Rumor Mills of the Mind
There are still months to go before the July 31 trade deadline but the rumors could come fast and furious on Mark Teixeira, the Rangers first baseman who everybody is thinking is going to eventually get traded.
The rumor floating around the Coliseum on Wednesday is the Los Angeles Dodgers are hot after Teixeira. But Rangers officials say there have been no talks with the Dodgers. In fact, the Rangers have had no conversations with any team concerning Teixeira to this point.
Obviously that could change but some rumors are more curious than others. For example the Red Sox. Kevin Youkilis is playing well at first, Mike Lowell is fine at third and they are clearly the best team in baseball. It’s hard to see them disrupting that for what it would take to get Teixeira.
The Braves might want him but a source said they’d rather go after pitching. Detroit could use him but they already lead the league in runs scored and hitting. Why give up a stud pitching prospect like Andrew Miller when the need isn’t desperate. San Francisco has young pitching and need a first baseman.
Stay tuned but be wary as the rumors start to fly. Very wary.
T.R. Sullivan
Toby
Tex to Atlanta wouldn’t be a surprise and he might re-sign there. No matter, i just what a good deal for this guy. This is a necessity. Tell Jon Boy to play one team against the other and get the best deal. This is his chance to recover from his previous nightmare deals. We have to make good with this one. Where is Botts?
My attitude will change if they get a good deal for Texiera and start re-building now as opposed to waiting. Cat, Lofton, Sosa, Millwood, Padilla, Gagne and Otsuka all need to go also. Maybe Boston will be interested, i think the Yankees are, but don’t have the pitching we need. Detroit, LA Dodgers probably do. Lets just put him out there and see what we can get. If we can’t get a good deal, then don’t give him away. Make the other involved team take Wilkerson too, please.
I’m sure a trade appeals to the head office jerks. Another Pudge all over again.
It’s time, I love Mark as a person, but in reality his agent is Scott Boras which means that he will go to the highest bidder. Please, Please dont trade him for 40 year old has been players. When they trade him do you think that they will take Daniels in the trade???
Bottom line, end of story, nothing is going to change with the Rangers until Hicks sells the team to an owner who is willing to hire “good baseball people” who know what they are doing and can rebuild from the ground up. The Rangers minor league system stinks, how could they not, they are all (AAA,AA,A) down wind from the so called big boys (what a joke). Oh, did I just insenuate the Ranger are made up of less than sweet aroma ?
I love rumors, let them start they are the basis for our teams management philosphy. Rumor had it that Washington could manage. Rumor had it that Daniels was a bright young baseball mind. Rumor had it that Hicks was a smart businessman. Father time has proven all of these things to be untrue. I am warning you if we don’t get value for Teixiera, i and alot of the rest of us are going to be done with this team. This means no tickets, no watching on tv, nothing. So be smart, make a good deal, please. If we keep up our current pace we are headed for 57 wins and 105 losses. DO SOMETHING SMART DANIELS. I call it the 2 year plan. If a player or players aren’t going to be here in 2 years then deal them, start focusing on 2009 season now.
Dgod there are a few things we don’t agree on BUT this time you really hit the mark. Amen!
this is for dwidregod:-
I am a Rangers fan .. even if they lose (which they are right now). I will always be a Rangers fan no matter how bad they get or are … Yes I get frustrated and angry (sometimes) BUT I will always be a Rangers fan and if I lived in Texas(I live in Australia) I would be there no matter what!!!! so please go- do something else .. go fishing or something, make your stand .. mean while I’ll still be baracking for the Rangers. I really am sick of these threats etc .. sure things need to be done with this team BUT not being there for them is not one of them.
Fraser, it is great that you are a fan, no matter how bad it gets you will be there. Well there are a lot of us who don’t feel this way. This doesnt not make us fans. That is what makes us fans, we care about the team and the direction it is headed. There are no threats here only promises, if they don’t address the situation, i and many others may move to Australia and hunt for Dingos. HICKS is in it for the money, so the only way to make an impact, is to boycott his product until he makes the first step towards respectability. So good day mate.
Sorry, dwidregod, but fraser500 is quite right- you ain’t no fan. As it happens I’m also in Australia (Must be the air here…)but lived in Dallas in the early 70′s,and became a true believer. For years I couldn’t follow the Rangers properly, but at last I can watch games on mlb tv. Bliss!!Blind, uncritical faith? Sure-but the alternative is to become a Yankees fan.
I am guessing that most of you above are Ranger fans since they arrived in Texas. I can feel your pain, as I have been a fan since 1961. At least we have a Texiera to deal. I saw years when the best we had was Don Lock. Here is my theory. Trade Tex for the best offer we can get. Hopefully pieces that will have us vastly improved going into 2009, then offer him a great deal to return. He and his wife supposedly like living in Texas. If Hicks really want to win he will spend the money for one of the games new superstars, with whom he has history. Get the show ready prospects and then get Tex back! Thats the way to build a winner.
JD said his number one priority this past off season was going to be pitching. Lets see….Re -signing Padilla who we ALREADY HAD THE PRIOR LOSING SEASON, spending $6M on Gagne who has done nothing, and here we are counting on B-Mac as our star. Not to mention it seems every other day we are pitching some AAA call up to pitch. Nice job JD. Trade, buy, or steal some pitching already.
Fraser brings up a good point. Can a person who is critical of his team be a fan? Websters defines fan as: An ardent devotee. Supporter means: to be able to bear: tolerate. I believe someone recently had an e-mail on the tolerance of losing that this club has developed. This person wrote something about developing a refuse to lose attitude that needed to start from the top of management on down to the field. The point is this. For too long, Hicks has been satisfied with being profitable and hasn’t had to worry about attendance because people were, and still are just happy to go out to the ballpark attend a game, socialize, get drunk and not care about the outcome of the game. These people aren’t fans, they are just part of the silicone and cocaine crowd who are just enjoying the experience and partying. They could care less if the Rangers win or lose and probably don’t give it much thought. But they are spending money and that is what Hicks cares about the most. I am just unwilling to bear, the complacency that exists with this club. I and others can’t tolerate, the patchwork and band aid approach that these guys continue to use because of a fear that no one will come out to the park and spend money. I just want the Rangers to commit to a true re-building process that is going to take 3 to 5 years to do. If we are going to lose 100 games then lets do it with youth and some new prospects. Get rid of the dead weight and start over. I think Hicks is failing to realize that this will rejuvenate the organization, create excitement and give us all hope. All things that you as a fan crave. I would support this. Anything else I can’t tolerate. The only loyalty that i have to anything is “Justice” which is blind.
Hey Dgod, you do not need to be disrespectful to the two Ausi guys. The comment of “i and many others may move to Australia and hunt for Dingos. ” Was uncalled for. I do not live in Australia but I have been there, nice country. But they are true fans, and you aren’t. I bet if the Rangers win next year or even go to the world series, you will say your the number one fan. Get a life dude. It gets old looking at your same comments of sell the team hicks, or get ride of JD. how about we get ride of you. Go Rangers!!!
I personally am just sick–1)of watching these guys on TV, 2) thinking of parting with Tex, 3) second-guessing all the missed trades to bring us to this point, etc….BUT, if we don’t re-tool now, we can be the Kansas City Royals for years to come. Things I’d do to aid the Texas Rangers for the near future: 1) Hire Sandy Johnson to lead the entire farm system, 2) Keep JD, because he has the kahunas to pull the trigger when needed, but check his trades by hiring Grady Fuson as Asst.GM, with a vote on trades, 3) Hire Fergie Jenkins to teach the pitchers in our organization how to have poise on the mound, pitch with faster tempo, bend but not breaking, and overall composure, 4) Trade Tex to someone who can bring us only FRONTLINE starting pitching, 5) Unload Wilkerson, Cat, Mahay, 6) Put Cruz in Right and keep him in right. 7) Call-up Botts, Edison Volquez, and Eric Hurley, and play them regularly, 8) Re-sign Sammy Sosa now, because we need a power bat should Tex leave by trade, 9) Give Vasquez a shot at starting at 3rd, as Blalock could play 1st and save his arm, 10) Never ever let the players dictate who manages the team, because every player doesn’t have to be in love with the manager or have the manager pat him on the rear to massage his ego, sometimes big league ballplayers need a kick in the rump, and with that, I’d say bye to Ron Washington, who I’ve grown to like alot, because the players are running the show it seems to me, and now that they have gotten their “player’s manager”, the team is repaying him with the worst play since 1972–quite a debt of gratitude, I’d say, AND, 11) Pray Tom Hicks sells the team to a local buyer who won’t move the team, so Tom can concentrate his efforts on some game where the players can’t use their hands over there in England. . . .in my humble opinion, this would be a positive first step.
So glad I am not the only one tired of listing to dgod. Most of his thought sounds like a politican. Always easy to do when you are spending someone elses money. Another thing the whole game is about MONEY.A thought on Washington is that he tried to be a nice guy and look what happened. The players can’t run the show! We do not have any players that want to lead except to the BANK. I watch every game every night and I used to never turn it off, but it has got so bad I am embarased to watch. If there is a baseball god then we have not been very nice to her or something. The first inning of the Seattle game is an example. Nothing is working. Granted Padilla is not the pitcher that we thought we were gettting but some of the plays other teams wouldn’t have made either. Guess I will go see how far behind we are!
I’m going to talk baseball and ignore much of the above..an interesting concept isn’t it?
3 innings, 72 pitches, 5 moves to first or third, at least 5 catcher conferences and I think 3 coaching visits, oh and 7 runs for Seattle. I’m trying to decide if “pathetic” or “tedious” is a better description of Padilla’s performance. What do you think.
And for the record Dgod occassionally gets a little excited but he sure as heck is entitled to state his opinion…There’s room here for everyone …now back off and talk baseball!
I don’t edit or delete comments in here. Ignore comments you don’t like. Not really interested in bickering.
Anybody who causes a problem has to answer to Toby.
Be afraid. Be very afraid
I am a Ranger fan, but I have come to grips with the fact that Tex isn’t going to be a Ranger long term. Anyone who can’t see the handwriting on the wall needs to get their head out of the sand. The next big event is the draft, so there is no time to retool the front office or the owner before that event. Hopefully, the Rangers will draft 75% pitching in the draft although I would probably draft 100% pitchers.
Unquestionably, the Rangers need to trade anyone of value who won’t be with the team in 2009. The questions I have are:
1) Is Hicks really willing to make the short term sacrifices needed in order to win in the long run? I don’t think he is.
2) If Hicks isn’t initially on board, will Daniels press ownership to make the deals that the team needs to? I don’t think he will because he would be admitting that his past efforts have been totally wasted.
3) Even if Hicks is on board, is Jon Daniels capable of making the deals that we have to make to acquire pitchers 2-3 years away from blossoming? I don’t know. He has a spotty trade record, but who doesn’t?
4) Once they get these pitchers via trade or the draft, do the Rangers have the right people in their minors to develop them? I am almost certain that the answer to this is a resounding NO!
I have never been a big fan of Wash. and I don’t think he makes it to the promised land of 2009, but there’s no sense removing him now until we know who the long term owner and GM will be.
I just returned from my ballpark trip. At least it was nice to hear Yankee fans complaining about their recent woes.
http://hitlesswanderings.mlblogs.com/
At this point, the better the chance the Yankees have of making the playoffs, the more likely it is that they’ll enter the trade war for Teix. I never thought I’d say this, but, Go Yanks!
I propose we don’t blog unless we enter a constructive proposal.
Every day could be treated as a new lease on life.
We give either our (short-term) managerial proposal on how to win the next game, or our (long-term) general managerial propsal of what move to seek.
Play youth.
Lets not forget the reason we all frequent the place. We all share a common bond in the sense that we are ALL Ranger fans. I like so many of the local folk share in the pain of watching this team (Who has never won a playoff series) go out on a daily basis and stink up the place. I too, insist that the problem starts at the top down.
We have an opportunity here to air our disgust, complain about trades or lack there of and so on but we have to mutually respect each others opinions (besides, TR will sick Toby on you if you don’t and that dog is scary looking).
All the regular guys on this blog bring a tremendous amount of insight and research into our world. We all have the right to be little disappointed in this team, eh?
With all of that said I would dump all I could at the trade deadline. Tex, Sosa, Cat, Blallock, Wilk & Loft and get the best return pitching I could get. I too say this team is pitiful. It has no heart but unlike most, I blame the players.
I read this stuff every day and it makes me laugh. I don’t think there is a person out there who doesn’t know what this team needs. Everyone thinks they can do a better job than Hicks, JD, and Wash if given the chance. I too think this, but it’s there job to do, not mine. You guys talk as if Hicks is sitting at home swimming in his giant piles of money, and as if JD is wondering to himself “I know something is not right with this team, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.” Yikes. I’m sure that you know that a trade involves at least two teams. You say that we must trade Tex, with which I agree, but you have to get great value for him. Don’t settle on something for the sake of trading. I think a youth movement in needed, but I enjoy baseball and I love the Rangers. Be a fan and just enjoy the Show!!
according to Newberg, only two times have the Rangers lost more than 100 games. I see this as an unwillingness for the rangers to rebuild. In my opinion, though I like Daniels, he needs to sell high on Sosa, Gagne, and Otsuka and trade Teixeira while we still have control of them. We need to quit trying to win now, and focus and building a real farm system. That said, don’t trade just to trade, trade for the best prospects you can get.