Monday Morning Manager...$51 million opinions welcome

1. NO!

2. Frank the Cat - while DeRosa is better defensively - he really only had 1 good season offensively - Frank prospered at the Ballpark in Arlington - and doesn't mind being a part time player.

3. Padilla - this is pitcher who LIKES pitching for the Rangers - and did a very, very solid job - why wouldn't you sign him? Lily - Zito is a flyball pitcher - which is a scary thought for someone who will make half his starts in Arlington. I've heard Zito described as a "#3 pitcher with a #1 reputation" don't know if that's true - but he hasn't been quite as consistent the past couple of seasons - I'd be leary to give him the type of contract he's asking for right now

4. I think GMJr is gone to sunnier climates. I'd like Jon Daniels to talk the to Phillies about what they want for Aaron Rowand. If that doesn't work just find a role player for 1 season (maybe Kenny Lofton platooning with Fast Freddy Guzman) and wait for next offseason when Vernon Wells and Tori Hunter are free agents.

5. No way - Sori is a nice player - but not that nice.

1. No, not unless you want to bet on a pitcher long term and even then there is no guarantee that Boras will let you sign him for 6 or 7 years (unless there is an opt out).

2. Give me little Cat. I think DeRosa careered in 2006 and while he is still a usable player, especially as a utilityman, I can't see plugging him in everyday. Frank on the other hand has a track record of being a good enough hitter to plug into the lineup everyday.

3. Given the choice of Padilla or Suppan I'd turn to one of my prospects. Padilla had a great season, but I fear that he might have a little quit in him once the big contract is signed (there were whispers that his work ethic was not very sound when working through his injury issues with the Phillies). Suppan has never had much success in the AL. Between Zito and Lilly, I'd go Zito, but for what it may cost I am not sure it's a good choice. Lilly has been a full time starter for the last four seasons and never had 200 innings or and ERA under 4.00 and his 15 wins this season were a career high. He is not even in Zito's league, but for the price he could be a better option.

4. Since I want Vernon Wells and/or Torii Hunter next year I am afraid I'd be in favor of the unpopular position of saying goodbye to GMJ and looking at a one-year placeholder. I agree with e.c., if Aaron Rowand can be had I'd jump at the chance (and then still bring in Wells next year). Short of Gillick giving us a deal on Rowand, the best option is probably Lofton with some combination of Guzman or Anthony Webster also on the roster.

5. No, I would have never predicted the season he had in Washington after the relatively weak numbers he put up here (remember what kind of hitter's park we have in Arlington vs the extreme pitcher's park he played in this year), but he did it at the right time. Glad we are not the ones paying.

1. Yes, if you believe the reports that D-Mat's marketing value in Japan will allow the Red Sox to get back their investment. Plus with Matsuzaka and Otsuka, the Rangers would have a beachhead in Japan.
2. DeRosa....get serious. He can play 5 positions. Catalanotto is a DH! A DH and that is it. Catalanotto is a singles hitter who can only platoon against RHP... He is a one dimensional player. It's stupid to think he can measure up to DeRosa.

3. Zito, Millwood, Tejeda, Loe and Koronka.

4. Dave Roberts

5. I'd rather have Soriano than Ramirez

1) 51 mil. is a lot of money for someone you know little about. He may pay off, but for now I am happy with paying pitchers we are familiar with.
2) DeRosa had a career year with us, however Cat has been putting up solid numbers for a while. He gives us more depth in the outfield and can potentially lead off. Ill take Cat.

3) I would definatly take Padilla over Suppan. He liked pitching here, and there is no reason to think that he will not improve. He also brings a swagger to the mound. I'm actually leading towards Lilly in the other choice. He will eat up innings, and you know what you are going to get. In addition, his price tag is not as big as Zito's. I would feel alright about a rotation of Millwood, Padilla, Lilly, Tejeda, and a young gun. It would be even better if we could snag one of those White Sox arms.

4) I'm jumping on the bandwagon of trading for Anderson or Rowand. They both provide good defense, and I think Rowand would bring a toughness to this team. One of them combined Wells in a year would be a top-notch outfield.

5) We saw how far 225 mil. got us. I have a feeling 136 would turn out the same way.

1.Of course not. He hasn't proven himself at the major league level. Plus, the World Baseball Classic shouldn't be considered a reasonable sample of his ability to get major league hitters out. He only pitched 13 innings, which is not even 10% of a regular season workload for most pitchers who are getting paid what he will. Besides, he didn't even pitch against the US. It's going to be difficult to get your money's worth, even with all the jerseys that they are predicting will be sold in Japan.
2.Catalanotto. I really like DeRosa's versatility but he has had only one good year. Catalanotto brings consistent offense, something the Rangers lacked last year.

3.All off-the-field issues aside, Padilla. He's not afraid of throwing strikes.

Zito or Lilly? Give me Zito. It's better to overpay for a very good pitcher than to overpay for an average one.

4. I read they were considering trading for Garland and Brian Anderson. But it seems that has cooled off. I'd take Dave Roberts but only on a one year deal so we can go and get Vernon Wells next year. If he wants a longer deal, then I'd go with Kenny Lofton.

5. No. NOBODY in this market is worth what they are asking for. But if there are teams who are willing to pay, then that's their problem.

Seeing that picture makes me want to post this URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4cnE8Td-Co

:)

1. NO! This represents everything that is wrong with baseball. The guy is unproven in the Major Leagues and the FANS will have to pay the price tag.
2. Definitely Mark DeRosa, because of his defensive versatility. That being said, I like Cat as an alternative, since DeRosa wanted a full-time infield position. I think we may have overpaid a bit for Cat, but it looks like every free agent is going to get more than they are worth this offseason.

3a. Padilla, because he's proven he can thrive in Texas. 3b. Is that a serious question? If money is no issue, Zito in a heartbeat. However, for the price, I wouldn't be upset if we signed Lilly.

4. I would like Juan Pierre if I didn't know that Wells is free after next season...I hate to see GMJ go, but I think we should just patchwork CF for a year. Without a doubt, do whatever it takes to sign Wells. Not only for the sake of getting him, but for the sake of keeping Young.

5. NO!

1. Matsuzaka is worth 51 million if you can open up a new revenue stream in Japan that could offset it by 20 or 30 million dollars. Let's not forget what happened to revenues for Seattle after signing Ichiro. The new revenue stream is also the reason we can't say "Why doesn't Hicks just roll up the 27 million and add it to a contract for Zito or others?" It's not the same because the new revenues from opening a market in Japan could have equalized the 27 million post bid. Signing Zito doesn't open any new revenue streams unless you consider surfers a revenue stream.

2. Frank is a professional hitter who has had much more success than D-Ro over the course of their carreers.

3. Padilla, he has done well here and if it wasn't for the post-season Suppan would be an afterthought. Lilly, Zito is going to cost too much and the ballpark can be an unforgiving place. Give me Lilly at less money and less years.

4. With GMJ out, I would offer a one year deal for Lofton. If that doesn't work give it to Fast Freddy and let him bat 9th. Do not sign anyone to a multi-year deal unless they want to play left field next year.

5. Soriano has an outstanding bat and great speed. I don't think anyone is worth an 8 year deal. The money per year is fine but I wouldn't sign anyone longer than 6 years.

Everyone needs to remember that spending money is great but it only matters if it is spent with a clear vision for the present and the future. Baltimore has been throwing around money for years and look at where they are.

Why give up GMJ for a one year deal to another player that probably won't perform like him? He just came off one of his best years so I say renew his contract and let him play center field and return as the leadoff hitter for 07. Go with who you know is good and is getting better every year. The Rangers will be sorry if they don't re-sign GMJ.

'Nough said, and well said by JC22 three responses earlier! (... With the one exception of Dave Roberts instead of Juan Pierre, but REALLY preferring "patchwork" as well, until we can get VWells w/a contract extension from Toronto at this year's trade deadline.)

Does the De Ro vs. Cat question have to be either/or? I saw DeRosa in RF vs. righties and at 3B vs. lefties, while Catalanotto can be part-time DH/part-time LF, or full-time LF if Wilkerson is either so strong again that he plays CF or still so injured that he is cut. So IF De Ro HAD BEEN WILLING, he could have been our RF/3B safety net for Cruz and Hank, and not affected whether we got Cat.

I have great hope for Wilkerson (in LF) against righties, which raises the brilliance and yet the incompleteness of the signing of Cat. While he's my favorite old Ranger and now new Ranger, he's STILL weak against lefties-- almost as weak as Wilkerson was.

But TAKE NOTE OF A PLAYER who had almost double Carlos Lee's, and triple Vernon Wells'and GMJ's (already spectacular) BB/K ratio. Note that his slugging % is (95-140 points) lower than theirs, but his batting avg is 10 points higher than the big guys', and equal to GMJ's .313. His On-base %, moreover, is (21 -37 points) higher than all of them!

Take the totals of these 3 categories (Slugging %, Batting Avg., and On Base %) and, yes, this MYSTERY PLAYER'S total is "only" 1105, vs. GMJ's 1179, Lee's 1195, and VWells' 1202, BUT THIS GUY, in addition to being a better LF than Lee, IS AN EXCELLENT CATCHER AS WELL, AND YET IS WILLING TO BE A DH OR BACK-UP-- WHATEVER THE TEAM NEEDS!

His only draw-back is that he takes up 2 roster spots instead of one, but he ALSO only demands about 1/3 the combined salary that Carlos Lee will be getting in 2007.

Who is this Mystery Man?

GREGG/Frank ZAUN/Catalanotto!

(i.e. OUR NEW SUPER UTILITY DH vs.LEFTIES/Righties! willing and able to back up everything but CF, SS and Pitcher!)

With Miguel Ojeda as our 3rd Catcher, we can PLAY BOTH Zaun and Laird against lefties, and spell Laird occasionally (or more often if Ojeda fairs better) against righties!

Now that we've signed CAT, we've got to finish the job, and sign Greg Zaun!

1A. Simply put… No one is. But this is the nature of baseball today. There is so much revenue generated by all aspects of a franchise that it boggles the mind. What is the key ingredient that makes this possible? The ballplayers. The players simply want a “fair” slice of that huge pie. And, with the shark hunting agents in the business they push the dollar amounts through the clouds.

2A. Us Ranger fans have to get over this one. DeRosa is responsible for his being traded. He wanted an infield position and Texas was not offering that (he should have been chosen for 2nd base instead of Kinsler). So he went with the team that would give him more of what he wanted. Although, Texas could have offered him one of the outfield corners. Haven’t heard that they even tried that. If they did not, SHAME on them. The good news is… Texas does not lose any strength with Catalanotto.

3A. No. Padilla is stronger than Suppan at this point. Lilly is almost a mirror image of Padilla, so why bother. Keep Padilla and go get Zito. Zito has a 23 game season in his past.

4A. Go after Jay Payton of the A’s. If unsuccessful, check out Kenny Lofton for a 1 yr deal. Then look to develop internally, and keep shopping outside.

5A. No. See answer to number one. And no. He did not play hard every game when he was here. He made bush league errors because of it. As you probably can guess I live here in the DFW area.

Why don't the Rangers just ask for volunteers. It is obvious that they don't want to pay any players!!! The worst thing that could happen is last place. Wake up people. This is supposed to be professional baseball. As long as Hicks owns this team we will not win. God I miss Doug Melvin!

As a former season ticket holder would someone please pass on to Tom Hicks that we fans feel the same way as he does. It is too expensive, the price is just too high! I am of course talking about the increase in his ticket prices, the cost of parking, the cost of beer, the cost of souveniers and the price of anything at the park that the citizens of Arlington paid for. He is speaking of course of paying players. Mr. HICKS if you don't want to pay players then sell the team. Let your last act as the owner be selling the team to someone who wants to compete both financially and competitively. We cannot continue on this path of developing players and allowing them to leave because you don't want to pay them. Newsflash, it is expensive to operate a sports franchise. Did anyone see what Melvin just got for LHP Doug Davis, another Ranger cast off that was released when Showalter was here? It is ridiculous what continues to happen in Arlington with no accountability or repurcussions. People stand up and refuse to go to these games until Hicks and Company commit to one philosophy. Don't spend another dime until he apologizes for the incompetence that prevails in his "organization". Go ahead and trade Young, Teixiera and Blalock for pitching because these guys are out of here as soon as they can leave and i don't blame them. Don't give them away, but trade them. Get value for value. Soriano, Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez were given away. The Rangers aren't going to pay Young, Teixiera and Blalock because they historically have not and will not pay players. In essence they are seeking volunteers. It works in their concession stands but it won't work on the diamond. It is going to be a long season in 2007 we have two starting pitchers, no consistent outfielders and evidently no one wants to do anything about it because it costs money. Good pitching costs money so if you want it you have to pay for it. I don't see much pitching help in the minors.