Texas Rangers: Slow Down and Temper Expectations

Despite a relatively quiet offseason the Texas Rangers have been exciting fans early in spring training. My advice? Temper those expectations.

It’s understandable that Texas Rangers fans are getting excited about how the team looks these early days in spring training. After all, the offseason nearly passed them by before they made any noteworthy moves to bolster their 2015 AL West winning roster.

But the Texas Rangers eventually did make some improvements throughout the roster. They added pitchers A.J. Griffin and Jeremy Guthrie to the mix in the rotation. They added Ian Desmond to cover left field. They added to their already dominant bullpen.

And they developed within…

Now early in spring training we see prospects like Nomar Mazara lighting it up at the plate. We see Yu Darvish pitching off the mound. We see Jurickson Profar show off his arm, bat, and range. We see Joey Gallo on the cusp and Lewis Brinson not far behind.

It’s hard not to get excited about Cole Hamels, Derek Holland, and Martin Perez all healthy and ready to lead the rotation. Memories of Chi Chi Gonzalez and Nick Martinez dance in our heads as we raise expectations through the roof for their sophomore seasons.

Josh Hamilton is injured again but with Ian Desmond moving to LF, Hamilton’s injury is perfectly digestible. The bullpen has been hit with injuries as well but they’re deeper than they’ve ever been and still have arguably their top five arms healthy and ready to compete.

Adrian Beltre is always Adrian Beltre. Prince Fielder bounced back last season and appears to be a steady force again this season. The Texas Rangers and Mitch Moreland avoided arbitration at the last minute and will play out 2016 as a contract year.

More from Texas Rangers

Centerfield and leadoff is finally settled with Delino DeShields. Shin-Soo Choo finished out 2015 on a very positive note and looks to maintain that level of play in 2016. Elvis Andrus may once again be on shaky ground but with Desmond providing proven insurance and Profar waiting in the wings, Andrus is really only a problem from a financial prospective and could easily be replaced on the field should he falter.

Virtually everything has been going right for the Texas Rangers these days making the good vibes in Surprise, AZ impossible to fight. But we must.

The Texas Rangers have seen this before. They’ve seen great teams fall apart and suspect teams rise up. It’s simply too early to tell.

Fans must be stoically tempered with their expectations until a few things are made known:

The rotation must be set – Yu Darvish is out until just before June. The Texas Rangers must find one or two capable players to fill his void and help cover for other inevitable injures to the rotation along the way.
Delino DeShields must re-prove it – Call me jaded but at this time last year I was confident that Leonys Martin would be the answer at CF and leadoff. I thought the Rangers were set in those spots for the foreseeable future. It didn’t take long for that to get squashed so I suggest staying cautiously optimistic about DeShields.
Shin-Soo Choo needs to prove who he really is – The guy who bombed in the first half of 2015 or the guy to lifted the team in the second half of 2015.
They can start healthy – Hamilton will miss the start (maybe much, much more) of the season but the Texas Rangers cannot afford to lose any more of their power hitters or pitchers. Injuries need to be on their side for once when they start the season because a slow start just ain’t gonna cut it.

Next: Rangers: Delino DeShields is not done yet

There are so many things to be excited about this spring training I almost talked myself into unguarded optimism once again. But temper those expectations because we’ve seen it go south too many times this early in spring training before.

Home/Texas Rangers