The Texas Rangers are getting closer to the start of the regular season and player evaluations are becoming more and more clear each day.
I’m no Jim Cramer but I decided to pretend nonetheless.
The following are some of my picks to make the opening day roster basically treating them like stocks.
CF Eli White // BUY
White has clearly overtaken Leody Taveras as the favorite to win the starting job. He currently has a .333/.444/.667 slash line.
Taveras has been struggling all spring and is only hitting .200 with a .538 OPS. I expect Leody will start the season in Frisco.
LF Khris Davis // SELL
Hitting .056 isn’t doing him any help in trying to make the team.
It was supposed to be a battle between Davis and David Dahl but they are both trailing behind Adolis Garcia (**BUY: .417/.385/.833). Look for Davis to be DFA’d with Dahl getting a bench role.
3B Rougned Odor // BUY LOW
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Rougned Odor is having a great spring training.
Can he finally have a great spring carry over into a full season?
I want to believe but expect him to be traded or moved somehow by mid-season. Then I could imagine Josh Jung getting the call.
1B Ronald Guzman // BUY
Guzman changed his swing mechanics in the offseason, which resulted in him winning the Dominican Winter League MVP while hitting .367. The Rangers acquired Nate Lowe from the Tampa Bay Rays to give Guzman some competition at first. It hasn’t even been close.
The “Condor” is slashing .353/.45/.824 compared to Lowe’s .167/.200/.278. What’s also bad for Lowe is that he is being beaten out for a bench role by Charlie Culberson .455 and can play multiple infield positions.
P Mike Foltynewicz // BUY HIGH
Photo: APFoltynewitcz may be one of the biggest steals of the offseason. He’s not an average stock. This guy is Bitcoin. His velocity is back up to 94-96 MPH and he’s hitting his locations. If he’s back to his All-Star form then it will be one of the best signings in Chris Young’s young career as G.M. in Texas.
The rotation looks like it’s getting closer to shape with Foltynewicz joining Kyle Gibson, Kolby Allard, Wes Benjamin, and Kohei Arihara making strong cases.
P Jordan Lyles // SELL
Lyles is a candidate to be a “piggyback” pitcher which I assume would be the sixth starter in a way.
Also, watch out for Taylor Hearn and Dane Dunning as they also want to make the starting rotation.
These are just a few of the players who have stood out this spring and, just as with Wall Street, the market can change at any time.
Featured Image: AP
