Friday Happy Hour at the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill

I'm stifling the urge to write something about Nixon and the Players Assoc - so many angles, so many options ...

Anyway, that's unfortunate - the Aki situation. Looks like rotten luck strikes the Rangers again. And when we could really use more positive news, an opportunity to get more talent gets away.

What Jason Jennings wants for Christmas may not be what he gets. A one yr + option is the most he should get from JD - if someone wants to give him 3 or 4 years then they are the winner. Ask Aaron Rowand about getting what your agent thinks you are worth.

The Rangers just signed Edgardo Alfonzo?...please tell me this is not true T.R.

If my memory serves me, I believe Duke Sims, as mentioned above from the 1974 team, was a LEFT-HANDED catcher. Kinda rare, I'd say.

I don't remember much about him, but how could one easily forget his throwing left-handed to 2nd base. Not exactly a huge order at Nicona glove company for Left-handed Catching Mitts, for the right hand.

Just for the heckuvit: 1)Steve Kemp

2)Pepe Tovar 3)Edwin Correa 4)Jerry Browne 5)"Rootin' Tootin' Ranger"-(The World's worst mascot) 6)Bill Madlock and 7)Steve Howe.

In thinking back to some former teams, we had rosters dotted with the Julio Francos, Ruben Sierras, Rafael Palmeiros, Juan Gonzalez's, Pudge Rodriguez's, etc, etc, etc. Some were homegrown, some were traded for. We always have had a veteran presence, pop in our bats, but always lacked pitching.

Sandy Johnson was the guy who scouted, signed and developed the budding stars the Rangers have produced. If we have such a great farm system, WHERE are they? Sandy Johnson could cherrypick the top prospects and see them through to success at the Major League level.

If visionary, key guys like Sandy Johnson could only be retained, kept, like some key players (Soriano, Tex, etc)...and add parts around MY, Ian, and soon, Hurley, Beavan, etc...then it would be alot sooner than 2012 that we could skyrocket out of last place. Does anyone feel like me that we need to keep veterans who CAN PRODUCE? Depending on BW, Botts, Broussard and Shelton is fools' play. Give me guys that can produce..ANY DAY.

That said, with the cupboard bare on the Major League level, due to ineffectual management and ownership, let's play the kids. IF we EVER produce someone who can play again (Tex, Pudge, etc.)..maybe we can keep them, huh JD? This would be a good start. Otherwise, we are staring at R-E-B-U-I-L-D-I-N-G forever on end.

Just a note: Ben Broussard isn't gonna hve to worry about Dan Haren - he just got traded to the Diamondbacks by the A's.

What a pleasure to read a whole days posts without running into the usual whining and griping about the same things over and over and over. It's a glorious day!

smz, did i tell you the one about how a team traded a starting pitcher and a former #1 overall draft pick, the second first baseman taken first overall in the history of the MLB draft to the Padres for two pitchers one who pitched 1/2 of a season the other 1.5 years. So what is it that we have for trading Young and Gonzalez?????????I am waiting. The answer nada, nothing, zilch. Great deal Daniels. What a glorious day, we must be approaching the two year aniversary of that deal. If i told you then that we would have nothing to show for trading Young and Gonzalez 2 years later, would you do the deal still? You are right why should i gripe about us continuing to give away our talent? And you guys wonder why we lose. It is about the acquistion of talent not the relinquishment of it. Build something, retain something. We will always be in a state of flux, because Hicks doesn't want to pay people what they are worth. You need look no further than his concession stand volunteers that he donates money to their charity, which he then in turn writes off on his income taxes. Just for the heck of it Pudge Rodriguez, Mark Texiera, Alfonso Soriano, Aaron Sele.

Nixon had pretty much the same strategy as the current baseball players when he said i am not a crook. Everyone knew he was a crook. Baseball is doing the same thing. I am not a steroid abuser. Ha Ha. It would be a breath of fresh air for a player to stand up and say, hey i took steroids, i did it to hit more home runs, which translated into more money for me. I did it to better my career. It was not against league rules, so i have done nothing wrong except violate federal laws. The rest of you people need to stop whining about things. I am going to continue to harp on the Rangers until they change. Point your criticism at the power brokers and stop crying about the fact that some of us still believe that people are entitled to their own beliefs and have a right to express them. It is called the United States of America and freedom of speech. Asking the editor to delete a post just because you don't agree with it, is insane and i believe is called censorship. Where 20 years ago Americans said, i may not agree with what they said, but i will defend his or her right to say it. Now it is i did't like their point of so shut that person up. Get your mind right or you might say something someday and suffer the same. This is America you know. Since we are talking books, i think a good book for some of you would be H. G. Wells Clock Work Orange. Big Brother is watching, i mean Big Hicks.

Watching his money that is. Because if he were watching his team, he would not be watching. Do we now have a chance at Clemens?

I knew it was just a matter of time that the concience of the rangers would be back with a big posting. I agree with one thing he said is that he has the right to say what he wants. I hope that applies to the rest of us. Reminds me of my old man. You could never do anything to please him. dwhiner the promblem I have is you are so vindictive. No one else knows anything and you are all knowing. Is that a trait of a "ut" graduate & a policeman?

There is not anything that the rangers will do that you will approve of. I want to remind you that this is a game still. There are some of us that enjoy the game of baseball and it just happens that large quanities of money are involved. This is not a little leaguge game with the parents jumping up and down because their boy is not winning.

If you want to come back with a post on this FINE. If TR wants me to not post anymore here fine also. I know I am not the only one on this site that is tired of your negative attitude. That is my opinion and I am entiled to it, right?

smz and fbatts, I agree with you. Dwid, you use to make good points, now you just whine over and over again about the same thing. I've reached the point where I usually will not read anything that has your id on it. From my point it appears you just want the attention, and enjoy trying to make other people look bad so you can try to make yourself look smarter. Sorry, it's not working. I don't feel you are really a fan of the Rangers, just a nay sayer. And it is my right to this opinion as well. Now, are you too good to listen to the constructive criticism smz and fbatts have offered you?

Just my thoughts on the above sub-conversation: Dwiregod has every right to say his piece, and I agree with alot. Hey, you guys might not ever agree with me or like my posts. I don't know. I try to make my points without being too caustic.

My suggestion for smz, fbatts, midders, and anyone else who might not like Dwiregod's tone: SKIP over it to the next post. It might make your days a little easier. This is still a game, one we all enjoy. Civility should be the rule of thumb here. Heaven knows I've had my criticisms of Wilkerson, Botts, Hicks, etc...but at the end of the day, reading Dwiregod is fine with me, because he states his points, and I find myself in agreement many times. I couldn't agree more that he has a right to his opinions, and we are free, and this is still the home of the brave.

Personally, I enjoy all of the posts, even those I disagree with. I hate the word "tolerant" because if you tolerate enough, then you lower yourself ethically, morally, etc...so let me use the word to describe what you should do if you see a post from Dwiregod: SKIP. It will make your lives alot easier in my opinion.

I hope you all don't just disregard my posts out of hand, or dismiss them. I make sometimes provocative statements on how this team should act in order to improve itself, so I hope my posts are alright on here.

Good-day to all, and remember, SKIP.

Bingo is right. As much as I dislike reading some of Dwid's tired whining, the only thing I hate more is seeing people who have nothing better to do than whine about Dwid. I'm not trying to police this blog or anything, but if you want to disagree with him, disagree on the issues. It gives him something else to talk about, and makes for better reading.

The one thing that bothers me on this site is the complaints over spilt milk.. ie: the Soriano, Coco and Young deals. The Sori deal had to happen. We got back BW and prospects. Unfortunatly, Daniels was taken. The Young deal was just, plain and simple, a bad deal. The Coco deal,, well he needed a change of scenery and we also rid ourselves of 2 players whos popularity seems to have outweighed their talent. Since then, the bottom fell out and the rebuilding has started. I think JD has begun to get a grip on his job. We really need to stop dwelling on the mistakes. Even the best GMs get taken. Lets hope it was Schuerholtz and Epstein last July.

But a repeated history of failure and bad moves are part of this franchise. If you can't look back and compare the mistakes made, you never learn and move forward.

I too am very concerned about the state of this team. You guys of hope and belief in this youth movement must be better than I because after at least several years of seeing a competitive team, I don't believe we have the core nor the farm system to seriously contend for years to come. If we had a winning franchise, all this would be irrelevent.

I respect everyone"s posts here and read daily. I don't post often because I too have trouble seeing this glass is half full. That doesn't change my passion for this team. That doesn't mean I don't want them to succeed.

I never said D-god didn't have the right to post his opinion, I simply stated that it was nice to not have every post high-jacked to complain about the same deals from 2 years ago. Also whining about not developing the kids and then griping because the team won't be good enough next year. AND, saying they shouldn't sign certain free agents and then complaining when those same free agents sign elsewhere. I think D-god has some very valid points as far as player development goes but they tend to get lost in all the bitterness. As far as skipping his posts go, I could suggest, if you don't like mine, Skip it!

On second thought, I'm done here. Have fun hating everything the Rangers do. I chose to be happy.

But smz, aren't you one of the RE-builders? you've made us the "Cinco."

I'd just like to remind everyone that we currently have Cruz PLUS Beavan and Main (via C. Lee draft picks) to show for the Coco/Nix/Mench deal.

And we could have gotten all 3 ex-Rangers BACK THIS WINTER if we had wanted them (Nix and Mench for FREE, and Coco for crazy-soriano-type money-and-years).

PLUS, the signing of Carlos Lee at that time gave us a legitimate line-up boost in the heat of our last meaningful August.

So we should STOP counting THAT as a loss for JD. Counting that, Gagne and Tex, as major wins, JD is 3 for his last 5 biggies.

And Doug Melvin (who is great) is not God. He lost on the Lee deal.

Wilkerson was dealt for someone we COULD have had back ONLY A YEAR AFTER the trade IF WE HAD WANTED SORI FOR THAT MONEY.

So JD didn't win on that one, but he didn't lose as much as he lost in ADRIAN GONZALEZ.

Chris Young tanked after the ASB last year, and PETCO numbers are hard to compare w/ the Ballpark in Arlington. But the loss of Adrian is what stings.

In fact it stings enough that I play Botts full-time next year. (See the comparison of Botts' and Adrian's 2-month "extended tours" with the Rangers on "Of George Mitchell, Hans Gruber and 2008 Opening Day." It's spooky.)

Anyway, JD's trade record is improving, and Theo Epstein's now includes the LOSS of Murphy, Gabbard and E Beltre for a NEGATIVE value (the post-ASB Gagne with NO draft-pick compensation).

Meanwhile the Braves just LOST-- What?-- 4 OF THEIR TOP 5 PROSPECTS plus 2? more legitimate ones? For what? They didn't win the pennant with Tex, they are not going to re-sign him without the Rangers and everyone else getting an equal shot (because he has Boras as his agent), and the Braves are not going to get nearly what they gave us for him because he'll be only a 2 or 3 month rental. And if they're anywhere close to contending, their fans won't let them dare trade him. And yet they are not nearly favorites to win their pennant. So they ONLY get 2 draft picks for him.

Don't we count that not only as a WIN for JD but as a LOSS for Atlanta's (former) GM?

So not only do I want to keep DWI-DRE and SMZ,... I want to keep JD!

Cheers,

Eight (9)

Just some random things...

As far as "Hijacking the blog" goes, go check out just about any of the ones on FoxSports.com. You'll be back here in heartbeat willing to agree to disagree with what are reasonably intelligent folks. That mindless drivel over there is simply unbearable.

Why can't folks bring up past deals for discussion? If a ugy stays in the baseball GM biz long enough someone definitely will. If I were interviewing GM candidates you can bet I 'd ask about what the candidate viewed as his Best/Worst deals and signings and we'd have a detailed discussion about those. Isn't learning from one's mistakes called experience? Isn't JD still the youngest GM in MLB?

Cliche time:

Those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it...

I am not in the spend Hicks money or blow it all up camps. TR quotes JD as saying the roster is pretty much set for what we are taking to spring training. I'd like to see them just get the most out of the talent they have on hand.

We need to start putting the rest of the coaching staff under the same microsocpe as JD and RW, starting with the pitching coach.

They all remind me of the golf coaches at the HS where my son is enrolled. They basically told me they do not do any coaching or player development/refinement. They expect them to just be ready to tee it up and go. I was really amazed, no wonder they never make state or even get kids scouted for scholarships.

This mentality seems pervade the Rangers coaching staff as well and may be why this team just bails on players who have rough time only to see them become members of my "Former Rangers" club who are key contributors to playoff teams. Pitchers and position players alike. Just go back through the box scores of the last two years of playoffs and start ticking off the names...

How do we fix things like being 25 games under on the road? Every team in the AL west had a losing road record last year. Cutting our road losses in half probably would have made the AL west a three team race to the end.

Only the Angels scored more runs than the Rangers, but we allowed more than anyone else in the division.

Only two teams in the league had winning records that allowed more runs than scored, Toronto and Seattle.

So it still seems to come down to starting pitching. Since no premier FA SP seem to want to sign here we need to maximize what we've got and maybe just maybe our current pitching coach has a lot more to do with all of this than the Ballpark or the payroll.

Guys, it is all in fun. Don't take things so personal. Don't get too wrapped up in this. Half of this stuff i don't even believe. However, it is fun to watch people stroke out over someone having a personal opinion. The bottom line is The Rangers will always be the Rangers, due to their refusal to re-build. I want to win a World Series. I just don't see that happening in my lifetime. That isn't being negative, it is just the truth. If you haven't figured it out yet, the truth is often harsh as evidenced by the above criticism of me. But you know what, i read each one, took each one to heart, beg for forgiveness and will try to endeavor to perserve. I read each one because, i am a MAN, not a crybaby.

I believe the word that you were looking for is ANTAGONISTIC. The moral to the story and what i got out of this is: Steroids Good, DWIDRE Bad. Wine Good, Whine Bad. Rangers without plan Good, Wanting Ranger plan Bad. Opinion similar to others good, Contrary Opinion Bad. Wanting equity and value for traded players Bad, Dumping players for monetary reasons Good. Financial Flexibility Good, Wanting product to appreciate in value BAD. Maintaining status quo Good, Wanting change BAD.

These rose colored glasses, that i am looking through, show only the beauty, but they hide all the truth. So they let me hold on to the good times........... I do have feelings people.....Another word for me abrasive maybe? Hey i want to win and i will try to be more positive. As positive as the passengers on the Titanic were as the ship was sinking with not enough life boats. Ha Ha. And a little insight into my week last week 0600 hours, 49 year old male dies at the wheel of an 18 wheel 3 car accident in Grapevine, Texas. Any competitors out there who have had some one die, take their last gasp on this planet in their presence? Well it wasn't my first, won't be the last. Kinda makes this blog, and the complaints of its bloggers, kinda not important.

e t Lonestar?

Sort of, Dwid sort of.

Sleigh Bells Ring are you listening? in the lane the snow is glistening a beautiful sight were happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland. Ho, Ho, Ho. Fa, la, la, la. Here is one for Texiera: I 'll have a Blue Christmas without you, decorations of red on blue Christmas Tree, don't mean a thing dear, if your not here with me. And last but not least, we need a right handed power bat, preferably one that can play the outfield. And Gleasons i appreciate your support, but comparing Botts and Gonzalez is crazy. I believe he should get playing time to see if he can play, but GONZO was the freaking #1 overall pick in the draft and i believe his statistical probability of success was far higher than Botts. That is why that was a crazy deal. I think everyone knew Gonzo was going to be a player. Botts not so sure, but we should find out a 49 game tryout isn't enough for anyone unless they let us go out there. It probably wouldn't take them 49 days to find out that i can't play. But someone with abilitiy, deserves more of a chance, especially when they have invested all of the time and effort getting him ready to play.

I am sorry guys. Don't you guys know the police are overbearing, it is our nature. Ha Ha. I am sorry you guys are right. ++++++ from now on however, if i see them do anything that i think is knuckleheaded then get ready. We are all entitled to our opinions, and i don't get mad about anything that anyone else writes. I am a happy person, love baseball, love the Rangers, i just wish we would get a plan, a plan that gives back something to us fans. Alot of the people on this site have been with the Rangers since day one. Most of us remember times with our fathers and the importance of the game and how it mirrors life. It is still the greatest game, eventhough it has been corrupted by a bunch of guys who wanted the cash and would'nt let their natural abilities carry them as far as it could. Thank God for Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson, Jim Sundberg, George Brett, Rod Carew, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Gene Tenace, Mike Schmidt, Thurman Munson, Chris Chambless, Carl Yazstremski, Carlton Fisk, Sal Bando, Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Sal Bando, Tony Perez and even Peter Edward Rose!

Dwid, a peice of advice:

First of all, let me just say that I do respect your opinions - you make a lot of good points, it's just that your points are usually mixed in with a lot of bull**** from the past. The Chris Young, Sori deals... yeah, they bug me. Whenever I watch Chris Young pitching for San Deigo, I am remeinded about how stupid the Rangers where. But we've got to move on. The Rangers must learn from thier mistakes, but mentioning those deals over and over doesn't help your points, it just dredges up stuff people are tired of hearing about.

You are absolutely right, the Rangers need a plan for the future, or this team will never drag itself out of mediocrity. We need to focus on that plan, and the players we have now, instead of dredging up past mistakes and wishing for players we do not have.

This time was my fault, Lonestar. D was bringing up Adrian in relation to my Botts-Adrian parallels on the "George Mitchell/Hans Gruber...2008" post.

You're right, DWI-DRE.

a) the similarities shouldn't necessarily point to an Adrianesque break-out season for Botts this year, because they were not similar in their history prior to this parallel.

but...

b) You're also right that, as long as we've come this far w/ Botts, we should play him now-- at least to the ASB, when either our vets' exit should create even more playing time for him, or trading our vets should reel in someone to fulfill the hopes we've had for him (and more).

We still have to DFA someone, and I pray it's not Botts. It's a good time to make a trade, but if we can't, then I vote to try and get Bill White through waivers.

Please let me add a comment to the above blogs concerning past trades being "tiresome" or "why to dredge up the past?".........the answer is simple. Follow me for a moment. We trade Alex Rodriguez for Alfonso Soriano. Pretty good exchange as Soriano is a star/stud player. We turn around, NOT WANTING TO SIGN OR KEEP HIM, and are "forced" to trade, out of desperation, for an inferior player like Brad Wilkerson. For Alex, we get star-quality back, BUT WE DON'T WANT TO RE-SIGN the star player we got for Alex, and basically let the Nationals "take him off our hands," which is fine, except we got nada in return. Thus, from a historical perspective, it is VERY GERMANE to discuss the present situation we are in, when one considers that for future Hall-of-Famer Alex, we got a star. However, in Hicks' unwillingness to keep a top-flight player and pay him, we are "forced" to give Alfonso Soriano away for nothing. When Wilkerson goes bye-bye, then, for Alex, we have NOTHING to show for it.

To me, this is VERY SIGNIFICANT. It shows we intend on not keeping quality players and continuing to bring in the Chris Sheltons and Ben Broussards, while letting Tex, Soriano, etc skate--BECAUSE WE DON'T want to pay anyone once they reach their potentials. Give me George W/Tom Schieffer, or Eddie Chiles anyday over this owner who shall remain nameless.

Does anyone else see that our trading (salary-dumping and non-tendering) ARE EXTREMELY important. If the nameless owner had a Major League payroll in our major market of FW/D/Arlington, at least we could say we tried....but we can't. We aren't trying. How can you build a Major League team like we have done?

I agree with Dwiregod to this extent: We non-tendered Aki, a proven performer, when we are sorely in need of competence on the pitching staff; so for Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young, we have NOTHING AGAIN, to show for quality.

Lastly, Botts is a bust folks. I could care less how he tears up Minor League and Mexican League pitching, he has proven absolutely nothing both times he has been given the stage, and he cannot swing his bat to the situation. Plus he can't run, field, or throw. Otherwise, he's awesome if playing in Gastonia as DH.

In summary, History is terribly important. Looking at our past trades is VERY relevant to where we are at today. The linkage from Alex is gone. The linkage from Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez, GONE. We have nothing to show for it. Signing Milton Bradley is a tiny bone management is throwing to us. We WOULD BE seeking top Free Agents to plug in around competent people manning positions held by Tex, Soriano, Ian, Young, Hurley, Volquez, Salty, CJ and Beavan, had management not been so CHEEEEAAAAP! But, that IS our history. With how paltry our payroll is, to me, this is a disgrace. IF we had gotten competent players or top-prospects for Soriano, or re-signed some guys we just let go, we wouldn't be a lock for 4th place, year in, and year out. Do we have a plan....a real plan? It looks doubtful to me. My only hope is that we can come out of nowhere and surprise someone. We sure have no expectations, given Botts as our DH, Shelton/Broussard at 1B, who knows at 3rd, no one who can field competently or hit with power in the outfield, no complete games from any starters, and the competent ones, Gagne and Aki, gone too.

Get me out my rose-colored glasses, and a glass of Jack and Coke to fend off the doldrums this season. Best keep an open tab!

After reading Bingo's last post, I now understand why he and I were 2 of very few who supported the Sosa signing last year!

I agree 100% with everything you said!

Happy Holidays gang!