Texas Rangers: Over/Under Win Total at 79.5 per BetOnline

BetOnline released their 2020 win total over/under list for Major League teams and the numbers were surprisingly unkind to the Texas Rangers.

As we gear up for the 2020 season, BetOnline has now released the 2020 Over/Under Win Totals for all Major League teams. Their line for the Texas Rangers was surprisingly unkind and prompted some debate as these lines do for all teams once released. BetOnline set the line at 79.5 wins for the Rangers in 2020, which would be just a tick higher than the 78 games the club won in 2019.

Other AL West totals included the A’s at 89.5, Angels 85.5 and the Mariners at 67.5 with the Astros currently not posted due in large part to the sign-stealing punishments which ramifications are still being felt. Even with fallout still coming out from the Houston Astros debacle, it can be assumed that they would have a line higher than that of the Rangers meaning BetOnline currently has Texas finishing fourth in the AL West.

While the Rangers will surely be battling the Angels for third place in the division at this point, a line just a game and a half above their win total from 2019 is surprising. Last season was a bit of a surprise for Texas as they hung around the Wild Card race longer than expected, but they did so with a makeshift rotation and while missing their best hitter in the second half of the season. Beyond Mike Minor and Lance Lynn, the 2019 Rangers rotation was fairly poor and the club has gone a long way to making upgrades adding Corey Kluber, Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles to bolster the starting group. In addition, they’ve made a significant upgrade behind the plate, their top problem area from 2019 while also bolstering third base and ensuring that Willie Calhoun will get more at-bats. The only major subtractions from last year’s team are Delino DeShields, Nomar Mazara and Emmanuel Clase, all of whom played a role, but were not among the top producers for the club.

Perhaps more surprising is that Angels line is set 13.5 games higher than their 2019 win total. The Angels made significant additions specifically bringing in Anthony Rendon, an MVP candidate last season. The rotation will see some additions with Shohei Ohtani returning to the mound and Julio Teheran signing in free agency but this still is a large jump for Los Angeles. While obviously these are not end all, be all rankings, they are an indication of perception of MLB teams. I wouldn’t be stunned to see the Angels beat the Rangers to third in the AL West, but it does feel like Texas should be above the 80 mark and the Angels placed similarly.