Friday Happy Hour at the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill

Who was the former director of scouting and the General Manager of those Expo teams? Guys like Dawson, Carter, Cromartie, Randy Johnson, Tim Raines, Wetteland, and Walker. Someone up there really new what they were doing. Are those guys still alive? If so put them on the payroll here in Texas. Is Ronald Washington now going to be able to put his own staff together? With Wakamatsu and Jaramillo possibly leaving, who are the leading candidates to replace them? Could we please give Hillman a job on this staff. He said he would be willing to take a coaching position. Why not? If that is the case, why didn't Hillman just take the job last year for what the Rangers offered him? I still think we would have been better off with him than Washington. It is only a matter of time before Washington is out as manager. I give him less than 6 months once the season starts. So start making long term plans on who the manager is going to be, I think Hillman is the guy. We are supposed to be developing players, why not develop a manager and coaches along with it. Wedge and Hurdle come to mind immediately and where are they both? No matter how crazy Manny is, he is MR. CLUTCH. Does anyone out there think that A-Rod is any better? A-Rod with his abandonment issues is just as nutty probably more so. A-Rod will always be that little boy who wanted his father but he was never around. No matter how much money he gets, it will never be enough. So give trade me Manny any day. However we all forget that the reality of the previous hypothetical, would you take Manny for A-Rod instead of Soriano? The reality is that Hicks wanted out of A-Rod's contract, so we were never going to get Manny even though we would have been better off. Hicks reportedly owes $24 million in deferred money to A-Rod along with the $21 Million for his salary. Well, i thought Hicks and A-Rod were friends. Why doesn't A-Rod do us a favor and opt out of his contract and therby save Hicks $21 Million?

If A-Rod opts out of his contract then lets talk about the real numbers the cost to Hicks for A-Rods three years in Arlington, Texas. $127 million dollars at an average cost of 42 million dollars a year to play here. So stop crying Hicks once A-Rod opts out it will have cost you $127 million on a 7 year deal that averages out to about $18 million a year with the Yankees saving you 54 million in total cost. In other words $250 million-127 million = $123 million savings to you and your "organization". How is that for financial flexibility. P.S. don't do away with "thirsty thursdays."

On the Grady Sizemore thing, I'm not sure I did want to hear that. The reality is that you will always be able to play that game - hopefully not after 5 picks, though.

This takes me back to the scouting topic. This is the only hope to build a team and keep it competitive when the team doesn't (or can't for whatever reason) resign its core players. I asked before if we are doing enough in this area, and I'm still going to ask. It is not my intent to unfairly criticize the past scouting staffs that didn't get to make draft picks in rounds 2-7 for too many years. But scouting and personnel decision making is now recognized as the heart of an organization (these guys would have told us this long ago if we had listened), and this has obviously been a failing of the franchise for a while.

I have read where our team's scouting and player development personnel- programs are now rated in the middle of the pack, instead of at the bottom, as was the case two years ago. This is a good first step, and I give credit to JD and anyone else responsible for this improvement. Now let's take the next step to get this franchise in the top five. Hire scouting personnel from others who are excelling in this area - Minn, Colorado, Cleveland - and copy their plans that are working. Continue to expand in the Dominican, go to Japan to scout and other parts of the world. But maintain the focus domestically - this is where the majority of talent is.

This franchise needs to develop some core strengths, and this area, to me, is a critical area. It is also an opportunity area, so let's capitalize.

Hire briant immediately. He has it going on. The short list for manager in NY: Hillman, Valentine, Giradi and Mattingly. I believe Giradi will get that job and will thrive there. But Hillman is also interesting.

Who is Cleveland going to sit to play Delucci? Lofton? Give me a break. Sit down and shut up Delucci! Stop your crying! Note to Red Sox Nation, also known as ESPN. You are done! Do you really think Matsuka is going to carry you to the World Series. How about the ketchup king Shilling?

Mark Shapiro (Cleveland's GM), Dan O'Dowd (Colorado's GM), and Josh Byrnes (Arizona's GM) were John Hart's proteges while he was in Cleveland. Is Hart a very good mentor or is it just pure coincidence?

Check the AP wire dwidre - it looks like the KC Royals are getting ready to name Hillman their new manager.

The first scouting director of the Montreal Expos is on the Rangers payroll. He is the guy who signed Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Larry Parrish and many others.

His name is Mel Didier, special assistant to the GM.

I have written a book on Mel that's scheduled to come out in December.

Did anyone else see the Torre news conference? How long did that thing last? I haven't seen the war in Iraq covered as much as Torre was. What a screwed up country we live in. Nero fiddles why Rome burns! What was the purpose of that? Couldn't the Yankees, just quietly tell the guy, look we want a new manager and bumped him into the front office, like everyone else does. They low balled the guy and forced him to reject the offer and out of the organization. I guess they wanted the guy gone. We always hear about Steinbrenner being fearless, it seemed cowardly to me. Joe sounded like he still wanted to manage, however, his record ain't that good away from the Yankees. Having said that, where do you think he ends up? I hope Giradi gets that job and i hope A-Rod opts out and ends up in California where his Hollywood Good looks can be cultivated into an acting career. Go Angels!

That's a beautiful reply, TR, ("... as a matter of fact, you've already got what you're screaming for, and nevermind my POST because I happen to have finished my BOOK on him.")!

So the Rangers have already had their birthday present, and we fans get to enjoy it vicariously through you for Christmas. Thanks!

So Mel is responsible for Pedro and Vlad, too?

Patience was useless without hope, but now it will pay big dividends. We have not only hope, AND a plan... but the seed planted... THE scout already established.

How long has he been a Ranger, since John Hart's 2nd year?

No need to get smarmy mr. eight. He hasn't had that kind of record here, hear! Their is nothing that would indicate that we had or have that type of person on our payroll. Since you say he has been here since Harts 2nd year, how many years is that 3 1/2 to 4 or is it five years already? And just what was Harts legacy? How is Fuson doing over there in San Diego after getting screwed by Hicks over here? Who do we have at the Major League Level that Didier is responsible for? Who at the minor league level that is close to the majors that he is responsible for? All i see is Blalock and Young, and Blalock is debatable and he has nothing do with those guys. So where are the Dawsons, Carters, Raines, Wettelands and other comparable type of players? If and when we developn those types of players, they wont be here long, they will be long gone for a paycheck far, far away from here. So happy 90th birthday Didier.

I really don't know the answer to my question (How long has he been a Ranger?)

And I'd add another: What has been the average development time of these players, from when Mel Didier scouted them, and when they hit (and then SUCCEEDED in) the big leagues?

p.s. "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than have a frontal labotomy." (W.A.Y.)

(Allow the bottle to be analogous to light-heartedness)

i.e. Smarmy is better than bitter.

You are right their is no reason to be bitter around here. Other than these few, Pudge gone, Adrian Gonzalez gone, Soriano gone, Young gone, Cordero gone all people who could have contributed something. It is very entertaining and uplifiting to me to watch other organizations, commit to a strategy, build something and then reap the benefits of it. I would like for the Rangers to do something similar in my lifetime, i.e. win a World Series title. Nevertheless we continue the viscious cycle, hearing everyday about financial flexibility and how we can't afford this guy and we can't pay that guy. The bottom line is you can't let players walk that you developed just because of the money. Another thing that i don't like is the spin doctoring, LYING IS WHAT I CALL IT. Everytime we don't want to pay a player. "Pudge is going to only catch another 2 to 3 years. That was 10 years ago, nevertheless he still catches. Soriano is a bad apple he doesn't hustle, well the guy was an all-star for us, but it doesn't matter. So what do we do we give him away. RIDICULOUS! Everything is going well, has gone well throughout our history. Looks more and more like Rusty Rose, Shieffer and Bush are going to be the highlights for this "organization". How many years has that been? 13????? Yes i am bitter, they say winning is the cure all so how about some winning, competitive baseball?