So, with the Rangers' offseason pretty much over, and not much to write about until spring training starts, I'm adopting an idea one of the other SBNation bloggers came up with, and doing a series on the "50 Greatest Rangers Ever."
I'm going to start on Monday, and do a countdown from 50 to 1, with about one entry per day, which should take us right about to the start of spring training.
The ground rules...as most of you know, I'm a stathead, and as such, the rankings will reflect that. Park and league effects come into play, so posting a 3.50 ERA in 1973 isn't as meaningful as posting a 3.50 ERA in 2003. Raw offensive numbers in the mid-80s pale in comparison to those in the late-90s, and we'll have to adjust for that. Also, for hitters, I'm going to focus more on things like OBP, slugging and EQA, rather than more "traditional" stats like average, homers and RBIs.
The biggest thing I'm grappling with in my rankings right now is, does a good but not great player who spends a lot of time with the Rangers deserve to be ranked ahead of a great player who spent little time with the Rangers (and wasn't very good when he was here)? Does Steve Buechele, for example, get slotted ahead of Willie Davis?
Anyway, I thought this would be something fun to do during this dead time, and hopefully it will spark some discussion.
So everyone be sure to check back in on Monday to see who the 50th greatest Ranger is...