Rangers owner Nolan Ryan passes the American League championship trophy… (Tim Heitman / US Presswire )
Reporting from Arlington, Texas -- Assessing a season in which the Angels finished 10 games behind the Texas Rangers and out of the playoffs for the second straight year, Tony Reagins said, "We really don't believe the gap is as wide as the numbers in the standings."
It is that kind of flawed analysis that probably contributed to the dismissal of Reagins and two top assistants shortly after the season, a front-office purge that sent a clear message from ownership that the gap is growing, not shrinking.
The Angels have three outstanding starting pitchers, some promising young position players, and if their veteran hitters produce, they can compete in the American League West.
But they are no longer the class of the division, the model franchise others are trying to emulate.
That distinction belongs to the Rangers, who emerged from a 2010 ownership change and bankruptcy filing to reach the World Series for two straight years and seem poised to dominate this decade the way the Angels did the last.
They even stole a page from the Angels' playoff book with a monster nine-run third inning in their AL Championship Series-clinching win over Detroit on Saturday night. The Angels had a 10-run seventh inning in their ALCS clincher over Minnesota in 2002.
"The Angels were the standard in our division, they were the dominant team for a long time," said Thad Levine, a Rangers assistant general manager who is expected to be a candidate for the Angels' GM job. "It wasn't until we won the division for a second time that our guys started embracing the fact that we were the team to beat."
The Rangers, who open the World Series on Wednesday night at St. Louis, aren't just the Angels' problem.
They are so talented and deep, have such a fertile farm system and are so efficiently and creatively run by 32-year-old GM Jon Daniels that the free-spending New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are now trying to figure out a way to keep up with them.
"When you look at what's happened with ownership, the bankruptcy, and the team on the field, I think it's a testament to the people we have in the organization," said Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Fame pitcher who is president and chief executive of the Rangers. "A lot of positive things have happened over the last few years."
The Rangers, in their 39th year of existence in Texas, didn't even win their first postseason series until 2010, but they now have the look of a team that could win many in the years to come.
Their offense is so potent that their Nos. 6 and 7 hitters, Mike Napoli (.320, 30 home runs, 75 runs batted in) and Nelson Cruz (.263, 29, 87), could bat third and fourth for many teams.
Their overall defense has improved and features Gold Glove-caliber players at third base (Adrian Beltre), shortstop (Elvis Andrus) and right field (Cruz).
Though they lost ace Cliff Lee to free agency last winter, their C.J. Wilson-led rotation was deeper and just as effective this season, ranking third in the league with a 3.65 earned-run average.
Their one weakness — bullpen depth — was addressed with the trade-deadline acquisitions of right-handers Mike Adams and Koji Uehara and left-hander Mike Gonzalez.
The Rangers have one of the top young closers in baseball in Neftali Feliz and a dominant swing man in Alexi Ogando, who has pitched out of the rotation and bullpen.
Ryan, baseball's strikeout and no-hit king, and pitching coach Mike Maddux helped changed the mind-set of Rangers pitchers, who too often succumbed to the oppressive Arlington heat and used the fact they play in such a hitter-friendly park as a crutch.
"I don't know why people still talk about that," second baseman Ian Kinsler said of the stigma attached to Rangers pitchers. "It's not the ballpark, it's not the weather, it's just a matter of having pitchers who are capable of winning games."
Fifth-year Manager Ron Washington is bold and aggressive. He has the Rangers going from first base to third base on singles, stealing bases and playing fearlessly on defense, much as the Angels did when they won five division titles from 2004 to 2009.
He's not afraid of an unorthodox move that might be second-guessed, such as walking Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera with one out and the bases empty in the ALCS.
"I feel better about this team at this time this year than I did last year," Ryan said. "It's more balanced, which is important."
With a payroll of $92 million — that's $50 million less than the Angels spent this season — the Rangers get more bang for the buck than just about everyone in baseball but the Tampa Bay Rays.
Of their veteran core, Beltre is signed through 2015, Michael Young is signed through 2013, and Josh Hamilton, Kinsler and Yorvit Torrealba are signed through 2012.
Many significant contributors, including Napoli, Feliz, Cruz, Adams, Andrus, Ogando, outfielder David Murphy, first baseman Mitch Moreland and pitchers Matt Harrison and Derek Holland, are young and under club control.
