Three weeks ago...

...only the drunk would have placed a bet on Texas being first in the A.L. in 22 games.  Mainly because the Rangers have the following on the D.L.:

• Jurickson Profar (starting 2nd Baseman)
  
• Matt Harrison (All-star Left-handed starter)
  
• Adrian Beltre (he's f***in Adrian Beltre)
  
• Geovany Soto (not that big a deal, but Yu Darvish likes him)
  
• Derek Holland (see Matt Harrison)
  
• Pedro Figueroa (one of the bullpen pieces that was working)
  
• Joseph Ortiz (the working bullpen piece that Pedro replaced)
  
• Joe Saunders (leave him)
  
• Tanner Scheppers (8th inning man put in a starting role)
• Jim Adduci (4th outfielder, our backup Craig Gentry)
• Engel Beltre (see Adduci, but has higher ceiling as a prospect)
• In addition Shin-soo Choo and Kevin Kouzmanoff, or basically the first Rangers run of every game, are day-to-day.

The starting roster includes the following names:

• Josh Wilson and Donnie Murphy (journeyman infielders)
• Robinson Chirinos (rookie catcher who wasn't a catcher only a few years ago)
• Nick Martinez (RH starter, first year above A ball)
• Aaron Poreda and Shawn Tolleson (waiver-claim relief pitchers)
• Luis Sardinas (not-ready-for-prime-time AA shortstop)
• Dan Robertson (cash deal Padres outfielder, defense-first and speedy.  He's a backup to Adduci, in other words.)  He's the third Ranger this year to wear #19.

It's a B-team roster, and the 40-man is filled with players that seemed to be depth-for-depth, catch-and-release, try-before-you-buy minor-league lifers, brought in at inexplicable times; and yet they keep being the *right* players available at *just* the right time.

Or another way to look at it, as ghostofErikThompson said on Lone Star Ball:  "The Rangers are in first place in the West.  The Rangers swept the Oakland A's in Oakland.  The Rangers have the best record in the American League.  The Rangers are the Oakland A's."

And there are other ways that analogy makes sense, but of course it can only go so far.  Beltre (5-$85), Darvish (5-$55+$52), Andrus (8-$120), Choo (7-$130) and Fielder (7-$13 make it pretty clear that the financial resources of the two teams are completely different.  And regardless of how well you may want to argue Texas has spent it's money, the Rangers still aren't in the same class as Oakland and Tampa Bay regarding continued success for very little money.

But as for right now, you couldn't really say that Oakland is spending their money any better than Texas, either.

Posted by: Ben at 09:13 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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