Every year, Dan Szymborski creates projections for the upcoming baseball season, and on Wednesday, he got around to posting his projections for the Texas Rangers.
↵Overall, the Rangers look like a really, really solid baseball team, with five hitters projecting for 111 OPS+ or better. Some Texas fans may be irked that Michael Young is only projected to be a league average hitter with a line of .291/.336/.431.
↵Yu Darvish projects to fit in quite nicely in the United States. ZiPS has Darvish pitching to the tune of a 3.62 ERA and 1.24 WHIP -- good for a 125 ERA+. Darvish's projection, though, isn't tops among Rangers starters -- that distinction belongs to Neftali Feliz. Feliz projects for a 130 ERA+, 3.49 ERA and 1.28 WHIP.
↵In fact, ZiPS projects seven Rangers starting pitchers to be better than league average. Who needs Roy Oswalt?
↵The projections tell us pretty much what we know about the Rangers: they have a deep lineup, lots of pitching, and they're a good defensive team. That sounds like another recipe for a playoff team.
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