The Texas-Sized Gap May Have Already Been Closed, Several Times!

So ESPN wants to know if the Angels have closed the supposed Texas-sized gap? Well, I have the answer for you: They already did, in 2011. Several times.

The Angels were 6 games back on June 10th, and then were tied for first with the Rangers by July 3rd. The Halos were 7 games back on August 17th, and were one and a half back by September 10th. The team then went into a long overdue slump, after adding 9 games to their record from August 18th and September 21, and lost 6 of their final 7 games, which eliminated them from the playoffs at game #160. The Rangers, after being inconsistent all season and never pulling away, finally got hot the final 3 weeks; at the right time.

The Cardinals were 8 and a half games back of the Wildcard on September 5th. Had the season ended then, ESPN might be talking about Pujols, Berkman, and Holliday being on the decline, and how Wainwright was the missing ingredient. The Cardinals are your 2011 World Champions.

Where a team finishes is not always about how good or bad they are. Many teams have been hot at the right time, and won it all, even when those teams should never have made the playoffs (1988 Dodgers).

That just confirms that baseball is not won on paper; however, with a 53-34 run the Angels had from mid-June through mid-September, and the many chances they had to take over first place, one must wonder how many additions the team really needed. One might also wonder how many wins were added by trading Mathis and letting Pineiro and Rodney walk.

The Rangers always have great offense, but their current lineup is overrated; the Angels have outscored Texas on the road the last 3 years because the Rangers offense is skewed by their home ballpark. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Angels and Rangers offensive WAR were only off by 2.0, with Texas in the lead. Baseball-Reference.com also listed a 6.7 difference in pitching WAR, with Texas in the lead.

Believe it or not, it was pitching that needed to close the gap more than offense. The Angels just took away the Rangers #1 starter, who had a WAR of 5.0. Subtract that from the Rangers, and add it to the Angels, and we're already talking a close match.

Then, there's the Angels adding the WAR attached to Pujols, Ianetta, and Hawkins. There's also the potential WAR that Pujols can bring. And don't forget that Wells had a WAR of -0.3, and just an average year out of him would make a big difference too. Several Rangers players had what may be their peak years. The Angels have several good young players who have yet to even reach their prime.

All the Rangers have added so far this offseason is Joe Nathan, who doesn't do much to improve things for the Rangers, and Feliz has never started a major league game, same with Darvish.

However, with all this being said about WAR, the fact still remains that the Rangers won the AL West by 10 games because they got red hot in the final three weeks of the season, while the Angels slumped at the wrong time. I'll take the larger sample size and say the actual gap is more like 2 or 3 games.When factoring that in with the major additions the Angels made, and the little moves the Rangers have made, it looks more and more, in my opinion, like the Texas-sized gap may have already been surpassed this offseason.

We'll know for sure in 2012.