Texas Rangers should spend money on rotation not Josh Hamilton

The Josh Hamilton Watch is boring the hell out of me ... 

On a conference call today with FW/d area reporters, Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels said the status of Hamilton and the Rangers hasn't really changed in the past few weeks. Daniels was very non-committal about anything regarding Hamilton, up to and including he is not sure whether the sun will indeed rise.

Of note, Daniels is not really sure about the catching situation, either. Mike Napoli sounds like a goner. 

What Daniels did sound fairly certain about was the team's rotation, which should be a concern.

1. Yu Darvish, RHP: 16-9, 3.90 ERA, 29 starts. Should be a 20-game winner. Celebrity ace potential.
2. Matt Harrison, LHP:  18-11, 3.29 ERA, 32 starts. Solid No. 2. 
3. Derek Holland, LHP: 12-7, 4.67 ERA, 27 starts. Who knows? 
4. Alexi Ogando, RHP: 2-0, 3.27 ERA, 1 start. Awfully valuable in the setup role.
5. ????

Daniels said the fifth spot would be up for grabs from in house candidates such as Colby Lewis, Martin Perez, Neftali Feliz, etc.

After Harrison and Yu, I'm not feeling this. If Holland developed the way Harrison did last season, it would change everything but he remained erratic.

Some of the worst clubs in Rangers history have had great individual hitters like Hamilton.
The best clubs in Rangers history had the best rotations.
Let Josh Hamilton go and stabilize this rotation.

If the Rangers are going to spend money this offseason in the free agent market, take a pass on Josh and try for a Zack Greinke instead.

Both Lewis (elbow) and Feliz (Tommy John) were shut down in the middle of the 2012 season because of their respective injuries. Daniels said he expects Lewis to be a June 1, 2013 arrival while Feliz would comeback around the tradeline.

"I think we are aware that things continue to go well for both guys and reports are good. It could be a nice addition. We are looking at Neftali as a trade deadline acquisition. That may be his timing, given the way the calendar falls," Daniels said. "We may look at him in the bullpen this year. That may be permanent.

"I think Colby could have a bigger impact. We want him to be cautious. You have to put the club together not counting on those guys. You don't know with an injury. Until they are back you can't 100 percent count on them."

The fifth spot is usually a tossup for most clubs, which means the concern should focus on the three-four spots that are Holland and Ogando. Can they win? Can they be consistent? Can they hold up?

Both guys have demonstrated serious big-league stuff but have not necessarily earned the type of trust and promise that you want from a No. 3.

 

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Texas Rangers should expect the 2012 Mike Napoli, not the '11 version

From the Things I Was Not Expecting File, Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels said today on a conference call with reporters the team has made an offer to free agent outfielder Josh Hamilton but none of other of the club's free agents, including catcher Mike Napoli.

Daniels said this offer allows them to continue to talk to him, but the plan is still let Hamilton to test the market.

Now that months have passed since the season ended, and cooler heads are prevailing, it still sounds like Josh is gone. The team will not go stupid on a Hamilton contract.

I asked him if they have a 2013 plan that does include Josh, and one that does not.

"We have a whole bunch of scnearios drawn up. There are a couple of areas - mainly catching and the bullpen - as areas we have to address," Daniels said. "Josh is a big variable for us this winter because how big of a part he's played on the club but also where he fits in the contractual spectrum because he's going to get a lot of money."

So will Napoli, even if his history says it's an enormous risk for a totally different reason. To plan on him ever having the type of year he had in 2011 is a major gamble. But some team/GM will do it.

Daniels said Napoli is a player the team wants back, but that he "fell somewhere in the middle."

Napoli is going to want X, and 

If the Rangers are going to re-sign Napoli they need to do so expecting he will be closer to the 2012 player than the 2011 player. Here are his major career statistics for the 31-year-old catcher.

'06 Angels - .228, 16 HR, 42 RBI
'07 Angels - .247, 10 HR, 34 RBI
'08 Angels - .273, 20 HR, 49 RBI
'09 Angels - .272, 20 HR, 56 RBI
'10 Angels - .238, 26 HR, 68 RBI
'11 Rangers - .320, 30 HR, 75 RBI
'12 Rangers - .227, 24 HR, 56 RBI

Solid numbers for a catcher, but as you can see in six of his seven major league seasons the type of production he enjoyed in 2011 looks to be a one-time thing.

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Something that never happened in Texas: A-Rod is benched & further clouds his legacy

Had Alex Rodriguez remained with the Texas Rangers after he agreed to his 10-year, $252 million deal in December of 2000 he would have been a free agent after the 2010 season. But, trades and hemorraging owners happen.

Now at 37, age is clearly catching A-Rod. He batted .272 this season with 18 homers and a career-worst 57 RBI.

Today in a game that decides if a team's season is over or continues the manager is saying someone else is better than Alex Rodriguez.

Heading into Game 5 of the Orioles/Yankees series, A-Rod has been so bad it appears as if Yankees manager Joe Girardi is going with someone else.

According to ESPN baseball reporter Buster Olney's twitter account, all signs point to A-Rod starting Game 5 on the pine. Olney wrote: 'I think this is a good guess on what the Yankees will do: Chavez at third and Ibanez in the lineup, either at DH or LF."

In Game 3 of the ALDS against the Orioles, A-Rod was taken out in the ninth inning to give way to a pinch hitter, Raul Ibanez, who just so happened to tie the game with a solo homer and win it a few innings later with another jack.

A-Rod is 2-for-16 in this series with zero extra base hits and nine strikeouts.

This move continues to muddy what 10 years ago looked like a legacy that would be one of baseball's greatest. Nothing can take away from the numbers, or his immense talent, but the way this story is moving A-Rod will leave the game as a guy who was a series of empty numbers.

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Video: Galloway & Big Mac debate the Rangers & a certain 4-letter word

 

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Josh Hamilton has no chance against Nolan Ryan

Under any normal circumstance a man who hit .285 with 31 doubles, 43 home runs and drove in 128 runs would be due a raise.

Under any normal circumstance a 31-year-old man who in five years has hit 142 home runs with 506 RBIs for the Texas Rangers would be in high demand from the home fans to stay here for another five years.

When the player in question is Josh Hamilton, it changes the demand completely.

Tonight at 7:30 the Rangers host the Orioles in the American League wildcard game in what could be Hamilton's final game with the team. After this dropped fly ball in Oakland in the season finale, Josh would be wise to go Roy Hobbs on this postseason to create a different final impression.

He is a free agent after the season, and he has made it zero secret he will go to the highest bidder.

Under any normal circumstance, fans would be lining up at Rangers Ballpark to keep Hamilton, to pay him whatever. The sentiment for the first time in forever, however, feels decidedly towards management to not go with the stupid money.

It speaks to the baggage and fear of keeping Hamilton on the roster.

It also speaks to the power and reputation of Rangers team president Nolan Ryan.

There is so much faith in this organization's ability to make the right decision regarding personnel that the team would let an All-Star walk in return for nothing and it will be greeted with a giant thumbs up.

People are going to side with Nolan before they do Josh.

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Remembering when the Texas Rangers making the playoffs was cause for celebration

Between the Texas Rangers' arrival to Arlington, Texas from Washington, D.C. in 1972 all the way through 1996 the team qualified for the postseason zero times.

The next four years from '96 to '99, the team made the playoffs three times, whereupon their arrival to the playoffs they were 1-9 against the Yankees in those games.

In 40 years of playing ball in Texas, the team has made the playoffs six times, three of which are the last three years. You would think with that type of history this town would still be thrilled that the Rangers are in the playoffs for a third consecutive season. 

Nope. This is All or Nothingville for your Rangers, which makes this regular season gag and weeze towards the finich line so difficult to stomach.

The Rangers have lost 8 of their last 12, and now must rally against Brad Pitt's Oakland Athletics to win a division they had led since April 9. The AL West will be decided at 2:30 p.m. in Oakland.

Ryan Dempster, go "git" em, son!

The Rangers would be soooooo much better off defeating the A's today, facing the Tigers in the ALDS and dealing with the Yankees in the championship series.

A one-game playoff against the Orioles does not look enviable.

Quit screwing around and win the division title that has been theirs to take since Opening Day, then you have our permission to break our hearts again.

 

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For the Texas Rangers this postseason, it has to be about Yu

Count me among the masses who assumed for months the Texas Rangers would be in the postseason, and anything leading up to the Game 1 of the ALDS was not necessary. As Bugs Bunney said, "For shame, Doc'."

Things are interesting into the final three games of the regular season with the Rangers having clinched a third consecutive postseason berth but not quite another AL West title. The Rangers could be awarded the World Series trophy tomorrow afternoon, or watch as the Bud Selig accepts all postseason revenues and just hands the Yankees the title, as he wants to do.

The point is we must trust no one for nothing is certain in this, the 2012 Major League Baseball playoffs. Chaos is order! And why? Because the Baltimore Orioles, and the AL West turned out to be a rather large Mitch.

The Rangers vs. the AL West this season:
v. Angels 9-10
v. A's 8-8
v. Mariners 10-9

As much as I did not like the big-cash addition of Japanese free agent pitcher Yu Darvish because the money was crazy high, if the Rangers are going to win the World Series he has to be the difference.

There are two Texas Rangers' starting pitchers with sub 4 ERAs - Yu and Matt Harrison. Derek Holland has great stuff, but it's still not there. Ryan Dempster should be able to get you six innings in the playoffs, but he has serious blowup potential. Maybe in the playoffs Holland will find his dominant self. It is there.

No one on this staff has celebrity ace stuff like Yu. If he is on the Rangers can win every time he pitches. What he did against the Angels (6 2/3, 9 hits, 3 runs, 7 Ks) on Saturday proved he is through the second-go-around blues that so many MLB rookies face.

Yu has to be good for seven or eight innings of dominant ball for the Rangers to get through this all the way to the end. He can't expect to throw 117 pitches in 6 2/3 innings, such as he did against LAA, and make it eight innings.

As the Rangers saw first-hand against the Giants (Matt Cain) and the Cardinals (Chris Carpenter) in the World Series in each of the last two years at some point they need a consistent shutdown from their starter. 
If the Rangers can finally win the World Series, it's going to be Yu that does it.

 

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This former Texas Rangers should win the Cy Young in New York

Never easy to see a former Texas Ranger go out and kill it for a different team, especially after the original employer spent so much time and money to see it through, but it is really hard not to be happy for R.A. Dickey.

Goes to show you what a good knuckleball can do.

The New York Mets' season has once again been a stinking pile o' cat stuff, but Dickey has been fantastic as a starter. He is likely going to win the NL Cy Young award. His closest competition is going to be Gio Gonzalez of the Nationals and Johnny Cueto of the Reds.

On Thursday against the Pirates, Dickey improved to 20-6.

This season, Dickey has thrown a league-high 227.2 innings and 20-6 with a 2.69 ERA. How he won 20 games on that Mets team is amazing. The Mets are 72-84.

Dickey leads the National Leauge in innings, games started, wins and strikeouts. 

There simply is not a nicer guy in the bigs than R.A. Dickey.

 

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Angels CF Mike Trout & this former Texas Rangers MVP share this in common

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout recently turned 15 years old and already he is the American League MVP, and its Rookie of the Year. His numbers are absurd:

.339 BA in 437 ABs
148 hits
22 doubles
6 triples
25 HR
74 RBI
41 steals
4 caught stealing
.401 on base percentag
.588 slugging

Also,
* Feeds the homeless
* Gives all of his money and future contracts to a village in Central America
* Delivers Meals on Wheels on Saturdays
* Is thought to be the Navy SEAL team 6 member who got Osama Bin Laden on the daring night raid
* Is secretly dating Condi Rice

He is thought to be the easy winner for the 2012 AL MVP award. 
He is has no business winning it.

Why? The Angels are in third place in the AL West, nine games behind the Rangers for first and four for a wild card spot. Only if the Angels make a push and grab that playoff spot will I change my mind.

The best team in the league may not require an MVP candidate, but a team that does not make the playoffs, especially in the expanded format, was going to be just as irrelevant with or without a Mike Trout type of season.

The last time the AL MVP award went to a player on a team that didn't make the playoffs was in 2003 when Alex Rodriguez won it for the Rangers. They finished 71-91 that season.

Stat me up all you want - but a non-playoff team can't have the MVP.

 

 

 

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The Roy Oswalt era enters its final days

No word when the Texas Rangers will retire Roy Oswalt's jersey this month, or sometime next season. What they should do is ask for a refund.

According to ... well, everyone, the Rangers have put Oswalt on waivers and he cleared. This doesn't mean Oswalt's time with the Rangers is done, but it does mean they would rather not have him. He is 4-2 with a 5.94 ERA in 11 games, eight of which were starts.

They could trade him, but the chances of him being on a postseason roster are about as good as mine.

What began with good intentions and looked to be a great move after Neftali Feliz went down for the season has ended with a giant ERA and clubhouse drama. Roy Oswalt just didn't have it this season, and may never again.

Back on May 30, Oswalt signed a one-year, prorated deal with the Rangers. In his first stat on June 22 against the Rockies, he pitched 6 2/3 and allowed one run and won. He won his next start despite allowing five runs in six innings.

He was moved to the bullpen in early August, which he didn't like, and has been OK to bad since then.

Adding Oswalt was a good idea. It just didn't work.

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