2015 Rangers Positional Review: Center Field

With the Rangers' surprising season in the books, let's take a look at the season on a position-by-position basis.

2015 center fielder

The guy: Delino DeShields

The outcast: Leonys Martin

Leonys Martin was supposed to be the guy that eventually became the Rangers' center fielder for the long term, but instead, he's most likely out of the Rangers' future plans forever after a horribly disappointing season that ended in a demotion to Triple-A after Delino DeShields took his job. Then, it included a rejection from Martin to show up in Arizona for late-season conditioning and work and the team opting to not recognize him in the pregame introductions at Game 3 of the ALDS.

So, Martin's days in Texas are most likely finished, as teams have inquired about trading for him because of his dominant throwing arm and plus-defense in center.

DeShields isn't nearly the defensive center fielder Martin is, and his arm proved to be a liability in the playoffs, but what he did at the plate and on the bases was everything the Rangers have wanted from Martin.

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DeShields entrenched himself as the team's leadoff hitter and finished the year with a .261 batting average and .344 on-base percentage. He had 22 doubles, 10 triples, two homers and 37 RBIs while scoring 83 runs and stealing 25 bases in 121 games.

Overall, the grade for center field was a solid B.

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