All Time Rangers

All Time Rangers

                In 1961 the first iteration of the Rangers came about, as the Washington Senators, and in 1971 they moved to Arlington and became the Rangers that we know of today starting with the 1972 season. The Rangers, like the Mariners, have yet to win a World Series, but have two AL Penants, 7 West Division titles and a wild card berth. Only two players are in the Hall of Fame wearing the Rangers Jersey in Nolan Ryan and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, although there are quite a few others who spent time in the uniform that are in there. This team might not come in quite as filthy as the top tier teams but I will admit this teams is way better than I thought it’d be, and will cause a lot of problems.

           This Rangers lineup has some scary, scary hitters in it. Josh Hamilton is going to lead things off, and he brings with him one of the top 20 corner outfielder cards out there (given our rules of a full season and no repeating players). With 10 OB, 16 speed and a great chart, he’s going to set the table for the slew of power hitters behind him. ARod’s 2001PR card is next, which is the top SS card, and the top card in this lineup. Not far behind him is Mike Napoli, the second best catching card (Pudge somehow gets bumped to the bench here, and he is the 6th best catcher overall). With five 10 OB cards and four 9 OBs, it’s a bit weaker than the top flight lineups, but boy oh boy do these top cards rake. Palmeiro also sneaks in the clean up slot, with a card that represents the power and hitting ability he showed over his long (and steroid filled?) major league career. 

                 Michael Young is the weakest of the 10 OB cards, however he provides a solid chart, positional flexibility, and still gives a great 5-hole hitter. Juan Gonzalez is a very good 9 OB card, although his 0 defense isn’t ideal, but he has only 2 outs and 4 HRs to make up for it. Caminiti and Catalanatto are solid for 2B and 3B cards, although compared to how good the top of the lineup is, they are a bit disappointing in comparison. One way to get Catalanatto out of the lineup is to bump Young to 2B, Palmeiro’s 2001 card to 1B, Napoli to DH and Pudge 2001 to catcher. It technically comes in just below the main starting lineup from an offensive production stand point but adds +2 with Pudge’s arm and +2 in the infield. I’d honestly be tempted to even out the lineup to being more consistent 1-9, but there’s pros and cons to each. Cruz rounds out this lineup with a phenomenal card, with 19 speed, 9 OB, +1 def and a solid chart. This lineup draws it's power from slightly less traditional positions, with their SS, CF and C provided the three biggest power hitters, and their corner outfielders, 1B and 3B not doing as much. When I first looked over this rotation I thought it was solid enough, however upon closer review it’s definitely more on the shaky side at best. Cliff Lee leads the way fresh off his time in Philadelphia with an innings eater card of 8 IP, 3 Control and 19 to get on base. This card undoubtedly will be dominant against lower OB teams, and I’m sure will do well enough given this offense. He’s followed by Wilson’s 2011 card which has the traditional 5 Control, 16 out, walk/two 1Bs/2B chart over 6 IP. Also in 2011 you have Hollands solid but not spectacular 4 Control, 6 IP, 16 out, three singles, and a double chart.  

Yu Darvish’s 2017AS card would’ve been nice to have here, but we’re going to have to fill the back end of the rotation in with Rick Helling’s 2001 and Tommy Hunter’s 2011 card. Neither of these cards will jump out at you, and any pitcher giving up a home run on their chart is not ideal. Mike Minor’s 2018 card comes in right behind Hunter which is surprising, and I think many people would prefer that type of card on their team. Out of the top 5 starters we have, four of them come from the 2011 set. I have a feeling there’s going to be a few cards down below that could bolster this spot significantly. While the rotation isn’t great, it is solid enough to not completely ruin the Rangers chances due to their lineup. I’d guess there is going to be a lot of scoring in their games. The bullpen is led by Jeff Zimmerman’s 4 Control, 18 outs and no doubles card and followed by Lecrec’s almost identical card, however giving up a double. The top three cards all have 4 Control which worries me a bit, but good charts to make up for it. Even though O'Day is ranked as the 4th reliever, I probably would be using him a bit more often personally. 

The lack of pitching is really going to be the biggest issue here, although it’s not atrocious enough that this team won’t win some ball games. Their offense is going to carry the team and they definitely have the cards to do it. Their lineup consists of some of the top cards out there, and over the course of a full season these players should rack up some serious numbers, however the lack of depth across the roster is going to cause some issues. To help with this, as I mentioned above, you can move around some of the hitters and put Pudge, Palmeiro ’01 or Rusty Greer in, who are the top 3 hitting options available. Mike Minor’s 2018 card is the top starting pitching available with a 3 Control, 6 IP, 16 outs and one walk, two singles and a double. For relievers Venafro and Crabtree are the top two available with similar looking cards. Venafro comes in with 4 Control, 16 outs, a walk and three singles. Crabtree has 5 Control but only 15 outs, a walk and four singles. I’m definitely sticking with Pudge here, as his chart and defense are truly disgusting. His 9 OB and 5 outs are the only real things that pull him back, although I definitely think I’ll find myself pinch hitting with him and sliding Young around. Palmeiro’s 2000 card only being a DH really limits the flexibility of this team, and I think from a managerial standpoint I’d elect to use his 2001 card despite the 9 OB. I’ll include that here so you can see it, and in that case Pudge would bump up to catcher, Napoli to DH, Palmeiro ’01 to 1B, and Young to 2B. In that scenario I’d have Greer on my bench, and Choo’s 2018 card would be the second up, which comes in right behind Greer’s card. So although I technically am going over 25, I wanted to show you what the technically best lineup was, and I’ll also include the extra cards here I would use. Pudge and Palmeiro get bumped up, leaving us with Greer, Choo and Venafro. I'll include Minor here too as I'd potentially use him and bump Hunter

          The lineup clocks in at 4,220 points with Palmeiro 2000 in there, at 4,320 without, the bench at a respectable 1,280/860, rotation at the lower end with 2,200 and the bullpen at 1,340 for a total of 9,040/8720. This will be a bit on the lower side, and the weighting of points is definitely centered on a few solid cards. Although on paper the replacement of Palmeiro’s 2000 card seems to weaken the team, I think the flexibility to open Young up to bounce around the infield as you need him to is much more representative of a MLB team. 

Hitters

SP

RP

          Similar to the Mariners, A-Rod takes three of the top 5 seasons with his 2001 season being tops, and being represented here. Frank Howard’s 1969 is third in which he slashed .296/.402/.574 to the tune of 175 hits, 48 HRs, 111 RBIs, 111 runs and led the league in total bases. He was in LF which means he’d probably knock Juan Gonzalez off, although his ’93 season actually comes in right behind, and should also be better than his 2000 card. Julio Franco’s 1991 season pops up next in which he led the league with a .341 batting average, had a .408/.474 slash, with 201 hits, 27 doubles, 15 HRs, 78 RBIs and 108 runs. He played all 146 games at 2B that year, so he would be a great addition to this club. On the starting pitching side, we don’t see a single card we have on the list until CJ Wilson in 2010. Fergie Jenkins’ 1974 is the highest WAR season for any pitcher in Rangers history, in which he went 25-12 with a 2.82 ERA, 29 complete games in 41 attempts, 328.1 IP, 225 Ks and an ERA+ of 126. This card needs to get made on his name and looks alone, nonetheless his dominance that year. Mike Minor is low key coming in this year already with the second best season, but next up in Ken Hill in ’96. Hill finished at 16-10, a 3.65 ERA, 250.2 IP, 170 Ks, and a 145 ERA+. He did lead the league with 3 shutouts though! Believe it or not, Nolan Ryan doesn’t even crack the top 10 seasons according to WAR, even though I know his more dominant years were in Houston. In the bullpen there’s a lot of help to be given with Francisco Cordero, Joe Nathan, and John Wetteland in the 90s. All three of these cards could bring some dominance to an otherwise ok bullpen. Zimmerman shows up in the top 20, albeit barely, so there’s a lot depth to be added here.