Respect these Rangers

Josh Hamilton has 91 RBI and 21 HR heading into Friday night's game.

Heading into the 2008 season, a quick scan of the White Sox's schedule would reveal what appeared to be an easy six-game road trip to Kansas City and Texas from July 8-13.

That "easy" road trip has been anything but a breeze. The Royals have shown some major signs of improvement under first-year manager Trey Hillman and have turned into a team that won't be very fun to play down the stretch.

But it's the Texas Rangers that have transformed themselves into a team that nobody will want to face.

The Rangers haven't been respectable since 2004, when they started off the year 18-7 and eventually went on to finish at 89-73. However, 2004 was the only year that the Rangers finished over .500 since the Ivan Rodriguez/Juan Gonzalez era in the late 1990's.

The story for the Rangers could always be written before the season even started: plenty of hitting, but not enough pitching.

The excuse? Rangers Ballpark in Arlington has always been a hitter-friendly ballpark. Pitchers never will be able to succeed there.

Texas has had some good pitchers in their organization, but Chris Young (San Diego), John Danks (Chicago), and Edinson Volquez (Cincinnati) are all putting together successful careers away from the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Pitching isn't the strength of the Rangers in 2008—and, in all  likelihood, pitching will not be the strength of this Texas ballclub anytime in the near future.

But as long as the pitchers are throwing well enough to win, this Rangers team will compete. Vicente Padilla (10-5) and Kevin Millwood (6-4) both have done just that so far this year. While they may not be good (ERAs of 4.70 and 4.93, respectively) by any stretch of the imagination, they're doing what they need to do to win.

Promising rookies Eric Hurley and Matt Harrison could provide boosts to the back of the Rangers' rotation, although Hurley is currently on the disabled list. If Kason Gabbard, who was acquired along with underrated rookie David Murphy from Boston in the Eric Gagne trade last summer, can come off the disabled list and pitch decently, Texas' rotation won't be half bad.

Again, the key for these pitchers is to pitch well enough to win—that is, to buoy maybe the most powerful offense Texas has seen since Alex Rodriguez was traded.

Everybody knows the story of Josh Hamilton by now—former No. 1 overall pick, ran into drug problems, got clean, made a comeback with Cincinnati, traded to Texas for Edinson Volquez, and poof—he's starting in the All-Star Game next Tuesday.

Surrounding Hamilton and his 21 home runs and 91 RBI is a cast of less publicized players, but all of whom deserve their fair share of attention.

Ian Kinsler could garner some MVP attention with the kind of season he's having. The 26-year-old second baseman is hitting .333 with 14 home runs and 53 RBI heading into Friday's game against the White Sox. His OPS is .937—an extremely high number for a second baseman who has stolen 23 bases in 24 attempts. It's a travesty that he's not starting the All-Star Game, but he made it as a reserve with Boston's Dustin Pedroia starting.

Michael Young is another player who should be starting the All-Star game, but lost out to a more popular player in Derek Jeter. Young has been one of the most consistent hitters in baseball since 2003, hitting over .300 with over 200 hits and 600 at-bats in every year since. He's hitting .303 this year, which is a relative down year for Young. However, it shows just how good of a hitter he's been in his career, and he's the glue that holds this Texas lineup together.

With the injury problems the Red Sox have been going through with David Ortiz, they probably wish they had Murphy and his 13 home runs back. While Jacoby Ellsbury, Joba Chamberlain, and Evan Longoria have garnered most of the attention for AL Rookie of the Year, Murphy deserves a lot of consideration for that award. He's driven in 60 runs, and that's good for second-best on a team that includes Milton Bradley, who has one of the best on-base + slugging percentages in baseball at 1.033.

The middle of this lineup is as good as any in major league baseball today. The back of the order is anchored by Chris Davis, an extra-base machine, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who has struggled at the plate in 2008 but still has a world of potential. Ramon Vazquez has also had an excellent season since replacing injured third baseman Hank Blalock.

There's no question this Rangers team can hit. While they may not be a playoff team in 2008, they certainly appear to be on the right track.

However, I'm not about to write this team off just yet.

There doesn't have to be another Rockies-esque run in 2008. In fact, the run the 2007 Rockies had at the end of last season is something that may never be equaled.

But if there is a team to go on a run of that nature this year, my pick would have to be the Texas Rangers. If their pitchers get hot come August and September, they could be poised to make a run at the playoffs.

At the least, the Texas Rangers demand respect. They're not going to be an easy opponent for any team for the rest of this season.