As we approach the All-Star Break, rounding around the halfway point of the baseball season, organizations will begin to evaluate themselves. General managers will assess whether prospects should be traded for a bona-fide major league commodity to make a playoff push or whether to look towards the future in an already lost year. In the case of the Texas Rangers, general manager John Daniels could choose a combination of the two options. He would love to deal for current Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt to bolster his pitching staff, and he wants to also implement perhaps the league's best farm system into his AL West leading Rangers. Here is who might be the next stars in a Rangers' uniform: Omar Beltre: The Cuban native, banned from the United States for five years before being granted a visa in February, started Wednesday against the Angels. He allowed a home run on his first pitch, but settled down to allow just three runs in four innings on work. Manager Ron Washington is considering the right-handed Beltre as the starter Monday against Cleveland. He relies heavily on groundouts, often locating the fastball and sinkerball down in the strike zone. Beltre's breaking stuff is quite average, as well. Frankly, his legal issues have left him as old as Rich Harden or Ian Kinsler without any ounce of Major League experience.
Tanner Scheppers: He is certainly on the rise within the Rangers' farm system. With a fastball that can consistently hit between 96-98 miles per hour on the radar gun, Scheppers projects as another top of the rotation starter. The only worry with the 22 year old right-hander is his shoulder. Various problems limited Scheppers his junior year in college, which scared scouts to the extent of the former Fresno State Star to drop to the Supplemental Draft in 2009. With Texas' rotation in complete flux, I would not be surprised to see Scheppers in Arlington within a couple of weeks. If Manager Ron Washington feels that Scheppers is not ready to handle starter duty, he could be a nasty short reliever.
Staying with the Rangers, their recent trade for catcher Bengie Molina could spell the end for highly touted prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Acquired from Atlanta in the Mark Teixeira trade in 2007, he struggled in Arlington. The following year he lost his starting job to Gerald Laird, and the form that he exhibited in Atlanta behind star catcher Brian McCann seemed to be lost. The Rangers called him up late in 2008, yet Saltalamacchia found himself on the disabled list within two weeks.
In 2009, he was again the starting catcher for Texas. Saltalamacchia finally excelled in an everyday role, but he again battled injuries throughout the season. He was lost for the season by the middle of August.
2010 seemed to be a potential breakout year for Salty. He had proved last season that hitting was no longer an issue in the big leagues, and the former top prospect's ability to handle a pitching staff was MLB-caliber, as well. A new problem, however, arose. Salty could not consistently throw the ball back to the pitcher. As juvenile as this sounds, he continues to struggle with such a basic part of baseball, and now the Rangers seem to have given up on Salty.
Molina provides the organization with an experienced catcher who still possesses power at the plate. Furthermore, his ability to call games behind the plate should not suffer. He had been playing in the American League for nearly two years, and Molina is well acclimated with many of the hitters in the AL West. In addition, the backup catcher is no slouch himself, Matt Treanor. With a salary bordering on the MLB minimum, he is a cheap option to play every 5th day. Moreover, Texas does not rely on the catching spot for offense, unlike other teams, such as Minnesota and Boston. With Hamilton, Kinsler, Guerrero, and Andrus, the offense in Arlington is just fine.
-Daniel Radov
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