Rangers Announce Spring Training Roster
stadiumreport.bbn February 24th, 2022
The
Rangers made one big move this offseason with
Aaron Nola joining the team, but we won't see a lot of him this Spring Training as he won't return until April. Adding some outfield depth to the mix, and having
Moreno and a bunch of arms competing for roster spots, and especially for the rotation.
Nick Lodolo will join the fray as a non-roster invitee, and many see him as the next ace.
Starting Pitching:
Albert Abreu(26, R),
Hans Crouse(23, R),
Dallas Keuchel(34, L),
Nick Lodolo(24, R),
Cory Taylor(28, R),
Jake J. Thompson(27, R)
DL:
Casey Mize(24, R),
Aaron Nola(28, R)
What a group.
Nola has a chance to headline the staff for the next three seasons as a Cy Young winner in his prime,
Keuchel,
Thompson and
Taylor are a lock and
Abreu and
Lodolo AND
Crouse are prime options here.
Lodolo could start the year in AAA to develop a BIT more to become dominant, and given service time issues, it would be wise to keep him in AAA for a couple of months.
Right-Handed Relief Pitching:
Dellin Betances(33, R),
Dylan Cease(26, R),
Victor R. Diaz(27, R),
Riley Ferrell(28, R),
Jorge Guzman(26, R),
Michael Matuella(27, R),
Tommy Kahnle(32, R),
Luis Angel Medina(22, R),
Riley Pint(24, R),
Alex Speas(23, R)
Left-Handed Relief Pitching:
Brett Adcock(26, L),
Jake Brentz(27, L),
Alex Claudio(30, L),
Brett Martin(26, L)
14 pitchers for 7 slots.
Kahnle,
Betances,
Claudio are a lock and
Adcock and
Guzman are close. Behind that, Joe Girardi says everything is possible.
Ferrell kinda dropped back to the pack of solid relievers, and the
Rangers will get their first real look at fireballer
Dylan Cease.
Catcher:
Patrick Bailey(22, S),
Danny Jansen(26, R),
Matt Whatley(26, R)
Bailey is a prospect that isn't on the 40-man, but already a better catcher than
Whatley... but not quite a finished product and will start the season in AAA. The fourth depth option is 24-year old
Elih Marrero but he hit .213 in AAA and was left in the minor league camp...
Infield:
1B
Bobby Bradley(25, L), 2B
Jorge Castellanos(25, R), 2B
Jonathan India(25, R), 2B
Hansel Moreno(25, R), IF
Chris Seise(23, R), 3B
Joey Gallo(28, L), SS
Royce Lewis(23, R)
The
Rangers shied away from
Trevino who then signed for
Boston, but with
Castellanos,
Moreno,
India and the lefty option of
Chris Seise, they are deep in the middle infield.
However,
India and
Moreno are already 25 and need to make a big leap forward in order to make an impact.
Castellanos is still a Gold Glover and
Royce Lewis has developed into a superstar recently that led the AL in stolen bases for the last three years.
Joey Gallo is in need of a better batting average, but with the new and improved mound, his production still equaled 4.4WAR... not quite his 2019, but good enough. Barring a big injury, 3/4 of this infield is maybe the best in the majors... and they plan to use
Velazquez(see below), as a 1B option.
Outfield:
LF
Billy McKinney(28, L), LF
Nelson Velazquez(23, R), CF
Albert Almora(27, R), CF
Cole Brannen(23, R), CF
Bubba Thompson(23,R) , RF/DH
Nomar Mazara(26, L), RF
Justin Williams(26, L)
With
Almora and
Velazquez joining the team, the team now has a quality righty for center field that can play against LHP and play when
Brannen becomes injured(given his 'fragile' status, it is a 'when' for me, not 'if').
Velazquez is a right-hander with pop... basically a carbon copy of
Sensley, just 100% more valuable for them... because of his handiness.
Billy McKinney is coming off a career season where a .344 BABIP and a lot of extra base hits did a job for him and
Nomar Mazara did not quite repeat his MvP season, but still won his second straight Silver Slugger Award.
The question mark seems to me
Justin Williams who, after two seasons of an OPS+ higher than 120, completely tanked last year and will have to fight the challenge of a
Velazquez/
McKinney corner outfield setup.