Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers took different paths on road to World Series
ARLINGTON, Texas — Not long ago, the Diamondbacks and Rangers were both 100-loss teams that were picking second and third in the draft. While turning around franchises normally is like a battleship changing directions, somehow both organizations find themselves four wins away from a potential World Series title just two years later.
Beyond that, the commonalities for how the clubs got to this point are few and far between. The Diamondbacks are a team largely built around its farm system, wise contract extensions and shrewd trades. The Rangers made huge bets in free agency; many of those gambles have paid dividends that are nearly as hefty as the price tags.
The Rangers are spending around $240 million on payroll, more than $100 million above the Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks stuck with manager Torey Lovullo through their down years; the Rangers made a change, hiring veteran skipper Bruce Bochy prior to this year.
“It just goes to show you there are a lot of different ways to build a team,” Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald said. “You can do it both ways and end up in the World Series.”
The Rangers invested a half-billion dollars in free-agent middle infielders Corey Seager and Marcus Semien prior to last season. They spent heavily again this past winter, signing pitchers Jacob deGrom ($185 million), Nathan Eovaldi ($34 million) and Andrew Heaney ($25 million).
And when he saw an opportunity, Rangers General Manager Chris Young pushed even harder at this year’s trade deadline, adding more veteran pitching in left-hander Jordan Montgomery and right-hander Max Scherzer.
“I think the aggressiveness that he’s gone after this roster (is impressive), the moves that he made at the deadline, adding studs,” Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen said. “And he just kept going out and doing it again and again and again. He was probably the most aggressive out of any team at the deadline, with taking on money, giving up prospects, acquiring players. He’s got his fingerprints all over this team.”
Said Young: “Much of that is rooted in the trust of the person as it is the player and the talent. I think that’s probably the biggest common denominator in terms of the guys that we’ve signed. They’ve lived up to it, they’ve been awesome and they’ve certainly changed the culture in our clubhouse. Just very grateful to all of them for believing in us as a 100-loss team and choosing to be here.”
Not that the Rangers are devoid of young talent. Josh Jung, who hit 23 homers during the regular season, is viewed as one of the better young third basemen in the majors. Outfielder Evan Carter, 21, is viewed as one of the better offensive prospects in the game, and his promotion in mid-September helped the Rangers’ late push to secure a playoff spot.
The Diamondbacks’ roster construction was more gradual, coming together over more than a half-decade thanks to trade acquisitions like Ketel Marte, draft picks such as Corbin Carroll and finishing touches like Sewald and outfielder Tommy Pham.
“We did it differently, right?” Hazen said. “I don’t know that you can blueprint this and say that we look all that similar in the path that we took to get here.”
Besides being the architects of huge turnarounds, Hazen and Young have another thing in common: Both attended Princeton and played under coach Scott Bradley, whom they arranged to fly to Texas for the games. Both point to Bradley as a driving force in their careers.
Young said the growth he experienced as a player under Bradley led to him getting an opportunity to get drafted and pitch professionally, which he did for parts of 13 seasons in the majors. Hazen credited Bradley for connecting him to Hall of Fame baseball writer Peter Gammons, who then put him in touch with then-Cleveland executive Mark Shapiro, starting Hazen on a front-office track after his brief playing career stalled out in the minors.
“He’s the reason I’m here,” Hazen said.
Said Young: “It’s pretty special for him (Bradley) to have both of us in the World Series. I know he’s going to be torn. He wants a tie, I think is what he said. It’s a great honor for him and we’re certainly happy he can be here to be celebrated.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks, Rangers took different paths on road to World Series
