From Stefan Stevenson:
Chris Young and manager Bruce Bochy have a ton of topics to discuss as they prepare the team to defend its World Series title.
During one of those conversations Monday morning at the
MLB Winter Meetings at the Gaylord Opryland Resort, the topic turned to
Ezequiel Duran.
"[We] were talking about this, how good Zeke looked down the stretch when we were doing live BPs, and we had the alt-site camp. Zeke was on fire; it was like the first half," Young said. "We just didn't have a spot to get him in. But he was really, really good."
Duran, 24, is an easily forgotten piece of the Rangers championship season because he was left off the postseason roster after the emergence of Evan Carter in September and in lieu of an extra bullpen arm.
Duran was hitting .300 until mid-July and finished with 14 home runs, 22 doubles, and 46 RBI, while hitting .276. The middle-infielder who can also play third, first, and outfield is considered a valuable insurance policy on the Rangers' bench. He filled in admirably for Corey Seager, with only three errors in 37 games at shortstop. And when Josh Jung was injured, Duran filled in at third base. He made five errors in 22 games there, but three of them came in one game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
"It's a luxury to have somebody like Zeke, and we're going to need him," Young said. "He may get at-bats at DH, and he may play the infield. He can play third, short, second, and first. You can put him in the outfield. That's a real luxury. Look at him and Josh Smith for our organization, and it makes our big-league team significantly deeper, in my opinion."
If teams are interested in acquiring Duran, say for some pitching, their offer needs to be good.
"We hold a super high bar on Zeke because we believe he has the potential to be a really impactful everyday player, and that may be this year if somebody goes down or if he outperforms somebody," Young said. "I put no limits on him. He's just coming into his own. He's really good."
