Texas Rangers: 3 Biggest Surprise Players This Season

Delino DeShields

While he’s not putting together “All-Star” numbers no one can deny the contributions Delino DeShields has made this season. He was coming off a disappointing 2016 campaign, and has erased it with a magical 2017 season.

This season DeShields is hitting .272 with three home runs and 14 RBI in 77 games. He is second on the team behind Andrus with 19 stolen bases. Through 77 games DeShields has a 1.7 WAR and has committed just one error this season.

The 24-year-old was a Rule-5 pick from the Houston Astros in 2014. He had a strong rookie campaign hitting .262 with two home runs and 37 RBI with 25 stolen bases in 121 games. It was followed by a disappointing sophomore season, but he’s turned it around in 2017.

The biggest positive to the DeShields emergence is the Rangers can let Carlos Gomez walk this off-season. The 31-year-old Gomez took a one-year deal with the Rangers to increase his free agent value much like Ian Desmond in 2016.

It’s likely Gomez heads into free agency and attempts to get a deal similar to Desmond. The Rockies gave Desmond a five-year $70 million deal over the last off-season. The Rangers will likely be hesitant to pay Gomez that kind of money.

Now with DeShields playing well the Rangers can let Gomez walk after the season. The Rangers can then feel safe with DeShields taking over the everyday job in center field in 2018 and beyond. The 2017 season has been disappointing, but at least its given DeShields new life and potentially saved the team millions.