Who Were Top Texas Rangers 2023? Let WAR of Words Begin

Marcus Semien and Corey Seager led the club, but the top five Texas Rangers WAR leaders may surprise you.

The Texas Rangers won their first World Series in November, in part because nearly its entire roster contributed to the cause.

But some contributions were bigger than others.

There are plenty of ways to determine a player’s value to a team, some traditional and some analytical. One of the most accepted analytical methods is WAR or wins above replacement. This attempts to measure a player's overall value to a team by positing how many wins he is worth when compared to a replacement-level player.

Per baseball-reference.com, here are the five Rangers that had the best WAR in 2023.

Top 5 Texas Rangers by WAR in 2023

Breaking down the fives best Rangers from last season:

1. Marcus Semien (7.4)

Semien is the only player who started in every game the Rangers played in 2023. He set a record for most games played with 179 and most place appearances with 835 (regular season and postseason).

He slashed .276/.348/.478/.826 with 29 home runs, four triples, 29 doubles, 100 RBI, and 122 runs. He was the fifth player in MLB history with at least 100 RBI in the leadoff spot, won a Silver Slugger award, and finished third in AL MVP voting.

Semien had a 5.7 oWAR for offense and had a team-best 2.3 dWAR.

2. Corey Seager (6.9)

Seager missed more than a month due to hamstring and thumb injuries, but his oWAR of 6.4 still led the team (he had a 1.2 dWAR).

Seager won his third Silver Slugger, his first with Texas. He slashed .327/.390/.623/1.013 with 33 homers, 42 doubles, and 96 RBI in 119 games. His 1.013 OPS was the eighth-highest ever by an MLB shortstop and the highest since Alex Rodriguez (with the Rangers) in 2002.

He became the second shortstop with 65 or more extra-base hits and an OPS+ of at least 170 in a single season, joining Honus Wagner, who did it in 1908 with Pittsburgh. He earned his second World Series MVP while leading the club to their first title.

3. Adolis García (4.2)

García was the American League Championship Series MVP and hit a home run in five consecutive postseason games, including a walk-off home run in Game 1 of the World Series.

He won his first Gold Glove with a team-leading 11 outfield assists, which tied him for third in the AL. He's the fourth Rangers outfielder to earn the award,

He ranked third among qualified MLB right fielders with seven Defensive Runs Saved.

Garcia batted .245/.328/.508/.836 with a career-high 39 home runs and 107 RBI, both of which led the club. 

4. Jonah Heim (2.9)

Heim won his first Gold Glove, earned All-MLB Second Team catcher, and caught every postseason game for the Rangers, in spite of a thumb injury the Rangers feared might end his season in July.

Heim threw out a career-high 22 of 80 base stealers, which was an AL-best 27.5%.

His 10 catcher-framing runs were third-best in the majors, and his 22.8 fielding runs above average led AL catchers, according to FanGraphs.

The switch-hitter Heim slashed .258/.317/.438/.755 with 18 home runs and 95 RBI, all career highs.

5. Leody Taveras and Nathaniel Lowe (2.6)

Taveras and Lowe were lineup mainstays. Lowe played in 161 games, while Tavares only missed a handful of games at the start of the season due to a strained oblique muscle.

Lowe won his first Gold Glove with a .9977 fielding percentage, third best for a first baseman in Rangers history, and second-best in the AL in 2023. He finished with four outs above average, per Statcast, a massive improvement over his minus-11 OAA in 2022.

At the plate, Lowe batted .262/.360/.414/.775 with 17 home runs and 82 RBI.

Taveras was one of the best No. 9 hitters in baseball in 2023 after hitting .266/.312/.421/.733 with 14 home runs and 67 RBI. He played in 143 games, nearly all of them in center field.

Carter, Langford Lead Rangers Minor League All-Stars

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