You know, having been here watching the Rangers as so many big name free agents come through here, the skeptical side of me wonders how much of Barry Zito’s eventual contract will be driven up by the free agent’s token appearance in Texas today.
But then the kid that is still left in me (after contracts, steroids, ticket prices, quarter billion dollar contracts) wakes up and goes “BARRY ZITO IS HERE!“. That pitcher that takes a teddy bear on the road with him is here! Yay!
For some reason, this visit seems promising. Even if we don’t get him, I won’t come away from this one feeling used like I usually feel (Clemens, Johnson) when one of these visitors signs elsewhere.
Most Ranger fans I talk to don’t say Ron Washington was their first choice to be manager in the recent sweepstakes (I certainly didn’t think that – always liked him from afar, but never considered him my manager material). But if it pays off with Zito, then I bet you you’ll see a lot of revised opinions in that regard (mine’s already changed after listening to the man).
Scott Miller on the Rangers
Scott Miller over at CBS Sportsline really torched Jon Daniels for being so inactive this off season. I’m not sure if it’s worthy of as many words as Miller wrote. Take out all the irrelevant fluff in the article and it’d be about half the length. And it boils down to him not liking us not doing much.
While it is a bit of a eyebrow raiser that we haven’t done much, I’m not terribly concerned. I like the quote of Daniels saying that he doesn’t want to sign someone just to have an announcement. Some of the more “baseball worthy” quotes from the article:
The Rangers right now are like that guy in Airplane who periodically observes things like, “Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop smoking” and “Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.”
Things keep going like this, the Texas Rangers’ 2007 lineup will consist of a cardboard cutout of Nolan Ryan, a Jeff Burroughs bobble-head and a pair of Alex Rodriguez’s sweaty old spikes. Oh, yes, and Michael Young at shortstop.
In Texas, meanwhile, the Rangers right now would get out-shopped by Charlie Brown for a Christmas tree.
Texas’ Alumni Club is growing more rapidly than Notre Dame’s vaunted Subway Alums, and the Rangers aren’t even BCS-eligible.
I’ve liked Miller for awhile, and while this one article won’t change my opinion there, I have to say it’s got some really dumb writing in there as evidenced by the quotes I’ve picked out above.
If you want to read the entire piece, you can do so here.
Luis Alicea is back in the majors
Former Rangers infielder Luis Alicea is back in the major leagues. He’s been hired to be the first base coach for the Boston Red Sox. I always liked Alicea – who was mentally paired with Roberto Kelley as bench players in the late 90’s.
It’ll be nice to see Alicea again, who I believe is the last Ranger player to hit an inside the park home run in Arlington. Could be wrong, but I seem to remember it being the last Ranger one.
Rangers to resign Pidente?
Adam over at lonestar ball thinks so – he linked to a story at ESPN (which is behind their pay area, darn it), saying this:
I’m hearing that [the Rangers] are closing in on a deal to re-sign Vicente Padilla.
Be nice to see us resign one of our own free agents. :) Vicente Padilla Pidente is probably the best option for us to sign a veteran starting pitcher. Especially one that doesn’t seem fazed by our ballpark. Resigning him would allow Josh Lewin to talk about he “random plunking of a batter” he used to talk about with Chan Ho all the time.
I can’t seriously see Zito coming here, and I don’t want Schmidt (injury problem), and Eaton wasn’t a realistic option, I thought. My guess as to what it will take? Four years, $36-$40 million. Or three with a easily vestable option fourth.
Adam Eaton signs with Phillies
What’s with all the Rangers / Phillies connections the last 12 months? Are there any other teams out there? Did someone forget to tell me the other 28 teams were contracted or something?
According to ESPN, Adam Eaton signed a 3 year deal today with the Phillies reportedly worth $24 million, with a fourth year team option which is supposed to bring the contract value up to $33 million.
Given 2006… Amazing. Just amazing.
Phillies & Rangers “sort of” make another trade
A couple of weeks ago, the Rangers hired former A’s manager Art Howe as bench coach. He had already been hired by the Phillies to be their first base coach. With former Rangers bench coach Don Wakamatsu accepting a “demotion” to third base coach, that pushed out former third base coach Steve Smith.
Steve Smith was hired today by the Phillies to be their third base coach, which was vacated by Art Howe’s departure for Texas.
So it’s not a real trade, but a “sorta” trade. :)
Carlos Lee to the Astros
From the “no surprise there” department, Carlos Lee has signed a deal with the Houston Astros. Supposedly a six year deal, depending on which story you read, it’s either $73 million, $85 million, or $100 million. I guess we’ll find out soon enough, the contract is supposed to be signed later tonight.
This will make Jamey Newberg very happy. :) I’m also for it as I also like following the Astros. Plus it will bring Lee back each year to let a few balls drop in front of him for hits in Arlington.
The draft impact for us is now we get the Astros #17 pick, which effectively is a wash against the #16 pick we gave up for signing Frank Catalanotto. Assuming the Astros or Angels don’t sign a higher rated free agent, we’ll have #17 & #24 in the first round of the 2007 draft, as well as three sandwich picks.
{Homer}Mmmmm.. Sandwich… Awhhhhhhhhhh {/Homer}
UPDATE: Here is an amusing story over at a Cardinals fan’s website on the Lee signing. I particularly enjoyed this line: Throwing $100 mil at a corpulent left fielder who has the range of a narcoleptic cow and a career OPS of .835 doesn’t quite add up to me..
Scott Rice
- P Scott Rice signed to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training [ Link ]
GMJ to Anaheim
Well, the shoe has finally fallen. Gary Matthews Jr has gotten a 5 year, $50 million deal from the Anaheim California Angels of Los Angeles of California. I wanted to see Matthews stay as much as the next Ranger fan – but yikes. Not THAT much.
This is another of those off seasons where contracts are way out of whack. Soriano? Pierre? Jeez.
I wonder if Matthews will stay productive that long – 5 years is a long time for a career journeyman until 2006. Good luck, GMJ.
UPDATE: Dave over at USS Mariner has a great look at GMJ’s career to date. Check it out.
Ryan Howard
Saw a minute or two ago that Ryan Howard was named MVP of the NL for 2006. As a Phillies fan in addition to a Rangers fan, I have to admit I had a bit of the homer choice there. :)
It is an accomplishment – I heard on XM’s Home Plate channel last week that if Howard did get it, he’d be one of only a few players in MLB history to be crowed rookie of the year and then league MVP the following year. Cal Ripken did it, I forget who the other was (memory says it’s just one other guy).
I think Pujols probably would have gotten it had he stayed healthy all season.
P.S. Wanted to say hi to the guy who works at the Garland Firewheel Build a Bear Store. I was in there Sat night making a bear for my daughter, and he recognized me. Yo! :)
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