MLB Preview: Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers got off to a terrible start during the 2007 season as what little chances they had at contention ended by the middle of May. The team did play respectable baseball during the last four months of the season as they were a little over .500 during that stretch.

Still the season was a tremendous disappointment for the Rangers organization as they confirmed that their once highly touted OF prospect Nelson Cruz, is nothing more than a quadruple A player. The team was forced to give Sammy Sosa more at bats at the expense of some of their younger players.

The 2008 Rangers did make a few moves in the off-season but it's clear this team still needs to make some major moves to get back into contention.

Now it's time to answer three questions about the 2008 Texas Rangers

(1) Did the Rangers make the right move in dealing another pitching prospect for Josh Hamilton?

For the 2nd straight season the Texas Rangers traded a top pitching prospect to a different organization. In 2007 it was John Danks, whom they dealt to the White Sox for Brandon McCarthy. This deal appeared to be a mistake at the time as the Rangers made the deal thinking that McCarthy would be more ready for the majors than Danks.

Although McCarthy had a slightly better season then Danks, both pitchers were in their opening day rotations, and it's clear that Danks has a better upside than McCarthy.

This season the team traded away Edison Volquez to the Reds for the once highly touted Josh Hamilton. This deal makes some sense on the surface as the Rangers have a huge hole in their outfield. Hamilton was the feel good story of the year last year as he battled drug addiction for years, before cleaning up and winning a roster spot on the Reds. Hamilton hit over 290 and belted 17 home runs in less than 400 at bats last season.

The one risk the Rangers have in Hamilton is that he did suffer some injuries last season, and did have major back surgery while in the minors earlier in his career. If Hamilton is able to stay healthy this deal should work out better than the McCarthy trade did last year.

Nontheless the Rangers don't have the pitching depth on their roster to trade away young arms like Volquez, and this marks the third good young arm they have dealt in three consecutive seasons. Chris Young, John Danks, and now Volquez all will enter this season in major league rotations, while the Rangers are struggling desperately to round out their rotation this year.

(2) Will the Texas Rangers get any production from the front of their rotation, not to mention the back end?

Last year was a complete disaster for the Rangers pitching staff as they finished 11th in the AL in pitching, and things don't look to be getting much better this season. The afore mentioned McCarthy suffered an injury during the Spring, and it's unclear when he will return. The Rangers did sign Jason Jennings to a one year contract right before Spring Training hoping he will provide the club some depth.

The Jennings signing was a shrewd move, but they signed him to compete for a fifth spot, and now their depth chart has him listed as their third starting pitcher. Before last season that would've been a good thing, but Jennings had a disastrous campaign with Houston last year, and although injuries played a large part in it, it's unclear wether he will be healthy enough this season.

The Rangers are hoping that Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla can both rebound this season after posting disappointing results last year. Padilla won 15 games for the Rangers in 2006, but his ERA jumped up by a full run and a quarter in 07, and only won 6 games as a result.

Millwood on the other hand battled through hamstring injuries for much of the season, but his ERA jumped over 5 as well. Millwood has three more years on his contract and the Rangers desperately need him to solidify his spot as the ace of the staff.

The Rangers appear to be going with Kasey Gobbard at the fourth slot, and the fifth slot is still yet to be determined. Needless to say the Rangers will need to score a lot of runs when these guys take the mound.

(3) Did the Rangers make a mistake by sending Jarrod Saltalamacchia down to the minors?

The Rangers dealt away the prize of the trade deadline last July when they said goodbye to power hitting first baseman Mark Texeira. In return they received Saltamacchia who was the prize of the Braves farm system during the past two seasons. Saltamacchia is a rare hitting power catcher, which is what made him so appealing to the Rangers, unfortunately he struggled last season and the Rangers want to see more consistent production from him this season.

Saltalamacchia entered camp in a battle for the starting catching job with Gerald Laird, Laird is 28 so he still is in the prime of his career, but other than 2006 Laird has been an average catcher at best. Laird hit 296 as a backup in 2006, and entered camp last year as the starting catcher and had a sub par campaign.

Laird did win the job as Saltamacchia was sent down to the minors towards the end of Spring Training. The Rangers have to be careful as this may send a very poor message to Rangers fans. The club dealt one of it's most popular superstars last July, and will now enter opening day with their prized return in a minor league uniform.

Saltamacchia does have things defensively he needs to work on, and there is talk he may be better suited for a first baseman's glove rather than a catcher's mit. Regardless the club needs to see what he can do with a major league uniform as they can't afford to send another star away without getting anything in return.

The 2008 Rangers should be in rebuilding mode, but their front office is still signing veteran free agents on the downside of their careers. Milton Bradley is a productive player, and should add value to the team provided he stays healthy, but it's important for the club to focus on improving their dwindling farm system as contention is going to be out of reach in 2008.