Top five potential free agent options for the Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers won the AL West in 2015 thanks to a potent offensive attack powered by Prince Fielder and Adrian Beltre and a quality pitching staff led by midseason acquisition Cole Hamels and a mostly solid bullpen.
Heading into 2016, the club should have many pieces in place to at least compete for the division title again next season – plus, they’re getting staff ace Yu Darvish back from Tommy John surgery at some point (perhaps as early as May).
That said, GM Jon Daniels has some specific areas in need of addressing as he puts together his roster. Should he and his staff look to the free agent market rather than the trade market, a few intriguing options are out there if the price is right.
1. Justin Upton
The remarkable thing about Justin Upton is that he’s still just 28 years old. The power-hitting left fielder is the picture of health, having appeared in less than 150 games just one time in the past five seasons – when he totaled 149 in 2011. He’s coming off a season in which he clubbed 26 home runs for the San Diego Padres in spacious Petco Park, so the prospect of playing 81 games in the hitter’s haven of Globe Life Park in Arlington might do wonders for his offense. Additionally, if the Rangers wound up winning the Upton sweepstakes, he’d provide manger Jeff Banister with the opportunity to utilize both Upton and Josh Hamilton in a rotating basis between left field and the DH slot…which could presumably keep both even fresher health-wise. Upton will have a ton of suitors and the Rangers may not be a realistic option financially, but he’d definitely fit in well with their offensive approach.
2. Bartolo Colon
The expected departure of Yovani Gallardo creates a hole in the back end of the Rangers’ rotation. They could fill that hole in a number of ways, and 42-year-old Bartolo Colon would be a potential stopgap behind Hamels, Darvish and Derek Holland. Colon went 14-13 with a 4.16 ERA for the New York Mets in 2015, so he’s still a serviceable major-league pitcher. Plus, he has experience with the Oakland Athletics so he’s probably still familiar with the AL West clubs he’d face on a regular basis in Texas. Whether his fastballs-all-the-time approach would fare well in Arlington would be a tricky proposition; he allowed 25 home runs in just under 195 innings of work in 2015.
3. Tim Lincecum
In terms of low-risk, high-reward potential, the San Francisco Giants’ former ace presents a very alluring option for a number of teams – including the Rangers, who could stash him at the back of the rotation and hope for a return to form. Lincecum has battled inconsistency and injuries for much of the past four seasons, only managing to appear in 13 games for the Giants in 2015. Since his last solid season in SF, 2011 – when he went 13-14 with a 2.74 ERA – Lincecum has struggled to reclaim the magic he demonstrated on the mound in the earlier part of his career. Still, his track record should give Lincecum a healthy market from which to choose in terms of new employers…after all, he does have those three World Series rings in his resume.
4. Dioner Navarro
The Rangers probably need an additional catcher to replace the current right-handed platoon of Robinson Chirinos and Chris Gimenez. Frankly, neither option is a best-case scenario for full-time duty in 2016. Enter switch-hitting veteran Dioner Navarro, who is coming off an injury-plagued 2015 that saw him appear in just 54 games for the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite his bad ’15, Navarro was a nice find by the Jays in 2014, when he hit .274/.317/.395 with 12 home runs and 69 RBI. If he’s able to stay healthy, he’d be a solid platoon partner for Chirinos or Gimenez, despite not necessarily being one of the ‘flashy’ names out there on the market.
5. Colby Lewis
Should the Rangers not be interested in gambling on Bartolo Colon’s fastballs or Tim Lincecum’s downward career trajectory, they could opt for a ‘safer’ choice and re-sign Colby Lewis. The veteran went 17-9 with a 4.66 ERA for the Rangers in 2015, helping fill out the rotation in the absence of Darvish. Lewis has spent eight of his ten MLB seasons with the Rangers, and will assuredly have a number of clubs kicking the tires on potentially obtaining his services for 2016. If Texas doesn’t want to take any risks with rotation help, they could put forth an attempt to retain him and hope for another quality season as a quietly serviceable and dependable right-handed starter.
