Inside The Rangers

Texas Rangers 2019 Positional Review: Third Base

After eight seasons of consistency at the hot corner, the Rangers struggled at third base.

Chris Halicke

Texas Rangers 2019 Positional Review: Third Base
Texas Rangers 2019 Positional Review: Third Base /

From 2011-2018, Rangers fans were spoiled with watching one of the all-time great third basemen. Over eight seasons, millions of fans poured into Globe Life Park in Arlington to watch Adrian Beltre man the hot corner. From head rubs to home runs from one knee, Beltre etched his name in Rangers history forever. 

It's never easy saying goodbye to an iconic player. Having a player waiting in the wings and ready to take over makes it much easier. Unfortunately, the Rangers weren't set up that way. 

Not quite ready to spend big money in free agency and with no major league ready players, the Rangers signed veteran infielder Asdrubal Cabrera to be their every day third baseman in 2019. 

After a solid 2018 season for Philadelphia, Cabrera didn't adapt well in Texas. He never found any consistency at the plate and didn't display the same defensive prowess as he has throughout his career. He slashed .235/.318/.393 in 93 games for the Rangers. 

The Rangers released Cabrera on August 3rd and signed with the eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals three days later. 

Texas had six different players make appearances at third base. Cabrera led the way with 368 plate appearances at the position, while Logan Forsythe, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nick Solak, Danny Santana, and Patrick Wisdom all made appearances as well. 

Collectively, they were near the bottom the of the American League in OPS with a mark of .699, well below the league average of .781 at third base. Their offensive WAR was a horrid 0.8. Only Detroit's 0.1 offensive WAR was worse in the American League.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa started the 2019 season as a part of the catching tandem, but was shifted to third base after the All Star Break. He was a much more effective player after the switch back to the infield, especially defensively. 

Needless to say, the drop off from even an aging Adrian Beltre to the platoon of players that played third base in 2019 was substantial. 

2020 Outlook

Projected starter: None
Internal options: Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nick Solak

Offseason priority: CRITICAL

The Rangers are aggressively pursuing the two top third basemen in the free agent market. Reports came out early that the Rangers are actively pursuing Josh Donaldson. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported later that Texas is in on Anthony Rendon, who is not just the top third baseman on the market, but the top position player overall. 

Anthony Rendon is only 29, but may require a contract length that the Rangers aren't comfortable with offering. Josh Donaldson won't demand the amount of years Rendon will, but will still cost quite a bit over two or three years. Both players will have multiple suitors, so Jon Daniels and the Texas front office will have their work cut out for them.

If Texas can't land Rendon or Donaldson, there are options like Mike Moustakas or Todd Frazier. Moustakas is the better player of the two, but is a left-handed bat. The Rangers already have a surplus of left-handed sluggers, so balancing their lineup is something to take into account. Both Rendon and Donaldson are right-handed hitters. 

Rangers top prospect Josh Jung was drafted eight overall in the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft. Jung's primary position is third base, but won't be ready for the major leagues in until 2021 at the earliest. It may be too early to tell, but what the front office thinks about Jung could affect how aggressively they go after these top free agent third basemen. 

So far, all signs point toward Texas being heavily in on Rendon and Donaldson, regardless of how they feel about their top prospect. If they sign Rendon, it's a good problem to have if Jung has to switch to another position. After all, it's not every day a franchise has a one-year gap between a future Hall-of-Famer and bona fide superstar. 

Follow SI Rangers Maven on Twitter: @RangersMavenSI

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Chris Halicke
CHRIS HALICKE

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