Of the Manager, St. Thomas Aquinas and the Cracker Barrel

" When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8

I am firmly on the " fire Ron Washington" bandwagon. I am strongly considering taking the "fire Jon Daniels" bandwagon for a test drive. You're point about Saltalamacchia being the only player on the 40-man says it all. Nothing to show for Danks, Young, Gonzalez, Soriano, and the host of other productive players JD has gifted MLB with. I've been cutting him some slack for a while but the Broussard signing, the Nippert trade, the Patterson project(doomed to fail) are examples of "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"
The Rangers also lead the world in injured pitchers. Who is coming under scrutiny for that? What are they doing to these arms? If they do start calling up these youngsters they better have a huge insurance policy taken out on their arms if they start tinkering with their mechanics.

"A man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works". James 2:18

I think RW is on his last legs as the manger of this team. In his own words yesterday, he never remembered taking infield practice as a player. I believe that was a decision made well above his paygrade. And keeping the content of meetings, with Daniels and players, close to the vest, to me, are sure signs that he has been given specific orders to take a different tack, and keep his mouth shut. And I wasn't happy with his spin on Botts' statements on being DFA'd. Those statements cut to the core of the problem that has exist in Arlington. Botts' statement was a parting shot at Hicks and Daniels, without getting very "Billy Martin". But, Botts was clearly not he future of this club, and neither is Broussard, Bradley, Catalanotto, or Blalock. Jennings is only a stopgap, until Hurley and Mathis are ready to be called up. And most of those won't be here on August 1.
Youth is the future of this team. And, I believe, that future will begin around the ASB. Until that time, we will have to endure a very poor W-L record, and eating a steady diet of tums and rolaids.

TR, you're making sense. I vote for TR Sullivan as the next General Manager to steer this wayward franchise to a few World Championships. Tom Hicks may not have a radio broadcast to listen to but he can click on "Postcards From Elysian Fields" and get an earful (or eyeful). Hey, Mr. Hicks, TR Sullivan is your man. Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Hicks will see you now. OK, TR who is going to be the next manager? See if you can coax Tom Kelley out of retirement.

Good article on a tough topic, TR. I'm afraid I can't agree with you today on a couple fronts, but if we all agreed all the time it wouldn't be as much fun, would it?

On the GM:

I want to support JD, but doing so is becoming more and more difficult. I support what JD has done for the low minors, but he has not done enough to create stability at the ML level.

JD has stated on several occasions that the team is only interested in premier FAs, which doesn't make sense to me for a team which should be rebuilding. In two years, sure, but not now. Barry Zito, at the time he signed his deal with the Giants, was exactly that. Many of us (rebuilders) never supported signing Torii Hunter because a premier FA contract of that magnitude made no sense. K Fukudome, for whom the Rangers were the high bidder, didn't make sense either. I applaud the deal for Hamilton, despite the cost in players - this is the approach that builds a team. Very fiscally responsible. Pays some dividends today, too - we don't have to wait until 2011 for prospects. He'll be here in 2011, too, as long as he can stay healthy. These opportunities aren't everywhere, but there's been too few of these moves.

At the same time, a guy like Carlos Silva, who would have given this team 200 innings for a few years, wasn't good enough or wasn't a bargain based on the market. Wouldn't he look good here today, with 3/5 of the rotation on the DL. This is the kind of guy who could have helped stabilize the rotation, despite not being a flashy move. Not spectacular, but consistent. Stable. Instead, JD tried too hard to catch lightning in a bottle with one-year guys like Broussard, Bradley, Guardado, and Jennings. Outside of Bradley, who is a full-time DH - not a RF, JD only succeeded in catching a bucket of warm spit. I'll add Shelton to the list soon. Because of the number of one-year deals, the team will have to go to the market again this off-season to collect a bunch more bodies to fill out a roster in 2009. More turnover ahead, not stability.

I support the direction JD has taken toward rebuilding, but changing GMs does not mean that the philosophy has to drastically change. I agree with and support the approach of building up the farm system. I also support giving the system time to develop. Further, I support moving guys slowly through the system, allowing them to experience success along the way. What we are seeing today - every single farm club is competitive - is exactly the direction the franchise should go in order to develop a culture of winning - and this needs to continue. I think many if not most fans would agree with me on this. I also think this may yet save JD's job. But nothing prevents the team from posting the GM position and writing the job description to match the task at hand - we're looking for a GM to continue the rebuilding and who is up to the challenge of building a long-term winner. This change does not necessairly have to set the franchise back as TR suggests.

On the Manager:

I must also disagree that the team has committed to a long term plan and that a new mgr won't accelerate the process. Baseball man is committed to playing veterans. He needs to win to keep his job. He was hired before the trades of Gagne and Tex. We were still making moves like Danks for McCarthy in an effort to win now. Bringing in a manager who supports youth, is patient, and will commit to players playing in the same position every night would significantly improve the odds of improving the current team. Sure there's no guarantee, and no, he can't pitch either. But a new manager who is brought in as part of the rebuilding plan has the potential to make a tremendous difference in the approach and attitude (and thereby the results) of the ML team.

In Summary:

I don't mind watching a young team get beaten by better teams, making mistakes but growing and improving along the way. I am growing weary of watching retreads getting beaten by teams while not growing and having limited talent to significantly improve. I see no leadership, no direction. Could it be time to trade MY, Blalock and Bradley for ML-ready young players and AAA prospects? It IS time to commit fully to rebuilding. It IS time to change the sorry culture of this team.

Briant, agree with you. But as usual it all hinges on Hicks the Hack wanting to build a winning team, and not trying to ride Jerry Jones' coattails with his plans for "Glory Park." He has proven that he would rather find the next new PR gimmick to put butts in the seats, rather than do it with a WINNING ball club.

Nolan needs to step up and fire Washington and Daniels period end of story! Washington should have never been hired here in the first place, he didn't have the skins on the wall and his own team didn't want him. That is a huge RED FLAG. Washington's record is eerily similar to his class A Record. He is what he is. He isn't the whole problem, but he has to go. When your alleged strengths are weaknesses, then how much more are your weaknesses weaknesses. Daniels is the biggest problem and his trades were terrible. The only thing keeping him in his job right now is the Gagne deal. Bottom line, these guys should have been fired last year. You have to hire a manager to manage the young players that started last night. Wash isn't a young players manager, he wanted to win now, to prove he could manage and keep his job. This team wanted to compete this year, just look at the signings of Bradley, Jennings, Guardado, trade for Broussard. That is a team trying to win this year. Now they are saying that they are rebuilding. Ha they are all disappointed with this record and are shocked that it happened. Ridiculous. Get a manager for the long haul, hire the GM first or maybe Ryan gets that too. The bottom line is the GM/Prez should hire his own staff. A change is coming and is long overdue. Do something, and start playing Duran at second, Kinsler at third, Boggs in left or right, Salt at first or get Davis up here. Be more careful with your pitching, but the others need to be up, the ones that are close. Why DFA Botts and keep Broussard? Botts wasn't given enough of a chance, i really thought he had a few good at bats last week only to be sent to the bench. I hope that guy goes somewhere gets his chance and tears it up. Just another indication of cutting young guys, not giving them a chance. What would it have hurt for this guy to play everyday? Would it really have cost us any wins?

Why don't we start by trading Gerald Laird for Armando Galarraga!?!

The way the first base situation has been handled is a travesty. It's an absolute embarrassment, that I feel is a Shelton slump away from getting very ugly.

Is it possible that we might score more runs if Washington would put walk-happy Bradley at the three spot and let RBI-happy Hamilton hit clean-up?

This organization is nothing but a group of guys passing the gun around, shooting each other in the foot.

D'god...four thoughts for you

1. Hamilton/Volquez has been a good trade for both sides. I still believe that Ham is leading MLB in RBI's. The Tex trade will take at least 2 years to fully evaluate.
2. Botts is not a "young" prospect. He has had ample opportunity to show his stuff in the Big Show, and has muffed it everytime, and shopuld not have been on the 40-man.
3. Darn I have to agree with you on Broussard.
4. Shut the hell up... two out of three times you don't know what the hell you are talking about.

TR, nice way to walk throught the minefield and still make a point or two.

I did not see the Botts thing happening. He was actually playing better than Broussard in my opinion. He was making the plays in the field as well as anyone else, taking a walk and getting a timely hit or two. I just hope he winds up in the NL so we don't have another future "Ranger Killer" out there. Sneaking him thru waivers and back to OKC is not honorable at this point.

So we have now come to the same solution at 1B that we had in the offseason going into ST. I wonder how much Broussard's guaranteed contract had to do with Bott's departure. RW may have tied his tenure here to a boat from Beaumont...well maybe he gets the dinghy.

Ok, we have these guys here now let 'em play dammit. Shelton's track record at the ML level demonstrates he is much better with regular playing time (Duh!). Salty, Duran, Boggs, all need the time too. Thats the difference on the young teams that are playing well, the players are young and talented, but they are playing every day. Hank deserves to play when comes back but Duran needs those AB's while he is gone. It will be invaluable.

Fox.Com -- "All flexibility is now gone form the 40 man roster"

Rosenthal-- Millwood and Padilla gone by the ASB
and "Tigers' Galarraga: Another Texas blunder?"--- Although he does say no one else had him very high on the scouting charts.

Random thoughts:

Josh Hamilton has hoisted this team on his back and is at the top of the league in most offensive categories while doing it. The fact that the current state of the team does not seem to bother him is a statement of the inner strength he now has.

It is difficult to find much being written about the team nationally, up, down, or neutral, its like we're the opponents for the King and his Court . If it wasn't for the box score...

Reading betwwen the lines of the quotes from JD and RW, I have a sense that Mr Ryan is starting assert some influence. Pressure is being applied to get a better product on the field, young or otherwise.

For those who want young, you had it last night. MY was the only poition player on the field with more than 2 years of time after Cat came out.

Nice night for Brandon Boggs.

Kudos to Duran for taking over for Kinsler and playing a solid game.

Was it me or does Vazquez seem to have very limited range to his left?

Sorry for being all over the place but I am just keeping the Ranger Faith...

A General Manager's job is to improve the talent of the team through drafting, free agents and trades. Of course, it does take time to measure how successful a GM has been in improving that talent. But, I do not believe the record speaks well for Jon Daniels. I would not trust him to continue "building" this team for the future.

As for the skipper, a manager of a young rebuilding team needs to have the confidence of his young maturing players. These future assets need to buy in to the plan and not feel like the years of losing are endless and pointless. The strategic aspects of managing aren't that complicated. Managing is a relationship job. Right now, it doesn't seem like Ron Washington has the confidence of his players. And that's poison for a team that is attempting to build towards some brighter future.

Dodger Fan Reborn

With all due respects to fellow bloggers, I could have told Ron and JD that Jason Botts and his "tearing up the Minors and Mexican Leagues" was only fools gold. Actually, I did--many times. I had hoped that maybe, just maybe, he might "find it", while knowing he wouldn't cut it at the Major League level.

We had competence in Sammy Sosa, who was "benched" for this now spurned Minor League hitter, but he wasn't offered a contract, due, as other bloggers like to mistakenly believe, that we are "building for the future, and that Sammy would block the path for some of our studs." HUH?
Sammy would look fantastic to me, with his homers, RBI's and situational hitting. . . .But, oh, we spurned Sammy for Botts. Ridiculous, especially in this punchless offense.

Now to the bigger picture.....we are in trouble. Where is the fielding? Where is the bullpen? Where is the clutch hitting, or, any hitting? Are we developing players properly?

If we were 18-9 instead of 9-18, I guess my perspective would change. Some teams suffer in order to prosper later, ex. the Houston Rockets under Bill Fitch who "tanked it" for two straight years so they could draft Akeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson. The Tigers were miserable until their breakthrough seasons the last couple of years....but what of our Rangers? I just don't see it, the development, that is.

It's great to feel we can't "win" this year and blow the team up in order to put the plan in place to win next year, and the next....but, I don't see it. I don't know if Ron Washington is the problem, or if it is horrendous decisions made by Jon Daniels, which we have almost nothing to show for a slew of good to great players, except for Salty.

I have nothing personal against Ron, and know he has tried to teach, preach, etc., a young team. But, it seems his preaching/motivation is on par with Jeremiah Wright's and people want to run away from the preaching. I'd like to know where we are headed, despite always hearing that "we have restocked the farm system" and are "buiilding for the future." When? 2011? 2012? Is there anyone out there in Ranger land who feels a team in the 4th largest market in the Major Leagues, and who has been downright AWFUL for a whole decade, how this is possible, even if Hicks was trying to ruin the team, I don't see how it could have been so completely AWFUL for a whole decade, and always on our backs looking up at the League who is above us.

I'm really heartsick because I love this team.

I will say, and I go back to my statement from not quite a year ago: Give me a team with accomplished veterans, interspersed with a couple of highly-touted rookies, and then we can be in a better position to win, RATHER THAN a whole team of rookies and signing a throw-in like Milton Bradley or Ben Broussard as "accomplished veterans", which they are not. Oh, Tex, Oh Sori, Where are thou?

Having a promise from "management" (and I use the term loosely) to build from within, means simply this: Each and every year, we will be in flux, and sending players up and down to the minors because we have no established veterans and are ALWAYS WAITING ON THE KIDS. We, as fans, shouldn't put up with this approach. I started watching the Rangers and becoming avidly involved in 1973, and have loved them ever since, through thick and thin, and I might say honestly, mostly thin. Only when you had a competent GM like Doug Melvin, and a highly-respected, accomplished and proven Major League Manager like Johnny Oates, and had a core group of veterans with alot of heart and spunk like Will Clark, Rusty Greer, Mark McClemore and Mickey Tettleton, is a team going to win. At this rate, who will the veteran core we sorely need really be post Michael?

I, for one, will continue to watch on TV only. Not gonna spend any bucks to put in Liverpool Tom's Soccer auxiliary fund, aka, The Texas Rangers.

"Botts was unable to impress in LIMITED playing time." I guess that is better than failing to impress in maximum playing time, ala Broussard. "New manager won't accelerate the process, may be 180 degree turn for the worse." Come on TR, there are 360 degrees in a circle, we are in the .30 percent of wins. Can a new manager do any worse than Washington? Washington is what he is, he is shell shocked and can't motivate this team. Who are you his press agent? Since we are rebuilding and have this long range plan from last year, what are Bradley, Jennings, Cat, Broussard, and Guardado doing on this team? A team that is rebuilding, isn't it better to go with younger players? Don't the older guys interfere with the progress if you are rebuilding? Ham and Shelton are the only guys that were added to this team that fit a supposed rebuilding. Wash can't manage period end of story. The Mavericks did it right today, they fired a coach that had taken them to the finals, but under performed the last 2 years. The Mavericks are aiming for a title what are we aiming for? Washington needs to go back to the third base coaches box. Daniels biggest mistake among his many was in his managerial hire. It is going to turn out to cost him his job too. Karma, i love it. Hey at least Wash has that positive attitude. The only thing that needs to change here is the GM and Manager. #2 trade Young, Laird, Cat, Broussard, Millwood, Padilla, Bradley. Start playing our young players. Boggs, Duran and Salt are a start, bring up Cruz, Davis and any others that we think are the future. Be careful with our young pitchers and stop trading them.

I'm curious, dgod. You want to trade Millwood and Padilla,and obviously don't want Jennings or Guardado around. We must "start playing our young players", and yet "be careful with our young pitchers". So who on earth would be pitching for your dream Rangers team?

Very nice peice, TR - I agree with most of it, except for the fact that as Briant77 pointed out above: a change in the leadership does not have to necissarily change the direction of the team.

Jon Daniels has said all the right things, but he has not, as of yet, backed up his words. Instead of rebuilding, this team is caught floundering in a sea of medocrity again, with spares like Ben Broussard and Jason Jennings taking up roster space. And when you DFA Jason Botts, whom you where supposed to be giving one last shot to prove himself, that does not speak well of your player management at all.

That's not to say that Botts would have made it (his career was mismanaged from the start by the Rangers), but playing him would still make more sense in the long term than playing Ben Broussard.

So I'm starting to wonder exactly what JD is doing myself. In the past, I've argued against a change of GM's, because I feared another change in team direction, but now I'm not so sure we're even headed in the correct direction. As you said, TR, we started ourselves on the rebuilding path, but so far JD has refused to commit himself or his team to that direction.

And now that we've got Nolan Ryan, a baseball man who has managed two minor league teams, and should know plenty about building with young players, I'm starting to think JD might very well be expendable, along with his protege Ron Washington. In fact, one of the biggest things that disturbs me right now about JD is the way he continues to defend Wash - Ron is a nice guy, but he's a moron and a chicken-liver, who doesn't know how to lead or manage his butthole, let alone a baseball team. If that's really the guy JD wants managing this team, then maybe he shouldn't be GM.

I'm not sure who we would hire to replace JD, but I'm fairly certain that we could find someone who would be willing to come in, and lead this team down the rebuilding path if we told him to.

With all that said, I'm willing to give JD a little longer to pull it together, but if he doesn't get rid of Washington, and all the spares that are clogging up the 40-man soon, I'm going to be on the fire JD bandwagon myself.

http://lonestarincalifornia.wordpress.com/

When will BOGGS leadoff? If not leadoff at least in the 9 whole to hit in front of Kinsler, Young and Hamilton.

Because I don't know much about his arm strength, can Boggs play CF? That could put Hamilton in RF for less wear-and-tear. Murphy in LF.

Anthony the young pitchers would be pitching. I.E. Tiger plan. Don't let them lose 20 games in a season and destroy their confidence. That is what i meant. The bottom line is if we are really rebuilding, we need to start finding our manager, GM and the players that are going to be here for the long term. Is Wash going to be around in 2015 when we may be eligible to win a title? Well hopefully it won't be that long. Boggs looks like he is ready, Duran has a couple of hits, is Davis far behind? Murray is coming, is Harrison far behind. Give these guys a chance but don't destroy them. At some point, you have to bite the bullet, take a freaking chance. We are the only organization that thinks that you should wait until someone is 28 years old before they play as a rookie in the major leagues. Broussard, Cat, Bradley, Young are not this teams future. Get on with it, move on, FIND OUR FUTURE. Who drafted Boggs? Daniels obviously didn't think he could play or he would have traded him already. The bottom line is this would be a better team with Gonzalez, Danks, and Young. TR i agree with someone above who said, just because you change managers and GM doesn't mean you are changing your philosophy. Other than the philosophy of having someone who can manage and or implement the philosophy. Daniels should have committed to a youth movement at the end of last season, stated that Wash wasn't the guy to lead it and fired him then. That maybe could have saved his job.

Last but not least. I still say that Daniels and Washington were trying to win this year. No matter what anyone else says or writes. If we weren't trying to win this year then there would have been no need for Guardado, Jennings, Broussard, and Bradley. Why all of the sudden is Boggs, Duran and soon to be more young players being called up? Why not give those guys a chance at the beginning of this year? What changed in the month of April that these guys are now so ready to play here now? LOSING that is what. Commit to the youth and trade all of your older commodities, dump salary whatever. Millwood, Laird, Cat, Bradley, Young, Broussard, Padilla. All of those guys. I don't care if we lose 100 games this year. Hit rock bottom, get the vaunted draft picks, get the prospects. Get a clue! We have some talent, we just need a manager to lead and direct. I think both Wash and Dan need to be fired, that isn't a secret. But at this point, i want Washington gone and would settle for Daniels if he truly is going to commit to rebuilding. Can rebuilding really be any worse than what they have been putting on the field with an alleged competitive team?

Dgod, WHICH young pitchers. You NEVER provide specifics. I want to see your starting five, and bullpen. Put up or shut up (but I don't expect either.....)

Same old song d(GOD)

The thing about comments from d(GOD) is that if you make enough then some will probably be right. Like saying everytime a player comes up he is going to strike out. BTW notice how d(GOD) has not said anything about Hamilton
and his past drug problem. Nothing but negativity. Wonder if he gets tired typing the same thing every nite.

I doubt it batts, he mostly uses copy/paste. it would make his life much easier if he did.

Bradley will be turned into one or two decent prospects at the trade deadline, so I'm happy he's here. JD was shaking the dice on that same idea with all of the one-year deals. As for Botts, there was no hiding him on defense, so his only future was as a DH. A DH must hit. Botts didn't hit. Should they have given him more at bats? Yes, and that's my only quarrel with their handling of his situation. If this team is truly rebuilding, you plug Botts in at DH and play him every day for a while. Why not? They weren't committed enough to rebuilding to do it the right way. As for Catalanotto, you can't trade the guy in April; there's no market. He should have been traded in the off-season. Now he's just taking up at-bats and reducing roster flexibility that could be used to work in the young guys.

Jennings to the DL. Finally. Hopefully he can make some progress in some rehab starts toward building some arm strength. Thank God we didn't trade Padilla and Millwood in the offseason like some were clamoring for. The bullpen is getting overworked as it is. Without those two it would be much uglier. I'm all for moving them at the deadline, but only IF there are pitchers ready to step up and take their place and IF we get value in return. 2 big IF's.

Dgod is probably not going to provide you guys asking for it with specifics. When he tries that he makes an even bigger fool of himself. Toward the end of last year he was calling for Anthony Webster to be our everyday CFer in '08. Yes, the same Anthony Webster who got on base at a .320 clip at Double-A for us in '07 and is hitting .234 for the Pirates Double-A affiliate this year.

To answer the "Oh Sori, Where are thou" part of Bingo's lament, he's on the 15 day DL because now when he makes a routine catch in LF he does a cute little hop and one of those hops tweaked a hamstring. Before being DL'd he was hitting .175. Great 136 million dollar investment.

Support Ron and Dan and criticize me. Ha ha, ha. If you are rebuilding then the young players play, period end of story. Get Davis up here, god only knows that Shelton and Broussard aren't the answer. Or play Salt at first, Laird isn't the problem. Boggs is playing well, Duran is too, Kinsler is also, Ham is, Murph is. That is 7 players, keep Blalock, but deal Young, Cat, Bradley, and Broussard if anyone wants him. Mathis, Murray, Harrison, Mendoza, Gabbard, Hurley for starters. Ask Dan and Wash for details. What is the plan? To me it is exciting, what Boggs, Ham and Duran did last night. That is the future. Get Andrus up here and see what he can do. Trade the face before he makes a donkey out of himself, i want to win, i miss the west coast. There is a fine line between winning and losing. Build for the future.

To Hefe:

No One, not even you, can refute his output. He's on the DL, SO WHAT, who isn't these days? Do you hold out that because he's on the DL that he isn't a truly productive hitter? Methinks not.

Besides, my main point was, Sori, Tex, etc. would certainly look good in this popgun offense, would they not?

Hope you don't prefer Botts and Blalock, for Heaven's sake! I'm afraid all the injuries to Blalock has caught up with him. I was hoping he was healthy for once. Regarding Sori, wouldn't you love to have his production? If not, why not?

I remember 40+ homeruns and I can't recall how many RBI's that he had with us....THAT is what I remember about Soriano; whereas you remember his stint on the DL. Kinda unfair methinks.

I don't see how a .175 hitter on the DL helps a popgun offense to this point. He has the same number of RBI this year as Jason Botts who just got DFA'd.

His OPS during his stint in Texas was .815. That's good for a second baseman, mediocre for a LFer and worth nowhere near 136 million bucks. If you remember 40+ home runs with us you're thinking of someone else. He hit 28 and 36.

Reasons NOT to bring up Elvis Andrus right now:

1. He’s 19 years old.
2. He’s played less than 25 games above A-ball
3. He’s putting up an OPS of .610 at Double-A.
4. Exposing him to major league pitching at this point would likely stunt his development rather than facilitate it.
5. It prematurely starts the clock on his service time making him eligible for arbitration and free agency sooner.
6. His position is currently being manned at the major league level by a player who’s made the last 4 consecutive All-Star games.
7. The whole point to having a minor league system is that it’s a place to develop young players.

If you have a logical reason to "Get Andrus up here and see what he can do." I'd love to hear it. Keep in mind I said logical. You're own impatience is not a logical reason.

When pressed as to who our 5 starter should be Dgod names 3 guys who are on the DL, another with and ERA over 6 at Triple-A then says: "Ask Dan and Wash for details." I wouldn't put that on my resume when I apply for the GM job if I were you.

"Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad" - Euripides.

To expose young pitchers to major league hitters continually is a madness that would destroy them. But i forgot! You would only let them lose 19 games before you sent them of the pitching knacker's yard!! How kind! By then Kiker and Beavan and co. should be nicely fattened up and ready to become dgod cannon fodder.

dgod, listen carefully. Ready? Rebuilding does not consist of throwing prospects into the flames before they are ready. There! I can see by the happy smile on your face that you understood.

(Well folks, one can only try....)

Anthoney and Hefe, I agree with your rationality, but why bring anyone up? Don't look now, but these guys have won two straight series! Two! Two in a row I tell ya! These guys are on fire!

Lets just keep doing the same song and dance every year. We are out of it already, but it ain't Washingtons fault, or Daniels either. We are going to wait til the all-star break to trade Cat, Broussard, Bradley, Guardado, Young and anyone else. Sounds like what we did last year. But hey, it is working, so lets just keep doing it. Don't forget to throw in the marginal free-agent signings and the trading away of our top pitching prospects. Maybe after we play better, after the all-star break, Washington can take this team to spring training, fail to prepare it again and be out of it again by April 2009. PROGRESS. Sounds like a plan. For all of you idiots on here, i didn't say call all of the young players up and i am not for destroying our young pitchers, but i sure like what the White Sox did with Mr. Danks. Like what the Reds are doing with Mr. Volquez, heck even like what the Tigers are doing with Mr. Galarraga. Why couldn't those things be done here. Their comes a time when you have to take a chance on a young player. Those young players often struggle but a lot of them gain confidence and turn into players. Mr. Texiera went through it, Mr. Blalock, Mr. Sierra, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Gonzalez, it is normal. Mr. Boggs is on fire, any relation to Wade? If we are rebuilding as we are now being led to believe, then Mr. Broussard either gets cut or traded and Botts gets kept. We need stability at first base, so why isn't #1 either Salt playing there or Davis up now? If i were GM, then Laird is my catcher and Salt is a first baseman, it is what is best for the team. Duran is my Second Baseman and Kinsler could play third. At this point, Boggs is playing everyday, Murphy everyday, Ham everday. Brad can DH all he wants, but Cat and Broussard have to go. I still think that Wash isn't the manager for a young team. I still don't understand what the deal is with Botts, he didn't get enough of an extended stay or opportunitiy. I sure am going to hate to see this guy go somewhere else and become a Hafner. We have not had a lot of success in letting players leave here, Danks, Gonzalez, Young, HAFNER, Volquez, and Texiera. There is talent here, the goal should be to develop that talent regardless if we are winning or losing.

Hey Andrus is supposed to be, the second coming. I believe Robin Yount was 19 years old when he came up and he wasn't the second coming.

Is that your attempt at logic?

Well that is a whole lot of OUGHTs right there and would make a perfect motto for the Rangers. Hello fans come and watch the Rangers play in the land of OUGHTs. We ought to do this and ought to have done that and we ought to play better but we haven't, so come and watch the sludge we put out there.

You know there is a lot of blame to go around, but I just don't see too much of a talent disparity when you run guys like Michael Young, Hank Blaylock, Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler, Milton Bradley, David Murphy, Catalanotto, Millwood, Padilla, Wilson, Benoit and friends out to play. That team should not be the worst team in the majors. That team should not be playing the worst defense in the majors.

So Sullivan, or anyone. If you have a long range plan and you are in rebuilding mode, what's up with the Botts demotion? You give him 38 AB's this year? Way to go! How did that conversation go? Genius 1 says to Genius #2 "Hey, we're a young team who needs to let its young players develop and see if we can turn any of those youngsters into ball players. Whhhhhhhy don't we send Botts down risking another team claim him and play All World Broussard?" Genius #2 says to Genius 1, "Your a genius! Could you pass the pipe? Thanks."

Idiots, dgod? Maybe I sould report that as abuse or spam....But to quote Euripides again, "Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish"
Despite your obsessions, Rangers are following an excellent rebuilding strategy, by signing (cheap) veterans on one year (NB That does not mean for life) contracts, and introducing prospects to the majors when they are ready. I'd better repeat that. When they are ready. Of course mistakes are made along the way, and I agree with you that Broussard seems to be one of them. Yes, I would have got rid of him (swallow his contract if neccesary, as Seattle have done with Wilkerson) and given Botts a longer spell. But Botts is a minus-minus fielder and I know just how much errors and missed plays eat you up. And yes, the Young and Gonzales trade was a bad one. Cleraly it was a "we want to win now" affair which backfired. The blame? I suspect Hicks, not JD. General managers are not gods, owners are. And owners just can't help sticking their grubby little fingers into the pie. (Hey, I can run a business empire, so of course I can run a ball team.) The Garralaga trade? Yes, bad, but did you complain at the time? (repeat, at the time). No, apart from your all encompassing "never trade young pitchers". Kinsler? You just don't know quality when you see it. Don't take my word for it. Watch ballgames on mlb.com, as I have to, and listen to the comments of the presenters from other TV networks.Is Ron Washington the right manager for this rebuilding? I don't know. He probably will be fired (those grubby fingers again?) but even if your hero Hargreaves is his replacement, I do not doubt that you will be baying for more blood before long. Be positive, dgod. "Waste not fresh tears over old griefs" (Euripides yet again- he must have been the first Rangers fan....)

I usually take the approach that some things just don't justify a response but a thought just occurred to me that D'God is like Jerry Springer. Infamous yet famous at the same time, you know exactly what you are going to get yet most just have to watch anyway. So, D'God, keep working it and maybe you'll get that Dancing with the Stars gig. Well, maybe dancing with the Stars Ice Girls anyway.

I did not see Posnon's first game and that was the first time I had seen him pitch since he was with the O's. The stuff was reminiscent of the and that was a nice start. He looked like he could have come back for the 9th. If he can do 75% of that game through the ASB teams will be knocking down the door but he seems to have no fear of the Ballpark and he is only 32, not out of line for a middle of the rotation guy and a potential 200 inning guy if can come all the way back. Needs a few more starts against a more disciplined team or two to judge but that 1-year deal may be worth riding to the end instead flipping him for prospects at the deadline.

CJ definitely forgot about last night's outing but he definitely seems to remebmer getting one of the old closer lessons reinforced during it, don't get cute, get guys out. He wasn't as cute with the hitters today.

We can analyze the Rangers until the cows come home. The bottom line is, this is a horrible franchise. One playoff victory in its history. I've been a lifelong fan of this team, but now I am a realist. I am never optimistic when it comes to the Rangers. Hicks is out of his mind. Daniels is clueless and Nolan Ryan is in for big disappointment. They may claim to be in a rebuilding phase now, but the Rangers will deviate. This is a jinxed franchise.

Sean, let up suppose that Ponson does come good(please!!!). If keeping him (only to have him sign elsewhere in the off-season) meant 83-79 instead of 79-82, then what's the point? If we could lock him up for (say) 2 more years, then great! Otherwise, get some more prospects for his remaining few months, a la Gagne. (I love Tom Grieve's remark that even if Murphy, Gabbard and the other one (sorry, mental blank) had failed to show up at the ballpark it was still a good trade!)

Anthony, my thinking there was to lock him up before the end of the season if he plays well enough. You're right, if they don't do that, he just takes the money train out of Arlington and we see nothing in return.

I guess I was too tired to be writing...

The Gagne trade brought 2 ML ready players, one a starting pitcher as opposed to mainly prospects that are years off, a la the Tex deal. You need both kinds of deals to keep a decent product on the field at the ML level. I am just concerned that they may have a veteran "find" as Tom Grieve put it and then act like those guys in the housing market, all we think about is what can we get for it in a few months after we make it look pretty.

Folks, I want to say right now (after Ponson's sterling effort), that if we don't sign and RETAIN key veterans as our core, then we will always be in rebuild mode, in other words, we're gonna do the last decade all over again.

If a guy is a proven commodity, can the "mighty" Texas Rangers not sign him, especially if he is effective? We can't lollygag, especially if it comes to pitching. I say, give him one or two more starts, to see that this past effort wasn't a smokescreen, and if he is effective, then we must sign him.

It's always the detractors/bloggers who are always wanting to "trade someone at the All-Star Break," that worries me. So, we trade a competent pitcher, so far Ponson seems to be for real, and "wish and hope and cross our fingers" that Blake Beavan can start helping the major league team in 2012. That is LUDICROUS! We need competence right now to build upon, while we "wait for the kids."

Otherwise, if we were to fast forward 10 years from now, we'd see a constant state of flux, change, and, well, ultra-mediocrity, like the last ten years....which I don't rate as mediocrity, but being in last place looking up at the League, I look at the post-Johnny Oates era as a vast wasteland, and ineptitude. If that constant state of flux is desired so as to give the "great minor league hitter" Jason Botts, and keep hearing from management that "prosperity if right around the corner", then we are doomed to keep repeating history.

I say SIGN KEY VETERANS; let's not totally wait on kids as our means to the "promised land."--although for sure, we have built a nice base in the minors. Last time I looked though, people judged you by your Won/Loss record, not on how you've upgraded your minor league system.

After ineptitude of the past 10 years, and of being in last place for most of it, I believe we need a core of key veterans, and infuse the team each year with one highly-touted phenom or two. The Won/Loss record far outweighs anything else. Even though management would never state it, not trying to win every year is a downright shame--to the integrity of the players, the coaches who's careers hinge on it, and the fan base. I'm not talking about trading prospects for an old, marginal veteran, but signing key veterans who ARE COMPETENT to "make good, incentive-laced contracts" (read: Kenny Lofton, Sammy Sosa, Sidney Ponson, etc.) and NOT marginal ones like Ben Broussard, Craig Shelton, etc.).

C'mon Liverpool Tom, separate yourself from some of your soccerteam money. That would be a good start. The farm system is looking up. Nolan has arrived. Trouble is though, the Won/Loss record. Ronald Reagan always used to say, "Facts are stubborn things." Our Won/Loss record won't go away just because our farm system is #4 in all the minor leagues. Sign key veterans who are accomplished and productive, because waiting on a John Mayberry, Jr. to finally, maybe, someday produce, and to depend on him, is fools gold. A handful will make it, the vast majority will not. Depending on our farm system totally, like the ones who say, "blow it up", are a bit off-base, in my humble opinion.

Just food for thought: Any reason a Will Clark isn't approached as Managerial material, or at least a coach? The guy was "The Sheriff", and knew how to play the game: by thinking and by maximum effort for the T-E-A-M. I've always wondered why he couldn't be considered for some field position with this team, if not manager. Just wondering.

Absolutely correct, bingo-but only if the right players are available AND they are prepared to accept your money. Both Tex and Gagne were offered deals but turned them down (fortunately in the case of Gagne!), so trading them at the ASB made good sense. I quite agree about Ponson, but perhaps after a few more than just one or two more starts. But I totally disagree with you over Sosa. Do you really believe that a rapidly aging platoon DH is worth a $7 million deal? (That was his asking price) No other team was prepared to offer even so much as a Bat Boy for him last year, and nobody has snapped him up since. Signing cheap, low risk cast offs on one year or minor league deals is a good idea whilst rebuilding. Some work, some don't. The Sosa deal was a great success-for half a season. Same with Lofton, and we got Ramirez for him. There were a lot of whinges about that trade. This year? Ramirez looking great at AA and Lofton-nowhere.

Here is my belief. I like the Rangers. I want them to rebuild. I want Broussard, Daniels and Washington gone. I want us to stop trading our young pitchers. I am not a negative person, but the truth is the truth. As Jack says, you can't handle the truth. Until we face reality, nothing will change. Washington is a nice guy, but he is what he is, a .445 winning percentage in Class A. It is less than that up here and is headed for something worse.