Keep the Faith

January 31, 2010 by Cody Dunlap ·

Bill Simmons’ weekly column on Friday delved into the most tortured fan bases. Number one? Some team from the North Side of Chicago.

The Rangers were unable to make an appearance because of a clause he had disqualifying teams who lived in warm-weather cities. Which is probably fair.

But on this humble website, we have no such clause. (I think, although I’d have to check with Matt on that one.)

So, without further ado, a blackjack’s worth of reasons why you shouldn’t give up on the Texas Rangers – the most tortured of any of these local teams. (Except for maybe SMU, but June Jones will have them in a BCS game within three years.)

1. Tom Hicks is no longer involved. Really. Positively. Truly. He’s gone. Now we have Chuck Greenberg, Nolan Ryan and a bunch of other guys. Once, of course, their bid is approved by MLB and the lenders. This is fantastic news.

2. Young Guns. For the third straight year, Baseball America has ranked the Texas Rangers’ farm system in the top five of all farm systems in baseball. While it’s not the #1 ranking we had last year, #2 will be just fine. With some money to spend, this next decade could become the Rangers’ rise to prominence in the AL West and MLB as a whole.

3. Michael Young. Still the face of the franchise for now. Owner of a very dubious streak of 1,351 games played without a postseason appearance, that streak might have ended had he not gotten hurt in September of last year. (Probably not, but it certainly didn’t help things.) He’s someone you can show to your kids as an example of how to play the game.

4. The (Rangers) Ballpark in Arlington. I’ve seen a decent number of stadiums (16, at last count), but perhaps I’m just too much of a homer. The Ballpark is, and will always be, my favorite. Still a great place to see a game, and it’s going to get better in 2011. Give Greenberg a whole year to see what he can do with it.

5. Josh Lewin and Tom Grieve. From a technical standpoint, there are better broadcasters out there. I suppose. Personally I think these guys perfectly straddle the line between homers and neutral. Just enough homerism for me. Lewin, although a transplant from the northeast, went to my beloved Northwestern and is always excited to be at a Rangers game. Hey it beats the alternative. And Tom Grieve is Mr. Ranger. Not a whole lot else to say.

6. Vlad. Sure he may have the mobility of a tree, but its better than watching him hit against us.

7. Rich Harden and Colby Lewis. Seems weird to include both of these guys in one point, but both of them are relative unknowns. Harden needs to stay healthy and throw fewer pitches per inning, and Lewis is coming back from a stint in Japan. You can’t turn away though – these guys need to be successful for the Rangers to have any sort of a chance this year.

8. Josh Hamilton and Chris Davis. These guys did not have a good year last year. That much is obvious. But they are both still relatively young, and can easily have solid seasons this year. If they don’t, well…Justin Smoak will be here soon. Speaking of…

9. Justin Smoak. Yeah, so he’s not technically on the Rangers yet. Big deal. He will be. This year. And next year. And the year after that…

10. Nelson Cruz. Damn. Ball go far.

11. Scott Feldman. He turns only 27 in a week. Another year to improve? Yes please.

12. Ian Kinsler. There are a surprisingly high number of Rangers fans who think Ian Kinsler had a poor season last year. In reality, he just had a poor batting average. But every other part of his game was phenomenal – he played great defense, he hit for power, he stole bases, you name it. That uppercut swing of his may not be pretty to look at, and he might be a little pull happy, but he is absolutely among the top five second basemen in baseball, and the Texas Rangers are lucky to have him.

13. Eric Nadel. An outstanding broadcaster and one of the most important members of the Rangers organization. You just can’t beat the greatness of Eric Nadel. At least in my mind.

14. Seriously. No More Hicks.

15. Julio Borbon. A lot is expected of him, considering he’ll only be 24 on Opening Day. If he can be an average to above-average defensive center fielder and create havoc at the top of the lineup, things will suddenly look a lot better for this club.

16. The bullpen has a chance to be one of the best. C.J. Wilson, Frank Francisco, Neftali Feliz, Darren Oliver, Darren O’Day, the resurrection that is Chris Ray, Dustin Nippert as the long man, not to mention the wild cards of Warner Madrigal, Pedro Strop and Tanner Scheppers. Pretty salty. Wilson and Feliz could be in the starting rotation and this bullpen would still be fine.

17. Chuck Morgan. If there is any way to jazz up the presentation of Rangers baseball at The Ballpark in Arlington, rest assured Chuck Morgan will figure it out. Could he figure out a way to launch nachos out of a cannon? Sure. And he probably will.

18. Tommy Hunter. He looks like a cross between John Daly and Elmer Fudd, but had an ERA of 4.10 in 19 starts. The projections are not kind for him this year, but I (and probably a lot of other Rangers fans) are really pulling for him. He’s the guy that looks like he’d just be fun to hang out with. Plus, he’s only 23! He can get better, right? Right?

19. The catchers. Maybe the biggest question mark on the team, but where else are you going to see the guy with the longest last name in baseball history play?

20. Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz. Martin Perez will soon be in Arlington, and he may light the world on fire. Rich Harden and Feldman will (hopefully) be the stalwarts of the rotation this year. But the future of the franchise still rests on the two arms of these guys. Holland struggled a bit in 2009, but was pretty unlucky and probably should have had a better season. He still threw 138 innings in the big leagues. That experience can’t be replaced.

As far as Feliz goes, it’s very hard to predict what will happen. I believe he will be on the roster coming out of spring training. Probably in the bullpen. The rest will have to be a little bit of wait-and-see, depending on the needs of the rotation. If there are a lot of injuries, Feliz might find himself down in AAA being stretched out pretty early. If the rotation stays pretty healthy, it’s hard to argue against him coming out of the bullpen. At any rate, he’ll always be fun to watch no matter where he is.

21. Elvis Andrus. I don’t want to downplay how much I like everyone on this team (including David Murphy, who unfortunately did not make this list). Holland and Feliz are so much fun to watch. Everyone, really, has something to bring to the table. But there’s something different about Elvis Andrus. Jamey Newberg has called it “an indefinable charisma,” and I’ll go with that. Every time he’s at the plate, or in the field, I’m watching him. Is he going to hit 4o HR a year? No. But Elvis is so exciting to watch, it doesn’t matter. He’s my favorite player on the Rangers, and the biggest reason why I’m excited to see the Rangers in 2010.