ESPN.com puts Texas rotation 3rd in MLB

January, 19, 2012
1/19/12
2:00
PM CT
David Schoenfield from ESPN.com's Sweet Spot ranks his top-5 rotations in Major League Baseball now that Yu Darvish has signed with Texas. He puts the Rangers third. Here's what he says about Texas:
PODCAST
Rangers president Nolan Ryan talks about the Yu Darvish signing and the rumors of possibly signing Prince Fielder.

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3. Texas Rangers: Yu Darvish, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, Colby Lewis, Neftali Feliz. Let's be clear here: Lewis may have been tabbed as the Opening Day starter, but Darvish is expected to be the ace of this team. The Rangers didn't shell out more than $100 million for a No. 3 starter. The Texas rotation was vastly underrated last season, as it posted a 3.65 ERA (third in the AL), despite pitching in the best hitting park in the AL. The concerns are that Feliz is moving from the bullpen and remains a bit of wild card, both in production and durability; remember, Alexi Ogando made the same move in 2011 and was fatigued by the end of the season. Harrison also threw over 200 innings between the regular season and playoffs, so we'll have to see how he rebounds from the heaviest workload of his career. But having depth with Ogando and Feldman helps alleviate some of those concerns.

The top-5:

1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Texas Rangers
4. New York Yankees
5. Arizona Diamondbacks

You can read the entire entry here.
Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.

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TEAM LEADERS

WINS LEADER
Yu Darvish
WINS ERA SO IP
7 2.84 91 66
OTHER LEADERS
BAI. Kinsler .302
HRN. Cruz 11
RBIN. Cruz 33
RE. Andrus 28
OPSM. Moreland .905
ERAY. Darvish 2.84
SOY. Darvish 91

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