Numbers Never Lie But My Ex Wife Did A Lot – Part 2

As we continue to examine the Rangers in 2014, one thing comes to light. Depth is hurting the team. As injury after injury decimates the Rangers, players are being asked to do more and perform beyond their expected value. But what is the expected value of a Texas Rangers player?  They are expected to perform with getting on base, clutch hitting with runners in scoring positions and the 2014 Rangers numbers aren’t adding up. The Rangers are paying too much for too little return.

How do we know that the value of the player is worth that massive contract? Easy, by applying the RMN PlayerValueIndex formula of (Hits+RBI’s+HR) * (a factor of how many games they played/163), and that total is divided into a player’s salary.

In our last missive, I showed you who were the MVP and LVP of the 2013 Rangers. But as the 4th of July has past, can we look at the team now and see who is and who isn’t performing? Yes, we can, because numbers never lie, but my ex-wife did a lot.  You see my ex-wife would look at the Rangers and would see past their numbers.  It wasn’t that Doug Melvin or Johnny Oates was doing a bad job, it just was that the team was unlucky.  “How can you not like Galarraga, Caminiti, Pudge, Michael Young and A-Rod? This is a team that has several future Hall of Famers on it,” she cried to me one day.  But she couldn’t look past the pitching of Helling, Davis, Oliver, Rob Bell, Myette and the gambler himself, Kenny Rogers.  She couldn’t see the 5.71 ERA. She saw what she wanted to and hoped that these players would bring a World Series Crown to Arlington.  They wouldn’t.

So let us examine the Texas Rangers of 2014.  The best player according to the RMNPlayerIndex is a steal at a 31.28 value by 2nd Baseman Rougned Odor.  For his limited time on the field this year Roogie has performed at a level that the team could depend on. If he was healthy, we project him to have 72 hits, 8 doubles, 6 3-baggers and the numbers would make him even more attractive. Remember, if Odor adds 143 days of service in the majors, he could reach Super Two status and force the Rangers to have to go to arbitration quicker.  If Odor is the future 2nd baseman of this team, it would be incredibly smart of Jon Daniels to lock him in a contract—the sooner the better. Roogie right now is playing above and beyond what was expected of him.

Second place is Alex Rios, and it’s all because of hits and slugging percentage.  Only Robinson Chirinos and Adrian Beltre have higher slugging percentages than ARios, and he is off to a great year. Third is Elvis Andrus, and his on base percentage is what makes such a big lift for him.  Note, all of these three players, would have beaten Adrian Beltre last year for 2nd place on the list. It’s still a long season to go, though.

Who gets the tag Mr. Disappointment? Well Prince Fielder would have been the easy target. His disappearing act after signing the $24,000,000 contract would have been easy pickings for me. Technically he is the worst Rangers player in 2014.  But he isn’t Mr. Disappointment.  That falls to the 2013 Best Ranger of Mitch Moreland.  Hurt or not, performance never lies, and Mitch isn’t cutting it.

The silver lining for the 2014 Rangers is this.  The future is here. The team is younger, leaner and learning each day. Odor, Chirinos, Andrus, Martin, and even Moreland still have great years ahead of them. Will they be like the 2001 Rangers, with the Hall of Fame expectations from my ex-wife? Probably not, but she doesn’t watch baseball anyway so who cares what she thinks.