Is Adolis Garcia a key to the Texas Rangers’ rebuild?

To say 2021 has been a rollercoaster ride of a year for the rebuilding Texas Rangers would be the understatement of the century.

The team has been no-hit twice, swept by Chicago (White Sox), San Diego, Houston, and San Francisco, and had one of the worst starts to a season from their pitching staff in recent memory.

After being swept by Houston and losing three of four to the Yankees, including being on the receiving end of one of those no-hitters from 1-inning Ranger legend Corey Kluber, this would’ve been a stake in the heart of the season for recent Rangers squads.

They’ve had highs to counter the lows, sure. Nate Lowe set a Rangers record as the fastest player to reach 14 runs batted in to start a season. Kyle Gibson has excelled with a 2.24 ERA and the best K/BB ratio of his career, and Dane Dunning has given the Rangers value for their return from the Lance Lynn trade by providing strong command on the mound for such a young pitcher.

And yet, through all of the pain and suffering, among all the fun surprises of a rebuilding team, the Rangers have produced a man who stands alongside the most exciting players in all of baseball: Jose Adolis Garcia. This man has stepped into the spotlight and captured the heart of baseball fans across Dallas-Fort Worth in the blink of an eye.

The 28-year-old rookie defected from Cuba in 2016 to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals, but is only just now finally seeing valuable service time in the majors. All he’s done with that time is contend for the Major League home run lead, top the American League rookie category in just about every batting category, slash .291/.329/.603, walk-off twice (!) in one series against the Astros, and brought a rejuvenated spirit to a struggling ballclub.

The big question on everyone’s mind is what will happen to Adolis? He’s overperforming and over-achieving every expectation that could’ve possibly been set for him. After a dismal start to the year for Leody Taveras, Garcia has not only cemented his role in center field as Taveras’s replacement, but he’s legitimately making a push for an All-Star appearance and is getting a lot of buzz as an American League Rookie of the Year candidate.

Will he be able to maintain this level of production long-term? Will the Rangers shop him around the deadline for younger talent? Adolis Garcia has created some serious buzz for the future of the Texas Rangers, so let’s take a look at some of the factors into his role here.

The Texas Rangers have a history of late bloomers.

One of the toughest things about having a rebuilding franchise is that any emerging talent is viewed as trade fodder – or, at least, that worry exists among the fans. And it’s a bummer to think about. Difficult decisions have to be made for teams that aren’t competing; do they keep the guys who provide value to their struggling franchise, or do they send them off for a higher return and future investment?

I think it’s safe to say that Texas is in a really good spot when it comes to this dilemma – better than they’ve been in a really long time, actually. For starters, the team is no longer shelling out money to veterans like Andrus, Choo, Minor, and Lynn, who were all welcomed and enjoyed as high-profile players here, but weren’t helping the Rangers win long term. Nick Solak, Joey Gallo, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Willie Calhoun, Nate Lowe, and Jonah Heim are all 27 years old or younger. That’s two-thirds of the general batting order for Texas.

Where the Rangers need to get younger is in their rotation. Kyle Gibson seems to be the most entertaining deadline piece for Texas to move, as he’s enjoying a stellar year so far on the mound and won’t turn 34 until October, leaving a beneficial window for a team looking for pitching depth. With Gibson being placed on the 10-day IL on May 25 and Arihara out for three months, the Rangers decided to call up Demarcus Evans, a 24-year-old pitching prospect who hurled four innings for the club in 2020. He has a career 2.52 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in the minors to go along with 385 strikeouts. Kolby Allard could also see some action as a starter, as the 23-year-old’s numbers have vastly improved during his time coming out of the bullpen.

Looking at the history of the Rangers, particularly within the last ten to fifteen years, most of the star talent has been players late into their twenties and beyond. This front office hasn’t relied on its farm system to put a winning team on the field, and they haven’t really needed to, either. Josh Hamilton didn’t win his MVP until his age 29 season. Nelson Cruz didn’t emerge as one of the league’s best power hitters until he was 29 and into his early 30’s. Adrian Beltre, perhaps the most beloved player in franchise history, didn’t even become a Ranger until he was 32.

The Rangers don’t have one of the hottest farm systems in baseball. They’re not pumping out big-league talent left and right, and while reaping the benefits of a great development system puts teams at a much higher probability of building a championship-contending roster, Texas has completely overhauled the attention of its 2021 roster to its youth. As mentioned above, two-thirds of their general lineup are all 27 or younger. Dane Dunning has looked very confident on the mound for a 26-year-old pitcher who only just made his MLB debut in August of 2020. The point is, the Rangers have guys who can blossom over the next six to seven years as perennial ballplayers, and they’re not stuck giving roster spots to guys past age 33/34 who aren’t contributing to at least some semblance of a future for the team.

But where does that leave Adolis? There have been murmurings of Garcia emerging as a trade piece because of his age. Realistically, if he were to maintain this level of production, fans could expect, at best, around a six-year window of him at his prime. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to tell based off less than 50 games of a sample size whether he’s a long-term impact guy or not. Cruz slashed .303/.397/.595 with 16 HR in the shortened 2020 season at age 39. It’s not impossible, and certainly not in this era, for athletes to carry their value well into their thirties.

The Texas Rangers need attitude. Garcia brings it every day.

Teams such as the Padres, White Sox, and Rays have all enjoyed recent success because of home-grown talent. But that’s not the sole ingredient in the recipe for winning – they’re also having fun! Fernando Tatis is out there flipping bats and taunting pitchers. Yermin Mercedes cranked a moonshot home run on a 3-0 count in a blowout win over Minnesota, his manager criticized him for it, and essentially the entire baseball community came to his defense. Shoot, even the Astros have kind of adopted their “Houston against the world” mantra after the cheating scandal, however misplaced that attitude may be, depending on who you ask.

Part of the slow decline of the Texas Rangers over the last six years has been because of the team’s inability to put intimidating players on the field. Rougned Odor’s punch has gone down in history as the Rangers biggest highlight since the 2015 postseason, and he followed that up by becoming the worst hitter in baseball. We don’t even need to mention the whole “Warning to the West” marketing scheme that ended with Corey Kluber pitching a grand total of one inning during his time in Texas.

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Now the Texas Rangers have a guy who yells. He walks to first base as he admires his homers. He is the first guy up and yelling in the dugout when his teammates are hitting. When is the last time a Texas Ranger waved goodbye to a catcher as he hit a walk-off home run against their biggest rival? Who’s the last Ranger to bat flip and pound his chest as he rounds the bases? If anything, the Rangers have been on the wrong side of the “cool” part of baseball for a long time, most recently being the victims of Fernando Tatis Jr.’s greatness and Chris Woodward publicly having a problem with it. Odor turning into the worst hitter in baseball and being the team’s intimidator didn’t help, either.

The debates over the unwritten rules of baseball have gotten quite tiring for most over the past couple of years. Objectively speaking, players who celebrate are good for baseball. Adolis Garcia likes to win. He likes to hit home runs. He likes to score, and he likes his team. Whether or not that helps a team win, again, depends on who you ask, but “El Bombi”, as the city has so adequately adopted him, absolutely adores the game of baseball. It’s been a really long time since Rangers baseball was fun, and he makes watching games fun!

Is Adolis Garcia a key piece of the Texas Rangers’ rebuild?

Fun doesn’t win you championships, unfortunately. If you’re going to talk the talk, you have to back it up, and so far Adolis has done that tenfold. He’s been the primary catalyst in a large number of Rangers wins so far this year, and it’s imperative that the team capitalize on it while he’s on this memorable run. Regardless of what his future is in baseball, these last few weeks have been some of the most thrilling to watch for Texas Rangers fans in what feels like an eternity. For a fan base plagued with haunting memories of David Freese and Jose Bautista, the Rangers finally have a guy who steps up to the plate – literally – and tells the baseball world he and the Texas Rangers mean business.

There are drawbacks to Garcia, as fun as he is. He’s been so lethal, so quickly, but his plate discipline leaves a lot to be desired. Pitchers are going to start throwing outside at a higher rate at him because of his eagerness to swing. He’s one of those players that really only makes mistakes, both at the plate and in the outfield, when he’s trying to do too much.

The biggest factor in Adolis’s future here is whether what he’s doing right now is sustainable. He could be an MVP candidate three years from now, or he could just be another Danny Santana enjoying his day in the sun. If you’re asking me, I’m not even so much as thinking of trading the guy as long as he’s consistent.

Adolis Garcia deserves every bit of praise he’s received in 2021. He has brought a franchise coasting in the rebuilding phase a glimmer of hope that the future is, indeed, brighter in Arlington. Baseball fans are turning on their televisions to watch a Texas Ranger do incredible things, and he’s brought the metroplex a fiery intensity that he supplies to the team night in and night out.