Projecting the Texas Rangers 25 Man Roster

Jan 31, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington address the media during a press conference announcing the retirement of former Texas Ranger Michael Young (not pictured) at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Spring training is right around the corner, and the Texas Rangers will go form a forty man roster down to a 25 man roster to start the season by March 31. We watch teams go through the process of seeing what kind of talent they have going into spring training and who will surprise the coaches and managers and make the team, so all of this is simply conjecture on my part, but it is still fun to do. The Texas Ranger will have some surprises that I am pretty sure I will not be able to predict, and they may even add a player or two between now and March 31, but this list will be based on who they have now and pure guessing.

Starting Fielders:

1. Shin-soo Choo – left field.

2. Elvis Andrus – short stop.

3. Prince Fielder – first base

4. Adrian Beltre – third base

5. Alex Rios – right field

6. Mitch Moreland – designated hitter

7. Geovany Soto – catcher

8. Jurickson Profar – second base

9. Leonys Martin – center field

This is the batting order and the starters according to me. The first five in this order are going to be tough to pitch to, you have some guys who can get on base followed by three guys with pretty good power. I think that a lot of the Texas Rangers runs (obviously) are going to come from the top. Also having Leonys in the nine-hole provides more speed for those guys at the top as the game goes on.

Bench Player:

Michael Choice – outfield

Adam Rosales – infield

J.P. Arencibia – catcher

Starting Pitchers:

1. Yu Darvish

2. Martin Perez

3. Alexi Ogando

4. Matt Harrison

5. Colby Lewis

Call me crazy, but I have a strong belief that Colby is ready to make a comeback in a big way and that he will win that fifth spot in the rotation. The organization is already very familiar with him and they like him, and if he is anything like his former self, I believe that he will win the spot. My second choice is Tommy Hanson, because I think he is out to prove this spring training that he can still pitch, but either way competition for that fifth spot will be good for everyone and push every one of the players competing for it to be at their best.

Bull Pen:

Neftali Feliz – closer

Tanner Scheppers – set up

Joakim Soria – set up

Neal Cotts – middle reliever

Robbie Ross – middle reliever

Michael Kirkman – middle reliever

Cody Burns – middle reliever

Jason Frasor – long man

The pen is always hard to predict. One of the guys on the forty man roster is going to step up, they do every season. My feeling is that it will be Burns, but it could be a Matt West or a Ben Rowan or a Lisalverto Bonilla. Again, competition is good and it will make everyone have to compete for a job, and that is usually a good thing.

So there is my prediction of who will be on the opening day team for the Texas Rangers. Please feel free to tell me I am crazy or to give me your own list either here in the comments section below, on Facebook or on Twitter. And be sure to sign up for out emails and follow all of our great writers on Twitter.