2010 World Series American League Team: Texas Rangers

With the San Francisco Giants going into the World Series for the National League, the Texas Rangers will be representing the American League. After leading the division in the American League West, The Rangers will now have a chance in franchise history to play on the big stage. Like the Giants, the Rangers are also well equipped with both young and veteran talent, as well as a great mixture of strong pitching and great offense. The Texas Rangers will be a tough competitor for the Giants.

With young talent of Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Tommy Hunter and Mitch Moreland, this helped provide the young spark of talent to help the Rangers to be in a place they have never been before, the World Series. Elvis Andrus provided a key leadoff bat for the Rangers, not to mention a great glove at shortstop. He provides great speed and agility. Though his average was a little about average, Andrus still was a threat when up to bat. Tommy Hunter was a solid starting pitcher for the Rangers, a position that the Rangers have not had much success with in the past years. He managed to win thirteen games and post an E.R.A. of 3.73 and only lost four games. Another young pitcher that was terrific this year for them was their closer, Nefali Feliz. He managed to save forty games for the Rangers and he had an E.R.A. of 2.73 his first season as the Rangers’ closer.  Young talent proved to be a key success to them, but it wasn’t just young talent that helped them out, the veteran talent and key trades also played a huge role.

The veteran talent of the Rangers was also successful this season giving the Rangers the edge they needed to win this division and American League Championship series. Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Michael Young and C.J. Wilson also played a large role to the Rangers dominating season. Josh Hamilton posted up M.V.P. numbers hitting .359 with thirty two homeruns and one hundred runs batted in. He also played a huge role in the postseason where he won the American League Championship M.V.P. award. Nelson Cruz and Michael Young also contributed big down the stretch and even in the post season to beat the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays to earn a spot at the big show. C.J. Wilson was a relief pitcher the past few years for Texas and moved into a rotation slot where he proved to be an excellent starting pitcher. He had an E.R.A. of 3.35 won fifteen games and struck out one hundred and seventy batters. Not bad for his first time as a starter. Veteran help was much needed, but the big trades the Rangers made this season paid off as well.

Cliff Lee, Bengie Molina, Jeff Francoeur and Jorge Cantu all provided much help for the Rangers and fill holes in their team that needed to be filled. If Cliff Lee could pitch all the games in the World Series I would say the Rangers have it easily, but he can’t. But that is how dominating of a pitcher Cliff Lee is. His season and postseason stats are unbelievable. In the post season he won all three games that he pitched and managed an E.R.A. of 0.75. He also struck out thirty four batters in just three games. Cliff Lee played a huge part in the Rangers success. The veteran catcher Bengie Molina adds a veteran catcher and is still one of the best in the game. Though he is starting to slow down because of his age, he still is a great defensive catcher who swings an above average bat. One interesting fact about Molina is that it doesn’t matter what team wins the World Series, he will get a ring. He was traded from the Giants to the Rangers this season.

Rangers may have the edge with their stacked line-up, but the Giants are known for what is arguably one of the best rotations in the game of baseball. It will definitely be a great World Series that looks to be dominated by pitching.