Breaking Up the Band: The 2011 Texas Rangers

People always talk about the Dallas Mavericks saying what if Mark Cuban had kept the band together for one or two more years. Fans always wonder if they could have repeated as NBA Champions, and I guess we will never know. The Texas Rangers should have been the MLB Champions that same season, and they have gone through almost the same type of turnover as the Mavericks have, yet no one is critical of them for that. The Texas Rangers used 45 players in 2011, and now only 10 of those players are in the organization anymore. The other 35 are gone. So what if Jon Daniels had re-signed some of the big names?

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C: Mike Napoli – Clearly the Texas Rangers could use the production that he is bringing to the Red Sox everyday! NAP-O-LI!

1B: Mitch Moreland – Moreland is still with the Texas Rangers, although he is only the first baseman because of a big injury to Prince Fielder.

2B: Ian Kinsler – Could the Texas Rangers use his batting line of .301/.331/.453 with 5 home runs and 26 RBI? I say they could. No one knew that Fielder would be down for the count, but I think the Rangers would be better today with Kinsler.

SS: Elvis Andrus – Still with the team, and still rocking it!

3B: Adrian Beltre – Adrian is coming on strong, as we all hoped that he would at some point during the season.

LF: Josh Hamilton – Josh had a rough season last year, but I believe that he wouldn’t have had a rough season if he would have stayed in Texas. Texas seemed to be a place that fit Josh really well. Of course, he wore out his welcome at the end of the 2012 season, but he is having himself a heck of a season (when he is healthy) this season.

CF: Endy Chavez – Chavez played for the Orioles and Mariners for a couple of seasons after leaving the Texas Rangers, and i always kind of like Chavez. He is currently with the Mariners, although he is not an everyday player anymore.

LF: Nelson Cruz – Nelly is having quite a season for the Orioles, and I think that, even if he won’t admit it, J.D. really wishes that he would have hung on to the current home run and RBI leader in the American League.

DH: Michael Young – Mr. Ranger and by far one of my favorite players of all time. He could still be a Ranger today in my opinion!

Bench Players:

David Murphy – We will see him this weekend at the ballpark. Always a classy guy, always one of my favorite players.

Yorvit Torrealba – he is now out of the league after finishing up his career with the Rockies.

Craig Gentry – Although I like Michael Choice, I still find myself wanting to use the hashtag “kittenface” frequently. I miss Gentry.

Julio Borbon – Borbon never really found a full time place with the team.

Andres Blanco – Blanco was a hard working player that I always felt could have stuck around.

Chris Davis – Tearing it up for the second season in a row for the Orioles, Chris admitted that he probably never would have figured it out in his home state.

Taylor Teagarden – Has never stuck in the bigs, but I always thought he should be given more of a chance.

Omar Quintanilla – Only had 23 plate appearence for the Texas Rangers, but it was in 2011.

Esteban German

Matt Treanor

Leonys Martin – Now the everyday center fielder, he got his first taste of the majors in 2011.

Starting Pitchers:

C.J. Wilson – His ERA with the Angels is 3.59, and with the Texas Rangers it was 3.60. C.J. is a very consistent guy, and he could be a big help around here.

Matt Harrison – probably done for his career after his back surgery, which is a shame. He is a very hard working guy.

Colby Lewis – Not the same Colby from 2011, as David wrote about earlier.

Derek Holland – probably his best overall professional season. Hope he can top in in 2014 when he comes back from injury.

Alexi Ogando – Started as a great starting pitcher, wavered in the end. Another current Texas Rangers pitcher who is injured.

Bullpen

Scott Feldman – Now the ace of the Houston Astros, and an all around good guy that the Rangers could really use in their rotation.

Neftali Feliz – The greatest closer in Texas Rangers post season history is still struggling to get back to the majors after Tommy John Surgery.

Darren Oliver – retired and back with the Texas Rangers in a part time way.

Mark Lowe – No one like Mark Lowe, sorry Mark.

Yoshinori Tateyama – has only pitched for the Texas Rangers in his major league career.

Arthur Rhodes – The old guy who won a World Series ring anyway.

Mike Adams – Mike was a really good set up man for the Rangers while he was here, now with the Phillies.

Koji Uehara – Not his best season were spent as a Texas Rangers pitcher, and some seem to forget that now that he is doing so well with the Red Sox. Also, he did not get along with Yu Darvish.

Darren O’Day – Always like Darren and wished the Texas Rangers would have kept him. He is still doing well with the Orioles.

Dave Bush, Michael Kirkman, Brett Tomko, Tommy Hunter, Pedro Strop, Cody Eply, Mark Hamburger, Mike Gonzalez, Mason Tobin, Ryan Tucker and Merkin Valdez round out the 2011 team.

So would the Texas Rangers be better off if they still had Hamilton, Napoli, Wilson, Davis, Nelly and others? We will never know, but what we do know is that they were pretty good when they did have them. Just food for thought.

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