Last at first.


Ronald Guzman’s offensive stagnated in his second season.

At a position that is mostly relied upon for offense, the Rangers produced very little of it.

First base was manned by Ronald Guzman, Logan Forsythe, Danny Santana, and Patrick Wisdom. The Rangers were mostly outmanned at that first, especially when compared to the rest of the teams in their division.

The Rangers, as with catcher, had the worst offensive production in the A.L. West from their first baseman in 2019. The lion’s share of the failure falls on Ronald Guzman, who, starting the season at age 24, was counted on to take a major step forward from his rookie season.

Instead, he went backward. It might be fairer to say he didn’t go forward. He struggled so badly they sent him back down, then seemed to have a very encouraging recovery when called back up in September. In September he it .305 with an OPS of .872. But, overall, his sophomore-year numbers were almost identical to his rookie season. From Baseball-Reference.com:

Guzman turned 25 last week. The argument that he is young is getting old. 

First base is a real weakness for the Rangers. Maybe they use Santana at first in 2020. He’s not a great defender but defense has never mattered to this team who seems to use a plug-and-play mentality. Chances are, they commit to Guzman again next season, hoping he figures it out. At least Guzman can play D.

Available free agent first basemen:

Jose Abreu 
Mitch Moreland 
Ryan Zimmerman 
Neil Walker

*****

Tomorrow, second base.