With Prince Fielder's addition, it's really fun to try to make out a Texas Rangers lineup and see what you can come up with. I suggest you try it. I've been doing it in my dreams overnight.
According to just about everyone, the Rangers aren't finished making moves and will undoubtedly land at least one of the big-name free agents and/or make a big splash in the trade market.
Below, we'll lay out a few possibilities the Rangers still might be considering before pitchers and catchers report to Surprize, Ariz., in February.
Shin-Soo Choo — This is the best leadoff man on the market, and possibly in all of baseball. The Rangers have long been searching for the ideal leadoff man. Elvis Andrus isn't it. Leonys Martin might be some day, but not yet. Ian Kinsler wasn't it, either, but he was the best the Rangers had. Now, he's gone. This opens the door for the Rangers to pursue Choo in free agency. It makes too much sense.
Brian McCann — The Rangers have one big-league catcher on their roster right now in Geovany Soto. He could be the Rangers' starter, but it'd be a whole better if he wasn't. Soto is a very nice backup option and a personal catcher for Yu Darvish, but they most likely would want a bigger bat to be the everyday catcher. McCann is the top one on the market, but the Rangers have the best catching prospect in baseball on track to hit the bigs some time in 2015. Might not want to commit long term big money to McCann.
Robinson Cano — Perhaps the best second baseman in the game, definitely offensively, Cano is the biggest name on the free agent market this winter. It's been long assumed he would re-up with the Yankees, but the Yankees' spending habits are changing, and Cano is demanding a ridiculous amount of cash. Since Wednesday night's Kinsler deal, rumors have been rampant that the Rangers are now in on Cano. Can't really see this working out, but if it did, the Rangers would have quite the lineup.
David Price — The Tampa Bay Rays are going to trade Price, their former Cy Young winner. The only question is when. Will it be this winter or at the July 31 trade deadline? They'd get more in return if they did it this winter, and the Rangers have said they're still open to dealing either Jurickson Profar or Elvis Andrus, even after sending Kinsler to Detroit. Imagine a 1-2 punch atop the rotation of Price and Yu Darvish. That'd be special.
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it's going to be a fun offseason, folks. And it got started in a big way on Wednesday night. Buckle up for the ride.
