Today it’s time to preview the 2021 Texas Rangers. This is a team coming off of an extremely disappointing 2020 in which they finished 22-28 in last place. Is there a chance that this team can bounce back in 2021 and compete for a playoff spot? Well, the Rangers front office must not think so because they’ve traded their Ace starting pitcher to the White Sox for two younger pitchers. Lance Lynn was not only their best starter but basically their only quality starter in 2020, especially after Mike Minor was shipped to Oakland. Despite the struggles of the pitching, the offense was even worse, finishing dead last in the A.L. in runs scored.

Additions

Ian Kennedy (Minors)
Kohei Arihara (FA/Japan)
David Dahl (FA/Rockies)
Brett de Geus (Rule 5/Dodgers)
Dane Dunning (Trade/White Sox)
Nate Lowe (Trade/Rays)
Khris Davis (Trade/A’s)
Mike Foltynewicz (FA/Braves)
Josh Sborz (Trade/Dodgers)
Delino Deshields (Minors)
Brock Holt (Minors)
Charlie Culberson (Minors)

The Rangers did make a few additions in attempt to stay as relevant as possible in 2021. This includes Japanese starter Kohel Arihara, who has a big arsenal of pitches and a solid career in Japan but isn’t going to blow any one away or win a Cy Young. David Dahl could potentially be one of the best hitters on the team if he can revert back to his 2019 self, which is entirely possible. Dane Dunning, one of the pickups in the Lance Lynn deal, is extremely promising and could develop into a great big league arm. Nate Lowe will compete with Ronald Guzman for time at first base. Khris Davis obviously has insane power but this lineup already has lots of high strikeout low average big power types as I’ll get into. Mike Foltynewicz is a solid signing but he had a massive drop in velocity in 2020 and got DFA’d by the Braves. He will have to reprove himself in Spring Training for Texas. A few minor league deals also added depth with some familiar names, but no serious game changers.

Lineup

1. Leody Tavarez CF

2. Isiah Kiner-Falefa SS

3. Calhoun/Davis DH

4. Joey Gallo RF

5. Nick Solak 3B

6. Lowe/Guzman 1B

7. David Dahl LF

8. Trevino/Garcia/Huff C

9. Rougned Odor 2B

Let’s take a look at a possible lineup for the Rangers and at the top, Leody Tavarez offers the speed and defense you want in centerfield. His bat needs work for him to be an ideal leadoff man as he struck out 43 times in 119 at bats and hit just .227 but he has 20-20 potential with 8 stolen bases in 8 tries with 4 home runs. Isiah Kiner-Falefa should be the shortstop. He’s an aggressive hitter that makes consistent hard contact. He hasn’t hit a ton of home runs but has the type of swing and approach that could lead to the development of more power. Defensively, he’s got a great glove with a strong arm, quick feet and soft hands. It led to a Gold Glove in 2020. Overall, this is a nice talent to have in the lineup.

After that, Willie Calhoun should be healthy again after the unfortunate broken jaw he suffered in Spring Training last year. He did come back but never fully got it going in 2020. He’s got 30+ home run power if he can ever get a full season in. Khris Davis is there and if he can return to his older form, which resulted in 48 home runs in 2018, he’ll find his way into the lineup as well. Unfortunately, he strikes out a ton, like several of the bats in this lineup. Take Joey Gallo, who hits next and in his last full season struck out over 200 times. He was 4th in strikeouts in the AL in 2020 and hit just .181 but obviously he has great power and defense. Is it enough compensation? In some lineups maybe, but this one is already heavy on strikeouts. Nick Solak should be the third baseman although Texas Tech product and 8th overall pick Josh Jung should get the call-up at some point. He was an absolute best with the Red Raiders with an OPS over 1100 in both of his last 2 seasons there.

As for Solak, he impressed in 2020 with 56 hits in 58 games and 23 runs batted in. He is more than adequate for now as Jung develops and even then could shift to second place and replace Odor if he continues to hit well in 2021. Nate Lowe was signed to compete with Ronald Guzman, who hasn’t exploded with the bat as the Rangers had hoped. However, Lowe wasn’t much better than Guzman in 2020 – in fact, their stats are strikingly similar. Guzman hit .244 in 2020 with 4 home runs in 78 at bats and 24 strikeouts while Lowe hit .224 with 4 home runs in 67 at bats and 28 strikeouts. Based on 2020, I’m not sure how Lowe is an upgrade. Guzman did tear it up in the Winter League and looks to be a man on a mission for 2021.

David Dahl has at least 20 home run potential and more than a solid bat when’s he’s fully healthy. In 2019 he got in 100 games and hit .302 with 15 home runs. Jose Trevino is a great defensive catcher who will likely start the season as the starter while Sam Huff develops a little more. Aramis Garcia will be the backup and may earn more than just a few starts if he shows some of the power he showed with the Giants organization. He looked on track to be a regular backup to Buster Posey until he had injury issues. Sam Huff will eventually be the guy though after hitting 28 homers in the Minors in 2019 then hitting .355 with 3 home runs in 31 at bats for the Rangers in 2020. Finally, Rougned Odor may be a power threat but is a .200 hitter and is striking out more than ever. In 2020 that average dropped to .167 . His on-base-percentage was .209. He needs to show massive improvement or be supplanted.

Overall, there’s no shortage of question marks in this lineup. Will David Dahl return to his 2019 form and stay healthy? Can Willie Calhoun bounce back after is 2020 injury and down-year? Can Odor and Gallo hit over .220 at least? That said, there’s going to be a lot loud contact with solid bats like Kiner-Falefa, Taveras and Solak. I also believe Ronald Guzman is going to be a lot better this year and maybe even earn more time at first base than Lowe. With some young prospects on the way to enhance this lineup, I think it will be halfway decent. Overall, I give the Rangers lineup a C.

Rotation

1. Kyle Gibson

2. Jordan Lyles

3. Dane Dunning

4. Kohei Arihara

5. Mike Foltynewicz

Ian Kennedy

Kolby Allard

Kyle Cody

Taylor Hearn

Hyun-Jong Yang

Looking at some possible names in the rotation, Kyle Gibson had a terrible season although he did throw a shutout in 2020. His slider was not as effective last year as it usually has been in his career and needs to figure that pitch out again. He was 2-6 with a 5.35 ERA and is 33 years old so not exactly a guarantee to be great this year but he’s still their best chance at an Ace in 2021. The good news is he did better as 2020 went along so if it was a regular season, there’s more than good chance he would’ve ended up with much better numbers. Jordan Lyles looked like he was throwing BP in 2020, giving up a league high 45 runs, resulting in a 1-6 record. He gave up 12 home runs and walked 23 in 57 innings. Still, he was recently successful with the Brewers and the Rangers staff should be working with him to get back to the pitcher he was then.

Dane Dunning could be the best starter in this rotation if Lyles and/or Gibson don’t have big bounce-back seasons. He looked fantastic through seven starts in Chicago with a hard sinker and slider combo. At just 26 years, he has a huge ceiling and could make the Rangers look like geniuses for trading away Lance Lynn. Kohei Arihara, like I said is a very solid and durable starter with lots of different pitches and ways to attack hitters. He doesn’t have an especially hard fastball and won’t completely dominate hitters but will keep the Rangers in most games assuming his skillset translates to the big leagues. Finally, Mike Foltynewicz was a regular in the Braves rotation up until last season when he lost his velocity and got DFA’d. Word is he’s ramping that velocity back up to normal but until he proves it on the field, he’s a big question mark.

Other options include Kolby Allard, a 2015 first rounder who has a nice changeup but has to improve his overall control in order to set up the pitch properly. Kyle Cody has similar control problems but is an intimidating presence on the mound with a a sick slider and hard fastball. Taylor Hearn pitched well out of the bullpen for Texas last year and might get another crack at the rotation in 2020. Hyun-Jong Yang is a pickup from Korea who can log a ton of innings as a starter or long reliver. All around, this rotation has some potential if Gibson and Lyles at least somewhat return to form. Dane Dunning should be at least decent if not fantastic. After, that there are more question marks – such as did Folty really regain that velocity or is he going to get lit up in Spring Training? Overall, this rotation at its best could be a C+ or B- but at its worse could be an F. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and give it a D+.

Bullpen

Jose Leclerc
Jonathan Hernandez
Joely Rodriguez
Taylor Hearn
Josh Sborz
Brett Martin
Hyun-Jong Yang
Brett de Geus
Wes Benjamin
Demarcus Evans
Ian Kennedy
Justin Anderson

Jumping into the bullpen, Jose Leclerc has great stuff but got hurt almost immediately in 2020. If he can stay healthy, the stuff is there to be a shutdown closer. Jonathan Hernandez is a solid reliever with high 90’s heat. Joely Rodriguez was one of the few bright spots on the 2020 Rangers with a 2.13 ERA. The bad news is, as for most relievers in 2020, the sample size is pretty small. If Hearn doesn’t make the rotation, he’ll be a solid option out of the pen. Josh Sborz is a long-time Dodgers prospect with nasty strikeout stuff and could develop into a setup man or even an option to close games if needed. Brett Martin has been reliable more often than not over the past couple of seasons and then Hyun-Jong Yang is a nice long relief option out of Korea. Rule 5 guy Brett de Geus was stellar in the low Minor Leagues with the Dodgers organization and will get every opportunity to contribute in 2021 as well. All in all, this might be the strongest area of the Rangers even without Rafael Montero, who was shipped to Seattle. There are a lot of reliable arms here but if that rotation can’t eat up enough innings, this pen could get overworked quickly and become a lot more susceptible. Still, this bullpen is halfway decent and I’m going to give it a C+.

Overall, this team has a lot of good talent and even more on the way but as constructed on Opening Day, won’t be a major threat to compete for a playoff spot in my opinion. Still, I don’t think this is a 100-loss team and if guys like Kyle Gibson, Jordan Lyles, David Dahl and Joey Gallo all have big seasons, they could even be a surprise team that can compete for a Wild Card spot. That’s a lot of ifs though. Overall, I’m going to give the Texas Rangers a C-.