DALLAS — A big part of the reason that the Texas Rangers could justify their historic winter expenditures to try to pull themselves out of their rebuilding tailspin was because they had few salary commitments left on the books and their farm system was trending upward with oncoming, inexpensive prospects.
A big cog in the revival on the farm came with the breakthrough and emergence of third baseman Josh Jung. The former Texas Tech star was taken with the No. 8 overall selection in the 2019 MLB Draft and was likely ready to claim the starting job at the hot corner for the Rangers this season as a prime Rookie of the Year candidate after he hit .326/.398/.592 in 78 games split between AA and AAA ball in 2021.
That all changed in late February when Jung felt discomfort in his non-throwing shoulder while lifting weights, an injury that eventually required surgery to repair a torn labrum. With Jung’s left shoulder now in need of extended rehab, what was sure to be his coming out party in the big leagues has become something of a lost season.
Jung’s injury represents a big blow for the Rangers as they miss out on the promotion of one of their important prospects that had been planned to serve as the proof of concept for signing a brand new, star-ladden middle infield for half a billion dollars. In addition, with Jung missing his opportunity to debut in 2022, Texas is left with a mystery of just who will man third base.
For a while, after Jung’s injury, the answer at third base seemed simple enough. After all, the Rangers had the 2020 American League Gold Glove third baseman on the roster. It would have been easy to just slide Isiah Kiner-Falefa back to third base and indeed that was the expectation for the weeks leading up to spring training.
However, days after the lockout ended, the Rangers traded Kiner-Falefa to the Minnesota Twins for catcher Mitch Garver after Kiner-Falefa expressed displeasure with returning to third base after spending the 2021 season at shortstop. With Corey Seager manning the position for the foreseeable future, shortstop wasn’t in the cards for Kiner-Falefa and with him on his way out, the Rangers had to come up with another option at third base.
Seager’s brother Kyle – a longtime Rangers nemesis with the Seattle Mariners – was looked at as a possibility, but after retiring following an 11-year career, Texas was forced to turn elsewhere.
In 2021, the Rangers used Brock Holt and Charlie Culberson as platoon partners at the position with Holt appearing in 69 games and Culberson appearing in 68. Yonny Hernandez also contributed 29 appearances at the hot corner. In total, third basemen for the Rangers produced an OPS of .600, second worst in baseball.
Meanwhile, Andy Ibáñez enjoyed a solid debut for Texas as a utility infielder. Though never considered one of the team’s top prospects, Ibáñez hit .277/.321/.435 for the Rangers in 76 games. Turning 30 just before the season begins, the 2015 Cuban free agent hit .288/.355/.455 in five full seasons in the minor leagues, playing all over the infield.
It appears as though Ibáñez is penciled in as the likely starter at third base for the Rangers, a position he manned for 10 games with Texas last season and in 171 games stateside in the minor leagues. The majority of those games came as Triple-A Round Rock’s regular third baseman in 2018.
Other third base options for Texas include Brad Miller, a former infielder who was signed by the Rangers to primarily platoon in left field, Culberson, who was re-signed on a minor league deal, and former All-Star and Fort Worth native Matt Carpenter, who signed a minor league pact with Texas after 11 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.
On the farm, spring standouts Josh Smith and Davis Wendzel will alternate time at shortstop and third base at Round Rock and could be looked upon as options later in the year if they force their way to the big leagues.
For now, the job in 2022 seems to be Ibáñez’s to lose as he aims to keep the hot corner warm until Josh Jung can make his now long-anticipated debut to lock down third base in Arlington for years to come.
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