Before we dive in to pitchers and catchers, let's discuss Michael Young. I admit, I am a Young fan, and I would like to see him remain a Ranger. He has been the face of this franchise for the last decade. Young has always been under appreciated by the national media, but the lack of respect, shown by Ranger's management, is a joke. Young is no more a liability at 3rd than Beltre, both had 19 errors last season, and both are comparable at the plate. I believe the Beltre signing was a last ditch effort by management to grab a "big" name since the offseason was fairly lack-luster. Trading Young should not be an option, at $16 mil./year the Rangers will still end up paying the bulk of his salary. The better option to me is to trade Ian Kinsler and move Young back to his natural position. This would probably be of greater benefit to the Rangers as well, I feel Kinsler probably would draw more interest trade wise, and I think Young is way more superior at the plate than Kinsler. Even the NY Yankees understand that sometimes you pay and keep your team leader in place, even if his skills are somewhat on the decline.
Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow, and there appear to be a lot more questions than answers concerning this staff. Brandon Webb's health and velocity could be the single most important aspect of spring training. A revamped Webb gives the rotation depth and leaves Feliz out of the running for a starting position. Nefty, in my opinion, needs to stay in the bullpen. Truth is, he is a one pitch pitcher, and until he can develop a couple of more pitches I think his talent will be wasted as a starter. Ogando, on the other hand, has multiple pitches and should be able to move into the rotation if needed. Tommy Hunter and Derek Holland both need to show that they can pitch deep into games on a regular basis. Holland has shown flashes of brilliance, but often times it has been followed by big failure. Another wild card will be Scott Feldman, he is coming off a knee injury, and he needs to find his 2009 form. If Feldman and Webb can both revert back to their best form, this could be one of the deepest staffs in the A.L. I realize the chances of that happening are about as likely as the Rangers playing in a World Series, but hey, it did happen once!
