Most of the fans were still taking their rain-soaked seats when Ian Kinsler came to the plate in Texas for the first time as a member of the Detroit Tigers. Those on hand seemed to greet him warmly enough, considering he spent eight years and more than 1000 games playing for the Rangers.
Kinsler returned their warmth, pushing Detroit ahead quickly when, as the second batter of the game, he homered down the left field line. Kinsler couldn’t help himself, waving to the Rangers dugout on his way to first base, wearing a shit-eating grin for most of his trot, snapping a comment to former teammate Adrian Beltre as he touched third and offering some manner of chatter to a season ticket holder behind the plate after he scored.
For Kinsler, the best revenge is living well - and making sure everybody knows it. The Rangers player who most often performed as though he owned a significant chip on his shoulder returned to Arlington with a glacier missing. His Tigers are all but assured another playoff berth and he’s enjoying a bounceback season in the D.
Kinsler’s return is the least of the worries in Arlington, as the Rangers valiant fight against irrelevance looks like it is about to end in a TKO. Earlier fears were warranted. As the injuries piled up, the Rangers actually put a few good weeks together to keep their heads above water. Losers of seven of their last eight games, their injury-ravaged lineup is a toxic mixture of substandard fill-ins and some promising young players not yet up to the task.
The dense middle of the American League’s standing meant Rangers’ fans could point to the Wild Card race with a belief they aren’t yet out of it. I’m here to tell you, Texas - you’re out of it.
Tuesday night, Kinsler won both the battle and the war. Returning to Arlington for the first time since his acrimonious exit this winter, he led his Detroit Tigers to a 8-2 win over Colby Lewis and a Rangers club that now finds itself six games below .500.
They’re also six games back of the second Wild Card spot, with six other teams standing between them and the lowest bar for playoff entry. Giving up a homer to a former player doesn’t change their lot in life, it just makes the latest cluster of losses a little more painful.
The impulse for some (myself included) is to begin the fire sale. Move out any veteran of value to keep cramming the prospect pipeline full. But given how many young players they already graduated to the big club, and how many more are breaking down the big league doors, maybe just punting on the season is enough for Texas.
Next season, they can return healthy and ready to resume their assault on Mount Davis, with Prince Fielder presumably healthy and back to new-old self. Derek Holland rejoins the rotation mix and Shin-Soo Choo remains in place. Trading Adrian Beltre might net a few nice pieces but no minor leaguer is producing at his Hall of Fame level. Any and all major trade talks over the next 9 months go directly through Jon Daniels and the Rangers front office.
All their minor league talent makes them dangerous, not because they can plug in a Rougned Odor and get league-average production from a 20-year old second baseman, but because Texas is always one deal away.
It might be bad now and the players on the field are out there wearing the losses and watching an aggrieved former teammate gaily skip around the bases with a grimace, but things aren’t so bad in Texas that blowing up the whole show accomplishes anything.
This lost season marks the first time in a while Rangers fans get to feel the sting of playing out the string. Like their former second baseman, they can believe in a redemption storyline and fresh start next year.
