Click here to return to the general 2010 MLB Season Preview. Since things just got a little more interesting in the Rangers' camp on Wednesday with the Ron Washington news, I jumped to Texas in my 2010 season preview series. This is a ball club that surprisingly won 87 games in 2009, despite not having its best hitter for a significant part of the season. The Rangers ranked just seventh in the AL in OPS with a mark of .764, which is clearly light given their park factor. The 2009 season was a transition season where they made Elvis Andrus the everyday shortstop, shifted Michael Young to third while giving looks to several of those famed young pitchers. The injury to Josh Hamilton also severely weakened their chances of displacing the Angels, as he was limited to just 365 plate appearances in which he posted a .741 OPS. 2009 Opsera Finish: 16th What Happened In The Winter Building upon an absolutely stellar farm system, the Rangers didn't infringe upon their long-term financial flexibility by inking Rich Harden and Vladimir Guerrero to short deals at rates that will be below market if they remain healthy. They also brought back a familiar face in Colby Lewis to start, as well as lefty specialist Darren Oliver. The Harden signing was made financially feasible by their decision to trade Kevin Millwood to Baltimore for Chris Ray and Ben Snyder. Trading out Millwood for Harden is a risky maneuver given how one is a reliable innings eater and the other is famously injury-prone, but I like the move because it is aggressive without being foolish. Without a whole lot coming back in, the Rangers let several notable names leave such as Hank Blalock, Marlon Byrd, Andruw Jones, Ivan Rodriguez, Omar Vizquel and Eddie Guardado. Rangers Offensive Preview The Texas offense largely is dependent on the health of Hamilton, who has been dealing with shoulder issues as well as a root canal this spring. Hamilton needs to rake as he did in 2008 when he stole the show at the Yankee Stadium Home Run Derby and had an OPS of .901 with 32 homers. I expect Ian Kinsler to continue putting up monster numbers for a second baseman, giving Dustin Pedroia a real run for the title of best in the AL at the position. His bump in power production in 2009 will likely be met with an increase in his OBP. Meanwhile, Michael Young had a brilliant 2009 with an .892 OPS, which is bound to decline at least a little bit. Nelson Cruz will need to prove he can be the monster he is at Arlington (.931 OPS) also on the road (.778 OPS). Jarrod Saltalamacchia has failed to meet the expectations that came with his arrival in the Mark Teixeira trade and he seems destined to be a middle of the road, injury-plagued hitter. Guerrero is an interesting case because he looked like a shell of his former self at the plate during his final days with the Angels. He inevitably should see some bounce back due to being a full-time DH and also playing in the Texas heat. Chris Davis hit for an OPS of .726, but that was mainly due to a dreadful .546 against lefties. The decision to send Davis down to the minors in July proved to be an excellent one as he responded with an .869 OPS in September and even an improved strikeout rate, which is an obvious blight on his resume at this point. Andrus was an improved hitter in the second half of 2009 and I see him settling in the .750 OPS range in the long-term. He will eventually hit for a little more power and his OBP wasn't even especially dreadful for a rookie shortstop. Julio Borbon looks like he'll get his shot in center with Hamilton moving to left. He hit for an .848 OPS against righties, but an utterly embarrassing .250 OPS in 100 plate appearances against lefties. He has been looking better this Spring against lefties and won't be an automatic platoon candidate and/or out this season. Rangers Pitching Preview Just as any lineup that plays half of its games in Arlington will score runs in bunches, any pitching staff will struggle to keep its ERA down in turn. The Rangers are righty heavy in their rotation with Harden, Scott Feldman, Lewis, Derek Holland, Tommy Hunter and Neftali Feliz all being righties. This group has enough talent to crystalize into the kind of rotation we saw from Tampa Bay in 2008, but that is a difficult bet to see actually deliver. They are all young and possess high ceilings, particularly Feliz and Holland, but piecing them altogether to form a cohesive unit this season does seem unlikely. Harden and Feldman will fill in the top part of the rotation, the latter had 17 wins to mask a modest 4.08 ERA and even more modest 5.4 K/9 rate. The common denominators the Rangers' pitching staff must have in order to find prolonged success are the abilities to strike people out and keep the ball on the ground. Frank Francisco will anchor the bullpen as the closer. He finished the season with a 3.83 ERA and 10.4 K/9 rate, but he was plagued by a bad second half. Lefty C.J. Wilson saved 14 games for Texas and is also an effective strikeout pitcher, though he must reduce his walk rate. What Are Their 2010 Chances? Even though the Rangers have an excellent chance of leapfrogging the Angels, they in turn will likely be leapfrogged by the Mariners, who will win as many games with their pitching as Texas will lose with theirs. I have a great admiration for how Jon Daniels and Nolan Ryan are building their personnel, particularly with their pitching, and I think it is a model that will eventually be duplicated across baseball the way any winning trend that creates a counter to the norm always is. But unfortunately for the Rangers, I think they are still one season away from reaching the postseason. The strength of Seattle's ace arms and the relative inexperience of the ones coming into their own for Texas will be just enough to keep them on the outside. Click here to follow Chris Reina's Twitter feed. Click here to return to the general 2010 MLB Season Preview.