It’s been 10 years since the Rangers went to the World Series and they now have no players left from either World Series runs.
I expected this day would come eventually, I mean of course it would. For a lot of teams it could be just a couple years later when their World Series team is completely gone.
Part of me hoped this day would be when Elvis Andrus retired because after all he seemed like he was destined to be the forever Ranger.
Since we were told he was essentially demoted in December (was that December? It could’ve been years ago with how time is moving) it felt as though a trade would be possible. But I think the initial pain felt unexpected because, much like the Ian Kinsler for Prince Fielder trade, this one happened in an instant. Usually we’re talks of trades for maybe a day or two before it actually happens. With both of those trades it was just a BOOM! here’s a trade!
This feels like a rough trade to cope with in part because Elvis has become synonymous with the Rangers, one of the faces of the franchise. And it’s crazy to think about he didn’t even originally signed with the Rangers, he was part of the big trade that brought Jared Saltalamacchia, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison in 2007. But it always felt like Elvis had been in the Texas system since the beginning and because of that felt like he’d be here until the end.
Being a couple days removed from the trade has helped my initial sadness and anger pass, I’m genuinely happy for Elvis since he seems excited to get to play for Oakland. Now ask me how I feel the first time he bats against the Rangers wearing kelly green and I might feel that sadness strongly again.
Moving Elvis really feels like the Rangers have finally transitioned to a new phase, a new generation of players (even thought Rougned feels like he’s somewhere in between, for me, the OG Ranger team I started watching in 2010, and the New Rangers of Gallo and Kiner-Felefa, but that’s for another article) it definitely feels like we’ve officially closed the door on the old ballpark, the world series teams, the classic Kinsler-Elvis double plays, Beltre-Elvis shenanigans, and while it’s taken a decade to get here, it still feels extremely weird to move on. To look at those players/teams in nostalgia.
Maybe it’s just me feeling this way? That the Elvis trade has officially closed the book on an era of Texas Rangers baseball. I had thought I felt that way with Beltre’s retirement but this feels like the organization has more room to make a somewhat fresher start? A true rebuild.