Team Preview: The 2019 Texas Rangers have some young talent but are not ready to contend yet. The pitching staff will have to get younger as well in the next couple of years to be a legitimate threat.

Starting Rotation: RHP Ethan Burnside (13-8,2.65) had a fantastic year in 2018 after the Rangers signed him to a 6-year 45.43 million dollar contract in 2017. Burnside posted his best ERA (2.65) in 2018 and may be a nice trade piece if he continues to pitch well. RHP Ken Knudson (8-14,4.55) on the other hand went in the other direction with the worst ERA (4.55) of his career. Knudson carries a career mark of 3.57. LHP Chuck Dailey (4-9,5.30) has struggled the last 2 seasons for the Rangers. Dailey does have to ability to strike out hitters (168 in 151.0IP). He may be suited more for a role in the bullpen. 12-year veteran RHP Joaquin Vizquel (6-11,6.20) also posted the worst ERA (6.20) of his career in 2018. Vizquel signed a 5-year 27 million dollar contract with the Rangers in 2016. He has a 4.08 career ERA. 30-year old RHP Gene Carpenter (11-6,3.91) pitched well in 2018 although he did allow a career high 33 home runs.

Bullpen: The bullpen were not much better than the starting rotation in 2018. Closer RHP Trey Haeger (3-7,4.12 33SV) struggled putting up a 4.12 ERA and blowing 6 saves. Haeger saved 46 in 2017 with a 2.89 ERA. RHP Daniel Contreras (3.29,25HLD) was the most consistent pitcher out of the pen last season. RHP Jovanny Esquivel (6.00,18HLD) was terrible in the set-up role and moved to middle relief where he improved somewhat. 10-year veteran RHP Harold Papp ( 8-8,3.86,18HLD) made 98 appearances in 2018 posting his career high in innings pitched (98). Lefty Taylor Madden (7-2,3.94) pitched ok in long relief throwing 123.1 innings. RHP Kenji Kimura (4.70,10SV) saw some time in the closer role in 2018 and may be an option there this season if Haeger struggles. RHP Ray Garza (4.57,14HLD) rounds out the bullpen.Pitching prospects Jesse Romano, Cory Sutter, and Jose Borrero could provide starting pitching help from Nashville this season.

Lineup: The Rangers can swing the bats a little. Leading it off will be SS Miguel Ojeda (.273,15,54) enters his fifth full season at age 24. Ojeda hit 33 doubles last season and stole 31 bases in 2018. 12-year veteran 2B Shelby Pease (.281,17,68) will hit second. Pease who signed a 5-year 98 million dollar contract in 2016 with the Rangers is one of the best fielding second basemen in the league. 3B Ramiro Lopez (.264,19,65) will hit 3rd. Lopez begins his 4th full season at age 24. LF Brent Mahay (.275,23,75) will hit clean-up for the Rangers. Mahay needs 13 homers to reach 100 at 25-years of age. CF Jacob Foxx (.241,16,71) is another 25-year old and will hit 5th. 1B Mitch Albert (.245,22,83) and top prospect rookie Archie Pruitt (.327,2,8,55AB) will platoon at first and hit 6th. RF Sergio Camacho (.231,18,57) will hit 7th. Camacho begins his second full season at age 23. DH Antonio Meza (.241,9,46) will bat 8th. C Guy Nathan (.224,3,24) and Angel Ugueto (.256,7,25) will platoon behind the plate and hit 9th. SS Antonio Amadio will start in Nashville and may be a nice trade chip playing behind Ojeda.

Overall: As you can see, the Rangers are very young in their position players. Bad deals over the last couple of seasons have hampered their attempts to get younger. This team does have some young pitching prospects that could step forward in the next couple of years. A challenging to to play with for sure.