The 10 Greatest Home Run Hitters in Texas Rangers History

#9- Alex Rodriguez

Years: 3 (2001-2003)

GP: 485

HR: 156

In 2001, Alex Rodriguez signed a 10-year/$252M contract to play with Texas.  At the time, it was a very controversial contract because it was by far the biggest contract in MLB history.  Even though Rodriguez only played three years of his contract in Texas, he remains the best hitting SS in Rangers history.

In 2,784 games covering 22 seasons, Rodriguez hit 696 HR (4th in MLB history) and added 2,086 RBI (4th in MLB history).  Rodriguez led the AL in HR five times, including a personal best 57 HR in 2002, when he was a member of the Rangers.  Rodriguez hit 50 or more HR three times, 40 or more HR on eight occasions, and 30 or more HR during 14 seasons.

Rodriguez played in 14 All-Star games, was the AL MVP in 2003, 2005, and 2007, won two Gold Glove Awards (2003, 2005), was a 10-time winner of the Silver Slugger Award, four-time winner of the AL Hank Aaron Award, was AL batting champion (.358) in 1996, was the AL leader in RBI in 2002 (142) and 2007 (156), and competed in the Home Run Derby on three occasions.

In 2007, Rodriguez became the youngest player (32 years, 8 days) in MLB history to reach 500 HR for his career.

According to baseball-reference.com, Rodriguez was #1 in MLB salary for 13 years.  Rodriguez earned in excess of $441M during his career including $22M during each of his three years in Texas.  To this day, Rodriguez has earned more money playing baseball than any other player in history.