With the NL complete, let’s move onto the AL with the team that battled the Cardinals to Game 7 of the World Series. The Texas Rangers have some monster bats.
Mike Napoli is tied for the best bat in the set at 580 points. He’s the only 10 OB with homers starting at 17 on his chart. His lack of defense is the only thing keeping him from being the obvious first pick at catcher (Buster Posey may go ahead of him), but in an offense-light set, he’s a first-, maybe second-, rounder for sure.
Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre is the only 8 OB with homers as low as 16 on his chart – and he doesn’t share Napoli’s lack of defense. Ian Kinsler is just an all-around stud. And we still haven’t mentioned Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, or Nelson Cruz.
The starting pitching isn’t as good as the hitting, but it’s not bad, and C.J. Wilson is a great value as an ace. Darren Oliver is a very solid reliever. Who’s drafting 30-point reliever Arthur Rhodes?
The bullpen is looking decent in the base set – and then the Rangers go and trade for the two best relievers from the base set to add to their Pennant Run: Mike Adams and Koji Uehara. No wonder they won 96 games and went to the Series!
Foils: Adrian Beltre, Ian Kinsler, Mike Napoli, C.J. Wilson
No comments:
Post a Comment