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There’s a nice breakdown of new Rangers reliever Kazuo Fukumori over on one of the Ft Worth Star Telegram blogs. It goes:
New Rangers reliever Kazuo Fukumori was introduced to the media Friday at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The media contingent had a strong international flair with many Japanese reporters on hand for the signing. Among things we learned about the 31-year-old right-hander were:

• His last name is pronounced foo-koo-MORE-ee
• He goes by Kaz
• He’s learning English but spoke through interpretors
• He’s a fastball, forkball pitcher
• He’s throwing from the mound already after having elbow surgery this year and expects to be ready for Opening Day
• His preferred role is whatever role manager Ron Washington wants to put him in
• He was 4-2 with 17 saves and a 4.75 ERA before the elbow surgery in 2007 while pitching for the Tohuku RakutenT
• he contract is for two years with a club option for 2010

From the “dumbass” file..

NEW YORK — A teenage shortstop in the Texas Rangers organization was suspended Friday for the first 50 games of next season after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance under baseball’s minor league drug program.
Julio Gonzalez, 19, hit .253 in 27 games this season in rookie ball in Arizona.
The penalty came a day after the Mitchell Report was released, looking at steroids in the major leagues.
Gonzalez got the 30th suspension this year under the minor league program. There have been eight under the major league plan.

From an AP Wire story:

The Texas Rangers signed Edgardo Alfonzo on Friday to a minor-league contract that would pay him $650,000, plus incentives, if he makes the major league roster.
Alfonzo last appeared in the majors in 2006 for a total of 30 games with the Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays.

From my mind:

Well, I haven’t done a good post in awhile, and given I’ve decided to continue the site after my September burnout, I probably should say something about recent events. I’m still going to lie low this offseason anyway, not do as much as some offseasons past. Kind of recharge, know what I mean? Anyway, here goes a few thoughts on several recent events.
Nov 30: Salty made starting catcher: I thought this was a bit of an odd move. It certainly rubs salt in the wounds of Gerald Laird, and I thought made him an easily movable target at the winter meetings. Given the names we have at catcher down in the minors, I figured naming Salty the primary catcher for 2008 meant that Laird was out the door for another piece. Didn’t happen. I wonder how disgruntled Laird will be if we go into 2008 with him as backup. Salty as catcher doesn’t bother me, but I think Laird has the edge on his defense. (Story Link)
Dec 1: Arbitration declinations: Several players were not offered arbitration, basically cutting them loose. The list here was Sammy Sosa, Jamey Wright, Jerry Hairston, & Brad Wilkerson. Hairston and Wilkerson were at this date locks not to come back. Events since then have pretty much guaranteed that. There was some talk that Sosa could come back under the right circumstances, but his statement that he wants $7 million guaranteed probably rules that out. Jamey Wright was better than I was expecting him to be, and wouldn’t be surprised if he returns for the pen. But I haven’t seen any news about him since this story. (Story Link)
Dec 3: Dance with Gagne again: There was some talk about the Rangers signing Eric Gagne again for 2008. Didn’t happen, presumably because he wanted more guaranteed money than we were willing to provide (He got $10 Mil). So that didn’t happen. Not a big deal, really. (Story Link)
Dec 5: Chris Shelton acquired: Chris Shelton was acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the winter meetings for spare part outfielder Freddy Guzman. Guzman was good to me on my baseball game on the Xbox 360, as he was incredibly fast. That’s about it. Guzman didn’t really have a chance here, so he was sent to Detroit for Shelton. Shelton can probably be good, although whether he gets the full time 1B job is a question mark. He had that incredibly hot streak of home runs early in the 2006 season, but fell out of favor in Detroit. Probably a good low risk pickup. Didn’t cost us anything we really wanted, and it could work out from a “lightning in a bottle” standpoint. (Story Link)
Dec 5: Wash wants 10 more wins: Ron Washington came out and said that the Rangers target should be 10 more wins in 2008. That would give ’em a record of 85-78 record in 2008. Much better, but probably not enough to dent the playoffs. I saw Wash take a few shots in the press for those remarks. But he’s the manager – what the heck is he supposed to say? “Uh guys, let’s get the same 75 wins we had in 2007” – no he won’t be doing THAT. (Story Link)
Dec 9: Rangers sign Milton Bradley: The Rangers signed Milton Bradley to a one year contract worth $5 mil plus incentives. It was later made official on Dec 13th. I’ll just copy what I wrote a few days back on Bradley, as my thoughts haven’t changed any. This is a bit of a comedown from the names we were talking about as outfielders, although the story said it was to be a primary DH. I never quite understood a specific player for DH, because I loved the way Johnny Oates handled the position. As a place you could dump a player who needed a partial day off, or a place to put your own guys. Signing a DH just to be DH always struck me as a very limiting thing. Anyway, Bradley has a history of confrontations. So did Carl Everett and John Rocker when they came here, so we shall see what happens. I’m sure it’s nowhere near as bad as the reputation makes it out to be, but at the first sign of trouble, I’m sure it will be analyzed by the local media. I’m guessing they probably won’t like it. I’m indifferent – it’s not a signing that will make me jump and down, but I don’t hate it, either. This is one of the two players that would make Josh Lewin’s head explode with puns – the other being Coco Crisp. If we still end up with Crisp, I think Lewin might be speechless from the possibilities. ;) (Story Link)
Dec 10: Ranger fans are stupid: I’m getting tired of seeing stupid trade scenarios in email lists like the one I link to here. It’s the same reason I don’t like listening to post game call ins – the majority of the people who make these questions have no realistic idea of what they’re talking about. Like the old tired “WHY ARE THEY NOT GETTING PITCHING?” Because there is no good stuff to get out there right now? I mean come on – several recent free agent signee suggestions I’ve seen mentioned aren’t possible at all because they’re not free agents! That just infuriates me – do your homework before asking a question! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGH! (Story Link)
Dec 10: Kevin Mench DFA’ed by Brewers: Our old friend Kevin Mench was DFA’ed by the Brewers (and later non tendered on Dec 12th). There was some brief talk about bringing him back, and I thought about it for a minute. TR Sullivan had a nice line about that in one of his mailbags.. “Don’t need to look backwards like that” – or something to that effect. As a side note, the Brewers also DFA’ed Laynce Nix, but he got through waivers and was reassigned to Milwaukee’s minor league system. (Story Link)
Dec 11: Rangers sign 7 minor leaugee free agents: Yawn. Franklyn German could be a name that might show up in Arlington, but does anyone think we’ll see major league production out of these guys? Thank you, drive through. If I’m wrong on this, I’ll admit it, but these “throw a bunch on the wall and see if anything stick” moves rarely work. (Story Link)
Dec 12: Rangers get Ben Broussard from Mariners: At the last minute of the non tender deadline, the Rangers acquired Ben Broussard from the Mariners from Tug Hulett. Ben Broussard is one of those guys who is good, but not awesome from what I can gather. His career numbers say he’s not going to set the world on fire, but he will be servicable. Not entirely sure what his 08 status is, but I think he’s arbitration eligible. He made $3.55 Million in 2007, so around that isn’t unrealistic, and not bad on the pay scale. He’s not going to be Mark Teixeira over there, but he’ll probably be better than Brad Wilkerson was after Tex was gone. (Story Link)
Dec 12: Akinori Otsuka non tendered: As I mentioned in the story from last night, Aki was non tendered at the sdame time that Broussard was acquired. This brings a rather annoying close to the Chris Young trade. That one definitely falls under failure. I liked Otsuka during his time here, but spent most of his time hurt in 2007. As much as I would have liked to have seen him keep his job, perhaps it’s time to just cut it, and go with CJ Wilson as closer. Nick Gorneault was non tendered, removing him from the roster. Never even wore the Rangers uniform after being picked up on a waiver claim Oct 29th. (Story Link)
Dec 13: Rangers sign Kazuo Fukumori: The Rangers finally sign a reliever, and got what appears to be a bargain – assuming the guy is healthy. Japanese reliever Kazuo Fukumori was signed to a 2 year, $3 million deal. He had bone chip surgery in 2007, which hampered his performance, but in 2006, he had a 2.17 ERA in 58 innings of work. If he can regain that in 08, this will be looked at as a very good move. Likely a setup guy for CJ Wilson. I like this move a lot. (Story Link)
That brings us up to the Mitchell Report, which as I’m typing this is due to be released in 15 minutes. I wanted to clear the deck for that, as it’s going to be a fun ride when that hits. :)
Oh, Arod’s deal with the Yankees was also formally finalized today (link). 10 years, $275 million (up to $305 with incentives), and no subsidy from the Rangers, although we still owe $9 million in deferred from the original deal. I can live with that.
Bring on the Mitchell Report!

Quick notes. I plan a “catch up” post in the next day or so with my thoughts on various things that have happened.
The Rangers got Ben Broussard via trade from the Seattle Mariners tonight for Tug Hulett. To make room of the 40 man roster, Nick Goneault was DFA’ed.
More on this here and here.
On top of that, the Rangers did not offer a contract to Akinori Otsuka, making him a free agent, and making the Chris Young trade even MORE annoying now.
UPDATE on Otsuka: Friend of mine pointed out how well this song fits the Otsuka / Young trade fiasco..
“I want my…I want my…I want my MVP!”

Test link

Oh dear. The Rangers have apparently signed outfielder Milton Bradley to a one year contract. The wire story I read said it’s still pending a physical, though.
That’s a bit of a comedown from the names we were talking about as outfielders, although the story said it was to be a primary DH. I never quite understood a specific player for DH, because I loved the way Johnny Oates handled the position. As a place you could dump a player who needed a partial day off, or a place to put your own guys. Signing a DH just to be DH always struck me as a very limiting thing.
Anyway, Bradley has a history of confrontations. So did Carl Everett and John Rocker when they came here, so we shall see what happens. I’m sure it’s nowhere near as bad as the reputation makes it out to be, but at the first sign of trouble, I’m sure it will be analyzed by the local media. I’m guessing they probably won’t like it.
I’m indifferent – it’s not a signing that will make me jump and down, but I don’t hate it, either.
This is one of the two players that would make Josh Lewin’s head explode with puns – the other being Coco Crisp. If we still end up with Crisp, I think Lewin might be speechless from the possibilities. ;)
UPDATE: The deal is $5 million base, plus undisclosed incentives. (Linkage)