7 Players the Texas Rangers gave up on too soon

The Texas Rangers have a long history that goes back over 50 years now. In seven days the Rangers will get to add to that history as the 2023 season will officially get underway. There have been thousands of players that have suited up for the Rangers over the last 52 years. Some that are beloved like Adrian Beltre, Nolan Ryan, and Charlie Hough. Some that are reviled like Alex Rodriguez, Chan Ho Park, and Lance Berkman. In this article we will look at seven players that are neither loved or reviled. It is list of players that the Rangers misevaluated and ended up giving up on too soon.

Number 7: Robb Nen

Robb Nen was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 32rd round of the 1987 draft out of Los Alamitos, California. He was a starter and went through the minor leagues as a starter. He suffered multiple arm injuries throughout his time in the minor leagues. Six years after being drafted he finally made his debut for the Rangers on April 10th, 1993. He made three starts and came out of the bullpen six times.

Then in July of 1993, three months after his debut, he was traded with Kurt Miller to the Florida Marlins for Cris Carpenter. Not the Chris Carpenter that was the Cardinals ace pitcher through the early 2000s. This Cris Carpenter was a bullpen arm that finished the 1993 season and pitched for the Rangers in 1994 as well. He was a good, not great bullpen arm that was nearing the end of his career by that point.

Robb Nen would go on to be one of the great closers in baseball. He pitched for the Marlins and Giants throughout the rest of the decade. He was the closer for the Giants team that nearly won the 2002 World Series. He ended up with 314 saves in his career, three all-star teams, and finished fourth in Cy Young voting in 2000.