The Texas Rangers’ All-Decade Spring Training Team

We compiled a list of the best Texas Rangers spring training performers over the last decade.

Every year a surprise player or two makes the Opening Day roster out of spring training.

Most of them are veterans in camp on minor league deals, but the occasional prospect will sneak their way onto the big league roster, like Fernando Tatis Jr. in 2019.

Every year, there are always players who perform at a high level, but may not get the call, as well.

However, this is the Texas Rangers All-Decade Spring Training team, equipped with players who made the roster and those who didn’t but performed at a high level.

In order to qualify, they would have had to play in at least five games throughout spring camp and be the top performer at their position based on OPS.

Keep in mind, these are the best numbers overall for the entire decade, so you may see some unfamiliar names on this list.

Any player that has been in Rangers’ camp over the last decade, assuming they meet the requirements listed above, are in play for this list.

We’ll get right into it, beginning with the best spring training backstops from 2011-2020.

Texas Rangers All-Decade Spring Team: Catchers

The Texas Rangers have seen plenty of different catchers come through the system over the last decade, most notably Mike Napoli, Jonathan Lucroy and top prospect Sam Huff.

None of these guys are remotely close to taking the top two spots on this list.

Taking the top two spots for the Texas Rangers are Jose Heberto Felix and Tim Federowicz.

Over the last decade, Jose Felix barely squeaked in with the highest OPS, but was also among the top catchers twice over the last decade.

His best spring came in 2011, where he hit .833 over five games, and sported a 1.833 OPS.

He also was the top catcher in camp in 2013, playing in 10 games for the Rangers and having a slash line of .357/.400/.571 with a .971 OPS.

The backup catcher on this squad is Tim Federowicz, who had his best camp in 2020, hitting .357 with one home run and four doubles to his credit. He added a 1.257 OPS last spring, as well.

Federowicz saw big league time with Texas in 2019, batting .160 with four homers and one pitching appearance.

Texas Rangers All-Decade Spring Team: First Base

Since the Mark Teixeira trade, the Texas Rangers have struggled to find their starting first baseman.

However, in spring training, many guys will give off the appearance of a superstar caliber player.

For the Texas Rangers, Ronald Guzman has proven to be the best first baseman in spring training over the past decade.

He has led all Rangers’ first baseman in OPS three out of the ten years he’s been in camp, most notably his slash line in 2019 of .400/.444/.825 and a 1.269 OPS.

He added five long balls, two doubles and 16 hits during his 2019 spring campaign.

He’s got more competition this year than ever, with the acquisitions of Khris Davis and Nate Lowe, so he’ll need to produce at that high of a clip in order to stay on the roster.

I couldn’t decide between the backups, so I’ll put both on here.

Backing up the Condor will be Juremi Profar and Mitch Moreland.

Statistically, Moreland was better for a longer period of time during his spring campaigns, but the younger Profar brother put up solid numbers, as well.

Juremi Profar takes a lead for the backup role because he has yet to see the big leagues and he’s the lesser known of the Profar brothers.

During his 2017 big league camp experience, Juremi hit .357/.357/.643 with a 1.000 OPS.

Moreland, on the other hand, hit .403/.437/.716 and had a OPS of 1.153 during the 2011 spring games.

The Texas Rangers have had great depth at first base over the last decade, but none of the options panned out the way the big club would have liked.

Texas Rangers All-Decade Spring Team: Third Base

Michael Young and Adrian Beltre were the staples at the hot corner for the past decade, with the Texas Rangers struggling to find a solid fit at third base since Beltre’s retirement.

Shockingly, neither one of these Ranger legends make the cut at third base for this list.

Taking the starting spot at third base is minor league veteran Guilder Rodriguez, who made his MLB debut at the ripe age of 31-years old.

He only saw seven games at the big league level, but spent 13 years in the minors before making his big league debut.

However during 2012 spring training, Rodriguez went off in a short sample size, sporting an OPS of 1.750 and hitting .500.

His spring success unfortunately never translated at the major league level, but he earns the starting spot on this roster.

Backing him up at the hot corner is now-Baltimore Oriole Chris Davis.

Many Ranger fans have to look way back to remember Davis playing third base, because he’s seen a majority of his time at first over the last decade.

He put on a great spring training in 2011, hitting .362 with five homers and 18 driven-in, while sporting a 1.128 OPS.

That is definitely good enough to earn him a spot on the All-Decade Spring Training team.

Texas Rangers All-Decade Spring Team: Shortstop

To no-one’s surprise, the Texas Rangers’ best spring shortstop is Elvis Andrus.

Andrus was always a solid spring performer, posting an OPS over .900 in five out of the last ten years.

His best spring came in 2018, when Elvis hit a whopping .432 and slugged just over .700.

He sported an OPS of 1.166, adding two home runs and 11 RBIs to his efforts over those 15 games.

Now that he’s been traded, Isiah Kiner-Falefa will take over the position and take the backup spot on this roster.

Kiner-Falefa showed how good he could be on all sides of the ball in 2020, but that started in spring training.

In 17 spring games last season, IKF hit .341/.386/.683 with an OPS of 1.069.

He has now earned the opportunity to take the reins from one of the greatest shortstops to wear a Texas Ranger uniform, and he will look to run with it after winning his first Gold Glove.

Believe me, it won’t be his last.

Texas Rangers All-Decade Spring Team: Outfield

For the outfielders, I have selected the top three and two backups to make up this roster.

To my surprise, the likes of Josh Hamilton, David Murphy, Nelson Cruz and company were not on this list, but they were minor-league players making a case for themselves.

Beginning with two RoughRiders from the 2019 season that put on a hitting clinic.

The better of the two was Josh Atlmann, who hit .400 and slugged 1.200 with an OPS of 1.700.

He didn’t play a whole lot that spring, but made the best of his plate appearances by hitting one homer and one double and adding a walk and RBI to the mix.

Second is LeDarious Clark.

Clark is a guy that doesn’t have much size, but when he gets a hold of the baseball, he can hit it as hard and as far as anyone.

In 2019, Clark hit .500 over his 11 games played for the Texas Rangers, slugging .850 and having an OPS of 1.475.

He didn’t hit any long balls, but used his excellent speed to hit one double and triple, walk twice and didn’t strike out at all.

Neither Altmann or Clark have seen time at the major league level, but are quality depth pieces nonetheless.

Rounding out the starting outfielders is Joey Butler, who saw time with the Rangers, Cardinals and Rays from 2013-2015.

Butler was exceptionally good in the spring of 2012, hitting two doubles, one triple and walking three times, while hitting .462/.563/.769.

His OPS that spring was 1.332 and impressed enough to get the call the following season.

For the bench players, we have Carlos Gomez and Eli White.

Gomez sported a 1.148 OPS while hitting three home runs and driving in 13 during his 16 spring games in 2017.

Eli White posted a 1.205 OPS last spring, while hitting two homers and driving in six.

Carlos Tocci could have been added here, as well, but was just shy of Gomez’s strong spring with a 1.032 OPS in 2019.

Texas Rangers All-Decade Spring Team: Designated Hitter

The Texas Rangers have used plenty of different players at designated hitter over the past decade, but only two guys make the list here.

I will be giving the DH spot to Sam Travis, the former Red Sox prospect who was brought in last year on a minor league deal.

Travis never made the Texas Rangers’ roster, but had an outrageous spring even while he dealt with injuries.

Sam Travis had a slash line of .467/.529/.800 last spring with an OPS on 1.329 over eight games.

Of course, it’s not a huge sample size, but he crushed the baseball during those games.

Travis had one home run, two doubles and seven total hits over the course of his eight games, adding five RBIs and walking twice.

Michael Young will backup Travis, but had an equally impressive spring in 2012.

His power numbers were not there, but Young hit .423/.474/.519 over 19 games, sporting a .993 OPS.

He hit five doubles and drove-in three, while walking five times and striking out eight.

Mr. Ranger and Travis could be interchangeable here, but for the sake of the OPS grading, Travis edges him out.