Takeaways From Texas Rangers Spring Training: First Base

As we continue to look back at the way things played out at Rangers spring training, the competition at first base was truly one of the most discussed topics throughout the few week the Rangers were in Surprise.

Ronald Guzman came in as the incumbent first baseman. He knew expectations were going to rise. The team is pivoting towards contending once again and the Rangers need to see what they have internally. The time for waiting is over.

Guzman spent the winter at home in the Dominican Republic and worked out with former-Ranger Nelson Cruz. Guzman also worked on getting his body into better shape and accustomed to what it takes to be an everyday Major League player.

On the other hand, Greg Bird has had to fight the stigma of not staying healthy. After having a stellar debut with the Yankees in 2015 (small, but impressive sample size), Bird has had a slew of injuries that have derailed his career.

He came into Rangers camp healthy and ready to compete for the every day job at first base. He wasn't brought in to platoon with anyone. The Rangers wanted to find another diamond in the rough and/or push Ronald Guzman to the next level.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, not much was solved in the four weeks between the two candidates. Neither of them played poorly, but neither one necessarily gave the Rangers a reason to make their decision any easier. As a matter of fact, just last week before the coronavirus shut down baseball and all other sports, the Rangers were going to have Todd Frazier start taking grounders at first base. Frazier has experience playing there and Isiah Kiner-Falefa was forcing his way into more playing time over at third base by tearing the cover off the ball throughout Cactus League play.

The Rangers needed Guzman or Bird to force their hand like Kiner-Falefa did. That would have made the decision much easier. Instead, the Rangers were going to add another name into the mix to see what they could get to work. That's not a recipe you necessarily want to see with an internal competition.

To be fair, both Guzman and Bird had some bright spots. Guzman roped several hits through spring games and Bird showed very well with the glove defensively. Despite Bird's very low batting average, he had a lot of quality at-bats and was unlucky a few times at the plate.

Contractually, Greg Bird has the advantage, despite being on a Minor League contract. He can opt out if he won't be added to the 40-man roster. There will also be an open spot on the 40-man roster when the Rangers put Brock Burke on the 60-day Injured List, so no player will have to be designated for assignment to make room on the roster. Ronald Guzman also has an option remaining, so the Rangers can send him to Triple-A Nashville without having to put him through waivers.

With this hiatus, Guzman may benefit since he is already on the 40-man roster while Bird is not. 40-man roster members still currently have access to team facilities while non-roster invitees were urged to go home per MLB's memo to teams when they suspended spring training camps.

There's still a lot to figure out. In talking with Rangers GM Jon Daniels, any baseball decisions are totally on the back burner as of now. All of the focus so far has been on team, player, and staff health and safety.

"We haven't even talked about that," Daniels said. "Our eyes have been focused on the bigger picture, on public health and taking care of our people. We'll sit down and look at those things when we have some time, but overall all of that will be put on hold. We'll circle back to that when we have a better idea of the time frame we'll be making those decisions in."

When that time does come around, it'll more than likely be another spring training of sorts, albeit abbreviated. Bird and Guzman both, along with Todd Frazier potentially, will have to win over someone in order to land the job.

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