Rangerfans.com

Well, Kevin Millwood was traded today. He was our “Number 1” starter for a couple of years now, and spent four seasons in a Rangers uniform. I always liked Kevin from his days in Philadelphia, and while he was never a guy who would mow down everyone, he was if nothing else a fairly regular pitcher. Oh, he spent a little time on the DL, but for the most part he was a pretty consistent pitcher. I won’t say I’ll lose sleep over him leaving, but I won’t exactly try and kick him out the door, as I know some people wanted to do. So Kevin was moved to Baltimore, who from what I can gather will serve as their veteran “mentor” starter. Kind of what he was like here. I also thought his “southern drawl” fit in well here, too. Don’t know why, maybe it’s because I’m originally from up North, it just worked for me.

When I first heard about this trade, my thoughts were “Uh, does that make Scott Feldman our #1? After just one really good season like that it seems a bit dicey, doesn’t it?” Then the word came down a little while later we were bringing in Rich Harden. I’ll talk about Harden more in his own post after he actually signs, so I’m not nearly as panicy as say oh, I don’t know Kurt Cockran might have been about that. Sorry Kurt. :)

We get Chris Ray back. Ray was the Orioles’ closer not too long ago. Did some nice work for me in a fantasy league one year. But he had surgery and was out all of 2008, and was horrible in what he did on the field in 2009. I see this as a pure salary dump so they could get Harden in here. If Ray doesn’t work out, no big deal. We also get a PTBNL as well, who will be the guy the Orioles select in the Rule 5 draft tomorrow.

Anyway, I’ll be sad to see Kevin go. Always liked him, but it definitely was the first cog in several other moves being talked about in Indy. Those other ones are the signing of Rich Harden (likely announced tomorrow – $6.5M & 3.5M in incentives, plus 11M option for 11 with $1M buyout), and some talk of us sending Max Ramirez to Boston for Mike Lowell (and a boatload of cash, I assume).

More tomorrow on these other moves.

One final thing about Kevin Millwood. My contract notes for him state that he’s due a $15 million “signing bonus”, which is payable from 2011-2015. We’re rumored to be sending $3 Million to Baltimore for Kevin’s 2010 salary. I wonder how much of the $15 million bonus money we’re still on the hook for? Anyone with more knowledge than me know? Jamey? Evan?

Today I read an article showing in detail what all the players playoff shares are. You see team names on there you’d expect. Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers. Those all make sense.
But at the bottom of the list is the Texas Rangers. Apparently finishing second in your division (and being a non Wild Card team), also affords you a playoff piece. Granted, it’s way smaller, but it just seems weird to see the Rangers pop up in the list of playoff share money. Just seemed weird.
Anyway, here’s the numbers for the Rangers…
(Share of Players’ Pool: $590,731.16; value of each full share: $9,276.38) – The Rangers awarded 58 full shares, 5.25 partial shares and 4 cash awards.

The first batch of items for the off season have happened.
Marlon Byrd: On the first day of free-agent eligibility, Marlon Byrd filed. No surprise there, he probably deserves a decent paycheck. As we all know, there’s been a lot of noise about him wanting to stay, but whether he remains is unknown. It’s down to money, and the fact that there is a logjam coming behind him. Don’t know how long we’d want to commit. There’s just too many variables now. There’s some talk that should we not bring back Byrd, they might sign Jermaine Dye as a replacement. That would have to be a single year deal.
Omar Vizquel: Some talk that Vizquel might re-sign here to be a backup again in 2010. I have to say, he seriously surprised me. He never failed to produce as a backup, never complained about playing time, he was awesome. If he came back next year and produced the same way, I don’t think anyone would complain about that. Plus he’d probably be cheap, so I say do it.
Sale of Club: No updates that I’m aware of. Everyone’s been talked to. Not sure what the actual next move is.
Pudge: There was a lot of talk at the end of the season about there being interest on both sides for Pudge to come back, even if everyone is healthy, catching wise. The rangers article today says that they now want to see how Salty is doing. Bummer. I want Pudge back without thinking about other guys.
Starting Rotation: There’s also talk today that both CJ Wilson & Neftali Feliz are candidates for the starting rotation. Feliz is not a surprise,really – that’s what he was in the minors. CJ Wilson briefly started early in his career, but hasn’t done that for awhile. Is our starting 5 so weak that we’re looking at moving TWO relievers in there? Eek!
Guys not coming back: Hank Blalock & Andruw Jones are done. They’re not being pursued apparently. Eddie Guardado is likely retiring, and who knows about Joaquin Benoit. The major paper and web stories label him as “in limbo”. What the heck does that mean – really? His contract is technically up, I think. Benoit had figured it out before he got hurt, and he is by far the longest tenured Ranger. Not sure who that would be at the moment if he was let go.
UPDATE: Just as I was about to publish this on my site, I saw the story on the official Rangers site that the following Rangers have officially filed for free agency: Ivan Rodriguez, Hank Blalock, Marlon Byrd, Eddie Guardado, & Joaquin Benoit. None of these are surprises, and all are covered above, but the official announcement has been made.