Rangers WAR Lords: First Basemen
by philkid3 on Apr 28, 2009 3:28 PM CDT
Email
PrintI got this idea from Brew Crew Ball, as did several other blogs that did the same series. I really liked reading all the lists that came up and the resulting discussion threads, so I thought I'd do the same for the Rangers and see what interesting things came up.
This is a list of the best Rangers ever by position using the WAR database at Baseball Projection. Because the Rangers have existed entirely in the Retro Sheet era, it's pretty easy to do. Players seasons are only counted at a position if the 1) were the primary player at that position for the Rangers that year or 2) it was their primary position that season, and only a player's seasons at the position in question for the Rangers are considered (so some players may show up twice). Also, only Texas years are considered, no Senators days (though I may look at the Senators in the end).
Because the Rangers have never really had a long-time Designated Hitter, DH seasons are considered with a player's primary position.
Previous Positions: C
1. Rafael Palmeiro (1,194 Games Started @ 1B)
Career: 42.9
Best Season: 7.7
Worst Season: 1.5
Per 600 PA: 3.8
Best Three Seasons: 6.5
Five Year Peak: 4.8
Should come as no surprise who's #1 here. Palmeiro is one of the greatest Rangers ever (#2 on my list), though how he reached that status may be up to questions of integrity. I really fell in love with him when he came back in '99, but he was probably a little bit better during his first stint. That 7.7 in '93 is one of the best seasons ever by a Texas Ranger and many years would be deserving of an MVP. Random fact: Palmeiro's first stint with the Rangers had exactly one more plate appearance (3,384) than his second stint (3,383). Weird.
2. Mark Teixeira (629 Games Started @ 1B)
Career: 17.6
Best Season: 6.2
Worst Season: 0.2
Per 600 PA: 3.5
Best Three Seasons: 4.9
Five Year Peak: 3.5
Tex. He was pretty good, and maybe on his way to being the best Rangers first baseman ever. He was actually the first prospect I ever knew from when he first entered the organization to when he got called up. I thought he was going to be incredible. I don't want to say too much about him, anymore, other than I hope he goes down as the man connected to the greatest trade in Rangers history. Our Herschel Walker, if you will.
3. Pete O'Brien (853 Games Started @ 1B)
Career: 16.8
Best Season: 4.6
Worst Season: 0.3
Per 600 PA: 2.7
Best Three Seasons: 3.7
Five Year Peak: 3.1
I know there's a few folks here who were big O'Brien fans, so I'd like to hear what they have to say about him. His glove was something legendary. Defensive expert Matt Sounders considers him the second greatest defensive first baseman ever, and he's a rare player at the position who derived a lot of his value that way. Rangers first basemen actually goes pretty deep, but it's mostly solid players. Very few were spectacular other than now and then. O'Brien's best was pretty good, though.
4. Will Clark (575 Games Started @ 1B)
Career: 15.2
Best Season: 3.7
Worst Season: 2
Per 600 PA: 3.5
Best Three Seasons: 3.4
Five Year Peak: 3.0
When I was younger, all I knew about baseball was the Rangers. And Will Clark never seemed that good to me. I had no concept of where he was before Texas, so when I found out a few years ago that he was once considered GREAT, and that many today actually consider him a Hall of Famer, I was pretty floored. Of course, now I realize how good he was as a Giant, but it would appear he was pretty good as a Ranger, too. At least better than I remembered. Really, if Chris Davis gets to that level, I'll be happy. He may have the upside to be even better, but a consistently above average to occasional All-Star-caliber guy is pretty valuable. And better, of course, than a player who busts because he can't make it in the Show because of his plate discipline.
5. Mike Hargrove (526 Games Started @ 1B)
Career: 13.8
Best Season: 5.4
Worst Season: 1.7
Per 600 PA: 3.5
Best Three Seasons: 4.0
Two Year Peak: 3.9
The Rangers first Rookie of the Year was actually a pretty nifty player. He had a season not listed here in left field that also went 3.8. I think how good Hargrove was is often kind of forgotten. He was an on-base machine with good power and put up some very good years in Texas before hitting a weird decline and shipping elsewhere. There's a good argument that he's the best first baseman not named Palmeiro we've ever had.
Similar to catcher, the Rangers have actually had pretty solid continuity at first. Davis was immediately proceded by Teixeira who was immediately proceded by Palmeiro who was interrupted only by Clark and was preceeded directly by O'Brien was was almost directly preceeded by Hargrove. The Rangers have only had 11 primary first basemen in their history, with a few of them having short, below-replacement stints in the early years. The rest of the players will be listed with career WAR lines in the form of best three averaged, five year peak average and career total (in that order).
The Rest
6. Lee Stevens (0.9/0.7/2.9)
7. Jim Spencer (0.5/0.5/1.6)
8. Pat Putnam (0.8/0.3/1.2)
16 comments
|
2 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
O'brien
was an easy guy to like. He was in the lineup everyday, had some solid pop, good eye, and as stated, he was a terrific fielder. I don’t know about 2nd best ever, I assume Sounders has K.Hernandez #1. Pete-O always lost out on the GG to Mattingly, which I wouldn’t quibble with. I’d probably have JT Snow #2, regardless O’brien was definitely one of the best I’ve seen.
AND he was part of the package that brought us the great Julio Franco. (Bonus points)
"I saw your act, just didn't make it for me. Just a lot of fluff."
what no Broussard or Wilkerson
i’m amazed
If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base. ~Dave Barry
Will the Thrill
was kind of a let down after seeing what he did in SF. Unfortunately, his offseason program was basicly hunting, fishing, and drinking beer, which didn’t help out his career longevity.
4/10/09 - Josh Hamilton's last walk.
"You know a pitching prospect isn't any good if John Daniels doesn't trade him away but keeps him insteaad." - http://crops.mlblogs.com/
"You probably can throw Neftali Feliz on that group of overblown Rangers pitching prospect failures." - http://crops.mlblogs.com/
I saw him not too long ago and he's let himself go something fierce.
I would say that since retiring he’s probably jogged something like zero miles. In fact, that might even be pushing it… Is it possible to jog negative miles? Cause if it then I’d say Will has jogged negative miles since retiring.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
You want the mustache on or off? ... ... ... Too bad.
by thedirkatron on Apr 28, 2009 5:33 PM CDT up reply actions
Clark and I
share a workout program. We only run if being chased by something large and carniverous, like Oprah.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
by t ball on Apr 28, 2009 5:41 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Will Clark
Kind of interesting to look at Clark’s career numbers vs Don Mattingly’s and see how similar their vectors were and how afterward that similarity of their careers is used as an argument against either of them into the HOF (rightfully so, probably.)
Two of my favorite 1Bs growing up. Sometimes my mom pulls out a photo of me as a 5 year old kid with a Yankees hat on and gives me hell. I just have remember it was all about Donnie baseball.
Amen, brother.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
You want the mustache on or off? ... ... ... Too bad.
by thedirkatron on Apr 28, 2009 8:55 PM CDT up reply actions
Hipsters Attack
Last night I was at a sparsely populated concert (crowd was heavy with hipsters) with a Dallas Uptown Yuppie type friend of mine. I was there to write up the opener, so after watching them, we split to watch the Mavericks (meaning, we skipped the headliner). He is not a concert going type, but I was a +1, and he was really bored and apparently my only available friend. When deciding where to watch the game, he just said, “Maybe we can go somewhere that doesn’t have those types of people that were at that show. Like, someplace normal.”
by FuturePants on Apr 29, 2009 11:07 AM CDT up reply actions
oh man
i can’t wear my he-man or ghost busters shirts anymore :(
then i’m just being “ironic” instead of paying homage to the kickassedness of my favorite things from my youth
Omar Vizquel: your starting shortstop for the 2009 AL all-star team.
I always thought that Hargrove was far superior
to O’Brien when I was growing up. I guess I didn’t really pay much attention to defense back then though.
One reason the Rangers may have had excellent first basemen is their drafting strategy. It seems to me the Rangers invariably drafted a first baseman quite high in the early rounds of the draft. This is my recollection, but I can’t prove it. I don’t agree with this strategy though. First base is generally the easiest position to fill. For the most part all you need is a good hitter there. Like Broussard, for example.
"Evolution happened, now get over it." Michael Shermer
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
