The Texas Rangers have lost 29-year old starter/relievers Omar Beltre for at least the next 6-8 weeks after recent surgery for stenosis of the spine. Beltre pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Rangers last season in his first taste of the bigs and he was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA and a 2.29 WHIP. Beltre also pitched in 24 games (14 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 3-9 with 2 saves, a 2.65 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Beltre has a good arm so he has potential to help the Rangers in 2011 at some point if he can get and stay healthy.

22-year old righty swinging Elvis Andrus regressed a little bit in his second year in the majors with a bat in his hands. Andrus played in 148 games for the Rangers last season and he was 156 of 588 (.265 avg, .643 OPS) with 88 runs scored, 0 homers, 35 RBIs and 32 stolen bases. If Andrus doesn’t improve that OPS a little bit this year, he might find himself batting near the bottom of the order at some point in 2011. Andrus was very solid in the field as he made 16 errors in 148 games at SS while showing pretty good range. Hopefully Andrus will improve with the bat a bit in 2011 so that he can utilize his speed.

26-year old switch hitting Andres Blanco played in 68 games for the Rangers last season and he was 46 of 166 (.277 avg, .679 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 0 homers and 13 RBIs. Blanco needs to improve his D a little bit as he made 2 errors at SS in 16 games there for the Rangers last season while showing terrible range. Blanco has improved as a hitter and that’s something the Rangers have to be happy about.

29-year old righty swinging Brian Barden will likely start the 2011 season in AAA-ball. Barden played in 35 games for the Marlins last season and he was 5 of 28 (.179 avg, .460 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs. Barden has now played in 119 games in his first four years and he is a .211 career hitter with a .571 OPS. Barden played in 7 error-free games for the Marlins as SS last season while showing poor range.

29-year old lefty swinging Omar Quintanilla played in 34 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 30 for 119 (.252 avg, .669 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 1 homer, 15 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He last played in the majors back in 2009 with the Rockies. Quintanilla has a career batting average of .220 with a .567 OPS. Quintanilla already has one strike for testing positive for PEDs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RANGERS SS IN 2011: B

The Texas Rangers have signed 37-year old righty starting pitcher Brett Tomko to a minor league deal. Tomko pitched in 14 games (all starts) in Rookie+A+AAA-ball last season and he was 2-3 with a 7.18 ERA and a 1.72 WHIP. He gave up a stunning 92 hits in 62 2/3 innings in the minors last season as he was very hittable. Tomko last pitched in the majors in 2009 with the A’s & Yankees. He has now pitched in 389 games (266 starts) in his first 13 years in the majors and he is 100-102 with 2 saves, a 4.65 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Tomko will likely start the year in AAA-ball and have to work his way back to the show.

28-year old righty swinging 2B Ian Kinsler was a 30/30 man in 2009 with the Rangers but he came back down to Earth in 2011. Kinsler played in 103 games for the Rangers last season and he was 112 of 391 (.286 avg, .794 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 9 homers, 45 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. In Kinsler’s first five years in the majors, he is averaging 123.6 games played, 87.4 runs scored, 18.4 homers, 63.6 RBIs and 21.2 stolen bases per game. Kinsler has only played in over 140 games one time in his first five years in the majors. Kinsler is a great speed and power threat when he stays healthy but that has been a huge problem for him so far is his career. Kinsler made 7 errors in 103 games at 2B last season while showing average range. The Rangers will be ecstatic if Kinsler can stay healthy for around 140 games in 2011.

The Rangers don’t really have much of a backup plan if Kinsler goes down again. 26-year old switch hitting Andres Blanco was Kinsler’s main caddy in 2011, but he’s a natural shortstop. Blanco made 4 errors in 40 games at 2B last season while showing poor range. Blanco also isn’t much of a hitter either.

32-year old switch hitting Matt Kata might be able to beat out Andres Blanco this spring. Kata played in 132 games in AAA-ball for the Astros last season and he was 131 of 485 (.270 avg, .686 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 6 homers, 47 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Kata made 2 errors in 34 games at 2B in the minors last season. He can also handle playing 1B and 3B which could help his cause.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RANGERS 2B IN 2011: B

25-year old lefty swinging Mitch Moreland was so good down the stretch for the Rangers last season that he will get a chance to be the full time 1B in 2011 with a solid spring. Moreland played in 47 games for the Rangers last season and he was 37 of 145 (.255 avg, .833 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 9 homers, 25 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Moreland also played in 95 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 102 of 353 (.289 avg, .855 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 12 homers, 65 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Moreland will win the full-time job this spring if he proves that he can handle lefty pitching. Moreland had 2 errors in 40 games at 1B for the Rangers last season and he’s average at best defensively.

29-year old righty swinging Mike Napoli will likely get some time at 1B, C and DH this season for the Rangers. He had 6 errors in 70 games for the Angels at 1B last season so he has a lot to improve on to be an even average 1B defensively. But, he brings a big time power bat to the Rangers’ lineup from the right side.

24-year old lefty swinging Chris Davis has fallen on hard times for the Rangers. He played in 45 games for the Rangers last season and he was 23 of 120 (.192 avg, .571 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He whiffed a stunning 40 times for the Rangers last season as he looked hopeless at the plate at times. The Rangers are by no means giving up on Davis who was pretty solid in his first two years with the Rangers. Davis played in 193 games in his first two years with the Rangers and he was 177 of 686 (.258 avg) with 99 runs scored, 38 homers and 114 RBIs. So he has showed potential to be a big time power hitter in the show but he needs to get his confidence back before they give him another shot. Davis had 2 errors in 41 games at 1B for the Rangers last season and he’s a tad below average defensively.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RANGERS 1B IN 2011: C