After 190 wins (including an impressive 99 victories in 2003) and consecutive playoff appearances in 2002 and 2003, the Texas Rangers fell hard in 2004, finishing the season with an 83-79 mark, good only for third place in the AL West, six games behind the division champion Oakland A’s and seven behind AL Wildcard entry, Minnesota.

So, what went wrong?

We decided to go out to different areas of Dallas, Arlington and Irving, Tx., to talk to the fans and hear what people on the streets think about their baseball team and one of the main subjects that kept coming up constantly was team salaries. At $92,983,770, the Rangers have the second highest payroll in the Majors, only behind the Detroit Tigers. And, most of it goes into the pockets of LF Rusty Greer, the highest paid player in all of baseball.

Greer, 35, makes $23,150,000 per year. And, given his age, numbers and suspect defense, it’s hard to believe that the OF known as the “Red Baron” would be the highest player in the game. Other cases mentioned were C Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez, 1B/OF/DH Reggie Jefferson and SS D’Angelo Jiménez. All of whom made over 6 M, and their numbers (perhaps with the exception of Jiménez) definitely were not up to par with their hefty paychecks.

The defense of 3B Michael Young was also a hot topic of discussion. A natural middle IF and terrific defender at 2B and SS, Young made a league worst (and eye-popping) 57 errors in 2003. In 2004 he didn’t improve by much, making a whopping league-leading 52 E’s, giving him a total of 109 over the past two years, since converted to the hot corner, prior to the 2003 season. By far, the highest number of “horrors” for any third sacker in both leagues during the past two years.

Relief pitching was another area of concern, since Ranger relievers failed to provide much…well, relief during most of 2004. Take all of the above into consideration and it’s not hard to figure out why the team, standing at an extremely disappointing 39-47 at midseason, decided to hire a new general manager. Enter Tito Martínez.

A virtual unknown from México, Martínez had never managed in an online league, though he does have vast experience managing in solo play south of the border. But, despite his knowledge of the game and players, Texans were feeling a certain uneasiness when they learned about the resumé of their club’s new GM.

“Well…yeah,” says one anonymous interviewee. “I mean, success in a Mexican solo league is cool and all that. But managing a team in an online OOTP league is just not the same. Especially one that is as competitive and serious as SBS.”

Fortunately for Rangers fans, so far Martínez has proven to be a capable GM and it didn’t take long for his new regime to start turning things around. The first big move was the acquisition of veteran CF (and guitar virtuoso) Bernie Williams from the struggling N.Y. Yankees, in exchange for blue-chip prospect and former No. 1 draft pick Wandy Rodríguez.

Bernie’s numbers with the Rangers were not spectacular by any means (.212-5-23 in 42 games) but the classy veteran provided much-needed leadership and experience to the Rangers and the protection he provided for 1B Carlos Peña in the line-up allowed for the Rangers young slugger to end up with MVP caliber numbers across the board (.283-42-136).

Then came the major overhaul in the bullpen. Gone were unproductive vets Mike Venafro, Matt Wise and Jeff Zimmerman, replaced with former closer Francisco Cordero, steady southpaw Darren Oliver and young, fireballer Joaquín Benoit. While Cordero struggled at times as the team’s main set-up (2-2, 2 SV’s, 4.50 ERA), Oliver (1-0, 0.75 in 10 gms.) and Benoit (2 SV’s, 1.46 in 11 gms.) were simply outstanding.

When it was all said and done, the new-look Rangers had turned their season around, finishing a very strong 44-32 since the new regime took over, thus providing hope for the future.

Looking ahead into 2005, the Rangers biggest challenge will be to shed some of the club’s hefty payroll, while trying to remain competitive. And the first move made by the club during the offseason (sending veteran lefty Doug Davis to the Cleveland Indians for young 3B Dallas McPherson) points exactly in that direction.

Davis, a former 20 game winner, was languishing in the pen as a mop-up man/spot starter, till the new regime took over and inserted him back in the rotation. He finished the year at 9-9 and tied for the team lead in ERA with 4.12; unspectacular but solid numbers, especially for any pitcher throwing at the hitter’s friendly Ballpark. But Davis is bound to make over 2 M next year. On the other hand, McPherson, who’s coming off a terrific rookie season (.269-29-89 in only 494 AB’s with Cleveland), is only 24 years old and his contract will be completely under the team’s control for the next few years.

The move may very well have meant “bye-bye” to SS Jiménez, who’s eligible for arbitration (and projects to make close to 9 M per year, after a career year that saw him hit .283 with 22 HR’s and 70 RBI’s from the lead-off spot) with Young moving back to SS and McPherson taking over at 3B.

“Great move,” opined Teper Monsgam, a veteran baseball writer and analyst. “With Zambrano, Harang, Kuroda and Lieber, the Rangers may have had enough starting pitching to make this trade and they may have very well solved two or three issues in one swift stroke.”

The 2004 season had its share of ups and downs for the Texas Rangers but if the club’s first deal is any indicator, the offseason promises to be another exciting roller coaster ride. Stay tuned…