Desmond, Rangers make most of unlikely pairing

ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers saw him as their kind of player, a winning player, a team-first player. Ian Desmond would make them better while fitting nicely into the clubhouse culture on which the organization prides itself.

As Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said on Tuesday, “He checked off all the boxes.”

There was just one teensy problem. Really a small thing. Probably not even worth mentioning. It was that Ian Desmond happened to play shortstop.

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Game Date Time Matchup TV Gm 1 Oct. 6 4:30 p.m. WC @ TEX TBS Gm 2 Oct. 7 1 p.m. WC @ TEX TBS Gm 3 Oct. 9 7:30 p.m. TEX @ WC TBS *Gm 4 Oct. 10 TBD TEX @ WC TBS *Gm 5 Oct. 12 TBD WC @ TEX TBS *- If necessary | All times listed ETShop for postseason gear: Rangers • Complete Postseason coverage Oh, that. Actually, he’d never started at any other position during seven seasons with the Washington Nationals. He’d even made the National League All-Star team as a shortstop in 2012.

The Rangers already had a very good player at that position, Elvis Andrus, and he wasn’t going anywhere. It’s just that the more the Rangers discussed Desmond, the more they thought they could make things work.

“He’s a guy we’ve always admired from across the way,” Daniels said. “[Former Ranger] Michael Young called him a winning player. Our scouts liked him and thought he could play the outfield.”

Desmond did not jump at the opportunity the Rangers presented. He allowed free agency to play out, and when he wasn’t thrilled with the offers he’d gotten, he contacted the Rangers early in Spring Training and agreed to a one-year, $7 million deal.

Looking back on it, there weren’t many smarter …

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