1B

Probable rotation
1. Colby Lewis
2. Yu Darvish
3. Derek Holland
4. Matt Harrison
5. Neftali Feliz

Back-end bullpen
Closer: Joe Nathan
Set-up: Mike Adams, Alexi Ogando

Important bench players

OF Craig Gentry, OF Julio Borbon, C Yorvit Torrealba

Prospect to watch
The Rangers have reportedly said on a few different occasions that they want Josh Hamilton out of center field for health reasons eventually. If that is to happen, 24-year-old Leonys Martin will need to play better than Murphy, which would slide Hamilton to left field with Martin being in center. The Cuban-born Martin hit .295/.362/.421 with four homers and 19 stolen bases in 73 minor-league games last season -- in Rookie Ball, Double-A and Triple-A. He also appeared in the majors, going 3-for-8 (.375).

Fantasy bust: Elvis Andrus
"Andrus has been very consistent since his arrival in the majors back in 2009 as a 20-year-old. However, consistency isn't necessarily what Fantasy owners are looking for from a young hitter. Before a player reaches his peak, owners would ideally like to see growth, but Andrus hasn't provided many signs of progress. He has yet to develop much power, build on his walk rate or break the 40-steals barrier. Andrus has reduced his strikeouts, though we have yet to see it have much effect on his batting average. He is still plenty young enough to have a breakout season, and because of his youth, many owners may assume that it is coming this year. However, there are no signs of it occurring anytime soon, and he could wind up underperforming his draft position for many owners." - Al Melchior [Full Rangers team fantasy preview]

Fantasy bounce-back: Joe Nathan
"Coming back successfully from Tommy John surgery is no sure thing, and to look at Nathan's stats from last season, it would be easy to assume that he didn't enjoy much of a triumphant return. Overall, he compiled a 4.84 ERA and a higher-than-normal 1.16 WHIP, but much of the damage was done during the first three weeks of the season. In just his first seven appearances with the Twins last year, Nathan allowed eight earned runs over 6 1/3 innings, and he blew a pair of saves. The rest of the way, his ERA was a more respectable 3.76, and an 0.99 WHIP shows that he mostly suffered from stranding too few baserunners. Now with the Rangers, Nathan is fully recovered from his surgery and should continue to do a solid job of keeping runners off the basepaths, as well as a better job of preventing them from scoring. Though you probably won't need to draft him early, Nathan could return to performing like a No. 1 Fantasy reliever." - Al Melchior [Full Rangers team fantasy preview]

Optimistic outlook
Like I said, if anything improves, there's only one place to go: World Series champions.

Pessimistic outlook
Darvish doesn't adapt to America well, Feliz can't make the successful jump to the rotation, Young sharply declines due to age, Hamilton can't stay healthy and Nathan just can't return to form. That's about all that can really go wrong. Still, I can't see the Rangers falling below second place in the AL West. And even with two wild cards, it's possible that the Rangers miss the playoffs behind the Angels and a threesome of teams from the AL East.

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