MLBaseballFanatic

Ok, I thought I'd start a little mini-series taking a look at a certain position/positions for the Rangers in 2008. I'll go ahead and state that I'll talk about some of the players and then finally give predictions on who will most likely "start" next year. I may be way off but at least I tried!

Right now the Rangers have gotten themselves into a sticky situation with their outfield. Currently they have 6 players (Milton Bradley, Marlon Byrd, Frank Catalannoto, David Murphy, Josh Hamilton, and Nelson Cruz) that are all capable of playing in the majors right now. But remember, only 3 spots! What does this mean. Obviously all hands point to the fact that one of these most likely will DH. I can't see Jason Botts DH'ing even though I use to like him a lot. I just haven't seen much in him recently for me to believe that he does deserve to be the DH. So right now looking at the roster, the three that I think are most capable of playing the outfield right now would be...

Frank Catalanotto - Left
Milton Bradley - Center
Josh Hamilton - Right

That means that would leave Byrd, Murphy, and then Cruz on the bench. Personally, I could see Catalanotto switiching out first next year depending on how Chris Shelton/Ben Broussard fare even if Salty doesn't play first a bit. If that were to happen, the second man I would go to would have to be Byrd. Byrd could play left. That would leave Murphy as the back up CF and then Cruz as the back up RF. Of course, this is just stating their positions, they could easily play any one of the three. That's just their natural positions.

I think that is most likely what we could expect for the Rangers Outfield in 2008. For the first time in a while, I'm looking forward to the Rangers having a lot of young players. Hopefully we can do what Colorado and Florida has done in the past. Anything is possible.

Ok, that's a look at the outfield. Sometimes later this week or so, I'll post one most likely on the infield. Then of course on the Starting Rotation and then the Bullpen. Once this is all done, it will go into one thread where I will post my prediction on the 25 Man Roster for 2008 (from a 2007 perspective) and then match it up once the season rolls around.

Merry Christmas to all and have a safe and happy holiday season!

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