Texas Rangers built winner in pieces

How they came to the Rangers

A look at the Rangers' lineup for Game 6 of the ALCS, and how the players were acquired:

*Were minor-leaguers when acquired and finished their development in Rangers' system.

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ARLINGTON -- The Texas Rangers team that had been assembled for the 2007 season wasn't short on talent, and it had a new manager on board who was full of optimism.

Ownership had just signed a loan for $525 million that could help secure a few key pieces and possibly help pay to re-sign a star first baseman headed toward free agency in 2008.

But something critical was missing -- direction. There was no long-term plan in place, and the Rangers were floating around in no-man's land.

They weren't spending enough to keep up with the big-budget teams, and they didn't have enough young talent to help complement a roster with a nice dose of All-Star players.

A 10-15 record in April reinforced that, and the front office believed change was needed. With five of the first 54 picks in the upcoming draft and the hottest trade piece in baseball on the roster, the Rangers would start the process of reinventing themselves.

There were no guarantees that the plan to acquire and develop quality young players would work, and no real timeline as to when the plan could be hailed a success.

With the Rangers headed to the World Series this week, the plan that dates to May 2007 is looking pretty good.

"The easy part was knowing we needed a strategic, comprehensive plan," general manager Jon Daniels said. "There wasn't enough structure for a long-term plan or how we would go about it. That was clear."

So, Daniels approached owner Tom Hicks and told him what would be the best path for the Rangers. Daniels and the baseball-operations staff had mulled over the kind of player they wanted and what pieces on the current roster could help accelerate the process.

The golden nugget was Mark Teixeira, who was still under the club's contractual control through 2008, but his arbitration-eligible status made him even more attractive on the trade market than a player who could be gone from his new team in two months.

Before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approached, though, the Rangers would have the opportunity to claim five elite young prospects who would serve as immediate upgrades to the minor-league talent pool.

Selected were Blake Beavan, Michael Main, Julio Borbon, Neil Ramirez and Tommy Hunter.

Seven weeks later, the Rangers pulled off three trades, including the biggie that sent Teixeira and Ron Mahay to Atlanta for Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Matt Harrison, Neftali Feliz, Elvis Andrus and Beau Jones.

John Smoltz, the former Braves pitcher who was in the TBS broadcast booth during the AL Championship Series, remembers holding his breath.

"If we didn't sign him [Teixeira] to the next three or four years, then it was going to get ugly. And it did," he said. "You can look at that trade as one of the greatest trades ever for the Texas Rangers. It has worked out in an unbelievable way for Texas."

Another trade had sent Kenny Lofton to Cleveland for Max Ramirez, and shortly after the Teixeira deal was done the Rangers sent Eric Gagné to Boston for Kason Gabbard, David Murphy and Engel Beltre.

No one thought in the front office his neck was on the line after the deals were done.

"I was like, 'Now, we need more,'" Daniels said. "Not only that, but we needed to develop these guys."

A fourth trade, though, has shown to be just as big. The Rangers sent their top pitching prospect, Edinson Volquez, and reliever Danny Ray Herrera to Cincinnati for Josh Hamilton.

The Rangers had started building in the middle of the diamond with a catcher (Saltalamacchia), shortstop (Andrus), center fielder (Hamilton, Murphy and Beltre) and lots of pitchers.

The majority of those players, as well as outfielder Nelson Cruz from a 2006 trade with Milwaukee, impacted the Rangers' run to the American League championship.

Hamilton is headed toward the MVP award. Andrus and Feliz were first-time All-Stars. Harrison was in the rotation to start the season. Murphy, now a corner outfielder, was the Rangers' most productive hitter in the second half of the season.

Even Beavan and Main, first-rounders three years ago, contributed without ever stepping foot inside Rangers Ballpark.

Beavan was one of four prospects shipped to Seattle to acquire ace left-hander Cliff Lee, and Main was the final piece of a trade with San Francisco that brought catcher Bengie Molina.

But the Rangers weren't built solely on the 2007 draft and the development of young players they acquired through trades that year. Two of the stars of Game 6 in the pennant-clinching victory Friday were free agents signed in January.

Colby Lewis pitched eight strong innings to put the exclamation point on his first season back from Japan, and Vladimir Guerrero had the go-ahead two-run double in the fifth inning.

Guerrero fits the mold of the free agent the Rangers have signed in recent seasons, a player who still has a desirable skill set and has found his footing once again in Arlington.

"Our scouting guys have done a great job of identifying the right one-year player," assistant general manager Thad Levine said. "We haven't saddled ourselves with two- or three-year deals or gotten guys as the sun was setting on their careers."

Instead, the sun appears to be rising on the Rangers. They appear to be built for a run of success, thanks to a plan that started in 2007.