3 forgotten Silver Slugger winners in Texas Rangers history

Baseball has evolved a lot since the first Silver Slugger was awarded in 1980. Then, a hitter was measured by batting average and now it's how far you can hit and how many runs can you drive in.

That's why when you look at the history of some of the best offensive players in Texas Rangers history, it might be a shock to see stats of some of the winners. It might even be a shock that they won the award in the first place.

Part of FanSided's exclusive coverage of the 2025 Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Awards, we broke down some of the most forgotten Rangers' Silver Slugger Award winners in franchise history.

Don't forget to tune in to "The Baseball Insiders: A FanSided MLB Podcast" with MLB insider Robert Murray and Adam Weinrib for the National League livestream winner reveal on Nov. 6 on YouTube at 6 p.m. EST, and the American League livestream winner reveal on Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. EST.

These Texas Rangers' Silver Slugger winners might be the most forgotten in team history

Buddy Bell, 1984

A lot of times in the present day, it's easy to discount players that don't seem to showcase a plethora of home runs and RBIs but back in the 1980s and 1990s, the biggest value from players was batting average.

That is why Bell won the Silver Slugger but might be the prettiest look. In 1984, Bell only left the yard 14 times, which would be tied for 113th best in 2025, but still batted .315 with an .840 OPS, 35 doubles and struck out less than he walked (48 Ks to 50 BBs).

Harold Baines, 1989

The Hall of Famer, who spent 22 years in Major League Baseball, was mostly known as a Chicago White Sox but the outfielder also spent one plus seasons with the Rangers in his early-30s.

Traded halfway through the 1989 season, Baines played 50 games with the Rangers hit. 285 with just three of his 16 homers and 16 of his 72 RBIs with Texas. It's clear that he did most of his damage in the White Sox protion of the '89 season but he did get credit as a two-team winner that year.

Alfonso Soriano, 2004-05 [2]

Soriano won the Silver Slugger in back-to-back seasons with the Rangers but the reason he made this list is because he strangely seems to be forgotten as a Texas Ranger. However, the 16-year big leaguer spent two seasons with Texas in 2004-05.

Those two years he played 301 games, .274 average 75 doubles, 64 home runs, 195 RBIs, 48 stolen bases and an .814 OPS. At age 29, Soriano's average wasn't as smooth (.268) but produced the power with 36 long balls and 104 RBIs as Texas' everday second baseman.