2014 is almost here, and that means time for New Year's resolutions, Texas Rangers style.
After falling short of the 2013 MLB playoffs, the Rangers have had an extremely entertaining offseason. Big splashes, including the trading of Ian Kinsler for Prince Fielder and the signing of Shin-Soo Choo, have made this offseason almost as fun as the regular season.
The Rangers fell short of expectations in 2013. As noted, they missed the playoffs, losing the regular-season tiebreaker to the Tampa Bay Rays. Clearly a huge expectation for the Rangers in 2014 is to make the playoffs, but many want a World Series.
And maybe if general manager Jon Daniels signs Masahiro Tanaka, as the Rangers are a team of interest per ESPN's Jim Bowden, then winning the World Series could become the only expectation.
With the team at hand now, what are some resolutions to be made so that the Rangers can ultimately reach great expectations?
Get healthy
In 2013, the Rangers had 11 different starting pitchers. The pitching staff was depleted. Starter Matt Harrison lasted only two games after going out for the season with a back injury. He won 18 games in 2012.
Starter Colby Lewis didn't see any action in 2013. Lewis spent almost a year recovering from a torn flexor tendon but needed hip surgery in August, per Fort-Worth Star Telegram.
Another starter Alexi Ogando started 18 games in 2013. But it was less than what it should have been after heading to the disabled list three separate times.
This is just a portion of the list of Rangers players that need to get and stay healthy in 2014. On the other side of the ball, Adrian Beltre needs to get healthy. Beltre was really slowed down by a hamstring injury he suffered in June against the Royals.
Beltre talked about his injury in a June article by T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com.
A lot of guys are playing hurt here. If the pain is something you can control, then you can kind of nurse it a little bit. Pretty sure if it was different, I wouldn't be able to play. I'm pretty sure all the guys here are doing all the same stuff I'm doing.
So here's to Mr. Beltre and the rest of the Rangers players with injuries. Get healthy. And to the entire team, stay healthy in 2014.
Win it for Yu
Win it for you? No, win it for Yu! Starting pitcher Yu Darvish that is. Win some games for him. Who knows, maybe he'll win the Cy Young Award in 2014 if he gets more run support.
Darvish had an ERA of 2.83. He struck out 277 batters, which ranked first in the MLB. But he went 13-9.
What? 13-9?
Yes, Darvish went 13-9 with 277 strike outs and a 2.83 ERA. Of the nine losses, six of them were decided by two runs or less. Of those six, four were 1-0 losses.
If the Rangers got run support for Darvish in six of his nine losses, plus maybe a strong showing by the bullpen in another loss, Darvish would have been a 20-game winner.
So for 2014, score runs in Darvish starts and win it for Yu.
What are some resolutions that you have for the Rangers? Let me know in the comment section below.
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