Texas Rangers: The top-15 franchise leaders in WAR

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Throughout Washington Senators and Texas Rangers history, these players proved to be most valuable.

MLB.com defines WAR as “a player’s value in all facets of the game by deciphering how many more wins he’s worth than a replacement-level player at his same position.”

In an era when sabermetrics are kind, WAR rules above them all.

Rating players based off their WAR helps differentiate the studs from the duds, and is becoming more important in deciding awards, All-Stars and Hall of Fame votes.

MLB.com says that WAR is useful because of how it compares players, especially players with similar stats at different positions.

WAR quantifies each player’s value in terms of a specific numbers of wins. And because WAR factors in a positional adjustment, it is well suited for comparing players who man different defensive positions.

For example, if a shortstop and a first baseman have similar production(offensively, defensively and on the bases), the shortstop will get the higher rating because of positional importance.

With all that being said, these are the top-15 WAR leaders in Texas Rangers history.

(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

Texas Rangers all-time WAR leaders: 15-11

In descending order, Josh Hamilton, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Young, Frank Howard and Elvis Andrus make up the back third of the All-Time Rangers WAR leaders.

Josh Hamilton sits at 15th with a career 23 WAR.

The 2010 MVP had one of the greatest five year stretches in franchise history, making five straight All-Star games and leading the Rangers to back-to-back World Series, and not to mention hitting 28 homers in the 2008 Home Run Derby.

A-Rod signed one of the largest contracts in baseball history, signing for 10-years at $252 million. He finished his Rangers career with a 25.5 WAR.

Mr. Ranger Michael Young finished his career at 13th in WAR in franchise history. He sits at a 25.9 WAR.

At the time of his retirement, he put together 2,230 hits, 177 HR’s, 984 RBI’s, seven All-Star Appearances, five straight seasons hitting over .300, a Gold Glove, and a Batting Title for the Texas Rangers

Franchise great Frank Howard has a franchise WAR of 26.8 and sits at 12th all-time.

Howard hit .277 with the Rangers and collected 246 homers while driving in 701 over his eight years with the franchise.

Rounding out the back third is the franchise’s all-time leader in stolen bases, Elvis Andrus.

Although Elvis has declined over the last several years, he still sits at 11th all-time in franchise WAR at 30.5.

Mandatory Credit: Stephen Dunn /Allsport /

Texas Rangers all-time WAR leaders: 10-6

Some of the greatest franchise memories have come from players ranked in this tier.

Beginning at the 10 spot is Kenny Rogers, whose finished his Rangers career with a 31.4 WAR.

Kenny Rogers completed his perfect game on July 28, 1994, blanking the California Angels on a warm Texas night.

In the ninth spot, Juan Gonzalez and his franchise WAR of 31.9.

Most notably in Gonzalez’s career was the homerun he hit to clinch the Texas Rangers first A.L. West title in 1996.

Arguably the greatest Texas Ranger to wear the #11, Toby Harrah, ranks 8th all-time with a 32.3 WAR.

Rounding out the last few spots in this tier are knuckle-baller Charlie Hough (32.6 WAR) and longtime catcher and Gold Glove winner Jim Sundberg (34.7 WAR).

Texas Rangers all-time WAR leaders: Ian Kinsler

He wore No. 5 for the team and happens to rank No. 5 on this list.

Ian Kinsler was one of the toughest, most hard-nosed ballplayers the Texas Rangers have ever developed.

Kinsler amassed 1,145 hits, 156 homeruns, 539 RBIs and hit .277 over his eight year career with the Rangers.

Arguably one of the most pivotal pieces in the Texas Rangers back-to-back World Series runs, Kinsler sits fifth all time in Rangers franchise history with a 35 WAR.

If not for Ian Kinsler, one could make the argument the Rangers wouldn’t have been in the position they were in at the beginning of the 2010s.

Therefore, his WAR figure during his tenure with the team seems justified.

Texas Rangers all-time WAR leaders: Buddy Bell

A three-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove winner for the Texas Rangers, Buddy Bell is in the cleanup spot for the Rangers all-time WAR leaders.

Over eight seasons with the Texas Rangers, Bell played elite defense at the hot corner, and not to mention hitting .293 over those years.

He also collected 1,060 hits, 499 RBIs and 87 homers with the Texas Rangers.

He finished his Texas Rangers career with a 36.3 WAR.

In an era that didn’t see much winning for the franchise, Buddy Bell was a clear bright spot and reason to watch the team during the late 1970s and 1980s.

It makes sense, therefore, that his WAR rates highly given his standout performances on bad teams.

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Texas Rangers all-time WAR leaders: Adrian Beltre

What else is there to say about Adrian Beltre?

He is arguably the most influential, most-loved and greatest leaders the Texas Rangers have ever seen.

The Gold Glover and likely first ballot Hall of Famer, owns a franchise WAR tally of 41.2.

No doubt the Texas Rangers wouldn’t be the same team with Adrian Beltre.

With over 3,000 hits, contributions to two AL Pennant-winning squads and countless other memories (we tried to condense 10 of them into one piece), Adrian Beltre’s high WAR count is unsurprising and totally merited.

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Texas Rangers all-time WAR leaders: Rafael Palmeiro

Rafael Palmeiro will forever be a Texas Rangers legend.

Even if steroid accusations have all but eliminated his chances of making the Hall of Fame despite prolific numbers, there’s no denying the type of player he was for the Rangers.

A member of the 500 homerun club, Palmeiro was one of the game’s elite power hitters from the mid-80s to the early 2000s.

He also sported one of the best moustaches in franchise history, too.

Palmeiro spent 10 seasons in Arlington, hitting .290 with 321 homeruns and 1,039 RBIs with the Rangers.

He falls into second place in all-time leaders in franchise history with a 44.6 WAR, a figure that makes sense given the tremendous output he managed to provide with his bat.

(Photo by John Williamson/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Texas Rangers all-time WAR leaders: Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez

The Texas Rangers all-time franchise leader in WAR is Pudge Rodriguez.

Add this to one of the lower-end accomplishments of Pudge’s career.

He’s already a Hall of Famer, won an MVP, was a 14-time All-Star, took home seven Silver Sluggers as well as 13 Gold Gloves.

You get the picture.

Pudge spent 13 years with the Texas Rangers posting a .304 batting average, 217 homers, 842 RBIs, 1,747 hits while slugging .488 during his tenure in Arlington.

He also provided invaluable defense behind the dish as well as mentored a whole generation’s worth of Texas Rangers pitchers.

Based on WAR (he had a staggering 50 WAR), Pudge Rodriguez was the greatest player in Texas Rangers history.

We might be inclined to argue this even without WAR.

Any way you slice it, the Rangers and Pudge Rodriguez are synonymous with one another.

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Texas Rangers: The most valuable players in team history