E_D_Guapo
Brand New Member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
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- 3,158
I'll throw a Cubs hat in the ring as well. Anthony Rizzo at 1B, Ben Zobrist at 2B, and Kris Bryant at 3B are all established, All-Star caliber players. There aren't a ton of second year players you can say that about but Bryant's results speak for themselves. Then consider that at SS Addison Russell's prospect status was pretty much on par with Profar's. He was a consensus top 5 when he came up and has actually been contributing at the Big League level for a year now. His average isn't great yet but he is excellent in the field and hit for some power/drives in runs. And he just turned 22 in January. Javier Baez is the utility IF that has played every IF position except C so far this year. He has some holes (low BA/OBP so far) but he can hit for serious power and has shown to be a very good defender at 3B, SS, and 2B (he has only played a little 1B but no doubt he could excel at it with his athleticism and defensive prowess at other positions). He just turned 23 in December so he may very well improve also and projects to be their future every day 3B or 2B as long as he continues to improve (just so happens to have 4 hits and 3 RBI in the game that is going on right now).Next year, Moreland and Elvis are both gone. Gallo is called up to play first and Profar is moved to short. Best infield in the majors at that point? I would have to say yes.
For good measure you can throw in Willson Contreras, the consensus top catching prospect in baseball—he will likely be their starting catcher to begin next season—and you have a very formidable IF situation for many years to come. Zobrist is the only guy > 27 years old and everyone else besides Rizzo is < 25. Most of those guys have multiple years of rookie contract control left and Rizzo still has several years left on a team-friendly contract. Only Zobrist is a short-timer with two more seasons left on his deal.
That isn't to diminish the Rangers, just sticking up for my team because there is a strong case. The Rangers absolutely have one of the best situations in MLB right now with the glut of talented young position players that they have either playing now or on the way. They should be a force in the AL for a long time to come.
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