TEXAS RANGERS

2005 finish: 79-83, 3^rd place in AL West

Manager: Buck Showalter (4^th season)

Incoming: RHP Kevin Millwood, OF Brad Wilkerson, RHP Adam Eaton, RHP Akinori Otsuka, RHP Vicente Padilla, DH Erubiel Durazo, 2B D’Angelo Jimenez, RHP Rick Bauer, RHP Jon Leicester, LHP Fabio Castro, RHP Antonio Alfonseca, LHP Brian Anderson

Long gone: 2B Alfonso Soriano, LHP Kenny Rogers, RHP Chris Young, 1B Adrian Gonzalez, RHP Ricardo Rodriguez, IF Esteban German, C Sandy Alomar Jr., RHP Doug Brocail, OF Richard Hidalgo, DH Greg Colbrunn

Rotation: RHP Kevin Millwood, RHP Adam Eaton, RHP Vicente Padilla, RHP Kameron Loe, RHP Juan Dominguez or RHP Edinson Volquez

Relievers: Closer: RHP Francisco Cordero; Setup men: RHP Akinori Otsuka, RHP Joaquin Benoit, LHP Brian Shouse, RHP John Wasdin, RHP John Leicester, RHP Rick Bauer, LHP Erasmo Ramirez, LHP Fabio Castro, RHP Scott Feldman, LHP Jesse Carlson, RHP Frank Francisco (DL)

Regulars: CF Brad Wilkerson, SS Michael Young, 1B Mark Teixeira, DH Phil Nevin, 3B Hank Blalock, LF David Dellucci, RF Kevin Mench, C Rod Barajas, 2B Ian Kinsler

Role players: C Gerald Laird, 1B/DH Erubiel Durazo, IF/OF Mark DeRosa, OF Laynce Nix, OF Gary Mathews Jr., OF Adrian Brown, IF D’Angelo Jimenez, IF Marshall McDougall

The pressure is on: Adam Eaton will try to make one of the toughest transitions facing a starting pitcher – going from the National League to the American, and from one of the most-pitcher-friendly home parks to one of the most hitter-friendly ones. Good luck.

Breakout candidate: Joaquin Benoit finally may have found his niche as a setup man, and the Rangers need him to emerge, as Frank Francisco won’t be ready for Opening Day.

Rundown: Owner Tom Hicks is spending big money on a ‘player-specific’ basis these days, which is the new spin on the age-old story in Arlington – having to overpay to get pitching. They spent $46 million to land Kevin Millwood as Kenny Rogers’ replacement atop the rotation, and while that figures to be money better-spent than $55 million for Chan Ho Park, Millwood’s league-leading 2.85 ERA is suspiciously below his career mark of 3.76. Keeping it around 4.00 and delivering 200 innings is about as much as they can ask for this season. You can question Adam Eaton-for-Chris Young in that Eaton is eligible for free agency after this season, while Young is five years away, and some would make the case that Young will turn out to be better. And which Eaton did they get: The one that was 9-1-3.18 in mid-June, or the one that finished 2-3-5.74 after suffering a strained tendon in a finger on his right hand? Vicente Padilla needs to stay healthy and regain his control to reverse a three-year decline since a breakthrough 2002 season in Philadelphia. But he can’t be any worse than Park, so the rotation – with Kameron Loe and Juan Dominguez likely at the back end – should be slightly upgraded. The bullpen was the key to an unexpectedly good 2004 season, and the Rangers are hoping to put that back together again. But Frank Francisco won’t be ready for Opening Day, leaving Akinori Otsuka and Joaquin Benoit as the best two right-handed setup men for closer Francisco Cordero, who is experiencing some shoulder discomfort this spring. Brian Shouse will be one of the lefties, but beyond that, there will be 7-8 arms fighting for 2-3 spots, so you can expect the usual Buck Showalter revolving-door approach in his pen. But as everybody knows, the Rangers have plenty of offense – although they will miss Alfonso Soriano. No park in the AL has a more-positive effect on offense than Ameriquest Field, and as a result, they were third in runs, first in home runs and third in slugging percentage. But they don’t run much (11^th in steals), and don’t have a lot of high-on-base-percentage guys (7^th in the league), so this isn’t a Yankees-type offensive machine. That said, the top of the order – Brad Wilkerson, Michael Young, Mark Teixeira and Hank Blalock – should be able to match numbers with most anybody. The outfield has plenty of quality options, with in effect five regulars in Wilkerson, Kevin Mench, David Dellucci, Laynce Nix and Gary Mathews Jr. – although the latter two have been slowed by injuries this spring. Phil Nevin appears poised for a bounceback season at DH, but they also are giving Erubiel Durazo a shot. With all that offensive potential in front of him, rookie second baseman Ian Kinsler might just sneak under the radar and put together a solid season in the No. 9 spot. If not, D’Angelo Jimenez is around. There should be some improvement here, but expecting any kind of big move in a division that also includes the A’s and Angels is a stretch. They should get back over the .500 mark, but that’s about it.

Predicted finish: 3^rd place, 82-80

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