Nomar Mazara and the Rangers’ Good Problem

You’d rather have the Rangers’ problem than the Braves’ problem. See, the Braves problem is that they just don’t have enough competent players to field a competitive major-league baseball team. The Rangers problem seems to be that they’re soon to have too many competent players. An embarrassment of riches isn’t necessarily a problem, per se, but it’s something of an inefficiency, and it’s the kind of thing that can result in at least one deserving employee feeling less than pleased by his role in the workplace.

Nomar Mazara wasn’t supposed to be in the big leagues this soon, but Shin-Soo Choo’s strained right calf accelerated Mazara’s timeline, and now that the 21-year-old rookie is here, it doesn’t seem like he’s going away any time soon. In Mazara’s first game, he homered. Through his first 17, the preseason consensus top-25 prospect has run a 127 wRC+, showed a knack for controlling the strike zone, impressed scouts with his ability to adjust, and even made an impact with the glove. The Rangers are in the business of competing for a World Series championship this year, and when a team is in the business of competing for a World Series championship, it does so by fielding a 25-man roster comprised of its best 25 players. Nomar Mazara is one of those players.

Which is precisely where things get tricky. Mazara’s combination of upside and (admittedly small sample) performance to date indicate he is one of the best 25 players in the Rangers’ organization right now. But Choo, who’s set to return from the disabled list by mid-May, is certainly one of those 25 himself, and so are Delino DeShields, Ian Desmond, Prince Fielder, and Mitch Moreland, which is where the problem arises. We occasionally deal with some complicated math on this site, but sometimes, the numbers don’t have to be difficult: that’s six players with five available positions, and that doesn’t even include the eventual return of Josh Hamilton, who suffered a setback over the weekend, and Joey Gallo, who’s running a 170 wRC+ in Triple-A with a strikeout rate damn near cut in half.

So what happens when Choo returns from the disabled list in a couple weeks, barring no other injuries occur in the meantime? Someone’s got to be the odd man out, and there isn’t a clear favorite. We can start with what we know. Choo will return to right field, and Fielder, despite getting off to a miserable start to the season, will continue as the team’s designated hitter. That much, we can safely say.

What complicates the issue is center field, because there just doesn’t seem to be a great answer. DeShields’ strikeouts are up, his walks are down, and that’s not a good combination for a player without any semblance of power or a track record at the plate. There’s no guarantee DeShields is a major-league bat on a contending team, but at the same time, he’s their only center fielder. This whole situation would be a lot easier if Mazara could just shift to center. But despite his handful of highlight-reel plays in his first few weeks, Mazara’s got well below-average footspeed, and it’s more likely he moves to first base than center.

DeShields is the easy odd man out based on the bat, but the glove makes it a tricky choice. So, then, Choo to right, DeShields to center, Mazara to left and Desmond to the bench? Except, how much is that glove in center really worth? DeShields has played an error-prone center field that’s graded out as one of the worst in the majors since his debut, an assessment with which the fans agree. How much worse could Desmond be? By all indications, his transition to the outfield has gone smoothly thus far, he’s been their backup option in center all year, and he’s already got 35 innings under his belt. The idea of Desmond as an everyday center fielder might not sound pretty, but it’s not like DeShields is much prettier, and Desmond’s advantage at the plate could outweigh whatever downgrade (if there is any) is suffered in the field.

Another possibility depends on whether Desmond is able to play first base. As a former infielder, and one who’s clearly willing to learn a new position, one would think Desmond is capable of making the switch, but he’s never appeared at first in a professional game, and learning scoops, stretches, and the other fine points of playing the position could be difficult on the fly. If Desmond to first is a feasible alternative, however, the Rangers could stand to benefit from Moreland seeing fewer starts against lefties.

The way that this all likely works out is the boring one: everyone plays, and everyone sits. Even the two players most entrenched in their roles, Choo and Fielder, run sizable platoon splits — particularly Choo — and it’s not like either has been a pillar of health in recent years. Each could probably use a day off here and there, and the Rangers’ excess of quality position players can allow the Rangers to plan those days off optimally. Center field is a crapshoot. I lean toward Desmond’s bat being the better play, with DeShields coming off the bench as a pinch-runner while still getting his fair share of starts when the Rangers decide to give Choo, Fielder or Mazara — who’s also got a history of struggling against lefties — a day off against a tough southpaw, with Desmond shifting back to a corner. If and when Hamilton returns, I don’t see how his role could be anything more than a pinch-hitter extraordinaire. The Gallo situation might be a whole other story entirely.

There’s also a case for keeping the versatile Ryan Rua on the 25-man roster and optioning either Mazara, for service time reasons, or DeShields, to allow him to play everyday, but I think the Rangers can make this work without sending one of their best 25 players to Triple-A. Mazara’s hot start makes it nearly impossible to remove him from a big league club in first place, and even if this logjam doesn’t work itself out naturally, it could still work. Between platoon splits, injury histories and varying defensive abilities, there’s a way for all five of these guys to stay on the roster and continue receiving regular playing time. Fresh bodies are good bodies. It may not be perfect, but Nomar Mazara’s sudden emergence has given the Rangers a problem that any team in baseball would love to have.