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

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.

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.