Crappy Team Roundup: Rangers & Padres

And now, two more teams that honestly don't have a ton worth writing about.

The Texas Rangers. Their big thing used to be hitting a ton of home runs, and it technically still is...just without the pitching to back it up. Their staff ace is 45-year-old Bartolo Colon...or maybe Mike Minor. I dunno, neither are especially burning down the house over there. At least Jose Leclerc has jumped into the closing position in Keone Kela's absence, but the pitching is mostly rusty, and a far cry from even the Wilson-Harrison-Holland-Lewis rotations of the early 2010s.

The lineup is fine. People are hitting. They're striking out a lot, especially Odor and Gallo, but this is normal. They've called up a lot of impressive rookies, like Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronald Guzman, but they can only do so much. Beltre and Andrus have been steady, but they lost some time to injuries, and they may not be as sharp as they used to.

With the Astros, A's and Mariners battling up top, there's not much else the Rangers can do right now, but if Gallo wants to chase 40 again, I won't stop him.

At least the Rangers had a few good pitchers, and some home run hitters. What do the Padres have? Besides a cut lip on Wil Myers' part.

Good news is that, in the ashes of the departed closer Brad Hand comes Kirby Yates, who's been wheeling and dealing since taking the mantle. He's been one of the top performers on the team since the break, along with Wil Myers, who's working on coming back from a facial injury. Honestly, though? That's really all this team has.

The Padres have so many players with low averages and high-ish WARs, that are trying so hard to do well, but just are on the wrong team for success. Even Eric Hosmer's numbers have weakened since coming to San Diego, and he's deferred mostly to Myers, which says something.

The Padres just can't seem to shake this slump, and haven't been able to get a team to the postseason in over a decade. It's been a while since a truly great player has come from this farm system. They're eventually going to need to prove that they're not doomed, and they can still get a team to October. It just may take them a while.

Coming Tomorrow- A speedy, talented rookie that might eventually save the worst team in baseball.