Texas Rangers Crystal Ball: Predicting the 2020 Regular Season

We are going to do an exercise and look into our crystal ball to try and predict how the Texas Rangers will fare in their 2020 season. While predicting the future is usually frivolous, it is always fun. We will look at what the club's overall record could be, plus their playoff chances based off of individual player's performances.

Texas has made some significant upgrades to their roster, and the lineup could look vastly different from 2019 (more on that in the next piece). However, the most notable additions have been to the starting rotation.

Corey Kluber was by far the biggest splash President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Jon Daniels made this offseason. Kluber instantly improves the rotation even if he returns to just a fraction of the form he was in when he won two Cy Young awards in 2014 and 2017. Furthermore, by bringing in Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles, the Rangers have shored up the backend of the rotation that included pitchers such as Shelby Miller and Drew Smyly in 2019.

An upgraded rotation, that could be one of the best in baseball, should help propel Texas to a level of contention if it can stay relatively healthy. However, a higher level of defense will be needed from the middle-infielders such as Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor if the rotation is to live up to its billing. With the expectations laid out to both Andrus and Odor by manager Chris Woodward, both should to see an uptick in their production.

Now, let's assume the rotation and defense does its job adequately and keeps games close by limiting opponents' runs. Texas' offense will then be front and center to help create runs. In 2019, the Rangers offense produced 810 runs, good enough for 12th in the MLB. The offseason additions of Todd Frazier, along with more playing time for Nick Solak and his big bat in 2020 should be a huge boost for the Texas offense.

Furthermore, Rougned Odor can't possibly regress from his 2019 form where is was worth -0.3 bWAR. If he can continue to build off of his Spring Training performances and carry it into the regular season, then this offense will take on a different shape. For the sake of argument, let's assume he returns to a similar form that resembles his 2015 production where he slashed .261/.316/.465 but extend that out to 150 games and he still smashes 30 or more home runs. This would drastically change the offensive landscape of the Rangers offense.

Finally, Joey Gallo will need to put together a full-season where he is able to bring his new approach of hitting to the plate. In 70 games during the 2019 season, Gallo slashed .253/.389/.598 and 22 home runs. While it is unlikely he would be able to maintain those types of numbers for an entire 160 games or more, let's say Gallo hits to the tune of a .240 batting average and 40 home runs, which is well within reach for the young slugger for the sake of this exercise.

BetOnline has the Rangers' over/under win total set at 79.5 wins, only a slight increase from Texas' 78 wins from 2019. That seems a bit low based off of our predictions above, so let's say the Rangers win a minimum of 83 games and a maximum of 87 games in 2020. But, is that good enough to make the playoffs?

The New York Yankees are heavily favored to win the AL East, and as such, the Tampa Bay Rays should acquire one of the two Wild-Card spots in the league. The Minnesota Twins look like a strong bet to once again come out on top in the weaker AL Central. As far as the AL West goes, the Houston Astros should once again take the crown. The second Wild-Card spot is wide open for the taking, and while the Oakland Athletic's look to be the current favorites for the slot, it is a long season.

If the rotation can live up to expectations, key players step up their production, young players make an impact and Joey Gallo can string together an entire season, then they just might have a chance at playing more than 162 games in 2020. However, it will require Texas to take full advantage of divisional matchups, and possibly a little luck.

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