Texas finds winning ingredient without Rodriguez
In the first season after the
Alex Rodriguez trade, the
Rangers sit in first in the
AL West early in 2004
By Kevin Baxter
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
MIAMI — Texas Rangers general
manager John Hart would be the first
to admit his team's recipe for success
might not be for everyone.
First you go out and sign a bunch
of high-paid stars, bloating your pay
roll. Then, you finish last, averaging
90 losses a season, four years in a row.
After that, you let your high-priced
stars leave as free agents, and you
trade the best player in the game just
to get rid of his salary.
And when it's all over, you wind up
with not only the youngest starting
lineup in baseball, but with the sec
ond-best record in the game as well.
"This isn't exactly how we thought
things would go," Hart says.
But it's not entirely new territory, ei
ther. The year Hart took over as gener
al manager of Cleveland, the team
lost a franchise-record 105 games.
Three seasons later, they won 100,
starting a run that saw them capture
five straight division titles and six in
seven years.
And though the Rangers went into
the weekend as the second-win
ningest team, having won eight of
their past 10, Hart says they're not the
equal of those Cleveland teams.
Yet.
"There are different dynamics,"
Hart says. "As pleased as we are with
our start, we realize that's just what it
is — a start."
Young foundation
But it could be the start of some
thing big because the Rangers' nine
everyday players average 26 years of
age. And with only designated hitter
Brad Fullmer, 29, and left fielder
David Delucci — the oldest of the
bunch at 30 — eligible for arbitration
after this season, this group could be
together for a while.
"This is a very, very young team that
has a lot of talent," Hart says. "We
want to commit to as many young
players as we can. Then we'll look up
at the end of the year and say this is
the core — these are the players we
want to build around."
The foundation of that building will
be infielders Hank Blalock and Michael
Young and outfielder Laynce Nix. All
three went into this weekend's three
game series with Detroit batting better
than .321, giving the Rangers seven
starters over .300 and a team average of
.309, the best in the majors by 21 points.
Young, who had 204 hits last sea
son and 450 in 424 major-league
games coming into the spring, leads
the majors in hits with 46 and was
leading the American League in runs
and total bases despite playing in the
spotlight at shortstop, where he re
placed reigning American League
MVP Alex Rodriguez. Young, who
came up as a second baseman, had
played just 42 innings at shortstop be
fore this season, but he volunteered to
switch positions to make room for
second baseman Alfonso Soriano,
whom the Rangers got in exchange for
Rodriguez. And he hasn't missed a
beat in the field, committing just two
errors in 28 games.
The Rangers' young pitchers also
have excelled. The team ranks second
in the American League with a 3.91
eamed-run average, and starters R.A.
Dickey, Ryan Drese and Joaquin Benoit
— who have fewer than four seasons of
big-league experience combined — are
7-1 with a 3.06 ERA. In the bullpen,
right-hander Carlos Almanzar, 0-2 in
Hiison wooawortn rorr worm btar-ieiegram
David Deilucci and Mark Teixeira (23) have paced Texas to one of Major League Baseball's best records.
18 major-league games the past three
years, was 3-0, and Francisco Cordero
had 10 saves.
Quality wins
And none of this is a fluke: Five of
Texas' 18 wins have come against
Anaheim, which has lost 10 times this
season and led the majors with 19 vic
tories entering the weekend. Last
week, the Rangers swept the Boston
Red Sox, who came into the series tied
for the best record in baseball.
All that has left Texas fans — who
just a few weeks ago were lamenting
the offseason losses of Rafael
Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, Carl
Everett and Rodriguez — thinking
about the postseason for the first
time since 1999.
Hart, however, is taking a longer
term approach. If the team is still in
contention in July, he'll reassess things
then. But for now, he says he's building
for a future beyond this season.
"We want to change our organiza
tion, the chemistry around our ball
club," he says. "It's been about giving
as many opportunities to our young
players as we can. We're excited that
we're off to such a good start. But none
of us are thinking about rushing it."
(c) 2004, The Miami Herald. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
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