Friday, December 18, 2015

The Rangers Franchise Deep Four

Hey, another of these! Yeah, I decided to finish this one, which I'd started on a while ago. The Washington Senators/Texas Rangers franchise isn't one that gets a lot of historical examination, but let it not be said that Baseball Junk Drawer ignores it!


PC1B2B3BSSLFCFRF
1stKenny RogersIvan RodriguezRafael PalmeiroIan KinslerBuddy BellAlex RodriguezFrank HowardOddibe McDowellJuan Gonzalez
2ndCharlie HoughJim SundbergMark TeixeiraJulio FrancoAdrian BeltreElvis AndrusRusty GreerDon LockRuben Sierra
3rdFergie JenkinsPaul CasanovaWill ClarkBump WillsKen McMullenToby HarrahJosh HamiltonLeonys MartinNelson Cruz
4thNolan RyanGerald LairdPete O'BrienMark McLemoreHank BlalockScott FletcherBilly SampleMickey RiversJeff Burroughs


I hated to put Josh Hamilton on the 3rd Team, but I didn't feel right about putting him in center field, and he only had that one big MVP season while playing primarily left. The truth is though, Hamilton probably isn't (or wasn't) as great as that season, all things considered, so maybe it's perfectly fitting not to rank him very high.

Michael Young played too many positions to put him at any one, and since the Rangers are pretty strong at shortstop, Young's most logical position, he was off the board completely. Ed Brinkman was another fine player at that position who didn't make the cut. It's a shame there wasn't a place for Mr. Ranger somewhere.

I was surprised at how strong third base, pitcher, and right field were. Center field was weak, and catcher was extremely top-heavy. Jim Sundberg was probably good enough to be some teams' #1, but here he's stuck behind Pudge. After those two, the cupboard is pretty bare.