Rays or Rangers? The choice is yours

Tonight at the Trop the Rays and Rangers battle to see who will face the Yankees in the ALCS. As a Yankees fan you hope that Cliff Lee and David Price throw over 100 pitches, and the game goes 18 innings. But who matches up better for the Yankees?

The Rays and Rangers can both hit, but the Rays have struck out almost 300 more times then the Rangers as a team. Both teams are made of power and speed, but the Rays have stolen close to 50 bases more then the Rangers. The teams are equal in home runs, with the Rangers having just two more, but batting average is an east win for the Rangers who have hit .29 points better then the Rays. The Rays do draw more walks, and the teams have similar on base percentages.

Now aside from stats both teams do have thier share of scary hiitters. The Rangers have Josh Hamilton who could easily be the MVP, Vlad Guerrero who the Yankees have seen and been hurt by numerous times while with the Angels.Texas also has a pair of all star sluggers in Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler who may not have the best stats this season, due to injury but are both major threats.

The Rays on the other hand have a perfect mix of speed and power. Carl Crawford is a perfect example of a guy that can hit one out, but at the same time could get on base and steal with ease. Evan Longoria had another great season, but has been banged up over the end of the season. Carlos Pena has had the worst season of his career, and Ben Zobrist fell back to form. But the Rays as a team each contribute, and the key for the Yankees if they face them is to keep them off base, because with Posada behind the plate the Rays will run all over, it doesnt help that many of the Yanks pitchers dont hold runners on.

Pitching the teams are very similar, both are full of young arms and have a lefty ace. But the Rangers have the better starting staff, with four starters having ERA's below four. The Rays have a slight advantage with experience since many of the starters are the same ones that helped the Rays make it to the 2008 Postseason. The Rangers do have Cliff Lee, but he is the only pitcher other then Darren Oliver to have experience.

The bullpens are again very similar, although the Rays may have a slight advantage since Rafael Soriano is a stronger closer then Neftali Feliz, who has a higher WHIP. Again the bullpen's are very similar, but the Rays have a bit more expereince.

Both teams had great season's and its understandable. They both can hit and pitch and rely on youth. The youth could help a team, but the inexperince could also hurt. I think that tonight the Rays are going to pull out a win at home, but the Yankees should be aware of facing them. I do believe that the Yankees dont care either way who they face and will be prepared no matter what, but of the two teams I feel the Rangers match up better cause of the lack of experience.