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Texas Rangers: The 4 first basemen and 1,053 HR that could’ve been

By Travis Koch |
ARLINGTON, TX - MAY 15: Chris Davis #19 of the Texas Rangers bats against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Rangers Ballpark on May 15, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. The Texas Rangers defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5-4. (Photo by John Williamson/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - MAY 15: Chris Davis #19 of the Texas Rangers bats against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Rangers Ballpark on May 15, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. The Texas Rangers defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5-4. (Photo by John Williamson/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
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The Texas Rangers have a long list of great first basemen in their history, but the list could be four players longer.

Rafael Palmeiro, Will Clark, Mark Teixeira… the Texas Rangers have had some serious talent man the first base bag over the years. Those three alone combined to hit 543 home runs and drive in 1,935 runs over 20 years with the Rangers. Remarkably, though, Texas missed out on 1,053 home runs, and 3,364 runs driven in by letting four first basemen go early in their careers.

Do you remember these guys? If not, allow me to spark your memory.

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Chris Davis

Surely, you’re aware of Chris Davis. He’s the only one of these four who’s still playing. The 6’3”, 230 LB. lefty is a home run hitter through and through. He lit up the minor leagues with long balls to begin his professional career and knocked 18 out of the park in 80 games during his debut season with the Texas Rangers in 2008.

But Chris Davis emulated “Crash” Davis for much of his early years in the pros. He would struggle with the Rangers, forcing the club to demote him to Triple-A. He would then dominate Triple-A, convincing the club to promote him back to the bigs. That sequence occurred three times in three years (2008-2010).

It was a wonder whether Davis would ever find success in the major leagues, or if he’d wind up a career minor leaguer.

On edge with Davis, the Texas Rangers dealt him to the Baltimore Orioles in July of 2011. The Rangers were on their way to the playoffs, so they swapped him for a surefire reliever in Koji Uehara.

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Davis soared as an Oriole beginning in 2012. He hit .270 with 33 home runs and 85 RBI that year. Then, in 2013, he slugged a major-league-most 53 homers and drove in 138 runs en route to a third-place finish in AL MVP voting. Somehow 2014 was a flop, but he came back in 2015, launching 47 homers and notching 117 RBI.

Davis has averaged 28 home runs in nine seasons with Baltimore, and that’s after hitting only 16 in 2018 and 12 in 2019. He’s also averaged 166 strikeouts over that time.

He will always be a profound swing-and-miss hitter. You just wonder if the Rangers would have enjoyed him swinging and missing while hitting 28 home runs a season for them.

(Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Texas Rangers: The Four 1B and 1,053 HR That Could’ve Been

Carlos Pena

Four years after drafting Carlos Pena 10th overall, the Texas Rangers traded the first base prospect to the Oakland Athletics for four players: Jason Hart, Gerald Laird, Ryan Ludwick, and Mario Ramos.

After 40 games with Oakland, Pena rerouted to the Detroit Tigers, where he sojourned for four seasons. He took a while to get rolling in Detroit but impressed with 27 home runs and a .810 OPS in 2004, his third year with the team.

The Tigers released Pena during the spring of 2006. The Boston Red Sox signed him to a minor league contract that year, but Pena finally settled with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2007.

Pena, at 28 years old, took off in Tampa. He bashed 46 home runs, drove in 121 runs, and recorded a sensational 1.037 OPS in ’07. He went on to hit 31 homers in ’08, 39 in ’09, and 28 in ’10. He became one of the premier sluggers in baseball over that span, a span in which the Devil Rays/Rays were making a ton of noise in the American League.

At the end of a 14-year career, Pena hit 286 home runs, 191 of which left the yard throughout 2007-2012. He returned to the Rangers on his last leg in 2014, then signed a one-year contract to retire a Ray.

It took five teams for Pena to finally spread his wings. Despite him having a stellar career, you can’t assume he would’ve become a middle-of-the-order thumper with the Rangers like he eventually did with the Rays. Still, it’s intriguing to think about what could have been.

(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

Texas Rangers: The Four 1B and 1,053 HR That Could’ve Been

Travis Hafner

Travis Hafner and Carlos Pena are different and alike in multiple ways. Like Pena, Hafner was traded by the Rangers shortly after his major league debut. Pena played just 22 games with Texas 2002, while Hafner played 23 games with them in 2001.

Hafner played for his next team for 10 consecutive seasons, while Pena bounced around for years to come. Though, Hafner’s best campaigns culminated over five years, like Pena’s.

The stout left-handed hitter gave the Cleveland Indians four 100-RBI seasons and four 24+ home run seasons.

He finished 5th in MVP voting in 2005 and 8th in MVP voting in 2006. It’s tough to argue his ’05 season over his ’06 season, however, as Hafner reached career highs in home runs (42), RBI (117), OBP (.439), and OPS (1.097) in the latter year.

Ultimately, “Pronk” hit 213 home runs and notched a .874 OPS in his 12-year career. Hafner ranks 9th all-time with 200 home runs as an Indian. Perhaps that’s 200 home runs the Texas Rangers missed on.

(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Texas Rangers: The Four 1B and 1,053 HR That Could’ve Been

Adrian Gonzalez

The previous three first basemen don’t have much on Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez was a pure-swinging, perennial all-star who hit for high averages, drove home runs with ease, and carried the San Diego Padres for five seasons.

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He was originally drafted 1st overall by the Florida Marlins in 2000. The Marlins traded him to the Texas Rangers in 2003 in exchange for pitcher Ugueth Urbina (I’d say the Marlins would want a do-over on that one).

Gonzalez made his major league debut with the Rangers, though he hardly popped off the page at any point in 2004 or 2005. Texas may have made a misjudgment of their own when they dealt Gonzalez to the San Diego Padres for three players in 2006.

The lefty made his former teams look pathetic from thereon. He became a five-time all-star and earned MVP votes in eight seasons. He was a career .287 hitter who has 317 home runs and 1,202 RBI to his name. It’s a real head-scratcher that a player of his caliber suited up for six franchises over his 15-year career.

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In retrospect, the Texas Rangers got plenty from Mark Teixeira in the early 2000s, including four impact players in exchange for him in 2007. Luckily, it all worked out for the Rangers in the end. Davis, Pena, Hafner, and Gonzalez went on to great things, but few Rangers fans look back in regret.

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