We are concluding the most successful decade in Texas Rangers history. While the last three years have been anything but noteworthy, the Rangers looked like they were destined to be the Team of the Decade when the 2010s began. 

It started out gangbusters. A World Series appearance in 2010, then again in 2011. Then, 2012, they had what most considered an even better team. In fact, Rangers announcer Eric Nadel declaring that team, as it took the field on opening day, the Best Ranger Team of All Time. That team had Napoli, Moreland, Kinsler, Andrus, Beltre, Murphy, Hamilton, Cruz, and Young. Most will end up in the Rangers Hall of Fame. 

On the mound they had Matt Harrison, Scott Feldman, Coby Lewis, Derek Holland and a new guy named Yu Darvish. 

They took over the division on the fourth game of the season and were just steamrolling. Except, Oakland was pesky and wouldn’t go away.

Then, the Rangers collapsed. They blew a five-game lead with nine left to play. Josh Hamilton half-assed a fly ball in the outfield that helped turn a 5-1 Rangers lead into a 12-5 Rangers loss. Oakland caught the Rangers with their pants down, and snatched the division crown from their shell shocked hands.

And, with that, the Decade of the Rangers came to an abrupt end. 

There were some very good times (two more division wins), some very bad times (2014, 17, 18, and 19). There was Adrian Beltre. 

When it was all said and done, Texas went from “The Team” to “The Collapse” to “The Rebuild.” In a what-have-you-done-for-me lately business, the early decade successes seem like distant memories. 

The 2010s were, by the slimmest of margins, the winningest decade in Rangers history. Texas played .520 baseball this decade. In the 1990s, they put up a .518 winning percentage.

So, let’s take a look at how the decade turned out across the league. Today, with mlb.com’s subjective assessment of their ten best teams of the 2010s (notice, only one team from Texas made the list, and it’s not Texas), then, tomorrow, raw numbers.

Here is mlb.com’s list of Top Ten Teams of the Decade:

1 San Francisco Giants—won three World Series
2 Boston Red Sox—won two
3 Chicago Cubs—won their first in 118 years
4 St Louis Cardinals—proving small market teams can thrive
5 Washington Nationals—finally won it all but won a lot before
6 Houston Astros—went from NL gutter to AL dominance
7 Los Angeles Dodgers—owned the NL West title
8 New York Yankees—nobody won more games in the 2010s
9 Kansas City Royals—two World Series appearances, one win
10 Cleveland Indians—dominated their division