Post by Commissioner Erick on Jan 3, 2018 7:54:58 GMT -5
Texas Rangers (0-0) @ Los Angeles Angels (0-0)
TEX: Justin Verlander (11-13, 4.50)
LAA: Matt Shoemaker (14-7, 3.44)
After a busy offseason, the Texas Rangers will try to show the world that they are the best baseball team. The Los Angeles Angels will show them they have the best player.
Mike Trout will try to repeat as AL MVP in a quest to lead the Angels to the playoffs, while the Rangers will try to put an excruciating LDS loss behind them in their goal of winning a championship.
Everything the Angels do is based around Mike Trout. The Millville Meteor led the AL in each Triple Slash statistic as well as runs last year. He smashed 45 home runs, but also stole 21 of 25 bases. The only thing Trout didn't do was play a commendable center field. Offensively and on the basepaths, he was nearly perfect.
However, new GM Mike Barrett has had to make moves surrounding Trout with more than substandard talent. Hamstrung with a poor farm and onerous contracts, he hasn't had much to work with.
After the combination of Martin Maldonado and Tim Federowicz turned in a tandem campaign of respectable pop behind the plate and little else, Alex Avilla and Cameron Rupp were brought over. Avilla still has a good eye and decent pop, while Rupp showed decent power in Triple A last year. The Angels are hoping the duo is an upgrade. Howie Kendrick hit over .300 for Philadelphia last season and is hoping to bring some of that good average to a team lacking in good average hitters. Andrelton Simmons won't hit for a .585 OPS again.
Still, these are small upgrades. Albert Pujolz and Jeffrey Marte had an OBP under .300 last season. Those are the Angels' first and third basemen. It's hard to win with that little production from corner bats that hit in the meat of the lineup. Barrett will have to work around that limitation all season.
The Texas Rangers shouldn't have any such lineup limitation as they try to recover from three straight late-inning losses in blowing a 3-1 ALDS lead.
Texas acquired some major bats in the offseason. They traded for Kyle Seager and Jean Segura, then decided late in the game to sign Carlos Santana and forego a draft pick. While the pick loss hurts, Texas adds a premier patience and power bad to add to Nomar Mazara, Paul Goldschmidt, Rougned Odor and the aforementioned Seager in the middle of their order. Navigating that is a red-alert proposition for any pitcher. The Rangers don't have a great team at getting on base, so Santana's particular skillset should be just what the Rangers' need.
Mazara will also be a player to watch. He had typical rookie struggles with plate discipline and aggressiveness, and only got on base at a .304 clip. However, there were good signs. He had his best power month in August. He had his best average and on-base month in September. He put everything together during a white-hot postseason that saw him go.480/.563/.760. If the strides taken are real, then he could catapult the Rangers into the top offense in baseball.
Big names weren't only added to the Rangers' lineup. Justin Verlander was acquired to form a one-two punch with Yu Darvish atop the Rangers' rotation. Darvish asked out of a WBC game after feeling something in his elbow. As it turns out, he had bone chips that needed to be removed and will miss the start of the season. Verlander will step in and get the opening game nod. He has the pedigree for it, but had a down 2017.
Verlander only went 11-13 with a 4.50 ERA. He issued only 39 walks and struck out 179, though, which is excellent. Allowing 26 home runs in only 166 innings is concerning though, especially in a home-run haven like Globe Life Park. The Rangers are hoping the home runs stay in Detroit and the walks and strikeouts transition over to Verlander being an ace again.
Should he falter, the Rangers have that offense to fall back on, but also a deep bullpen of either fire arms or deception-based ground ball artists. There are some question marks as some of the live arms in Keone Kela and Ian Krol missed the majority of 2017 with injuries, but virtually every returning player and had an ERA in the low 3.00s, which is good for Texas' run environment. If that caliber of arm has trouble with the Angels' lineup, then the Rangers may have work to do.
Questions for the GMs:
For Clayton Piper, you signed Carlos Santana late in the Free Agent signing process. What allowed you to finally decide on signing him?
Your team had a pair of 1-0 shutout losses in Game 5 and Game 6 of the ALDS. Did that play a factor in your decision to overhaul numerous positions of your lineup?
The Angels' best offensive player is easily Mike Trout. Do you want Verlander to let anybody but Trout beat him, or do you want Verlander attacking Trout at any cost?
For Mike Barrett, you went with a lot of serviceable players, but no real splashes in free agency. Do you think that will be enough in a competitive AL West?
Verlander is a dynamic pitcher, but he pitches up in the zone with a high hard fastball. Do you want power hitters in the lineup today to counteract that?
Your bullpen was a real strength last year and the Texas offense is deep. Would you prefer opening day starter Matt Shoemaker go deep today, or would you prefer to see him pulled early so a different look of different relievers keep the Rangers off balance?
TEX: Justin Verlander (11-13, 4.50)
LAA: Matt Shoemaker (14-7, 3.44)
After a busy offseason, the Texas Rangers will try to show the world that they are the best baseball team. The Los Angeles Angels will show them they have the best player.
Mike Trout will try to repeat as AL MVP in a quest to lead the Angels to the playoffs, while the Rangers will try to put an excruciating LDS loss behind them in their goal of winning a championship.
Everything the Angels do is based around Mike Trout. The Millville Meteor led the AL in each Triple Slash statistic as well as runs last year. He smashed 45 home runs, but also stole 21 of 25 bases. The only thing Trout didn't do was play a commendable center field. Offensively and on the basepaths, he was nearly perfect.
However, new GM Mike Barrett has had to make moves surrounding Trout with more than substandard talent. Hamstrung with a poor farm and onerous contracts, he hasn't had much to work with.
After the combination of Martin Maldonado and Tim Federowicz turned in a tandem campaign of respectable pop behind the plate and little else, Alex Avilla and Cameron Rupp were brought over. Avilla still has a good eye and decent pop, while Rupp showed decent power in Triple A last year. The Angels are hoping the duo is an upgrade. Howie Kendrick hit over .300 for Philadelphia last season and is hoping to bring some of that good average to a team lacking in good average hitters. Andrelton Simmons won't hit for a .585 OPS again.
Still, these are small upgrades. Albert Pujolz and Jeffrey Marte had an OBP under .300 last season. Those are the Angels' first and third basemen. It's hard to win with that little production from corner bats that hit in the meat of the lineup. Barrett will have to work around that limitation all season.
The Texas Rangers shouldn't have any such lineup limitation as they try to recover from three straight late-inning losses in blowing a 3-1 ALDS lead.
Texas acquired some major bats in the offseason. They traded for Kyle Seager and Jean Segura, then decided late in the game to sign Carlos Santana and forego a draft pick. While the pick loss hurts, Texas adds a premier patience and power bad to add to Nomar Mazara, Paul Goldschmidt, Rougned Odor and the aforementioned Seager in the middle of their order. Navigating that is a red-alert proposition for any pitcher. The Rangers don't have a great team at getting on base, so Santana's particular skillset should be just what the Rangers' need.
Mazara will also be a player to watch. He had typical rookie struggles with plate discipline and aggressiveness, and only got on base at a .304 clip. However, there were good signs. He had his best power month in August. He had his best average and on-base month in September. He put everything together during a white-hot postseason that saw him go.480/.563/.760. If the strides taken are real, then he could catapult the Rangers into the top offense in baseball.
Big names weren't only added to the Rangers' lineup. Justin Verlander was acquired to form a one-two punch with Yu Darvish atop the Rangers' rotation. Darvish asked out of a WBC game after feeling something in his elbow. As it turns out, he had bone chips that needed to be removed and will miss the start of the season. Verlander will step in and get the opening game nod. He has the pedigree for it, but had a down 2017.
Verlander only went 11-13 with a 4.50 ERA. He issued only 39 walks and struck out 179, though, which is excellent. Allowing 26 home runs in only 166 innings is concerning though, especially in a home-run haven like Globe Life Park. The Rangers are hoping the home runs stay in Detroit and the walks and strikeouts transition over to Verlander being an ace again.
Should he falter, the Rangers have that offense to fall back on, but also a deep bullpen of either fire arms or deception-based ground ball artists. There are some question marks as some of the live arms in Keone Kela and Ian Krol missed the majority of 2017 with injuries, but virtually every returning player and had an ERA in the low 3.00s, which is good for Texas' run environment. If that caliber of arm has trouble with the Angels' lineup, then the Rangers may have work to do.
Questions for the GMs:
For Clayton Piper, you signed Carlos Santana late in the Free Agent signing process. What allowed you to finally decide on signing him?
Your team had a pair of 1-0 shutout losses in Game 5 and Game 6 of the ALDS. Did that play a factor in your decision to overhaul numerous positions of your lineup?
The Angels' best offensive player is easily Mike Trout. Do you want Verlander to let anybody but Trout beat him, or do you want Verlander attacking Trout at any cost?
For Mike Barrett, you went with a lot of serviceable players, but no real splashes in free agency. Do you think that will be enough in a competitive AL West?
Verlander is a dynamic pitcher, but he pitches up in the zone with a high hard fastball. Do you want power hitters in the lineup today to counteract that?
Your bullpen was a real strength last year and the Texas offense is deep. Would you prefer opening day starter Matt Shoemaker go deep today, or would you prefer to see him pulled early so a different look of different relievers keep the Rangers off balance?
