All-Time Rangers Team
Taking a look at the Rangers today and this one is sure to draw some ire. The Rangers originated as the Washington Senators in 1961 (not the original Washington Senators which stakes claim to Hall of Famer Walter Johnson- that Washington Senators team relocated to Minnesota as the Twins in 1960). Washington DC was awarded the team after the original Senators moved to Minnesota and remained in DC for 10 years before relocating to Arlington in 1971, where they became the Rangers.
The Rangers have one AL pennant to their name, which they earned last season, falling to the Giants in the World Series. They have had some decent talent throughout the years and their current lineup contains a handful of players that could make this team some day.
Let me start by saying that picking this team was a nightmare and it sparked a debate as to whether we should have done two all-time teams (one with an asterisk and one without). I should further clarify that just because a player shows up on an all-time team doesn't mean that we've softened our stance on Hall of Fame worthiness.
The everlasting effects of playing alongside Jose Canseco and the implications of his book and the usage of PED's and steroids are more prevalent on this team than any other we've seen. There are a few players on this list that were implicated in his book and a few that we left off. In the end, we compared the overall numbers of the player against the next guy on the list to determine whether that player was a worthy replacement. In my opinion, it would be a huge disservice to include Jim Sundberg over Ivan Rodriguez. No offense to Jim Sundberg and his 6 Gold Gloves but Ivan Rodriguez is one of the greatest catchers of all-time with or without steroids. Offensive numbers aside, his eleven gold gloves is more than any other player in history and defense is only minimally impacted by the use of PED's.
We also agreed initially to include Alex Rodriguez; we could have used Michael Young at SS and Julio Franco or Ian Kinsler at 2B or we could have went with Toby Harrah at SS but we went with the Alex Rodriguez because he was the better player.
At 1B, we considered and left off Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro.
In the outfield, there were a lot of names to consider. Ruben Sierra was probably the first man out but Jeff Burroughs and Al Oliver just missed the cut as well. I included Josh Hamilton on my list; admittedly, that's a bit of a "potential" pick but considering he has an MVP and four all-star appearances in four years, I'd say that it's not that far off. The name that is going to make people unhappy is Juan Gonzalez but with 13 seasons as a Ranger, 2 MVP's, 5 SS's and given the fact that he is the franchise all-time home run leader, I would be remiss if we left him off.
Starting pitching was also tough as we left off the only player with a retired number in Rangers history, Nolan Ryan, and the franchise all-time wins leader, Charlie Hough, in favor of Kenny Rogers, The Gambler and Fergie Jenkins. Ryan is beloved in Texas because that's his home and I think that his status as one of the greats in Rangers history is closely linked to the immense fanfare that he received during his retirement tour as a Ranger. He did have two no hitters but his last two seasons (out of 5) were ineffective, to put it mildly. We also chose Kenny Rogers over Charlie Hough; admittedly, that was basically a pick 'em.
C- Ivan Rodriguez
1B- Mark Teixeira
2B- Michael Young
SS- Alex Rodriguez
3B- Buddy Bell
OF- Frank Howard
OF- Rusty Greer
OF- Josh Hamilton
DH- Juan Gonzalez
SP- Ferguson Jenkins
SP- Kenny Rogers
RP- John Wetteland
The Rangers have one AL pennant to their name, which they earned last season, falling to the Giants in the World Series. They have had some decent talent throughout the years and their current lineup contains a handful of players that could make this team some day.
Let me start by saying that picking this team was a nightmare and it sparked a debate as to whether we should have done two all-time teams (one with an asterisk and one without). I should further clarify that just because a player shows up on an all-time team doesn't mean that we've softened our stance on Hall of Fame worthiness.
The everlasting effects of playing alongside Jose Canseco and the implications of his book and the usage of PED's and steroids are more prevalent on this team than any other we've seen. There are a few players on this list that were implicated in his book and a few that we left off. In the end, we compared the overall numbers of the player against the next guy on the list to determine whether that player was a worthy replacement. In my opinion, it would be a huge disservice to include Jim Sundberg over Ivan Rodriguez. No offense to Jim Sundberg and his 6 Gold Gloves but Ivan Rodriguez is one of the greatest catchers of all-time with or without steroids. Offensive numbers aside, his eleven gold gloves is more than any other player in history and defense is only minimally impacted by the use of PED's.
We also agreed initially to include Alex Rodriguez; we could have used Michael Young at SS and Julio Franco or Ian Kinsler at 2B or we could have went with Toby Harrah at SS but we went with the Alex Rodriguez because he was the better player.
At 1B, we considered and left off Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro.
In the outfield, there were a lot of names to consider. Ruben Sierra was probably the first man out but Jeff Burroughs and Al Oliver just missed the cut as well. I included Josh Hamilton on my list; admittedly, that's a bit of a "potential" pick but considering he has an MVP and four all-star appearances in four years, I'd say that it's not that far off. The name that is going to make people unhappy is Juan Gonzalez but with 13 seasons as a Ranger, 2 MVP's, 5 SS's and given the fact that he is the franchise all-time home run leader, I would be remiss if we left him off.
Starting pitching was also tough as we left off the only player with a retired number in Rangers history, Nolan Ryan, and the franchise all-time wins leader, Charlie Hough, in favor of Kenny Rogers, The Gambler and Fergie Jenkins. Ryan is beloved in Texas because that's his home and I think that his status as one of the greats in Rangers history is closely linked to the immense fanfare that he received during his retirement tour as a Ranger. He did have two no hitters but his last two seasons (out of 5) were ineffective, to put it mildly. We also chose Kenny Rogers over Charlie Hough; admittedly, that was basically a pick 'em.
C- Ivan Rodriguez
1B- Mark Teixeira
2B- Michael Young
SS- Alex Rodriguez
3B- Buddy Bell
OF- Frank Howard
OF- Rusty Greer
OF- Josh Hamilton
DH- Juan Gonzalez
SP- Ferguson Jenkins
SP- Kenny Rogers
RP- John Wetteland
A couple question marks here. I'd take Al Oliver over Greer. Sierra over Greer too. Rube outpaces Greer in every offensive category, and he bests Howard in all but homers. Otherwise I agree.
ReplyDeleteI think Freer was a better all around player... Went all out which is why his career was cut short. You could make a case for Oliver over Freer (in which case I'd move Juan Gone to DH) but I thought a tenured player was appropriate over Oliver. It was tough... As you know and this will be the last time I think about it.
ReplyDeletePicking this team was by far the most frustrating. First off, I hate Kenny Rogers and picked Ryan or Hough over him. I didn't want Gonzalez on the team, but i did pick Pudge and A-Rod, so I was a little hyprocritical there. Buddy Bell, Fergie and Wetteland were the only ones we didn't argue about.
ReplyDeleteI like Kinsler at 2B and Young at SS and dropping A Roid. Just to be two faced though I like Palmeiro over Texeira at 1B. I drop Hamilton as well and go with Juan Gone straight up in the OF. I like Charlie Hough and Kevin Brown added as SP's.
ReplyDelete