The official second half starts tomorrow. The Rangers have sixty-six games remaining on their schedule.
But, really, the only games that matter are the next thirteen. Because the trade deadline is July 30. Texas plays thirteen games between now and then, and how they perform in those thirteen will determine whether the next fifty-three games matter.
Rangers general manager Chris Young is going to have to make the determination whether he thinks his team has a chance to legitimately make the playoffs. He has thirteen days to figure it out.
The Rangers haven’t figured that out in the first ninety-six games, so this will be no easy task.
Texas plays three against Baltimore, the best team in the American League East, then they have four against the Chicago White Sox, who are probably going to end up with one of the worst records of all time, then three against Toronto, a team everyone expected would win the East but is mired in last, and then St Louis, the surprise team of the National League Central.
Those seven games against Chicago and Toronto couldn’t have come at a better time for the Rangers. Realistically, they should win six of those. But the key is, how much ground do they make up?
When you’re in the hole the Rangers are in, they have to make up ground against so many teams. In the West, for instance, they have to make up five games on Seattle, and four games on Houston. The odds of both teams losing on the same day, and then losing enough on the same day the Rangers win, are just not very good. That’s how tough it is to make up ground. Houston and Seattle play a three-game series starting tomorrow. They both can’t lose, the Rangers cannot make up ground on both teams.
The Rangers have thirteen games to determine their fate. Thirteen games and a whole lot of free agent arms that would be very attractive to teams that have already determined they are playoff bound.
Good luck.
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TODAY’S GAME: