Building the ultimate Texas Rangers All-Silver Slugger Team

The Texas Rangers have been known throughout their history to swing the bat pretty well and that speaks through some of the highly accomplished hitters to wear a Rangers' uniform.

Since 1980, we have been able to compile data to put that theory to test with the introduction of the Silver Slugger award. In those 45 years, a Rangers player has won the award 27 times, which is the fourth-most in Major League Baseball.

As we inch closer to the announcement of the 2025 Louisville Silver Slugger finalists and eventual winners, without further ado we present the Texas Rangers All-Silver Slugger team.

Here is the All-Silver Slugger team in Texas Rangers history

C: Ivan Rodriguez, 1999

Honestly pick any of the six Silver Slugger seasons for Pudge in the 1990s and he makes this team but it's a no-brainer to boil it down to his 1999 AL MVP campaign if we are only allowed the best of the best.

At 27 years old, Rodriguez played 144 games slashed .332/.356/.558 with 199 hits, 29 doubles, 35 homers, 113 RBIs, 25 stolen bases, 116 runs, .914 OPS and a 6.4 WAR. All while catching and winning the AL Gold Glove for catchers.

1B: Mark Teixeria, 2005

At the time, Tex was a 25-year-old switch hitting slugger in his third big league season and fresh off his first Silver Slugger Award in his sophomore campaign. Which typically would be hard to improve upon but the first baseman did just that.

Playing all 162 games of the '05 season, Teixeria hit .301 with 43 home runs, 41 doubles, 194 hits, 112 runs, .954 OPS and a whopping 144 RBIs. That year he recorded a 7.2 WAR, earned his first All-Star selection, finished seventh in AL MVP voting and won his first of five career Gold Gloves.

2B: Marcus Semien, 2023

Among the list of second base Silver Sluggers for the Rangers, Semien's numbers sorta sit in the middle him, Julio Franco and Alfonso Soriano but I will break down why I chose Semien.

Semien hit leadoff during that 2023 season, driving in 100 runs on 29 homers, 185 hits, 40 doubles and a 7.7 WAR all while playing in all 162 regular season games. I know that it's also only a regular season award but Semien went on to play all 17 Rangers' postseason games that year as well.

3B: Buddy Bell, 1984

The 1980s was a different style of baseball, when batting average overruled hitting the ball out of the park and Bell's 1984 seasons exemplified that to a tee.

While he only hit 11 home runs and drove in 83 runs, he still recorded 174 hits and 36 doubles while slashing .315/.382/.458 and an .840 OPS in 148 games. At age 32, it was Bell's last full season with Texas after being traded to Cincinnati in the middle of the '85 season.

SS: Alex Rodriguez, 2002

I know, Corey Seager is now perhaps the biggest face in Texas Rangers' history after his masterful 2023 season and postseason heroics but have you seen A-Rod's 2002 stats?

An 8.8 WAR season playing all 162 games, Rodriguez slashed .300/.392/.623 with 187 hits, 27 doubles, an MLB-leading 57 home runs and 142 RBIs and nasty 1.015 OPS. That year, the 26-year-old shortstop was one of the best ballplayers in the league in 2002, finishing second in MVP voting and also earning a Gold Glove.

LF: Juan Gonzalez, 1998

Defensively Juan Gonzalez was well above-average with the glove roaming the outfield of the Ballpark in Arlington but we are here to talk about his bat. Most notably, his 1998 AL MVP season.

Playing in 148 games for Texas that year, Gonzalez batted .318 with a .997 OPS 45 home runs and an American League-leading 50 doubles and 157 RBIs. What was also crazy was his .630 slugging percentage, which was not even the highest of his career or the best in the league. It was, however, good enough for an All-Star selection and MVP Award.

CF: Josh Hamilton, 2010

Perhaps one of the smoothest swings in Rangers' history, Hamilton took the whole league by storm not only for his powerful story of recovery but his awe-dropping home runs. He rode that wave all the way to five All-Star Games, two Silver Sluggers and the 2010 AL MVP Award.

That 2010 season is one of the many reasons why he makes this team. In 133 games that season, Hamilton slashed .359/.411/.633 with 186 hits, 40 doubles, 32 home runs, 100 RBIs, 8.7 WAR and a 1.044 OPS.

RF: Ruben Sierra, 1989

As was the same for the '84 Buddy Bell Silver Slugger campaign, the homer numbers certainly weren't what we see in this day and age but he also managed to hit .306 and lead the American League in slugging percentage (.543).

Sierra did drive in 199 runs, scored 101 runs himself and led all of Major League Baseball with 14 triples. He also managed to strike out only 82 times and walk 43 times. And of course he played all 162 games to the tune of a 5.9 WAR.

DH: Rafael Palmeiro, 1999

The Rangers have been blessed with some talented designated hitters in their franchise's history, thanks to being a member club of the American League. Rafael Palmeiro in particular was one of the best.

His 5.2 WAR in 158 games was a result in 30 doubles, 47 home runs and 148 RBIs with a slash line of .324/.420/.630 with a 1.050 OPS. He also struck out less than he walked and finished fifth in the AL MVP voting that season while being an All-Star selection and Gold Glove.