Texas Rangers ‘Underrated’ Legend Likely To Get Taken Off Hall of Fame Ballot

A Texas Rangers legend is in danger of getting removed from the Hall of Fame ballot after his first year.

Sep 23, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler (5) follows through on a single against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. | Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers saw a franchise legend make his debut on the Hall of Fame ballot this year, but it may be his only time making it.

If a player does not appear on at least 5% of ballots, he gets taken off of it the next year.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report recently looked through the ballot to find the most likely players to meet that fate and he came up with 11 names. One of those players was former Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler.

Kinsler, who retired after the 2019 season, spent the first eight years of his career in Texas and has been a truly underrated star given how rare of a player he was, but might just miss out on the Hall of Fame honor.

The Arizona native was drafted in the 17th round of the 2003 MLB draft after spending a few years with the Missouri Tigers.

He was a rare combination of speed, power and defense even coming out of college, but his draft stock likely took a hit after dealing with a foot injury.

It was just a couple of years before he made his MLB debut and kicked off a stellar career.

Offensively, Kinsler had a career .269/.337/.440 slash line with 257 home runs, 909 RBI and 243 stolen bases.

He is one of just seven players at second base to both hit 200 home runs and steal 200 bases. Four of those players are in the Hall and another, Jose Altuve, is likely to make it when his time comes. Brandon Phillips also did it, but he was one of those players that got taken off of the ballot after a year.

Kinsler fell just one hit short of joining the 2,000 club.

Defensively, he had two Gold Gloves, which actually doesn't do his skills justice. He had elite range and was consistently one of the best defensive second basemen in baseball.

Overall, he had four All-Star nods, those two Gold Gloves and even got a World Series ring back in 2018 with the Boston Red Sox.

Most importantly for his case, he accumulated a career WAR of 54.1. That is about the baseline for the average Hall of Fame member, so that's a plus in his corner.

The problem is just that it all really came in a short peak and he spent the last few years of his career on a downwards trend.

It could really go either way for Kinsler, but missing out is more likely given that he was never truly a superstar.