Tennessee Waltz, Day 1...Billyball
Greetings from the Winter Meetings where this truly is a Tennessee Waltz: clubs dancing around trying to find a partner to make some news....
News will be made on Monday when the Veteran's Committee is supposed to announce who has been selected for induction into the Hall of Fame. They are meeting this afternoon to discuss managers, umpires and executives.
Two former Rangers managers are up for consideration: Whitey Herzog and Billy Martin.
Rangers vice-president Jim Sundberg played for Martin in his first two seasons in the Major Leagues in 1974-75.
"I was ejected from a game six times in my first year and a half in the Majors," Sundberg said. "Billy wanted me to argue with the umpires. I was just a rookie. It took me three years of called third strikes outside of the strike zone to smooth things out. Being a catcher I could talk to those guys. I kept telling them, 'This isn't me, I promise you.
"I was thrown out six times in my first year and a half and just twice the rest of my career."
People are just getting settled in here and finding out where everything is. The Gaylord Orpyland is enormous.
Get your dance card and put it in your pocket, JD. Stand on the sidelines and watch other teams try to improve.
I believe JD is overvaluing our players. If we put a higher value on our players than other teams, we get to keep them. Is that what we want to do? Apparently it is.
JD, Laird is like an item in a garage sale. Everyone knows you are selling the item, and they always offer less than the sticker price on the item. If you don't accept an offer for the item at the end of the sale, then you give the item to goodwill (or let him go with no compensation). How does having Laird backup Salty (the only sensible place to put him) maximize Laird's value? His resume' will read "backup catcher on a team on pace to win 70 games in 2008". Impressive! Who do I talk to in order to trade for a guy like that? Will you take a cracked bat and a case of sunflower seeds for him?
Aside to hefe - I would have included a young RP (like Francisco) with Laird to get us a CF from the Mets. This is another area of need for them, as we obviosly weren't a match on the OF.
I can continue to support JD, even when he misses an opportunity like a deal with the Mets (which I really liked). But there are other opportunities out there. Find them. Then pull the trigger on a deal. Make this team better. Your work is far from done. Yes, the minors are better, but there are still a lot of holes to be filled. Adding only a retread RP for depth to the current roster for 2008 is laughable. It is called rebuilding, although the 're-' is questionable. DWI has spelled it for you - why can't we get it on?
I understand that patience is a virtue, but paralysis stinks. Ask Michael Young. Ask Tex, who saw enough and got out. Ask Ian Kinsler, who is NOT as naiive as MY was, and is not in any hurry to sign a long term deal here. Ask Torii, who never really considered coming here. No wonder we are interested in Fukudome. He doesn't speak english, so noone can warn him or explain to him why you don't sign here. Ask any other english-speaking FA, who knows better than to come here. Ask Kevin Millwood, the last FA of any consequence to sign here, if he'd like a do-over. Ask the fans, who are sick to death of the wait-till-next year mantra.
Get your rear out of neutral JD, before you are the next former GM of the franchise. How long can it realistically be before Hicks changes plans again, and JD and Washington are both looking for a job?
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By sticking his neck out and anointing Salty as our #1 Catcher, JD seems to be announcing Salty's value to other teams, in case there's a trade opp with HIM.
Otherwise, Briant, you & DWI-DRE are right, it wouldn't make sense, b/c it would lower Laird's value right before trading him.
Don't doubt JD yet.
If Teagarden is really so close to ML-ready, Salty would be facing this '08 learning curve, only to be replaced by Tea. Would Salty become our DH?
Maybe this is all about JD giving his word that Jarrod is "worth his salt" as a C, so that we can turn a blockbuster.
I think Salty's my new favorite Ranger, but trading him for a young power bat at a position of need, or as part of an extended Santana package (He's only 29) (or straight up for SF's Lincecum) might make sense.
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What about trading Gerald Laird to the Washington Nationals? They have literally NO depth at catcher - and they have a few good prospects, including OF Chris Marerro, and pitcher Ross Deitwiler, who are both on MiLB.com's list of the top 50 prospects in baseball. Maybe Laird plus a releif pitcher like Francisco, or perhaps a young prospect like Michael Main, could net us a good fast-track prospect or two from the Nats.
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First of all, Maine is not eligible to be traded. Second of all, we will not be trading our young pitching studs to other teams unless we are getting an ACE.
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Look what JD got at the garage sale for Mark Teixeira, just be patient and the right trade will appear. Teams need a catcher more than we need to give one up..
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If we could work out an extension, and Johan Santana would waive his no-trade clause,...
Since Minnesota needs a 2B, a 3B and 2 starting pitchers (once they trade JS), maybe we can offer more than NY and Boston without being hurt as much in terms of our "PLAN 2010."
How about
a)Kinsler AND b)Metcalf-or-Arias
OR aa)Blalock AND bb)Duran
PLUS c) Volquez-or-McCarthy-or-any-one-of-our-Minor-League-Prospects
PLUS d)Padilla-Millwood-or-Gabbard
to get SANTANA for 6 years (this year for 5? million, and 5 more years for eg 135 million).
Would you?
Would Minnesota?
Would Tom Hicks/JD?
It still leaves us with a 2b, a 3b, and a Utility IF, plus an older infield prospect behind them (in addition to Davis and Andrus, behind them in youth, ahead of them in talent).
Although we're short one of our prized hopes (Volquez or Mc Carthy or Kiker or Hurley or Main or Beavan), we've still got the others.
And we're short one proven starter, or Gabbard, but they won't likely be with us in 2010 anyway, and we'll have (29 through 35-year-old) Johan Santana with us in his place.
We've still got Salty or Laird to trade, or Free Agency for a year, to temporarily fill the hole in our rotation.
And we still pursue Kosuke F for the LF spot (while Cruz/Murphy/Byrd patrol CF and RF)
Would Tom Hicks/JD?
Would Minnesota?
Would you?
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Nevermind the above proposal.
"UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 12:02am:
Not only will Johan veto any midseason deal, he'll veto any deal to a team other than the Yankees or Red Sox."
-MLB Trade Rumors
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