Too many Angels in the outfield
Torii Hunter signed with the Angels. Gary Matthews Jr. is now a fourth outfielder. I’m going to eat a bologna sandwich.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Torii Hunter signed with the Angels. Gary Matthews Jr. is now a fourth outfielder. I’m going to eat a bologna sandwich.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
T.R. Sullivan
Toby
So the way it stands now, the Halo’s have an outfield of Hunter, Vlad, Anderson & Mathews to back-up or trade for infield upgrades? Wow! Now that is the way to build a team. Adding a no 3 or 4 legitimate starter to boot in Garland, this team is going to be an animal for a few (5)years.
Lets see we have an outfield of, err, ummm? I guess really no set outfielders. Maybe we should resign Wilkerson to have a potential 20 homer guy? How pathetic
Anderson, Hunter, Guerrero, Willits, Matthews, and Juan Rivera.
Our outfield might not even be as good as the Angels’ second trio of outfielders.
Can anyone say PODSEDNIK? And i doth quote, ” Like always in Baseball, it’s about the money.” Thomas Hicks. This coming from the guy who handed out what is still the richest contract in Sports History!!!! If the Rangers would have even been competitive over the last decade with any inkling of winning, Tori may have signed here. He like many other players see No Chance, Nada, zilch, of us even sniffing a winning record within the next few years. So kudos to Hunter, he made a wise choice. The Angels have already won a World Series, have a ton of talent, a great owner and a managerial and executive staff that no how to play the game. I just wish we could have some of that here. Here is betting that Matthews is dealt and that will offset the amount of money that Tori is getting. Their team just got better and are the odds on favorite to win it next year. They are making moves that are going to put them in the World Series. What kind of moves are we making? We are crying about being spurned. If one is to believe what Hunter said, at no time was he seriously considering coming here. He wanted to win and he wanted the cash. What is wrong with that?
Hicks just wants the cash. Rumor has it that Hicks served Bologna at the dinner the other night and Hunter wanted some Veal. Well he just got it in Los Angeles, the City of Angels.
Let’s see, i can get 15 million dollars more, make 3 million more per year and have a chance to win over the next 3 to 5 years. Hmnn, what should i do. Did i fail to mention the great weather? Tori did us a favor, by signing there. Now maybe someone will realize, that it just isn’t about the money to some people. If the salaries were equal and you had a chance to play for the Rangers or the Angels. Which team would you play for? All else being equal, because of a state income tax in California, then the offers were pretty similar. So it just wasn’t about the money, sure it was involved in the process as it is with all of us. I can’t believe that Hicks is calling people out about the money. Oh Ye of the $45.00 Seats, $12.00 Parking, $6.00 Beer and $5.00 Hot Dogs.
We really lost out to our divsion rival – again. And we lost out because of our team’s reputation. Torri said it himself – he didn’t think we where within 3 years of competeing, so he found somebody that was.
The question now will be can this team sign Aaron Rowand or Andruw Jones? Or are we destined to never sign any superstar players as long as Tom Hicks runs this team?
Does your bologna have a first name? Is it O-S-C-A-R? Does your bologna have second name is it M-A-Y-E-R?
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
You know I love baseball too – but it’s just a game – some teams have good luck and some don’t – if you’re so tired of the Rangers – here’s a suggestion: change the channel and find another team.
http://emc.mlblogs.com
Didn’t the Angels just vastly overpay for a free agent centerfielder last year?
Hey Marla, on your list of 37 things you like to do 4 of them revolve around drinking. 4/37 = 11%. My first question is did the Rangers drive you to this? And is your last name really Hooch, or is it merely what you like to do? And last but not least, is Padilla your favorite player? Now we all know why? I bet even he doesn’t have a list of 37 things that he likes to do that revolve around drinking and he is probably an alcoholic. I will not change the channel until the Rangers get “lucky”. To them what that means is having a financially flexible season. This is luck to them. Besides, i have been here since day one with the expansion team. My one final question is why do the Cubs have the reputation of being lovable losers when it should belong to us. Are we not lovable?
Hey Lonestar, most of us would be happy if we just kept our own superstars. Soriano, A-Rod, I-Rod, Kevin Brown, Texiera, Rogers and others that have left for various reasons. Mostly the fact that we haven’t won. Most players if they are smart, know the deal here. It is a great place to get an opportunity to show the rest of the league that you can play baseball. Once you have shown that and you are smart enough not to re-sign here, then you will be traded. All you have to do is ask for big money and they will run, like a group of roaches that have been sprayed with a pesticide. Tell me one player movement made within the past three years that wasn’t done, because of money? Texiera, a good trade but dealt because he wanted the cash and a chance to win. Texiera figured out what the deal was here, lost confidence in the ownership group and refused the money Hicks offered. Way to go Texiera, who can blame you. If Kinsler is smart he wont sign a long term deal. Just ask Young if he regrets re-signing here and not going to free-agency. Who is going to be our center fielder? Can we get Matthews back, is he the long term answer? I think we should scrap it all, deal Millwood, Padilla, and Catalanotto, hit rock bottom and focus on the future. Build a team from the ground up. The last time we did this we got I Rod, and Juan Gonzalez, The second time we did it we got, Young and Blalock out of it. I would like to see Duran, Teagarden, Andrus, Arias, Boggs, Mahar, and any other young players that we really think are going to be our future. It isn’t necessary to pay guys like Hunter 18 million a year. Tori was right we aren’t going to be competitive within 3 years if we don’t decide on what we are going to do. I really think Tori did us a favor by not coming here. Maybe now we are going to have to focus on a long term solution and plan. Lets work on changing why no one wants to come here. Pitchers don’t want to come here because their era’s will inflate. Now everyday players don’t want to come here because their is no hope of winning. In my humble opinion any player worth his salt, if they desire to win, will not come here just for the money. Most of the players of Hunter’s ability, will always have a choice of where they want to play. I am for us maybe getting Rowand, but he has tasted the playoffs and probably won’t come here because of our situation. This puts us in a position of overpaying, ala, A-Rod and none of us, including Hicks should want that.
I will be gone for a few days and be unable to write back. It is too hard to pass up that $50.00 an hour Christmas OT which starts tomorrow. I have 100 hours of it so that works out to $5,000 smackeroos. Chump change to these athletes, but Christmas gifts for the kiddos. Booked for the rest of the weekends so i won’t get back to you until Jan 01, 2008. So play nice while i am gone. Hopefully we will have made some smart moves. Here is betting that we get Podsednik. He is only 31 had an off year and is a Texas boy, from West, Texas. A place where i used to buy my beer.
You know I usually keep to myself here but EMC must work for the Ranger front office. It is exactly that attitude that drives this team to the bottom of Major league baseball year in and year out. I have been a Ranger fan since I went to my first game as a 10 year old boy in 1972. Forgive me for whinning about a franchise that just stumbles all over itself year after year. You’re right, I should find a professional baseball team to support. Thing is, I just thought that maybe in my lifetime we would have ONE here in Texas.
Forgive me for caring.
HA HA HA! Poor Tom Hicks has his shorts yanked down and pimp slapped by the Angels. Hicks is a joke. The Rangers **** and will continue to **** until this ***** sells the club to someone who cares about winning and has the guts to do something about it. Hicks is like a punch-drunk boxer afraid to take another lick after losing out with Chan Ho Park and A-Rod but his Timid-Tommy act has grown thin. It’s not like he didn’t have extra cash after A-Rod opted out of his contract in NY. Good for Tori Hunter and whatever you do stay away from bad baseball in Arlington.
All of the comments now are woe is us Hunter signed with the Angels. For the past couple of weeks the majority of the posts on this blog have been about “don’t sign Hunter he isn’t a good fit” or “why overpay to get Hunter? the Rangers need to develop their own”. Everyone rants that the Rangers are mixed up and inconsistent therefore they can’t possibly win. Maybe as fans we need to admit we have the same problems.
The Angels are winners whether Hunter signs or not because they DEVELOPED a strong pitching staff both starting and relief.
Wolfey, you are right. I was totally against signing Hunter. I am glad he signed elsewhere. What i am saying is Hicks was #1 dead wrong for pursuing the guy in the first place. It stinks of patchwork an attempt to keep people coming to the park. What i totally disagree with is Hicks saying, it was just about money. I don’t think it was just about the money. I think that Hunter wanted his cash, but he also wanted to win. Everyone on this planet knows that we aren’t going to win next year. Everyone except Rangers “management”. The Rangers wanted this guy, he is supposed to be Washingtons friend. Translation, not even Washingtons friends want to play here, because they are more of a friend to Ben Franklin. Ha Ha. I want long term answers, but fear it will be Podsednik. Get ready to start hearing how, we signed a FA CF before and he turned out all right, that guys name Gary Matthews. Marla, EMC isn’t on the Rangers payroll, she is on the HOOCH. How in the heck are we going to improve this organization if we don’t face facts. We aren’t a very good team, no legitimate free agents want to play here unless we overpay. So that leaves us with developing our own talent. So get to it. Deal Young, Blalock, Catalanotto, Millwood, Otsuka and Padilla by the All-Star break after all have hopefully had a good start. I think we just saw that Daniels made a couple of good deals last year. Start rebuilding the minor leagues. Right now, i would like to see what Arias, Andrus, Duran, Teagarden, Boggs, Gold, Mahar, Harrison, Volquez, Hurley and any other young players get a chance to play. It is really all we have to go with. So lets get into it and get with developing these players and start towards the ultimate goal of winning the World Series, cause believe you me, that is going to increase your profit margins.
The last time we played the kids, as A-Rod said, we won 87 games. So the kids can’t be that bad. In fact i like kids. Thank God for Kids. I really do not understand why Hicks doesn’t just tell Daniels to rebuild this team with young players. Players that will be part of a championship team. He could have a team of 25 guys that had a salary between 10 million to 20 million dollars. I would like to see young guys take the next step. To me that is exciting. I would be patient for that. I am really tired of us trying to add a free-agent here, a free-agent there. Free-agency really hasn’t helped us. Who have we ever signed to big money that has really helped us. I really don’t understand why we just don’t follow, what the Tigers and Brewers have done with their franchises. I think every fan of the team would go for the rebuilding if they saw that we had a plan and started seeing some of the young guys starting to develop. There is no reason Teagarden, Boggs, Mayberry, Gold, Borbon, Duran, Arias and Andrus, Ramirez, Hurley, Mendoza, Diamond, Volquez and others should nt be afforded the opportunity to perform.
$50.00 hr. Pretty good money.
I’m sure that is not enough though.
I for one am happy that Hunter didn’t sign here. He is a good player, but not a superstar. If we are giving someone 5 years then go after a younger Rowand, who has much more upside.
I am, too.
This means the Angels will be locked in to an over-priced, aging team by the time the Rangers have developed a low-priced team that is coming of age!
Thank you Angels!
You’ll be good for now,
but bad by the time we’re good! (2010-2013)
You and Torii kept us from swerving from our only perceptible, only sensible plan.
Thank you!
Hey Marla, here is why the rest of us, those who have been here since day 1 are so frustrated. When all else fails, go to the numbers. Here we go for 35 years of existence here is what we get: 19 Managers, 5696 games played with an overall record of 2751 Wins and 2945 Losses for a .48 winning percentage and a .52 losing percentage. We average about 1.8 Managers per year, i am saying that Washington was the .80 percentage last year and don’t know what happened to the other guy. Washington is just below what we can expect from a Rangers manager, he is .46 winning percentage and .54 losing percentage. Over our 35 year existence, we have developed the likes of Sundberg, Hargrove, Harrah, Burroughs, Wills, Sierra, I Rod, Gonzalez, Sosa, Brown, Rogers and that is about all i can remember of the impact players that we developed. The rest were spares for a spare franchise and alot of the ones that became stars, did it elsewhere. Specifically Henke, Righetti, Darling, Sosa, Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young. We have made a few good deals acquiring the likes of Bibby, Blyleven, Perry,Jenkins, Oliver, Parrish and Mike Young. Other than that what else have we done? Except trade away talented players because of the refusal to pay them. Specifically Soriano. I just want this to stop other than the run of Melvin and Oates, the 1979 EMU, Kern Team and a couple of Billy Hunters teams we have been reeling. We have to rebuild it. If you rebuild it they will come. Now that should be our new slogan. Or Thank God for kids. And last but not least, we should be stockpiling talent, why are we letting Diaz go?
Hope you all have had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. I’ve been out of town – a chilly camp in a Texas State Park for Thanksgiving – and am just now finding out the good news that the Rangers have been outbid for Torii.
I’ve read several good posts above – I liked eight(9)’s about the Angels’ future payroll disaster, and especially wolff’s – we are indeed inconsistent at times as fans. We do our best to stay true to our basic beliefs and approaches, and as conditions change, we adapt to the new conditions.
These changing conditions should be demonstrating to the Rangers that they are in a full rebuilding mode, because they have been unwilling to compete in the FA market at the prices being paid for star players (wisely, I think). The conditions appear to be pointing the team toward a teardown – either move them at the ASB when their value has increased, or move them now.
If you want to acquire stars and you are unable or unwiling to pay for them at their peak, how can you acquire them? One way it can be done is by trading for talent that is near-ready to join the majors. I have seen a few posts that talk about Murphy or Byrd or Cruz in the outfield as being a good thing, and for the time being, it may be for the best. But these guys couldn’t crack the roster on championship teams, are fourth outfielders on good teams, and are upgrades to our roster. We do have a long way to go to be truly competitive.
I would really like to see the team move on the Mets’ AA OF Martinez, and look for other similar players. Martinez will be a 30HR/100RBI guy, and will be a star for the team for years – the kind of player to build around. He will also not only be here in 2010, when the team will begin to be competitive again, but he should be established then.
The changing conditions include the Kinsler contract negotiations, too. This is highly significant in the team’s direction IMO, and hasn’t gotten the press and blog discussion it merits. Let us know as you hear news on this front, TR.
Finally, don’t forget the manager if/when the direction of the franchise actually turns to youth (no, it hasn’t yet). Matt Walberg (our next manager) is ready to generate excitement with our youth – how long until you read the conditions and make the commitment, JD?
Welcome back, Briant!
Your point about admitting we’re in full rebuilding mode is well put, and brings up an unpopular suggestion:
Most of our tradable players should go up in value this spring, and therefore shouldn’t be traded until the All-Star Break.
That’s not the case with Laird, unless we play him regularly (and his bat resurrects vs. lefties). But he’s already valued highly for his fielding & “throwing-out” percentage. So he might currently be at his peak-Ranger-value.
It’s also not true of Michael Young’s value. His value is still near its peak, and is declining, not rising (See his OPS rise from ’02 to ’05, and decline from ’05 through ’07). Yet he’s still excellent!
He’s not only everybody else’s favorite Ranger, he’s one of mine.
But “The future is now” needs to be taken in the 2nd sense: NOT that we WIN now, but that we PLAY the future NOW in order to develop them all, trade some, and win for many years, beginning in 2 or 3.
By then, MY would not be our SS anyway– perhaps our DH. Besides, he DOES want to win now (at all costs– even at the cost of winning in the future, by picking up some aging FA’s now).
I propose we trade Laird and Michael Young NOW to Boston for Coco Crisp and Jon Lester.
If they require that we give up a reliever (e.g. Frank Francisco), which they also need, and that we take Lugo off their payroll, I’d still do it. If Lugo were to hit well, we could flip him at the All-Star Break, and call up Elvis Andrus by then.
The future is now. Welcome back to the future.
Cheers,
Eight(9)
Come on God how do we know what Murphy can do? Give the kid a chance. Why keep bringing up what we used to had? Lets look ahead hope for the best