Looking to 2010

I don't even want to bother trying to make an argument for the Rangers the rest of the year. Time to look towards the off season and what needs to be done to get better.

Here's a list of things I think need to happen.

* Nelson Cruz, as much as I loved what he's done for us, needs to go. He's been solid in the outfield and he's provided pop at the plate, but there's a log-jam in the outfield and he has an easy to move contract. Plus, it's always a red flag when a player suddenly breaks out at the age of 29. He'll be 30 before the middle of next year and it's completely possible that this will be the best year of his career. Trade him to an offensively starved team like the Giants for Reliever Sergio Romo and Third Base prospect Conor Gillaspie.

* Time to bring back Milton Bradley. Bradley will be available now that he's been sent home by the Cubs for the rest of the year, and the rumor (Per Peter Gammons) is that if the Cubs trade him, they'd be willing to eat a lot of his contract. Money wouldn't be an issue for the Rangers in this instance and they could bring back a bat and a passion that they have sorely missed. Maybe swap one of your catchers and a mid level pitching prospect.

* Something I mentioned about a month ago...trade one of your catchers. I was leaning towards Salty last month, but now I don't know. Either way, Teagarden or Saltalamacchia needs to be traded away and Pudge should be re-signed to split time and be a veteran presence. I think if one gets moved, it may be Tea at this point.

* Let Millwood go. Just let him go...

* With Andruw Jones gone and Omar Vizquel likely to retire, you need to bring in two utility players. Jerry Hairston Jr and Craig Counsell would be two guys that you could play just about anywhere.

* Sign Joe Beimel to be a lefty arm out of the bullpen and Ben Sheets to be apart of your rotation. Sheets' rehab has been quiet, but the feeling is that he will eventually be a Texas Ranger.

* Move Neftali Feliz to the rotation.

* Use all of the coaching staff's hours during the off season to fix two things. 1) Ian Kinsler's uppercut swing...fix the hitch that's making him pop everything up. In 08 he was a line drive hitter who could also hit with some power. In 09, he's just hacking for the fences. 2) Work on fixing Julio Borbon's arm strength. He's too quick and covers too much ground to be a DH. His weak arm makes him a liability in the outfield though, so work hard to make his throwing arm stronger.

* Let Smoak start the year with the big league club.

The Rangers should then bat the lineup like so...

Julio Borbon - LF
Elvis Andrus - SS
Michael Young - 3B
Josh Hamilton - CF
Milton Bradley - RF
Ian Kinsler - 2B
Chris Davis - 1B/DH
Justin Smoak - DH/1B
Pudge/Salty - C

BENCH

David Murphy
Jerry Hairston
Craig Counsell

ROTATION

Scott Feldman
Ben Sheets
Tommy Hunter
Derek Holland
Neftali Feliz

BULLPEN

Dustin Nippert or Brandon McCarthy - Long Reliever
Jason Grilli - Middle Reliever
Sergio Romo - Middle Reliever
Joe Beimel - Middle Reliever
Darren O'Day - Middle Reliever/Setup
CJ Wilson - Setup
Frank Francisco - Closer

Now, the lineup and the reasons for setting it that way.

Borbon and Andrus have to be at the top. Andrus has hit around .290, .295 since the All-Star break. Borbon has shown flashes of being a .315 or so hitter. Two guys who get on base a lot and immediately get in the pitcher's head with their speed. This would start a lot of games with two on, no one out, speed on the bases and the team's best hitter coming up.

Having Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Milton Bradley and Ian Kinsler hitting in consecutive order sets up the team like it did in 08...pitchers can't pitch around any of them. The problem with this year's lineup has been that in between Hamilton and Cruz, was someone like Byrd. Solid hitter, but someone you can pitch too and then throw garbage to the big guns. You can't throw garbage to four hitters in a row.

Davis has his plate issues, Smoak would be a rookie, and our Catcher's aren't the best hitters, but those three at the bottom of the order are solid for their placing.

As for the rotation, if Sheets is healthy, the rotation sets up really nicely. Feldman has shown signs of brilliance, Hunter showed a lot of growth, we've seen Feliz's dominance, and Holland has shown flashes as well. I think Dutch is just going through his rookie lumps like Hunter did in 08. I expect him to be much better in 2010.

So how would you set the lineup? What moves would you make? Leave a comment in the little box below!

Cowboys thoughts coming soon...