How will Clint Hurdle do? Ask Bill James

Clint Hurdle is going to be the Rangers next hitting coach, an announcement that they apparently are holding off until after the World Series.

So, how is Hurdle going to do?

Apparently Bill James already has an answer for that in his Bill James 2010 Handbook. Here is what James projects for four Rangers players and Justin Smoak as well:

Key Rangers Hitters (by OPS)
Player                                    AB     R   HR  RBI SB   Avg.    OPS
Nelson Cruz                           542     89   36  98    21  .284     .895
Chris Davis                             494     80   30   91    2   .285     .877
Josh Hamilton                         501     75   23   91   11   .293    .860
Ian Kinsler                              575    106   27  84   28   .275     .837
Justin Smoak                         365      48    10  45    0   .274     .793

Bet the Rangers will take that right now from Cruz, Davis, Hamilton and Kinsler right now.

This from the press release:

 "In any season, the vast majority of players play in a manner that seems a natural extension of what they had done before," James says in his new book. "When that happens, our projection should be reasonably accurate."
 
Although he's been in the projection business for almost twenty years, one thing James has no control over is playing time. "It is always my argument that we have no chance of figuring out, in October 2009, who will get playing time in 2010," James says. "But what we should do is try to answer this question: If this player plays, how will he play?"