If this were based on accomplishments only when the franchise was based in Washington, slugger Frank Howard would easily hold the top spot.

We know.

Alex Rodriguez was paid a lot in a contract that the Texas Rangers realistically couldn’t afford.  However, the fact is that A-Rod did his job with the Rangers and his three years in Arlington are in the top four sabremetric seasons of all time for Texas.

With two productive stints with the Texas Rangers, Rafael Palmeiro was not a flashy player, but always put up consistent hitting and power numbers that put Palmeiro amongst the top of the list in most offensive categories.  As a Ranger, Palmeiro blasted 321 Home Runs with a Slugging Percentage of .519, and 1,692 Hits of his 3,000 plus were in Texas.  Had Palmeiro been an Outfielder with his production he would likely have made more All-Star Games.

Due to his controversy with getting caught for PED use late in his career as an Oriole, Palmeiro has been excluded from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Rangers Hall of Fame.  Despite this, we feel confident that this high rank is appropriate for Palmeiro.

Converted to a Starting Pitcher in Texas, Charlie Hough used his craftiness and knuckleball to be a bona fide innings eater for the Rangers.  Hough was only an All-Star once, but he logged well over 2,000 Innings for Texas and a respectable 139 and 123 record with 1,452 Strikeouts.  The Rangers inducted Hough into their Hall of Fame in 2003 as part of their first class.

A certified hitting machine, Adrian Beltre continued his great work with the bat when he arrived in Arlington.  Beltre, joined Texas in 2011 until his retirement in 2018 and he was named an All-Star three of his five seasons.  He is also a two time Gold Glove and Silver Sulgger winner with Texas.  Beltre’s Texas accolades also include a Hitting Title, a Platinum Glove, and a Wilson Defensive Award.  With the Rangers, Beltre smacked over 1,200 Hits with 199 Home Runs and a .304 Batting Average.  He was also in the MVP top ten four times with the Rangers.

Texas inducted Beltre into their Hall of Fame in 2021, two years after the organzation retired his number #19.

Emerging as a bona fide superstar with the Texas Rangers in the 1990’s, Juan Gonzalez was a prolific power hitter who hit over 40 home runs as a Ranger, two of which saw him win the Home Run Title.  Seven times, “Juan Gone” secured a 100 RBI campaign for Texas and he was named the American League MVP in 1996 and 1998.

Gonzalez is the all-time franchise leader in Home Runs (372) and RBIs (1180), and the Rangers inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2015.

Arguably the best defensive Catcher of the late 1970’s, Jim Sundberg rattled off six consecutive Gold Gloves (1976-81) and would lead the American League seven times for Total Zone Runs from the Catcher position.  He was not an elite hitter, but still had over 1,000 Hits for the Rangers.  The Rangers enshrined Sundberg into their Hall of Fame in 2003.

One of the most underrated baseball players of all time, Buddy Bell blossomed in the heart of Texas.  Bell would make earn all six of his Gold Gloves as a Ranger and he was a very good hitter that accumulated 1,060 Hits with a solid .293 Batting Average.  Bell would also make four of his five All-Star appearances as a Texas Ranger.

In 2004, the Rangers inducted Bell into their Hall of Fame.

Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez was the face of the Texas Rangers for a decade, and why not?  “I-Rod” was considered to be one of the best Catchers of the 1990s by whatever metric you used.  He could hit for average, eight times batting over .300 for the Rangers, earned six Silver Sluggers, and had some power with five seasons over 20 Home Runs, but he was even more known for his defensive skills.

Al Oliver came to the league in 1969 as a line-drive hitter and, for eighteen years, consistently smacked the ball for hits.  He had over 2,700 hits in his career, and despite not being a genuine power hitter, he had a plethora of RBI’s.

Oliver’s main gift was hitting for average.  In addition to his 1982 Batting Title, he had ten other seasons where he hit the .300 plateau.  Oliver wasn’t known for hitting home runs (though he did over 200 in his career), but he found the gap often and was perennially among the league leaders in doubles.  As he was a decent clutch hitter and was always in the hunt for Batting Titles, it would have been thought that Al Oliver would have had more support for the Hall of Fame.

That support might have come had Oliver won an MVP (he came close in 1982) or been a better fielder.  He also had a relatively low On Base Percentage, which has been the vogue baseball stat in the past fifteen years.  Regardless, a decade and a half of consistent contact hitting should have been worth more than 4.3 percent in his first year of eligibility.

At the time of the infamous steroids trial, Rafael Palmeiro seemed to come off so well.  Of course, when you are sitting next to a man who suddenly suffered from amnesia (Mark McGwire), a man who suddenly forgot the English language (Sammy Sosa), and the man who broke the “bro code” (Jose Canseco), a defiant and confident-sounding Rafael Palmeiro could not help but look good.  A few months later, Palmeiro was suspended by Major League Baseball for testing positive for steroids.

Ironically, this could hurt Palmeiro’s chances more than anyone else who testified at Congress.  At that point, he had reached 500 home runs, quieter than anyone else ever had, and was knocking on the door of 3,000 hits.  Seemingly, anyone else with those numbers would be a celebrated figure beset with endorsements and rabid fans.  Palmeiro had neither, as he was playing in the shadow of flashier and more successful power hitters.  As such, he was not regularly in the hunt for MVPs and only appeared in four All-Star games, which, considering his career numbers, was relatively low.  Subsequently, he was rarely with great teams and holds the dubious record of having played the most games without a World Series appearance.

Prior to the steroid stigmatism, Palmeiro had the Hall of Fame locked numbers of 500 Home Runs and 3,000 Hits.  Without the allegations, he may not have even been a lock for first-ballot induction.  With the PED label, a look at his offence showed a massive upswing at age 34.  McGwire may one day be forgiven, as might Sosa.  Palmeiro likely won’t.  As unfathomable as it seemed a decade ago, he was almost a one-and-done Hall of Fame candidate, and his years on the ballot fell well short of the maximum as he fell off after his fourth year.  This could be a sad reality for one of his day's most consistent offensive performers.

A lot of baseball players take flak for their high salaries. One of those who did was Kevin Brown, who was the first man in professional baseball to sign a contract worth $100 Million. Sadly for Brown, his deterioration made that one of the worst contracts, as in the final years of his career, he was not a player who should have been among the game’s highest-paid.

This isn’t to say that Kevin Brown didn’t have flashes of brilliance because he certainly had enough of them to warrant such a huge contract in the first place. He was regarded as one of the most intense pitchers, and as much as his temper served to fuel his unparalleled competitiveness, it also would cause his unraveling on occasion. Nevertheless, Kevin Brown was a major reason that the Florida Marlins won their surprise World Series in 1997 and the Padres’ 1998 World Series appearance. He had a brilliant fastball and forkball and rarely gave up the longball.

Unfortunately, Kevin Brown was unable to maintain his skill set, and his production dropped off during his final years with the Dodgers and during his American League return to the Yankees. Had Kevin Brown lived up to the years leading up to his nine-digit contract, he would be a serious contender for induction. As it stands now, it doesn’t look good.

 

Frank Tanana won 240 career games, yet never seemed to be on the tip of the tongue when you think of all-time great pitchers, or even really good ones. Yet, a closer look at the Michigan native shows a Pitcher whose career was a lot better than you may initially think.

Tanana began his career as a flame-throwing pitcher who, in the mid to late 70’s, had been a Cy Young threat and led the AL in Strikeouts in 1975. His control was solid, too, as his WHIP and ERA were among the top ten during that time frame. Like many pitchers, Frank Tanana’s arm gave out, and at the age of 25, he had to reinvent himself as a junkball pitcher. It wasn’t the quickest transformation, but he would emerge as a dependable starter for Texas and later his hometown Detroit Tigers.

The man who “threw in the 90’s in the 70’s, and threw in the 70’s in the 90’s” may not be a Hall of Fame Pitcher, but he deserved to have gotten a better total than the zero he received in his lone year of eligibility. 240 wins have never seemed so undervalued.

If Baseball truly is an International game, then we would like to name Julio Franco as its Global Ambassador. 

The Dominican-born Franco played professional baseball until age 47 in the United States, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and his home country. Cooperstown does not recognize accomplishments abroad, but despite playing outside the Majors for an extended period, he still amassed over 2,500 hits. Franco had a strange batting stance, but considering he batted over .300 eight times, a Batting Title, and five Silver Sluggers, it had to be considered effective. 

Julio Franco may be the ultimate test of whether the Baseball Hall of Fame would reward durability over what is considered traditionally great by Baseball standards.