Texas Rangers' Chris Davis and Taylor Teagarden Are Texas-Size Disappointments

When I first moved out here to North Texas from sunny southern California, I got a chance to watch guys like Chris Davis, Taylor Teagarden, Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison and a few others while they were playing for Double-A Frisco.

I would sit in the outfield stands during batting practice and watch Chris Davis blast shot after shot over my head. I knew he could hit the ball and I knew he could hit it a long ways. I figured this kid had a future in the big leagues.

Little did I know he would struggle mightily over the last two seasons and end up back in Triple-A and, more than likely, headed out of the Rangers organization by the trade deadline.

I was really hoping he would succeed. He was a good guy to interview after the games and he always made time no matter what kind of game he had. He's one of those guys you want to see get to the next level and never come back.

He didn't have a bad year in 2008, finishing with a .285 batting average, 17 home runs, and 55 RBI. But, over the past two seasons, his batting average has slipped from .285 in 2008 to .188 this season. The only number that went up from 2008 to 2009 was his home run count (21), but his strikeouts went up as well (88 to 150).

There's no doubt in my mind that the Rangers will attempt to trade him as part of a deal before the trade deadline, possibly for a starter—which the Rangers are in need of, especially with the struggles of Rich Harden who could also be on the trade block.

What might be Davis's saving grace is the struggles of highly touted prospect Justin Smoak, who's hitting .216 through 44 games for the Rangers. If he continues to struggle, the Rangers might have a decision to make, though I don't see them choosing Davis over Smoak.

Another player that I got to watch during my days covering the Frisco RoughRiders was catcher Taylor Teagarden.

I remember the first day he came up and all the hype that surrounded him. I thought I was going to see the next coming of Pudge Rodriguez or Jorge Posada.

What I saw was anything but those two potential Hall of Famers. Not to kick the guy while he's down, because he's fallen from the big leagues all the way back to Double-A Frisco, but I saw more strikeouts than hits.

There was no question he was talented behind the plate and has a cannon for an arm. He could nail any baserunner trying to steal on him, but his hits were few and far between.

I remember the day that I heard he had been called up to the big leagues. I wasn't sure I had heard it right because he was in the middle of a huge slump, so I wasn't sure what the Rangers really saw in him.

I was pleasantly surprised when Teagarden hit .319 through 47 at bats in 2008. I figured that the Rangers knew more than I do, so who was I to question the move?

The following year, the struggles began. Tegarden hit just .217 through 198 at bats, striking out 76 times. This season, those struggles have gotten that much worse as he was hitting .037 with just one hit in 27 at bats with the Rangers.

It does look promising, however, for the young catcher as he's currently hitting .273 for the RoughRiders with two home runs and 15 RBI, but is still striking out way too much (28 in 77 at bats).

Again, I'm not trying to kick dirt on either of their careers because I know these two guys are capable of far more than they've shown so far. I know these players have tremendous talent and both have shown great defensive abilities. You could go as far as to say Chris Davis has Gold Glove type talent at first base.

Unfortunately, things haven't gone their way and that's got to be a tough pill to swallow.

Hopefully, both will figure things out and we'll see them back in the big leagues sometime soon.