DeMarco: Wise Rangers making all the right moves

Ownership stabilization, offseason moves made Washington's team better than last year's

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Rangers general manager Jon Daniels says manager Ron Washington "takes on the character of the manager, and he has been perfect for this team."

OPINION

updated 5:25 p.m. ET Oct. 6, 2011

Tony DeMarco

While the Yankees and Tigers battled through a tight, five-game first-round series (with the Tigers advancing Thursday night), the Texas Rangers sat home and wait.

Take that as another measure of how far they've come since the 2010 postseason.

Owner/president Nolan Ryan hasn't shied away from saying he believes this Rangers team is better than last year's American League pennant winner. And he's right.

These aren't the same Rangers who entered last postseason with a history full of doubts. At that point, they had never won a pennant in their half-century of existence ? just three division titles in the late-1990s.

They had never won a postseason series, and their record in three ALDS appearances ? all against the Yankees ? was 1-9.

Last October, the Rangers franchise was only two months removed from a bankruptcy case and ownership change, and seven months earlier their manager admitted to a one-time cocaine use slip-up that stained his reputation, if not threatened his job security.

But look at the Rangers now:

Their 96 regular-season wins were a club record, and marked the first time in franchise history they reached the 90-win mark in consecutive years.

The ownership stabilization has led to a payroll bump-up to near the $100-million mark from just under $70 million, where it had been stuck in neutral for five seasons.

That didn't prevent free-agent Cliff Lee from bolting to Philadelphia last winter, but what the Rangers didn't spend on Lee they used for a series of key acquisitions led by Adrian Beltre ? or should we say, after ALDS Game 4 in Tampa, Bel-trey.

After that three-homer game, Beltre said about his choice last winter, "From my point of view, Texas gave me the best chance to put a ring on my finger, and I am just two steps away from it.''

Interesting, since he played last season for the Red Sox, who chose to pay for Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez instead.

As for the Rangers' next step, they already have dismissed the AL team with the best rotation ? the Rays ? and did it fairly easily in four games.

Along the way, they conquered David Price and James Shields ? the latter who had been very successful against them ? and exposed the bullpen weakness that Rays manager Joe Maddon masterfully kept to a minimum during the regular season.

So other than the possibility of a couple of Justin Verlander starts, there's little left to fear for the Rangers when it comes to opposing AL starting pitchers.

And besides, even without Lee, the Rangers' rotation is strong enough that they could afford to move Alexi Ogando back to the bullpen, setting up the postseason's most-dominant late-inning combination of options for manager Ron Washington.

You can point to the Rangers' losing regular-season records against the Tigers (3-6) and Yankees (2-7), but all but three of those games were played before the midseason deals for Koji Uehara, Mike Gonzalez and Mike Adams that transformed the Rangers' bullpen.??

This group will shut you down with strikeout stuff in the late innings, and it's no wonder Washington isn't questioned so much anymore about his handling of the bullpen. In fact, after signing a two-year extension last winter, Washington apparently is in line for another.

"I love the guy,'' general manager Jon Daniels said about Washington earlier this week. "A team takes on the character of the manager, and he has been perfect for this team. There are a lot of great managers who do different things well, but how many managers really inspire their players? How many truly inspire them and get them to play beyond their abilities? That's what Wash does.''

One look at the Rangers' stolen-base totals ? two players with 30-plus, three others in double figures ? tells you this isn't the one-dimensional slugging lineup of the late-1990s. But that's not to say they still don't mash home runs.

Adding Beltre and Mike Napoli has cranked up the power so much that 2010 AL MVP Josh Hamilton finished fifth in this lineup in home runs despite playing 121 games. That's right, fifth: Beltre and Ian Kinsler (32), Napoli (30) and Nelson Cruz (27) hit more.?

During the regular season, the Rangers offense led the majors in batting average (.283), was second in slugging percentage (.460) and third in runs with 855.

Then they dismissed Tampa Bay despite Elvis Andrus, Michael Young and Cruz contributing next to nothing offensively ? a combined 5-for-44 with no RBI.

"There's no question about it,'' said postseason whiz Colby Lewis, who is 4-0-1.67 after beating Tampa Bay in the critical Game 2. "We're a better team (than last year).''

Tony DeMarco writes regularly for NBCSports.com and is a freelance writer based in Denver.

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