Are the 2009 Texas Rangers really the 2007 Colorado Rockies?

Yes, I am actually suggesting that the Rangers are World Series contenders. No longer will we wait for them to fade like an El Camino paint job in the Texas sun. You’ve heard it here first… The 2009 Rangers are the 2007 Rockies incarnate.

In 2007, the Colorado Rockies were a young and plucky team built around a strong core power lineup and young pitching potential. This gritty team ran off with the wild card, which is exactly what the 2009 Rangers are in line to get. Two different teams, two different years, and one outcome, the World Series.

Nolan Ryan and Mike Maddux have set up a staff in Arlington that should be able to compete for years to come. They are following the model of the 1986 New York Mets and 1991 Atlanta Braves. However, those teams had some more experience from their young starters. The model is something that most teams would like to follow, but rarely does it actually come to fruition and even more rare when it comes up with players in their early 20’s. With that said, the team we can compare these 2009 Rangers with is the young and powerful group of win-streaking players, the 2007 Rockies.

The Rockies had a power lineup based around veteran Todd Helton, flanked by the power of Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe while mixing in the all around bat of Matt Holiday. The Rangers have their own veteran in Michael Young. He is surrounded by the strength of Nelson Cruz and Hank Blalock and the all around bat of Josh Hamilton. Colorado had an up and coming shortstop in Troy Tulowitzki while Texas has 20 year old stud in waiting Elvis Andrus. Colorado had a strong middle infield with Tulowitzki and Kaz Matsui, while Texas has their own combo of Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus. Texas just trades a little plate patience for a little more power and speed. The stat lines are as follows:

Tulowitzki/Matsui: 28 HR, 136 RBI, 39 SB, and a .351 OBP.
Kinsler/Andrus (projected): 43 HR, 128 RBI, 66 SB, and a .328 OBP

These lineups are built around speed and power, mixing in young and old, and both are mashing in hitters parks. The lineups are not the most intriguing similarity, the real highlight of these two teams is the mirrored pitching.

Colorado had veteran Aaron Cook, young ace in waiting lefty Jeff Francis, young and steady Jason Hirsh, and a young ace in waiting righty Ubaldo Jimenez. Now, how about Texas? Well, I think we can just substitute names in the exact same sentence. Texas has veteran Kevin Millwood, young ace in waiting lefty Derek Holland, young and steady Scott Feldman, and a young ace in waiting righty Neftali Feliz. Feliz of course is not in the rotation yet, but these are very similar situations. They each have crafty veteran Mexican born starters in Rodrigo Lopez and Vicente Padilla. The spot starters are also comparable in Taylor Buchholz and Franklin Morales in Colorado to match up with Dustin Nippert and Tommy Hunter in Texas. Even the back of the bullpens, which are oh so important in the final months of the season are identical. Colorado had the left/right combination of Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas and Texas has the left/right combination of CJ Wilson and Frank Francisco. The stat lines are as follows:

Fuentes/Corpas: 2.58 ERA, 39 SV, 114 K, 1.095 WHIP
Wilson/Francisco (projected): 3.26 ERA, 45 SV, 137 K, 1.16 WHIP

These pitching staff’s are setup around a veteran presence to go along with the team’s up and coming ace pitching. They were both stocked with hard throwing pitchers with downward plain fastballs to help in their hitters paradise parks.

When it comes to scheduling, the Rangers have the benefit of the Red Sox and the Rays fighting each other in the same division (along with the Yankees), while they get to play the Mariners and the Athletics. Not dissimilar to the 2007 Rockies who had the Braves and the Phillies fighting one another (along with the Mets) while they got to play the Giants and the Dodgers.

So, now that we see that the rosters of these two clubs are extremely similar, can the 2009 Rangers repeat what the 2007 Rockies did? The lineup, pitching staff, ball park and schedule all stack up the same between these two teams. There is no reason to doubt Texas’ ability to run along with the best of the American League. I doubted the Rockies back in 2007, but I have learned my lesson and am officially backing the Texas Rangers who are on their way to the 2009 World Series.

- J Filth