I wrote this a while back when the main thread had a link to a couple of Baseball Prospectus pieces from Joe Sheehan about how the Rangers could become a “dynasty” if they were able to turn players such as Milton Bradley, Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, and Ramon Vazquez into young pitching via trades. Although it has since proved to not be the case (at least for now), it got me thinking about what it takes to become a dynasty. In my mind, either you need to have lots of quality players entering their primes at the same time, or you need to have lots of quality players at different stages and be able to quickly respond when some of them start declining.

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While it certainly seems like the Rangers are getting close, it looks like the picture will start taking shape around 2011. I thought I’d just post an updated position-by-position listing of the candidates for that opening day lineup. The numbers next to the players are their ages as of March 31st, 2011 (I’ve also listed the date of birth). The players are listed by their ages in descending order. The criteria for my list are that each player has to be 22 at this time, and you have to be at least in Bakersfield right now (the only exception is Justin Smoak). I’ve also left players in their current positions, with the exception of Michael Young, who I can’t imagine will still be playing Shortstop by this time.

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Catcher –

Taylor Teagarden            (27 - 12/21/1983)

Max Ramirez                   (26 - 10/11/1984)

Jarrod Saltalamacchia      (25 - 5/2/1985)

Comments: Until San Francisco called up 22-year-old Pablo Sandoval (b. 8/11/1986) on August 14th, Saltalamacchia was the youngest catcher in the Major Leagues. Teagarden is the oldest guy listed here and he’s younger than all Major Leaguer catchers other than Sandoval, Saltalamacchia, Washington’s Jesus Flores (10/26/1984), Atlanta’s Brian McCann (2/20/1984) and Tampa Bay’s Dioner Navarro (2/9/1984).

First Base –

Christopher Davis           (25 - 3/17/1986)

Smoak                           (24 - 12/5/1986)

Comments: Hopefully whoever is the General Manager going forward remembers those famous words of George Santayana when the Rangers again have “too many” First Basemen. (Note: You don’t need to look it up; it was Santayana who said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”)

Second Base –

Ian Kinsler                     (28 - 6/22/1982)

German Duran               (26 - 8/3/1984)

Renny Osuna                 (25 - 4/24/1985)

Jose Vallejo                   (24 - 9/11/1986)

Comments: Kinsler in his prime.

Shortstop –

Joaquin Arias                (26 - 9/21/1984)

Marcus Lemon              (22 - 6/3/1988)

Elvis Andrus                  (22 - 8/26/1988)

Comments: In the 27 games he played for Oklahoma City after the Triple-A All-Star Break this year, Arias hit .316/.352/.513. Arias can steal bases (he’s 23 for 28 this year), but rarely draws walks (he has 19 this year in his 460 Minor League PA’s). As for Andrus, it’s possible that he arrives in Arlington before he turns 21.

Third Base –

Young                          (34 - 10/19/1976)

Travis Metcalf              (28 - 8/17/1982)

John Whittleman           (24 - 2/11/1987)

Comments: After watching his third consecutive year of declining offensive production, I wonder if reputation, charisma, and an unwillingness by a team to recognize when it signs a bad contract is all that’s going to keep Young an everyday player at this point, as opposed to a very well-compensated utility player.

Metcalf was hitting incredibly well in Spring Training (.412/.444/.824) until he injured his hamstring, requiring surgery. In the 62 games that he was at Oklahoma City (working on his second option), he hit just .247/.296/.352. But Metcalf is still on the 40-Man Roster, and with the crunch the Rangers seem to always be facing, that must say something.

Whittleman was just promoted to Frisco despite the fact that the only thing he’s got going for him is his 81 walks in 525 PA’s. While with the Blaze, Whittleman also had 27 errors in 110 games at third. Combined with Lemon (38 errors in 105 games at shortstop) and now Osuna (10 errors in 48 games at second), one has to wonder what’s in Bakersfield’s Gatorade Cooler.

Outfielders –

Josh Hamilton               (29 - 5/21/1981)

Ben Harrison                (29 - 9/18/1981)

David Murphy              (29 - 10/18/1981)

Brandon Boggs             (28 - 1/9/1983)

John Mayberry             (27 - 12/21/1983)

Julio Borbon                 (25 - 2/20/1986)

Comments: Hamilton is in. The two other starters and at least one bench player are the real question. Harrison is Rule 5 eligible this year, and he’s hitting .298/.385/.506 with 18 stolen bases (in 20 attempts) between Double-A and Triple-A. It’s possible that some other players could be tried in the outfield. How about an all 6’4, 235 lb outfield with Salty in left, Hamilton in center, and Davis in right?

Starting Pitchers –

A.J. Murray                 (29 - 3/17/1982)

Scott Feldman              (28 - 2/7/1983)

Thomas Diamond         (27 - 4/6/1983)

Glenn Swanson            (27 - 5/15/1983)

Douglas Mathis            (27 - 6/7/1983)

Brandon McCarthy      (27 - 7/7/1983)

Luis Mendoza              (27 - 10/31/1983)

Michael Ballard            (27 - 2/6/1984)

Jared Hyatt                  (26 - 5/15/1984)

Matt Harrison              (25 - 8/16/1985)

Eric Hurley                  (25 - 9/17/1985)

Michael Schlact           (25 - 12/9/1985)

Evan Reed                  (25 - 12/31/1985)

Tommy Hunter            (24 - 7/3/1986)

Zach Phillips                (24 - 9/21/1986)

Derek Holland            (24 - 10/9/1986)

Omar Poveda             (23 - 9/28/1987)

Kasey Kiker               (23 - 11/19/1987)

Neftali Feliz                (22 - 5/2/1988)

Comments: It’s possible that the three most promising guys I’ve listed (Feliz, Holland, Kiker) are among the four youngest. I didn’t delete anybody from this category from when I first did this, so yeah, it’s starting to look like some of these guys are becoming rather marginal prospects. Also, I added a couple of guys (Swanson and Hyatt), who are a couple tiers down and probably project as relievers at best.

Relief Pitchers –

C.J. Wilson                 (30 - 11/18/1980)

Josh Rupe                   (28 - 8/18/1982)

Kea Kometani            (28 - 12/24/1982)

J.B. Diaz                     (27 – 6/9/1983)

Brennan Garr              (27 – 2/22/1984)

Warner Madrigal        (27 - 3/21/1984)

Ryan Falcon               (26 - 8/27/1984)

Josh Lueke                 (26 - 12/5/1984)

Andrew Laughter        (26 - 2/24/1985)

Beau Jones                 (24 - 8/25/1986)

Comments: Projecting future relievers is hard because so many starters are eventually moved to the bullpen. After almost an entire season without injury, I wonder if Josh Rupe will ever get a chance to be a starter.