This Rangers utility man deserves Silver Slugger recognition in 2025 but won't get it

Josh Smith has paved the way in the American League for what a utility man should be. He can play any position to a productive level while being able to hit anywhere in the lineup. His ability to step in for Seager when he has been injured is incredible.

His success has coincided with a ramp up in utility players league wide over the past few seasons, including Brendan Donovan, Zach McKinstry, Tommy Edman, Maikel Garcia and others.

The 2025 Rangers lineup was full of underwhelming seasons and large disappointments. Through all that, Smith was one of the few bright spots worthy of American League Silver Slugger recognition.

Josh Smith deserves Silver Slugger recognition, but will fall short

While it is true Josh Smith has been great for the Rangers, there has been two other players that will run away with this award. Depending on how they classify Maikel Garcia, it will either be him or Zach McKinstry.

While Josh Smith did slash a respectable .251/.335/.366 while also embodying utility man the most in Major League Baseball, his power numbers were not there. His 23 doubles, two triples,10 homers and 35 RBI's do not stack up to the other two mentioned.

The uptick in utility man quality has been paramount. Garcia will likely finish in the top 20 for MVP voting in the AL after a career best season for him while McKinstry also had an incredibly productive for the Detroit Tigers.

Garcia's slash line of .286/.351/.449 with 39 doubles, five triples, 16 homers and 74 RBI's would lock up the award. He logged the least amount of "utility" innings with 229 innings across the entire field of his 1,374 but logged them all across the diamond.

Zach McKinstry is another guy that will take the award but has numbers much closer to Smith. His .259/.333/.438 slash line with 23 doubles, 11 triples, 12 homers and 49 RBI's would also lock up the award over Smith. He played everywhere for the Tigers this year and has been invaluable to them.

Smith has been outplayed by his fellow utility men. The position has started to become synonymous with some of the best teams in the league. They are truly becoming some of the most valuable players on any given team and can elevate teams above adversity, which is why the Silver Slugger award was officially introduced a few seasons ago.

It is unfortunate that one of the leagues top utility men will not receive a Silver Slugger nod. Smith is certainly part of the future in Texas and will have chances at the award in the future.

While the award is not Smith's to win, it does not diminish Josh Smith's season. It will make it to where it will be lost in the history books but Smith was certainly not the problem for Texas in 2025.