Baseball Articles | 1998
Post-Season Reviews
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Baseball Articles | 1998
Post-Season Reviews
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1998 Post-Season Review -- Texas Rangers By Tom Ruane and Tom Tippett This article takes a look at how the Texas Rangers did in the 1998 season relative to pre-season expectations. For an overview of the approach used in this review, and a definition of some of the key terms and statistics, please see the overview page called 1998 Team-by-Team Performance Reviews. Capsule SummaryProjected Actual Runs for 872 940 Runs allowed 849 871 Run Margin 23 69 Wins 83 88 Pythagorean wins 83 87 Placement 2nd(T) 1st After winning a division title in 1996, the Rangers slumped badly in 1997, dropping 85 games on their way to a disappointing third-place finish. While they had a relatively uneventful off-season, it was reasonable to expect they would rebound slightly, especially on offense, and move up a notch in the standings. Much of this improvement would come from the return of Kevin Elster, who couldn't help but provide more punch from the shortstop position than Benji Gil had in 1997. As it turned out, Aaron Sele and Todd Helling combined to win 39 games thanks mainly to tremendous run support (an average of 6.6 runs per game in their starts). The offense bounced back even more than anticipated, despite getting little help from Elster, and Texas took the division crown with only 88 victories. Key Position PlayersThe Rangers scored 68 more runs than expected in 1998, posting the highest total of any team in baseball except for the Yankees. The players having surprisingly good seasons included Will Clark, Roberto Kelly, Mike Simms and Tom Goodwin. Few players had poor years, and almost without exception the players counted on to carry the team--Juan Gonzalez, Rusty Greer, Ivan Rodriguez and Lee Stevens--came through for Texas. Ivan Rodriguez, C, age 26AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 667 204 43 4 21 108 86 7 37 7 85 5 2 .306 .346 .477 .823 106 Prorated TEX 575 176 37 3 18 93 74 6 32 6 73 4 2 .306 .346 .477 .823 91 Actual TEX 579 186 40 4 21 88 91 3 32 4 88 9 0 .321 .358 .513 .871 102 The Rangers have been trying to get Rodriguez to stop playing winter ball for years. He played once again after the 1997 season, and while that may have been partly responsible for his hot start (he hit .442 in April), it was also blamed for his .289 average after the All-Star break. He had a fine September, however, belting 7 home runs and posting a .318 batting average. It was the best offensive season of his fine career. Despite his young age, Rodriguez has already played in seven All-Star games and won the same number of Gold Gloves. He's averaged nearly 143 games behind the plate over the last three years and that, combined with the winter ball play, could eventually start to take a toll on his body. Bill Haselman, C, age 32AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 70 15 3 0 2 8 8 0 5 1 15 0 1 .214 .267 .343 .610 5 Prorated TEX 103 22 4 0 3 12 12 0 7 1 22 0 1 .214 .267 .343 .610 8 Actual TEX 105 33 6 0 6 11 17 0 3 0 17 0 0 .314 .327 .543 .870 18 Had almost exactly the same OPS as Ivan Rodriguez, but I wouldn't count on that happening again anytime soon. His career batting average was .246 entering 1998 and he should return to that territory next season. A free agent following the year, he signed to play for Detroit in 1999. Will Clark, 1B/DH, age 34AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 542 158 34 1 14 80 78 5 70 10 86 0 0 .292 .373 .435 .808 93 Prorated TEX 552 161 35 1 14 81 79 5 71 10 88 0 0 .292 .373 .435 .808 94 Actual TEX 554 169 41 1 23 98 102 3 72 5 97 1 0 .305 .384 .507 .891 109 After two injury-plagued seasons, Clark stayed healthy all year in 1998 and topped 100 RBIs for the first time since 1991. He was very consistent, hitting over .300 in every month except May. After the season, Texas and Baltimore swapped free agent first basemen, with Clark being replaced by Rafael Palmeiro. Mark McLemore, 2B, age 33AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 468 121 20 3 2 65 34 2 62 4 74 16 9 .259 .345 .327 .672 56 Prorated TEX 490 127 21 3 2 68 36 2 65 4 77 17 9 .259 .345 .327 .672 58 Actual TEX 461 114 15 1 5 79 53 2 89 1 64 12 4 .247 .369 .317 .686 60 He got off to a very fast start and was hitting .307 when he went on the DL in early June with hamstring problems. McLemore would return two weeks later but hit only .202 the rest of the way. He also suffered with knee problems much of the year. Luis Alicea, 2B/3B/DH, age 32AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 62 16 3 1 1 9 6 1 10 1 11 3 1 .258 .365 .387 .752 10 Prorated TEX 255 66 12 4 4 37 25 4 41 4 45 12 4 .258 .365 .387 .752 40 Actual TEX 259 71 15 3 6 51 33 5 37 0 40 4 3 .274 .372 .425 .796 45 Alicea hasn't played two straight years with the same team since 1994. That's a little surprising, because you'd figure a capable and versatile infielder with a career OBP of .350 would find a steady job somewhere. But he seems to be written off every winter before catching on somewhere and giving his new team a solid two-way contribution. He certainly enjoyed his new surroundings last season, hitting .356 at home compared to a .222 mark on the road. Kevin Elster, SS, age 33AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 509 116 29 3 21 64 87 2 55 1 142 2 2 .228 .300 .420 .721 67 Prorated TEX 290 66 17 2 12 37 50 1 31 1 81 1 1 .228 .300 .420 .721 38 Actual TEX 297 69 10 1 8 33 37 2 33 0 66 0 2 .232 .311 .354 .665 33 The Rangers were hoping Elster could repeat his surprise performance in 1996 when, after having lost four straight seasons to injuries, he rebounded to hit 24 HRs and knock in 99 runs. He failed to hit for as much power as either we or the Rangers thought he would and that, coupled with his diminished range in the field, prompted Texas to make the late July trade for Royce Clayton and release Elster. Royce Clayton, SS, age 28AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection SLN 619 164 37 4 9 80 59 3 40 4 119 35 13 .265 .310 .381 .692 71 Prorated SLN 372 99 22 2 5 48 35 2 24 2 72 21 8 .265 .310 .381 .692 43 Actual SLN 355 83 19 1 4 59 29 2 40 1 51 19 6 .234 .313 .327 .640 38 Actual TEX 186 53 12 1 5 30 24 1 13 0 32 5 5 .285 .330 .441 .771 25 Actual TOT 541 136 31 2 9 89 53 3 53 1 83 24 11 .251 .319 .366 .685 63 Along with Stottlemyre, Clayton came to Texas at the end of July in a trade for Fernando Tatis and Darren Oliver. He did about what we expected in 1998, and although he couldn't quite make Cardinal fans forget Ozzie Smith, he should be a pleasant change of pace for Ranger followers used to the exploits of Elster and Benji Gil. Fernando Tatis, 3B, age 23AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 560 147 28 0 27 80 73 1 43 3 110 15 3 .263 .314 .457 .771 77 Prorated TEX 321 84 16 0 15 46 42 1 25 2 63 9 2 .263 .314 .457 .771 44 Actual TEX 330 89 17 2 3 41 32 4 12 2 66 6 2 .270 .303 .361 .664 34 Actual SLN 202 58 16 2 8 28 26 2 24 1 57 7 3 .287 .367 .505 .872 37 Actual TOT 532 147 33 4 11 69 58 6 36 3 123 13 5 .276 .329 .415 .744 71 Tatis got off to a horrible start in 1998 and as late as May 17th had as many strikeouts as total bases. His lack of power was the most surprising aspect of his game in Texas, but he seemed to regain his stroke in St. Louis. It's hard to be too critical of this trade. After all, both Clayton and Stottlemyre helped Texas win the AL West title last year. Still, Tatis has the potential to make the Rangers regret this deal long after the memories of their brief playoff appearance have faded. Todd Zeile, 3B, age 32AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection LAN 536 134 19 0 23 70 76 4 74 5 100 3 4 .250 .342 .414 .757 76 Prorated LAN 147 37 5 0 6 19 21 1 20 1 27 1 1 .250 .342 .414 .757 21 Actual LAN 158 40 6 1 7 22 27 1 10 0 24 1 1 .253 .300 .437 .737 19 Actual FLO 234 68 12 1 6 37 39 2 31 2 34 2 3 .291 .374 .427 .801 39 Actual TEX 180 47 14 1 6 26 28 1 28 0 32 1 0 .261 .358 .450 .808 31 Actual TOT 572 155 32 3 19 85 84 4 69 2 90 4 4 .271 .350 .437 .787 89 It took Florida a lot longer than they hoped to find a taker for Todd Zeile in 1998. He came to the Marlins in the Sheffield/Bonilla salary dump and, along with Mike Piazza, was supposed to make only a brief stopover in Miami. That turned into over a two month stay before the Rangers agreed to bring him in to replace Tatis. Rusty Greer, LF, age 29AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 554 170 37 3 20 94 84 2 69 3 89 8 2 .307 .383 .493 .875 108 Prorated TEX 607 186 41 3 22 103 92 2 76 3 97 9 2 .307 .383 .493 .875 118 Actual TEX 598 183 31 5 16 107 108 4 80 1 93 2 4 .306 .386 .455 .841 106 Greer slumped at the beginning of the year and was hitting .249 on May 20th. He turned things around after that, but despite hitting .300 for his third straight year and setting a career high in RBIs, had a slightly disappointing season, especially in the power department. He was rumored to be on the trading block in July, but the Rangers chose to deal Tatis instead. Tom Goodwin, CF, age 29AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 646 170 23 4 1 97 40 3 48 1 109 65 22 .263 .316 .316 .632 70 Prorated TEX 547 144 19 3 1 82 34 3 41 1 92 55 19 .263 .316 .316 .632 59 Actual TEX 520 151 13 3 2 102 33 2 73 0 90 38 20 .290 .378 .338 .716 74 In 1997, Goodwin had been a poor leadoff hitter. His on-base percentage was only .314 and that more than neutralized any benefit from his 50 stolen bases. Last year, however, he managed to dramatically increase his number of walks, which combined with a career-high batting average, made him an asset rather than a liability at the top of the Texas lineup. Even though Goodwin may be the fastest player in the majors, he's only an average defensive center fielder and isn't as much of an asset on the basepaths as he could be. He led the league in caught stealing for the second time in three years and his success rate was below the break-event point in 1998. Roberto Kelly, CF/RF/LF, age 33AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 71 22 4 1 2 10 10 1 4 0 12 2 1 .310 .351 .479 .830 11 Prorated TEX 249 77 14 4 7 35 35 4 14 0 42 7 4 .310 .351 .479 .830 40 Actual TEX 257 83 7 3 16 48 46 3 8 0 46 0 2 .323 .349 .560 .910 48 Once a rising young star, Kelly has now played for eight teams in his well-traveled career. He put up his best power numbers in 1998. After hitting 20 home runs (in 486 at-bats) for the Yankees in 1991, he had not topped 12 again until last season. He pulled a hamstring in late April and missed six weeks. He did some platooning in center with Goodwin last year, and while he hits lefties very well (.349 batting average and a .956 OPS), he didn't do that much worse against righties (.288 and .911). Juan Gonzalez, RF/DH, age 28AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 592 175 30 2 47 94 145 3 37 9 114 0 0 .296 .336 .591 .927 114 Prorated TEX 619 183 31 2 49 98 152 3 39 9 119 0 0 .296 .336 .591 .927 119 Actual TEX 606 193 50 2 45 110 157 6 46 9 126 2 1 .318 .366 .630 .997 134 He has now won two of the last three AL MVP Awards, and while he probably hasn't deserved either one, he has been a consistently great hitter for most of this decade. 1998 marked his third straight year with more than 40 home runs and 130 RBIs, but the first that did not include a trip to the disabled list. We had predicted another great year for him and he delivered. His 157 RBIs would have been the most in the majors since 1949 had Sammy Sosa not knocked in 158. Near the end of the season, he became the sixth youngest player to hit 300 home runs and should comfortably top the 500 mark before he's done. Off all the players with 100 or more lifetime home runs, he is the only one with more homers than walks. One pitcher who should probably be walking him more often is Bryce Florie. Since 1996, Gonzalez has faced Florie eight times and gotten eight extra-base hits against him (five doubles, one triple and two home runs), good for 12 RBIs. Mike Simms, RF/DH/1B, age 31AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 95 23 6 0 6 11 18 1 8 0 22 0 1 .242 .305 .495 .799 13 Prorated TEX 195 47 12 0 12 23 37 2 16 0 45 0 2 .242 .305 .495 .799 27 Actual TEX 186 55 11 0 16 36 46 3 24 0 47 0 1 .296 .381 .613 .994 44 Simms has hit a lot of home runs in the minor leagues. Usually, they've been accompanied by a ton of strikeouts and a low batting average. Entering the season, he had a .227 career batting average to go with 20 homers and 127 strikeouts in 472 at-bats. So while the power was not unexpected, his .296 average was. It's probably not going get him mentioned in a State of the Union speech, but Simms tied a major league record last year for most home runs by a player with less than 200 at-bats. The other players who have managed 16 homers in fewer than 200 at-bats are Eddie Robinson in 1955 and Bob Thurman in 1957. Lee Stevens, DH/1B, age 30AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection TEX 574 164 33 2 32 82 102 2 45 5 124 2 2 .286 .337 .517 .854 95 Prorated TEX 344 98 20 1 19 49 61 1 27 3 74 1 1 .286 .337 .517 .854 57 Actual TEX 344 91 17 4 20 52 59 0 31 4 93 0 2 .265 .324 .512 .836 56 After an unsuccessful few years with the Angels in the early nineties, Stevens went to Japan in 1994 and 1995. He came back to win the American Association MVP and followed that up by hitting .300 for Texas in 1997 with 21 homers. We didn't think that season had been a fluke and, apart from missing almost all of August with a strained side muscle, he followed that up with another good performance. Key PitchersConsidering the impressive win-loss records enjoyed by Aaron Sele and Rick Helling, it's might seem a little strange that the Rangers actually allowed a few more runs in 1998 than expected. But the rest of the rotation -- John Burkett, Darren Oliver and Bobby Witt -- were disappointments, and by the end of the season, both Oliver and Witt would be pitching elsewhere, replaced by Todd Stottlemyre and Esteban Loaiza. Even Sele and Helling owed the lion's share of their success to their offensive support, as neither pitcher had an ERA under 4.00. John Burkett, Starter, age 33Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection TEX 5.07 32 32 10 13 0 208 249 25 49 148 .300 Prorated TEX 5.07 31 31 10 12 0 198 237 24 47 141 .300 Actual TEX 5.68 32 32 9 13 0 195 230 19 46 131 .292 Burkett has not had a winning season since going 22-7 with the 1993 Giants. His 1998 effort was his worst yet, although he did help the Rangers' playoff chances by closing the season with fine back-to-back victories over Oakland and Anaheim. Despite an ERA over half a run worse than expected, his hits, home runs and walks were either at or below the anticipated levels. The reason? Batters hit .353 against him (with a .965 OPS) with runners in scoring position last year. Rick Helling, Starter, age 27Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection TEX 4.76 27 27 7 7 0 159 156 22 76 141 .257 Prorated TEX 4.76 35 35 9 9 0 208 205 29 100 185 .257 Actual TEX 4.41 33 33 20 7 0 216 209 27 78 164 .253 He entered 1998 with 11 career victories spread across parts of four seasons. The last three pitchers to win twenty or more games with fewer previous victories to their credit were Scott Erickson in 1991, Ramon Martinez in 1990 and David Cone in 1988. His control was quite a bit better than predicted, but the rest of his line (apart from his gaudy won-loss record) was not much different than his projection. Aaron Sele, Starter, age 28Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection TEX 5.21 32 32 10 12 0 185 208 23 79 140 .286 Prorated TEX 5.21 37 37 11 14 0 212 239 26 91 161 .286 Actual TEX 4.23 33 33 19 11 0 213 239 14 84 167 .283 After two big years (well, his ERA was big) in Boston, we didn't expect much from Sele in 1998. He was able to cut the number of home runs he allowed in half last year, however, which dropped his ERA nearly a run lower than the expected level. The Ballpark in Arlington is a good hitters park (Texas and their opponents scored 14% more runs there than they did on the road), but Sele enjoyed pitching there, going 13-5 with a 3.64 ERA. His 13 home wins were more than any other pitcher in the league. Last year, we wrote an article on the imporance (or lack thereof) of April stats. We pointed out that Sele's hot start (5-0, 2.00 ERA) was more likely the result of the normal fluctuation in monthly stats than an indication of what he'd do the rest of the year. Sure enough, he was 14-11 with a 4.69 ERA after that. In other words, he was a league-average starter who happened to have a winning record because his team scored a lot of runs for him. If Sele continues to put 1.5 runners on base per inning, as he did in 1998, he'll have a hard time repeating the success he had last year. Sooner or later, those runners are going to score in larger numbers. Darren Oliver, Starter, age 27Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection TEX 4.50 32 32 10 12 0 206 211 25 83 124 .267 Prorated TEX 4.50 18 18 6 7 0 113 116 14 46 68 .267 Actual TEX 6.53 19 19 6 7 0 103 140 11 43 58 .325 Actual SLN 4.26 10 10 4 4 0 57 64 7 23 29 .283 Actual TOT 5.73 29 29 10 11 0 160 204 18 66 87 .312 Oliver was named Texas' Pitcher of the Year in 1997, but it all came apart for him last year. He was off to a terrible start when he injured himself while batting in June and missed two weeks. His pitching didn't improve after he returned from the DL and he was finally sent to St. Louis as part of the Stottlemyre trade. Todd Stottlemyre, Starter, age 33Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection SLN 3.76 32 32 13 10 0 211 196 24 80 191 .248 Prorated SLN 3.76 24 24 10 8 0 158 147 18 60 144 .248 Actual SLN 3.51 23 23 9 9 0 161 146 20 51 147 .241 Actual TEX 4.33 10 10 5 4 0 60 68 5 30 57 .282 Actual TOT 3.74 33 33 14 13 0 222 214 25 81 204 .252 The Rangers were desperate to pick up a quality starter to help out during the stretch run of their pennant drive. The Cardinals were going nowhere and knew they weren't going to be able to hold onto Stottlemyre once he became a free agent following the season. As it turned out, the Rangers weren't able to afford him either, and he signed a 4 year/$32 million contract to play with Arizona. In a sense the trade was a swap of Tatis for Clayton in the infield and Oliver for Stottlemyre on the mound. The strange thing is that despite the huge difference in how the Oliver and Stottlemyre had done up to that point, they pitched equally well after the trade. Esteban Loaiza, Starter, age 26Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection PIT 4.52 32 32 10 12 0 193 211 19 56 115 .281 Prorated PIT 4.52 15 15 5 6 0 91 100 9 27 54 .281 Actual PIT 4.52 21 14 6 5 0 92 96 13 30 53 .275 Actual TEX 5.90 14 14 3 6 0 79 103 15 22 55 .316 Actual TOT 5.16 35 28 9 11 0 171 199 28 52 108 .295 The Rangers sent Todd Van Poppel and Warren Morris, a highly regarded second base prospect, to Pittsburgh in July for Loaiza. The good news is the trade got Van Poppel out of Texas; the bad news was that Loaiza was a disappointment and the club now has one less 2B prospect in the organization. Bobby Witt, Starter/Middle Relief, age 34Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection TEX 5.57 44 4 5 7 0 105 125 16 43 75 .297 Prorated TEX 5.57 31 3 3 5 0 73 87 11 30 52 .297 Actual TEX 7.66 14 13 5 4 0 69 95 14 33 30 .328 Actual SLN 4.94 17 5 2 5 0 47 55 7 20 28 .289 Actual TOT 6.56 31 18 7 9 0 117 150 21 53 58 .312 Witt slumped badly in the second half of 1997, going 2-8 with a 6.29 ERA after July 15th, and unfortunately picked right up where he left off in 1998. He had the worst ERA among qualifiers in the American League by the time the Rangers finally unloaded him to the Cardinals in June. John Wetteland, Closer, age 31Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection TEX 2.58 70 0 5 4 38 80 57 8 23 86 .199 Prorated TEX 2.58 55 0 4 3 30 64 45 6 18 68 .199 Actual TEX 2.03 63 0 3 1 42 62 47 6 14 72 .203 Wetteland has been a consistently excellent closer since coming to Montreal in 1992. In the seven years (and two teams) since, his highest ERA has been 2.93; he has always had more innings pitched than hits allowed, and his strikeouts to walks ratio has been more than three to one. We expected him to be outstanding last year and, once again, he was. His road numbers in 1998 weren't bad: G IP H HR R ER BB K SV ERA
29 28.2 13 0 3 3 7 33 20 0.94
And that includes three games pitched in Coors Field (where he gave up one of those three runs). Scott Bailes, Middle Relief, age 35Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection TEX 4.98 70 0 3 4 1 72 79 10 29 56 .281 Prorated TEX 4.98 42 0 2 2 1 43 47 6 17 33 .281 Actual TEX 6.47 46 0 1 0 0 40 61 5 11 30 .351 Bailes made an improbable comeback in 1997. After being retired for three and a half years, he pitched his way back to the major leagues and performed very effectively (2.86 ERA in 22 innings of relief) for Texas. His encore last year was much more reminiscent of his previous swan song, when he had a 7.45 ERA with the Angels back in 1992. Anytime the league hits over .350 against you, it's time to consider a return to the voluntarily retired list. Xavier Hernandez, Middle Relief, age 32Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection TEX 5.33 40 0 2 4 0 54 60 9 22 48 .283 Prorated TEX 5.33 41 0 2 4 0 55 61 9 22 49 .283 Actual TEX 3.57 46 0 6 6 1 58 43 5 30 41 .207 He was out for the first month of the season recovering from rotator cuff surgery but came back to put up his best numbers in five years. Hernandez signed a $2.7 million/2 year deal to pitch with Baltimore, but that contract was voided by the club when he failed a physical. He has since signed with the Astros for a lot less money ($250,000) and has filed a grievance against the Orioles. Roger Pavlik, Long Relief, age 30Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection TEX 4.52 32 32 8 11 0 177 182 21 73 126 .268 Prorated TEX 4.52 3 3 1 1 0 15 15 2 6 10 .268 Actual TEX 3.86 5 0 1 1 1 14 16 2 5 8 .286 Last March, it looked as if he had a spot in the rotation wrapped up, but a poor spring got Pavlik sent to bullpen instead. After pitching in the 1996 All-Star game, he had spent most of 1997 on the disabled list. He tried to bare-hand a hit back up the middle on April 23rd, broke a finger, and went on the DL. He partially tore his rotator cuff during an August rehab assignment and was out the rest of the year. He rejected salary arbitration with the Rangers following the season and will not be back. There's talk of making him a closer in the future, but it's still not clear where he'll play in 1999. OutlookSince the end of last season, the Rangers exchanged one free agent starter (Todd Stottlemyre) for another (Mark Clark), replaced backup catchers (Haselman departed for Detroit and Zaun was called up from the Marlins), swapped free agent first basemen with Baltimore, and resigned Royce Clayton. None of these changes were major. Palmeiro should be an improvement over Will Clark at first base. He has a lot more power (having averaged 40 homers a year for the last four years) and has been much more durable than the man he's replacing. The starting rotation, cause for so much worry during 1998, will probably be unchanged except for Clark replacing Stottlemyre. Of course, Oliver and Witt are gone (along with their 6.98 ERA in 32 starts) but Burkett's career has been in decline for years and Loiaza did poorly after coming over from Pittsburgh. We think their starting pitching is going to be pretty awful again in 1999 and that another 85-88 win season will depend upon their offense repeating as one of the league's best. People often say that pitching is 75% of baseball -- it's a good thing for Ranger fans that this isn't true. |
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