The Pitching

The Ranger's strength is not the pitching staff though there are certainly some positive players on the staff. The starting rotation to begin the season will look like this:

1) David Bush
2) Ian Snell
3) Zach Duke
4) Luke Hochevar
5) Andrew Miller

Brian Burress will also see some starts on the team.

Perhaps the most stable aspect of the team is in the bullpen.

Matt Albers a middle inning reliever whom is more effective against LH batters.
Chris Perez a possible future closer and but middle inning guy this year.
J.J Putz will share the set up roles with Joe Smith and may be used to save every now and then.
Joe Smith is pretty solid vs RHB and may be used in the set-up role from time to time.
Clayton Richard the long reliever of the group will probably be in the rotation next year.
Ron Villone is the vetern lefty in the group though he may be used sparingly.
K-Rod is, of course, the closer and will be in as many save opportunities as we have.

And the rest of the draft...

The Rangers picked up top Phillie's catching prospect Lou Marson in the 7th round and hope that between him and Napoli they will not have to worry about that position for a number of years to come.

The rest of the draft for the Rangers looks like this:

Carlos Ruiz: 5th round
Wladimir Balentien: 5th round
Joe Mather: 6th round
Lou Marson: 7th round
Eugenio Velez: 7th round
Gaby Sanchez: 7th round
Chris Duncan: 7th round
Clayton Richard: 8th round
JR Towles: 9th round

4th round selection

The Rangers lost their 4th round pick due to fines but did trade for the 16th pick in the round with Washington and picked up some help in the rotation grabbing left-handed pitcher Zach Duke.

3rd round selections

After several trades the Rangers had 5 3rd round picks. They are listed below and include one of the most exciting picks the Rangers made in acquiring top pitching prospect James McDonald who will compete for a job in the rotation next year.

6th pick in 3rd round: Chris Perez
7th pick in 3rd round: James McDonald
9th pick in 3rd round: Michael Bourn (promptly traded for Melky Cabrera)
10th pick in 3rd round: Blake DeWitt
20th pick in 3rd round: Gregor Blanco

Rangers 2nd Round Draft Selections

With the 6th pick of the 2nd round the Rangers prove they are planning for a very successful future and draft stud prospect Mat Gamel and with a trade pick up OF Matt Joyce with the 45th overall pick and 21st pick in the second round. Gamel will likely start the season in AA while Joyce will start in AAA and likely be called up some time shortly after the all-star break.

Chris Davis joins the Rangers

Happy that Chris Davis fell to the Rangers in the 6th spot they quickly selected him and placed him in the starting 1B position.

Texas GM Jeremy Byrd had this to say:

"There was no doubt from the onset of this draft that we were targeting Chris. We feel that he has what we want to build the franchise around. We believe that Chris will be a Ranger for a long, long time and are very excited to have him on our club. Chris has proven himself in the minors and both offensively and defensively."

It is expected that Davis will be the Rangers clean up hitter and first baseman on opening day most likely sandwiched in between Chris Young and Mark Reynolds.