Best duos in Texas Rangers history

In Major League Baseball, it takes more than one skilled player to field a championship contender. It takes talent all over the field at a variety of positions, both in terms of pitchers and hitters. While having a star pitcher and a star hitter at the same time is no guarantee of success, it does put your team in a position to have the type of season that fans will talk about for generations.

While it's not quite the same as the NBA, where one standout duo can take a team from the cellar to playoff contention, it's not uncommon for an outstanding season from a pitcher and position player duo to add 20 wins or more, according to Baseball Reference's wins above replacement player metric. The number is designed to illustrate the difference between a star player and the type of player that would be considered "replacement level"—that is, one who could be easily signed as a midseason free agent or called up from the minor leagues.

The following is a list of the top pitcher/position player duos in Texas Rangers history. Using wins above replacement, Stacker compiled a list of the seasons in franchise history that had a pitcher and hitter with the most combined value. Note that, for the purpose of capturing and examining the game's "modern era", only seasons after 1969 were used for this list.

#10. 2001 Texas Rangers
- Alex Rodriguez: 8.3 WAR (#5 position player in 2001)
- Jeff Zimmerman: 3.3 WAR (#38 pitcher in 2001)
- Total: 11.6 WAR

#9. 1974 Texas Rangers
- Jim Sundberg: 4 WAR (#42 position player in 1974)
- Fergie Jenkins: 7.7 WAR (#6 pitcher in 1974)
- Total: 11.7 WAR

#8. 2011 Texas Rangers
- Ian Kinsler: 7 WAR (#10 position player in 2011)
- C.J. Wilson: 4.9 WAR (#11 pitcher in 2011)
- Total: 11.9 WAR

#7. 2016 Texas Rangers
- Adrian Beltre: 6.7 WAR (#10 position player in 2016)
- Cole Hamels: 5.2 WAR (#13 pitcher in 2016)
- Total: 11.9 WAR

#6. 2005 Texas Rangers
- Mark Teixeira: 7.2 WAR (#6 position player in 2005)
- Kenny Rogers: 4.8 WAR (#14 pitcher in 2005)
- Total: 12 WAR

#5. 1996 Texas Rangers
- Ivan Rodriguez: 6.1 WAR (#16 position player in 1996)
- Ken Hill: 6.6 WAR (#8 pitcher in 1996)
- Total: 12.7 WAR

#4. 1979 Texas Rangers
- Buddy Bell: 6.9 WAR (#7 position player in 1979)
- Jim Kern: 6.1 WAR (#5 pitcher in 1979)
- Total: 13 WAR

#3. 2012 Texas Rangers
- Adrian Beltre: 7.2 WAR (#5 position player in 2012)
- Matt Harrison: 5.8 WAR (#4 pitcher in 2012)
- Total: 13 WAR

#2. 2010 Texas Rangers
- Josh Hamilton: 8.7 WAR (#1 position player in 2010)
- C.J. Wilson: 5 WAR (#13 pitcher in 2010)
- Total: 13.7 WAR

#1. 2002 Texas Rangers
- Alex Rodriguez: 8.8 WAR (#2 position player in 2002)
- Kenny Rogers: 4.9 WAR (#12 pitcher in 2002)
- Total: 13.7 WAR