Sammy Sosa works out for Rangers

No.

Please no.

Pretty please no, with a cork on top.

I'm very torn on this one. I've besmirched Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds for seeking outside "help" to boost their careers, BUT the other side of me says he'd be perfect IF HEALTHY and IF STILL ABLE TO HIT, right behind Tex in the order. Intriguing to say the least. I vote Yes, to bringing this slugger in, cuz I wanna win, and seeing as how our power is definitely lacking, Sosa could genuinely help. I know he has warts (and don't we all?), but so did John Rocker, and a couple more fellows playing in Arlington. Sign him to an incentive-laden/make-good contract, and he might really sparkle. It's like chicken soup--it can't hoit.

p.s...from the standpoint of affecting Jason Botts or Nelson Cruz, it doesn't have to. Put Sosa at DH, with Cruz in right and Botts sharing left with Cat, DH and 1st to give Tex a rest. At least let's put this scenario on the table. Forget the cork--if we want to win, and given the sorry state of our offense, and with Sosa playing for a contract, we might well get some very good production. I like his right-handed bat much more than the left handed broomstick Wilkerson gives us.

This is stupid.

I'd still take Dottie Hinson over Sammy Sosa.

Roy Hobbs or Shoeless Joe Hardy too.

Sammy Sosa.

Terrible

TR,
True, Sammy is the right handed power bat that could protect Tex...IF he's healthy and still has the bat speed. However, Botts or Diaz could also breakout and give us the same numbers. Why do we always have so little faith in our homegrown talent? Sounds like a PR move.

Len in San Antonio

Sammy Sosa?

Do we really need an outfielder that bad?

Next thing you know, We will auditioning Jose Canseco for a comeback.

Still Better yet how bout two time AL MVP Juan Gonzalez.

I'm sure Raffy would be happy to shag flies at the Temple again.

Lets be real, Give Botts a chance. If not,***** it up and trade bullpen help to the Devil Rays and bring in one of their Kids.

There is a certain point when players are done. Sammy Sosa is just that....DONE!!!

The only positive I see in this possible deal is there is very little commitment to Sosa. You get him on the cheap and see if you get a payoff, but personally I want to see how Cruz and Botts do given a fulltime chance. Although, if Wilkerson and Blalock don't step it up we would really need offensive help. And a couple of rookies or semi-rookies won't help that much

Not to panic. If he is done, the Rangers' staff will find out relatively quickly. On the other hand, he may be able to pop 20-30 homers in 2007 and be the Frank Thomas-type bargain of the season.

We do a good job developing young talent. We do a horrible job at keeping them. I love to win as much as anybody, but Sammy would be a short term marginal help at best. Let's let the young guys step up and fill the gaps. They're there and ready and can do it. Players from 14 to 40 step up and excel when they see you believe in them.

I watched a majority of the games Sosa played in 2005 and he was done then. He got lucky and connected on a few but he was slow and overmatched in every at-bat. This has-been is not taking anybody's spot, not Botts and certainly not Nelson Cruz, just relax and don't let the media get you all crazy.

Dear Lord, please let the Rangers do anything under the sun that will keep Brad Wilkerson off the field and hopefully lead to him leaving Arlington Tx for good. Like one of the other bloggers said, incentive based contract and Sammy could turn out to be one heck of a homer hitting bargain at DH. Frank Cat is perfectly capable at playing left. Yes to Sammy!!

Most of us seem to be against this. Of course most of us also wanted to add more pitching. Little Jon will probably add him to spring training...makes "Ranger" sense.

Way to go.

Don't even go there. He's in the same boat as McGwire and Bonds as far as I'm concerned. Signing Sosa might just be a public relations disaster. Bad move if the Rangers do it. Give the young guys a chance.

If he's healthy and can hit the ball, and wants to get back in the league enough that he'd accept an incentive-laden minor league deal then why not?

Regarding other comments, I'm not sure I understand how signing Sosa would be a public relations disaster because he is widely believed to have used steroids, while Jason Giambi is known to have used them and is still playing and popular. That said, I don't think Sosa has much, if anything, left in the tank, which is not at all unlike most other alleged steroid cases. Sammy's only 11 months older than our old favorite Juan Gonzalez, who similarly broke down and had his career derailed in his mid-30s. Sosa is 38, Giambi is about to turn 36, and even if he isn't using anymore I wouldn't be surprised if he has a similar drop in production in the next year or two that Juan and Sammy experienced.

¿que? y tu? no es muy bueno en la casa de beisbol.

no hablo ingles, por tienes syringe in my arm.

It amazes me how many of you guys think being on the "Roid" has anything to do with seeing and making contact with a baseball. It's a given that strength can induce a few more homers but are ya'll kidding me? This guy can hit! Who bats 5th for the Rangers today? Blalock? Botts? Give me a break I would never pitch to Tex and be licking my chops at who follows. Sosa will hit 25-35 homeruns minimum this year and I for one hope it's for the Rangers! Mark it down I said it.

I don't think that a guy with a .274 career BA can be considered somebody who "can hit!" To put it in perspective, Sosa's career BA is only one point higher than Mark DeRosa's. He certainly hit a lot of homeruns that were meant to be flyouts with a little help from his "weight trainers".

This is great, think of last years Frank Thomas! He will protect Tex and a guy that has never been proven to take steroids! Ill take 1 2.74 carrer batting avarage for 40+ home runs a season! How many HR does Dero have career?
KEvin ARLINGTON

If Sosa signs a minor league contract, it won't be too long before he is in the bigs. It's a given, that if he's worked out for the Ranger brass, and they sign him, he must be able to still perform his duties. Why offer a contract to someone who cannot perform his duties? He could either be last year's Frank Thomas, or akin to yesterday's Ranger "heroes" : Andres Galaragga, Ken Camaniti or Richard Hidalgo-which isn't much at all. Let's hope this protects Tex--at least Sosa has some presence and can cause some opposing pitchers to think some when they are facing the 5th all-time slugger. With Wilkerson or the like, (scary)behind Tex, pitchers would be licking their chops to face them, and Tex would never get anything to hit, like last season, before Carlos Lee was traded for. J.D....I hope you saw a spark or something when you worked Sosa out. If he can still hit, this might be the signing of the year. And this won't impact Botts or Cruz IF Washington does it right. That's a big "IF". Cliff Johnson and/or Willie Horton, eat your DH hearts out.

I like the low risk aspect of signing Sosa, but my gut tells me that at this point in their respective careers, Victor Diaz is a better hitter. I hope I'm wrong and Sosa makes Jon Daniels and Don Welke look like geniuses, but the fact that he's sat out a year after stinking it up in Baltimore doesn't instill much confidence.

I'm going to trust the guys who watched Sosa work out. They obviously saw something in him. I say it's worth a shot. But if he's average in spring training, cut him. He needs to actually be pretty good in spring training to make this team.

bingo, Galarraga, Caminitti and Hidalgo probably don't have a COMBINED 600 homers between them....totally different deal here.