Last year, writing the season preview for the Texas Rangers, I was feeling a little, well, limp. So I had to rely on the little-blue-pill of the writing world: the exclamation point! And indeed, in retrospect, the exclamation point was the aptest possible punctuation mark for the 2008 Rangers. Pitching: terrible!!!! Offense: unstoppable!!!!!!

Hamilton knocked in 130 in '08

But ultimately, as amazing as Texas’s offense was last year –  scoring 901 runs for far and away the best mark in the AL — the Rangers still finished 21 games out of first in the AL West. As fantastic as their offense was, their pitching was even more fantastically bad, allowing 967 runs — also far and away the league’s worst mark. Their team also finished dead last in MLB in defensive efficiency.

But if the 2008 season demanded exclamation points, the appropriate mark of punctuation for the 2009 season is: ?

The question mark.

So will this year be different?

In an October article for Baseball Prospectus, Kevin Goldstein listed the Rangers as a candidate to be “the next Rays.” Is that crazy? Well, Goldstein recently ranked their farm system second in MLB. Keith Law ranked them first.

Young and (almost) ready: Feliz was born in 1988, but could be the staff ace by September

Both agree that their system is deep and talented, and flush with young pitching.

When will those young arms contribute? For the two most advanced prospects, Neftali Feliz and Derek Holland, it could be later this season. However, they won’t really be ready to assume regular, major league roles until next year.

What about the defense? Will their focus on improving their glove work in spring training pay off? Will the infield defense improve with a corps of regulars – instead of a rotisserie of different fielders? Will Michael Young be any better at third than he was at short? And will I ever understand why they gave him a Gold Glove last year? Will anticipated rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus be able to make the most out of his good arm, speed, and range, while avoiding the errors that plagued him at the lower levels? And will Omar Vizquel excel as Crash Davis to Andrus’ Nuke LaLoosh?

Can the offense repeat last year’s stunning performance? While they lost free agent Milton Bradley — the team’s OBP leader, at .436 over 126 games –  Marlon Byrd is a not-too-shabby replacement (OBP’ed .380 over 122 games) and comes without the ominous emotional forecast (partly crazy, 20% chance of rage). A full season of Chris Davis, and a good year from breakout candidate Jarrod Saltalamacchia, could also soften the blow.

Aging fast: putative ace Millwood seems like he's been around forever, and plays like it too, but is actually only 33.

Was it a mistake for GM Jon Daniels to focus only on minor-league deals, and give up on Ben Sheets? I don’t think so – the Rangers will have enough pitching by 2010 to support their offense. And if they continue to work on their team defense, they might actually start to make their pitchers look good. Or, you know, as good as they can look in Arlington. One thing that confused me, though, was why Daniels was interested in Sheets (of all pitchers) when the Rangers had trouble last year with injured starters. Last year, the “workhorse” of the team was Vincente Padilla, with 171 innings pitched. Otherwise, only Kevin Millwood and Scott Feldman crossed the 150 innings mark — and indeed, the trio of Padilla, Millwood, and Feldman were the only Ranger pitchers to cross the 100 innings mark. What these Rangers need is not a fragile genius, but a steady guy who can take the hill every fifth day and give ‘em seven decent innings. If they were targeting anyone, you would have expected them to go for someone like Derek Lowe, whose groundballs might occasionally give their spotty defense trouble, but who at least (theoretically) wouldn’t let too many balls leave the park. Wouldn’t you?

But all in all, this was a fine offseason by the Rangers – don’t you think? They clearly know their young pitchers won’t really be ready until next year, so this winter wasn’t the time to panic or do anything ca-rayzay. They made some solid moves to develop their positional prospects. They signed two former Gold Glovers to minor league deals. The Rangers have a realistic view of their future – and how many teams can you say that about?

Grade: A-?

Added (all on minor league deals): Omar Vizquel, Andruw Jones, Kris Benson, Brendan Donnelly, Eddie Guardado, Jason Jennings
Lost: Milton Bradley, Ramon Vazquez, Jamie Wright

Lineup:

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
1B Chris Davis
2B Ian Kinsler
SS Elvis Andrus
3B Michael Young
LF David Murphy/Marlon Byrd
CF Josh Hamilton
RF Nelson Cruz
DH Hank Blalock

Rotation:

Kevin Millwood
Vicente Padilla
Scott Feldman
Matt Harrison
Brandon McCarthy

CL: Frank Fancisco/CJ Wilson

-Hot Offseason Action Index-

Last year was a year of big firsts for the Tampa Bay Rays. New uniforms. New name. And a new habit: winning.

Also, fighting.

From their Spring training clashes with the Yankees to their June brawl with the Red Sox, the AL East’s big kahunas were put on notice early: no longer would the Tampa Bay Rays be the hapless losers of the AL East, finishing under .400 and wearing teal.

For some, their sudden kickassery was unexpected — “Bizarro Baseball,” Sports Illustrated called it, in a cover story that featured a cartoon Ray giving a Yankee the ol’ one-two. Yet that was just the tip of the “Rays Actually Good; Baseball World Stunned” media iceberg. For those who’d been paying closer attention, the question was never whether the talented young Rays would have a breakout season. It was when. At the very least, the last half of 2007 pointed to a much-improved Rays squad in 2008. For 2009, the question for this year becomes: will Tampa regress, as most teams do after worst-to-first seasons? Or could they actually improve ? (The latter is entirely possible, given their number of young, still-developing players.)

The Rays front office seems to be, sensibly, charting a middle course between these two extremes. According to Pythagoras, Tampa won an “extra” five games last year, which could have still been good enough to get them into the playoffs as the Wild Card team. Hence it makes sense that instead of making any splashy trades or expensive free agent signings, Tampa’s FO has set about collecting a few inexpensive pieces to round out their ballclub.

The most notable signing has been the signing of free agent slugger Pat “the Bat” Burrell. Though Burrell played left field for the Phillies, he will be DH-ing for the Rays. (There’s a reason they don’t call him “Pat the Glove,” and it’s not because it doesn’t rhyme.) The Rays managed to snag Burrell — 32 years old, hit 30 homers and OBP’ed .400 last year — for two years at $8 million a pop. That should be a considerable upgrade over last year’s main DH, Cliff Floyd (36 years old, OBP’ed .349 and hit 11 homers in 80 games last year), and plug Tampa’s main lineup hole.

On the field, Tampa’s main need last year was an every day rightfielder. The need for another outfielder became more pressing once it became clear that BJ Upton (recovering from shoulder surgery) would not be available to start the ‘09 season — in the intensively competitive AL East, getting off to a slow start is not an option. So, for the short term, they picked up Gabe Kapler for an easy one-year, $1 million contract. For the long term, they traded for toolsy corner outfield prospect Matt Joyce, sending Edwin Jackson to Detroit. Joyce played in 92 games for the listless Tigers last year, but the feeling around baseball seems to be that he could use a chance to play every day in the minors before being called up again.

Added: Pat Burrell, Joe Nelson, Gabe Kapler, Lance Cormier

Lost: Rocco Baldelli, Trever Miller (and have yet to re-sign free agents Cliff Floyd, Eric Hinske, and Jonny “Fists of Fury” Gomes)

Projected lineup, rotation, and closer:

CF: BJ Upton
2B: Akinori Iwamura
3B: Evan Longoria
DH: Pat Burrell
1B: Carlos Pena
C: Dioner Navarro
SS: Jason Bartlett
RF: Gabe Kapler/Matt Joyce
LF: Carl Crawford

SP1: James Shields
SP2: Scott Kazmir
SP3: Matt Garza
SP4: Andy Sonnanstine
SP5: David Price

CL: Joe Nelson

Grade: A

I’m having a hard time imagining what they could have done better, except maybe reel in a few more relievers. But that’s nit-picking. The addition of Burrell helps address Tampa’s main weakness — an underachieving offense. But with Burrell, a full year of Evan Longoria, a healthier team than last year’s, and a lucky break or two, this offense looks more than a little intimidating. Defensively, the addition of Kapler as a backup only bolsters their already slick-fielding club. They have nice depth, with Gabe Gross and Fernando Perez ready to help out in the outfield. Pitching-wise, the Rays are still loaded with young guns. In the bullpen, they picked up Lance Cormier, and the signing of reliever Joe Nelson gives them some insurance for aging closer Troy Percival (who, it’s worth mentioning, is the only player on the team over 35). Short version: the Rays have taken a strong young club and, with some thoughtful tweakage, made it even stronger.

-Hot Offseason Action index -

Yep, it’s that time of year again!

Time for UmpBump to help alleviate the tedium between the Hall of Fame announcements and the start of spring training by bringing back a popular feature that we introduced last year: Hot Offseason Action!

Over the next month and a half, leading up to the start of spring training, we will run a series of posts providing in-depth analysis of the offseason moves of all 30 major league teams. In each post we will run down that team’s key additions and subtractions, outline their prospects for the 2008 season, and provide projected opening day lineups and starting rotations based on the latest breaking news.

At the end of each post, we will assign each team an offseason grade, from “A” through “F.” But here at UmpBump, we are even stinger than a German schoolmarm, so last year not even a single team received an “A,” and only three teams merited even an “A-” grade. It will take a team which has truly addressed every single offseason need (and maybe even then some) to attain the first “A” grade in Hot Offseason Action history…will anyone make the cut this year?

Links to the posts on each of the teams will appear here at the rate of roughly one per day, so bookmark this page and check back often to see when we will lay the smackdown on your favorite team! We may even dish out a few compliments here and there, if your team really deserved it (but Astros fans, don’t hold your breath).

March 11 – Mets, B-
March 10 – Cubs, B
March 6 – Cardinals, D-
March 5 – Nationals, B-
March 4 – Indians, B-
March 3 – Astros, D
March 1 – Giants, F
Februrary 29 – Rangers, C
February 28 – Tigers, B-
February 21- Blue Jays, D
February 20 – Mariners, C
February 19 – Reds, C+
February 17 – Angels, A-
February 16 – Dodgers, B
February 15 – Royals, C
February 14 – Twins, C
February 13 – Brewers, B+
February 12 – Orioles, B+
February 9 – Marlins, F
February 7 – Rockies, C-
February 6 – Pirates, D
February 4 – Phillies, B+
February 3 – Yankees, C
February 1 – A’s, B+
January 31 – White Sox, B-
January 30 – Rays, B
January 24 – Diamondbacks, A-
January 23 – San Diego Padres, C+
January 22 – Atlanta Braves, B
January 21 – Boston Red Sox, A

Over the next two and a half months, as we head toward opening day, UmpBump will be chronicling the offseason developments and 2007 outlook for all 30 MLB teams.We will analyze both the wily moves and the tragic blunders, assign an “offseason grades” and provide projected lineups and starting rotations based on the latest breaking news.

Check back often to see when your favorite teams will be posted!

Teams graded so far (click on the team name to read the post):

January 17 – Dodgers, C
January 18 – Braves, C-
January 18 – Yankees, A-
January 19 – A’s, B
January 20 – Padres, B
January 20 – White Sox, F
January 22 – Angels, F
January 24 – Tigers B+
January 25 – Cubs, A-
January 26 – Indians, C+
January 29 – Nationals, F
January 30 – Twins, D
January 31 – Cardinals, D-
February 1 – Pirates, B
February 5 – Rockies, A-
February 6 – Royals, B
February 8 – Mets, B
February 9 – Astros, B-
February 12 – Mariners, D+
February 13 – Reds, B
February 14 – Phillies, B+
February 15 – Red Sox, B+
February 16 – Marlins, B
February 23 – Orioles, B-
February 24 – Brewers, C+
February 26 – Giants, C
February 27 – Rays, C+
February 28 – Diamondbacks, B-
March 1 – Rangers, B
March 2 – Blue Jays, C