Texas Rangers

The Rangers are your defending AL West champions, and now they get to have a full season of Cole Hamels as well as the eventual return of Yu Darvish. Sure, not everything is perfect in Arlington, but the lineup and rotation have more than enough promise to ensure that WrestleMania won't be the last major sporting event in the city in 2016. Well, so long as the Rangers can stay healthy, anyway. That's a bit of a sore spot for them, you know.

Key Addition

Yu Darvish had his Tommy John in mid-March of 2015, so he's not ready to rejoin the Rangers just yet. When he is, though, so long as the command is there, he should help them more than any starter in the rotation not named Cole Hamels. Luckily for Texas, that's more a pro-Darvish feeling than an anti-everyone else one.

All additions: Ian Desmond, Tom Wilhelmsen, Justin Ruggiano, A.J. Griffin

Key Departure

The Rangers survived 2015's maladies in large part due to the performance of Yovani Gallardo and the August acquisition of Mike Napoli, and now both of them are gone. What's promising for Texas is that they couldn't necessarily rely on either to repeat their seasons, but at the same time, the rotation still has Colby Lewis in it.

All departures: Yovani Gallardo, Mike Napoli, Leonys Martin, Ross Ohlendorf

Best Case

Yu Darvish comes back with no complications from his Tommy John surgery, whether they're health- or command-related. A lineup anchored by Shin-Soo Choo, Prince Fielder, and Adrian Beltre remains a good idea even after the calendar has turned over to 2016, and the back-end of the rotation does enough to keep the Rangers afloat while they await the return of Yu. If all this goes down, the Rangers can repeat as AL West champs.

Worst Case

Yes, the Rangers won the AL West in 2015, but they also just notched 88 victories and still have plenty of injury and depth concerns that are too relevant for anyone to be at ease. Things could go south in a hurry in a division shared with the Mariners, Astros, and Angels, especially if Yu Darvish isn't sharp when he returns.

Projected Team

Lineup: Delino DeShields, Shin-Soo Choo, Prince Fielder, Adrian Beltre, Ian Desmond, Mitch Moreland, Robinson Chirinos, Rougned Odor, Elvis Andrus

Rotation: Cole Hamels, Martin Perez, Derek Holland, Colby Lewis, A.J. Griffin