*Editor's note: This column originally published April 18. The Rangers start a three-game series against the Astros in Houston on Monday.

The Dallas Morning News and Houston Chronicle have teamed up this week to share items about the growing baseball rivalry between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. Please check back each day for new items from both newspapers about the two AL West favorites.

From the Houston Chronicle: All things considered, Astros superior to Rangers

Take it from someone who’s lived and worked his whole life in Dallas or Houston: Baseball has never been so good in Texas, which, come to think of it, probably didn’t require the qualifier. A baseball fan from Poughkeepsie could have told you the same.

Between the Rangers and Astros there are approximately four hours on I-45 and three World Series appearances, all fairly recent, depending on your tolerance level. Your middle schooler has pretty much lived through the highlights of both. Might even recite them if you could get the kid off the phone.

Given the uptick in fortunes, it’s enough for me that the level of discourse has been raised so high. But the boss says take sides over which organization is best, so here goes.

Until further notice, the Rangers are better, starting at the top.

“Top,” of course, doesn’t necessarily mean top of the lineup, though you can consider this a belated thank-you note, Houston, for Delino DeShields. The Astros knew what they were doing when they drafted him in the first round in 2010. Not so much when they left him exposed in the Rule 5 draft. He’s fun to watch, even though it’s mostly just a blur.

The Rangers’ decision to A) steal him and B) flaunt it by placing him like a cherry atop the lineup proved pivotal in winning the West. Which brings us back to the topic at hand.

If the question had been which lineup is better, I’d have to go with Houston. And not just because of Carlos Correa. He’s so good, I’d take him over Mike Trout. Or the entire Angels outfield. As for the rest of the Astros’ lineup, it’s every bit as talented as the Rangers’ and five years younger on average.

Still, talent comes and goes, which is why you should consider what’s around it.

First, the Rangers’ general manager, Jon Daniels, not only has put together a World Series roster, he keeps reinventing the team on the fly. Yes, I realize the Astros’ GM, Jeff Luhnow, helped build the pipeline that St. Louis used to beat the Rangers in the 2011 World Series. But the responsibilities of a farm system and a major league club are vastly different. A farm director can always blame the major league staff for screwing up talent. A big league general manager bears the ultimate responsibility. Except, of course, John Hart. If you should run into Daniels’ predecessor, tell him we’re still looking for him.

Daniels built a World Series team out of an organization in bankruptcy court, then started all over again with new owners. He sometimes comes off as a guy spending his own money. Yet every time Daniels asks Ray Davis and Bob Simpson to cover Prince Fielder or Shin-Soo Choo or Cole Hamels, they fork it over.

A GM also has to have the guts to pull the trigger on an expensive trade at the deadline. Daniels has done so repeatedly.

Note to GMs: First man to get Sonny Gray or Chris Sale this summer wins.

Consider also that the Rangers’ payroll this year is baseball’s eighth-highest at $162 million, give or take. According to Spotrac, the Astros’ is $99 million, good for 22nd.

Let me ask you: When the bills come due on all those fine young Astros, will Jim Crane pony up to keep them?

Maybe so, especially if they start flying some flags at Minute Maid Park. But we can’t say for sure until he actually pulls out his checkbook.

Speaking of young talent, let's factor in how the Astros got it. Remember, I grew up in Houston. As a matter of fact, I was working at the dearly departed Houston Post when the Rockets tanked all those games to get Hakeem Olajuwon. Pretty hard to screw up a draft when you're picking first and the choices include Olajuwon and Michael Jordan. Unless you're Portland, which took C.) Sam Bowie.

Anyway, it’s a little easier to come up with a Carlos Correa when you’ve got first dibs, which was the case with the Astros three years in a row. Also got Lance McCullers with the supplemental pick in 2012. And the year before, they took George Springer 11th overall.

Granted, Luhnow did a nice job digging up Tyler White in the 33rd round in 2013, but the Rangers have their own feel-good rookie this year in Nomar Mazara. Not to mention, Jurickson Profar and Joey Gallo are lurking down in Round Rock.

One of these days the Rangers are going to have to find a place for all their impressive young talent, but apparently Adrian Beltre will have to go out feet-first to accommodate them.

Bottom line: The Rangers have a terrific balance of old-and-new, and they have a manager who connects in all corners of the clubhouse.

Jeff Banister faces a worthy counterpart in A.J. Hinch, though if all those players hadn’t gotten in the way last summer, I’d have had to bet on Banister in a one-on-one.

On a related note, I give Nolan Ryan the edge over anyone in the Rangers’ front office. Ask Robin Ventura. Probably worth adding that Nolan gets around a little, too. If he ever ends up a Ranger again, the I-45 debate will be over.

Twitter: @KSherringtonDMN

From the Houston Chronicle: All things considered, Astros superior to Rangers