Jamey Wright gets Minor Deal
The Rangers are bringing in right-handed pitcher Jamey Wright to camp on a minor league deal. He will compete with John Koronka, Kameron Loe, Josh Rupe, Edinson Volquez and others for a spot in the rotation. He was 6-10 with a 5.19 ERA with the Giants last year and turned 32 in December
T.R. Sullivan
Toby
Hmmmm … a pitcher with a 5.19 ERA joining our Rangers. Sounds like a match made in heaven. I dream for the days when we don’t have to invite guys like Jamey Wright to camp. But maybe I shouldn’t complain. I mean, what could be worse than Koronka and Rheinecker? I really, really hope either Loe, Rupe or Volquez stands up and seizes this opportunity.
Every team invites guys non roster guys like Jamey Wright (or worse) to spring training. It’s probably a good idea to throw another veteran guy into the mix to further the competetion. Hopefully he’ll accept an asigment to AAA. If I remember correctly he’s from the OKC area.
I like the competition that is going to take place this spring. I’m pulling for Rupe to get the 5th spot in the rotation. Can’t wait for spring training to start.
I don’t really see the point here. If the guy can’t be successful in the NL, how do the Rangers expected him to be successful in one of the AL’s best hitter’s parks? *scratches head*
The Rangers are trying for a low risk deal. This guy could pull a Mark DeRosa. He could go out and magically win 15 games or he could really blow and he gets waived. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Non-roster invitees never hurt. The more you have, the better chance of finding a Mark DeRosa.
I’ll be honest: He must be far under the radar, because normally I could have remembered something about him. I guess his 5.19 ERA is reason number one he isn’t prominently remembered.
The one saving grace is: He’s cheap! Wright’s ERA and record last year sound to me like the majority of starting pitchers who can give you “Quality starts”…which is pure hogwash and a misnomer, when one considers pitching 5 innings, giving up 3 runs and 3 walks. Fergie is still laughing at this “excellence”. . . .IF we MUST have a 5th starter, please let Josh Rupe win this last spot in the rotation. (Actually, J.D…Couldn’t somehow we have a four-man starting rotation, and have Rupe as our top long man and occasional fill-in starter? We have 4 “horses” at the top of the order, 2 in their prime, and two young bucks who can eat up alot of innings–couldn’t we just have a four-man rotation? Teams did it for years and years to their credit and success. Seems the management and we fans waste too much brainpower and time by obsessing over a 5th starter. The 5th starter is better at being the long man anyway. He’s left out of the rotation many times anyway, (especially early in the season), and once he starts a game, he’s unavailable for 4 days-and for another reason, a GOOD reason, Rupe was pretty darned good and effective as our long man last year. I think we’d waste him as a 5th starter. Just a suggestion-even if J.D. didn’t think to ask me.
Bingo,
That is pretty much what our 5th starter is,a long man. We had the second most worked bullpen last year next to the Royals—THE ROYALS!! I am hoping those top 4 horses like you mentioned keep our bullpen fairly rested while our 5th starter can be protected more, and not left out there to die. Last year, and every other year with Showalter, I would get so angry that he would leave pitchers in too long. I think Washington, although, won’t give the hook immediately, that he’ll be much better at pulling pitchers at the right moment…I hope.
We need to extend Michael Young’s contract, and try to extend Tex’s contract although he has the EVIL Boras as his agent!!!
Btw…Jamey Wright did have a 5.19 ERA and we wouldn’t expect more than that from him, but Wright did have a 4.32 ERA on the road. At Home in SF, he had an ERA of 6.24.
Look at it this way, our 5th spot last year was shared by the likes of
Koronka 5.69 (23 GS),
Rheinecker 6.03 (13 GS),
Tejeda 4.28(14 GS)(and is now our 4th starter),
Volquez 7.29 (8 GS),
Loe 5.86 (15 GS),
Dickey 18.90(only 1 start),
…and although I may have missed a couple starts, this gives you an idea of what we had last year. Those 6 pitchers combine for 73 starts enough to equal 4th and 5th rotation spots in theory, but with only 379 IP between them and giving up 243 ERs, that equals a 5.79 ERA. Also, Wright was no longer starting at the latter part of last year, and whether or not Wright would accept an assignment to AAA or not would be another question. That would give us the depth if there is an injury to another starter.
Either way, Wright is a groundball pitcher that can do a decent job in the 5th spot. We will have a competitive situation for the final spot in the rotation which is a good thing. Personally, I would try Rupe, but the Rangers would have insurance in a guy like Wright.