“What if I told you that a fateful night in St. Louis would be as close to the Promise Land as the Rangers would get? What if I told you the game of baseball would treat this franchise like a person with loose morals inside a dilapidated hotel in the red light district strung out on pain pills and cheap bourbon?”
If you were to believe the above then you wouldn’t be on a Texas Rangers blog in the offseason thirsting for what little knowledge and opinions we give. You believe this team will win the World Series in your lifetime. You believe this team will make changes in the offseason to go from playoff contender to World Series favorite. You believe this team under the direction of Jon Daniels and Ron Washington along with hot dog aficionado Nolan Ryan will have continued success throughout this decade like the Atlanta Braves of the 90s. If you didn’t believe all of these things then you would be on a Cowboys blog right now discussing whether this team can persevere and truly go 9-7 this season.
Rest assure that this team will get better in the offseason as Jon Daniels and his merry men are probably already barricaded in an office plotting this franchise’s rise back to its rightful place atop the AL West. While cigars and champagne will be popped multiple times throughout these playoffs, A.J. Preller, Thad Levine, Don Welke and others are contemplating whether or not to acquire Jose Abreu among other numerous scenarios. This is still Camelot and Jon Daniels is still King Arthur with his knights of the #want table.
This team has four starters in their rotation already penciled in: Darvish, Holland, Perez and Harrison. The infield has future Hall of Famer Beltre, a shortstop heading into his prime in Andrus and most likely will feature young (still) phenom Profar at second base with a franchise player in Kinsler, yet to be determined where he will play. The outfield returns two centerfielders coming off seasons worth more than three wins each to go alongside newcomer Rios who provided a spark in the final weeks of the season with his bat and his legs. The bullpen is full of youth and experience geared for another long, tenuous season. If Texas doesn’t bring back Nathan, the closer role could move to Soria, Feliz or even young Scheppers. This team is still loaded and doesn’t need to make a LA-type offseason splash. A catcher and another bat might be all this team needs this winter.
Winter is coming.
Do you still believe?
What if?