How the Texas Rangers stack up against the AL West heading into 2022

The Texas Rangers are coming off the second-worst season in franchise history with 102 losses. They have successfully traded off almost every impactful major league piece they’ve had over the past few years. It would be a more accurate statement to say they’ve torn it down to the foundation than the studs.

Following the abysmal season, the Rangers front office went to work and added five new players in Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jon Gray, Kole Calhoun, and Zach Reks. They’ve made the improvements but how much better is the team now?

We won’t know until they take the field in 2022, but we can sure speculate. I’ll be ranking and comparing the Rangers to their AL West counterparts in an effort to see how they’ll stack up against the division.  Now, the offseason is on hold but not over for Texas or the rest of the west but we’ll use what we’ve got.

How the Texas Rangers stack up against the AL West

First Base

1. Matt Olson, OAK
2. Yuli Gurriel, HOU
3. Ty France, SEA
4. Jared Walsh, LAA
5. Nathaniel Lowe, TEX

This is one of the more loaded groups in the division. Olson is arguably the second-best first baseman in the game (to Freddie Freeman).

Gurriel does nudge out France for second after winning the Gold Glove and another stellar year at the plate but France may be able to flip this one in the coming years.

Walsh was at Frances position as he was for pushing the top 10 in baseball with his power but faltered in his final 25 games before getting hurt.

Then there’s Nathaniel Lowe. Ranking last here isn’t an indictment on him as much as a compliment to the competitors. In what amounted to his first full year, Lowe played adequately while showing promise of improvement.

Second Base

1. Marcus Semien, TEX
2. Jose Altuve, HOU
3. Adam Frazier, SEA
4. David Fletcher, LAA
5. Tony Kemp, OAK

This is a very top-heavy group. Semien is coming off a monster year and beats out Altuve for the top spot. That could change depending on how Semien adjusts to his new settings, but the Gold Glover will be hard to top.

The Mariners made a big improvement by trading for Adam Frazier but he wont be cracking the top 2 here. The rest of the division is a bit of a flux. Fletcher spent the most time at second base but could be pressed by Jack Mayfield. Meanwhile, Oaklands’ primary second baseman for ’21 is a free agent, and they aren’t likely to spend so i.e. Tony Kemp.