Texas Rangers hope to finally answer their age-old question: Who’s on first?
This story is one in a series of position previews leading to Texas Rangers spring training. The first workout for pitchers and catchers is Wednesday, and the first full-squad workout is Monday.
Oh, they have tried. Tried like heck.
And hoped. Hoped liked heck.
But since July 31, 2007, the Texas Rangers have not had the real deal at first base.
That was the day the Rangers traded Mark Teixeira to the Atlanta Braves, a trade Jon Daniels would make 100 out of 100 times. The deal, after all, produced four MLB players and three All-Stars and helped pave the road to consecutive World Series appearances.
They Rangers have won four division titles and gone to the postseason five times without an All-Star first baseman.
Mitch Moreland won a Gold Glove for the Rangers and made an All-Star team ... with the Boston Red Sox. Chris Davis made an All-Star team and is paid like an All-Star ... with the Baltimore Orioles.
Among the others who have manned the position for the Rangers since the Teixeira trade is Ben Broussard, Ryan Rua, an oiled-up Derek Dietrich and Andruw Jones.
Yes, that Andruw Jones.
The incumbent is Ronald Guzman, and the Rangers essentially replaced him in December as they acquired Nate Lowe from the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays. Guzman took that slight to heart and became the MVP of the Dominican Winter League.
So, as the first full-squad workout of spring training quickly approaches, the Rangers have two young left-handed hitting first baseman who they hope will eventually turn into an All-Star as they rebuild the organization.
“We made the deal with the hope that Nate would lay claim to the job,” said Daniels, the president of baseball operations. “I want to believe that the adjustments Ronald has made will stick and will hold. He’s got pedigree. We signed him a number of years ago because we believed that he would hit.
“It hasn’t happened at the speed that you’d like, but guys come along at different rates. If he truly has made those adjustments, then we will find a way to make it work.”
Guzman is out of minor-league options, which adds a wrinkle to what could happen this spring. If he were to miss out on the Opening Day roster, he would have to clear waivers to remain in the organization.
Stranger things, in hindsight, have happened. Nelson Cruz failed to make the roster in 2008, went unclaimed and was assigned to Triple A. There, he turned into the Nelson Cruz everyone has come to know.
He’s also the poster child for late bloomers, and no one knows that better than Daniels. Maybe the Lowe trade serves as the equivalent of going unclaimed for Guzman, who posted a .731 OPS last season with the Rangers.
He showed the same foundation this winter but with added adjustments. It needs to translate against MLB pitching, though the Dominican Winter League often features MLB-caliber pitchers.
Lowe just wants a chance to play every day, as he did in the minor leagues before the numbers-heavy Rays turned him into a platoon player.
The trade could be the fresh start Lowe never knew he needed.
But he can’t lay claim to the job, despite the Rangers’ intentions in December. Guzman will head to camp more confident than ever, and with good reason.
