The Texas Rangers saw a three-year string of postseason appearances of come to an end in the 2013 MLB season, although the Rangers still made a one-game tie-breaker playoff for the final American League wild-card spot. The organization has been busy this offseason to make certain this year’s October appearance gets them more than one quasi-playoff game. TheSportsNotebook puts forth its Notebook Nine, our focal points on the Rangers for 2014…
The Texas Rangers are in first place in the AL West, holding a half-game lead on the Oakland A’s, and they have a 5 ½ game cushion on at least making the wild-card. The Rangers are a team that’s overcome a lot and not received nearly enough credit for it. But I wonder if they aren’t going to look back on the past few weeks as a time of missed opportunity.
Amidst all the injuries to the Texas rotation, the complete disappointment of their everyday lineup has slid under the radar a bit. Today’s American League MLB coverage will break down the problems in the Ranger lineup and ask whether they can score enough runs to get back to the postseason.