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Well, the search is over. We’ve been hearing for the last few days that the announcement on who to hire would come early in the week. That early is very early. According to TR Sullivan, the decision has been made, and Ron Washington, the former coach of the Oakland A’s will be named the manager of the Rangers tomorrow. Ron beats out favorite Don Wakamatsu, who all along I figure most people expected to be named, and former Ranger potential manager Trey Hillman.
For Washington to beat out Wak is a big achievement, as I got the feeling that the interviews were a formality that it was Wak’s job. I don’t know much about Washington, but I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot shortly about it.
UPDATE Nov 6 @ 1AM: There’s a good article over at the San Francisco Chronicle about Ron’s hiring. Includes a few quotes from Ron. The article also says it is a two year deal for Washington, but gives no further details than that. They also believe that Wakamatsu would be a candidate for the A’s job. Check out the article here.
UPDATE Nov 6 @ 2:15PM: There’s stories all over the place today about the hiring. The Rangers are having a press conference to introduce Mr. Washington at 5:30PM today. Here is the official release from the Rangers about the hiring.

On Sunday, the Rangers exercised their 2007 option on left handed reliever Ron Mahay. This is probably a move that won’t surprise anyone, I’d imagine. Ron’s 2007 salary will be $1.2 Million.

In a move that I think surprised nobody, Mark Teixeira won the 2006 AL Gold Glove award (link). That was pretty much expected.
Gary Matthews not getting the CF award was a little more of an eye raiser. However, that too is not completely shocking to me. I think a lot of the local campaigning for him, while valid, was a bit of the “homer vote”. Don’t get me wrong, he had a great year, but it’s always hard for a guy to get it on a career breakout year when there’s others who are entrenched in outfield (the 06 winners were Ichiro, Vernon Wells, & Torii Hunter).
Still, Matthews had a great year. Just hope it’s not his last like a lot of reports are saying.
Congrats to Mark Teixeira. Very well deserved. Also the former Texas battery of Kenny Rogers & Pudge won their respective positions’ gold gloves too.

Randy Wolf, Kenny Lofton, & Frank Catalanotto as Rangers in 07 and none of our free agents returning? So says this article on free agent possibilities over at mlbtraderumors. Here’s what they’re saying about Wolf, Lofton, & Cat…
Randy Wolf: It’ll be a somewhat risky signing, but the Rangers need some starters. I only have them down for one free agent starter, so another would have to come via trade. I could see a major splash with a Young or Teixeira trade.
My thoughts: Probably no worse a risk than Padilla was coming in here last year. Injuries are an issue, of course, and there’s the perception that Daniels is going to the Philly well yet again. I probably wouldn’t be upset with this at all. Would depend on the dollars/years. Also, there’s that trade Mike Young or Tex thing. Young ain’t happening. While I wouldn’t be happy about it, I could see Tex going somewhere else, but I don’t think any Ranger fan wants THAT.
Kenny Lofton: Someone has to fill the void in center if Matthews tests the market and finds something better. Why not a 48 year-old speedster? Should Matthews and Lee leave, the Rangers will have a lot of question marks in the outfield.
My thoughts: Might as well bring back Julio Franco, too. Oh hey, I hear Ricky Henderson is still officially not retired either. There’s gotta be a better stopgap option than Lofton. The only reason to bring him in would mean you’d make a major push to bring in Vernon Wells after 2007. There is that quote of Wells’ saying that he and Mike Young would be teammates eventually. As a Ranger fan, you have to like that.
Frank Catalanotto: Not only is he a former Ranger, but they tried to trade for him this summer. Texas has pretty good outfield options in Nelson Cruz and Brad Wilkerson, but stability and flexibility with Catalanotto and Lofton makes sense.
My thoughts: Would strike me as the same return as bringing back David Dellucci. I never wanted Cat to leave in the first place, but now that we’re a few years removed, I’m not sure if there aren’t better options there. Course our outfield is full of holes if all our guys walk, so we probably could use a pickup like this. Not a problem with it, but it strikes me as a sideways move.
The link above has some other ideas as to where the Ranger free agents will end up.
Carlos Lee – Astros
Vicente Padilla – Mets
Mark DeRosa – Phillies
Gary Matthews – Cubs
The report also has Alfonso Soriano joining DeRosa in Philly. The only way THAT would happen is if Philly can move Pat Burrell, which is no mean feat itself. I wouldn’t mind taking a flyer on Burrell down here in Texas, provided Philly picks up a bunch of salary. Course there’s that “too many times to the Philly well” idea again. :)

Good, good, GOOD! I very much like him, and didn’t want him to go. If you didn’t know, he was up for the Arizona Diamondbacks TV play by play job. That is no longer an option because the Diamondbacks just gave the job to Daron Sutton.
This is great news for Ranger fans, as I think Eric & Vic make a great team. Plus if he left, we’d most definitely miss this..
GOING.. GOING… GONE!!!!

IT’S A BIG FLY!!
I’ve gotten very used to Vic on the radio. Especially since I listened to a lot more radio games in 2006 than I ever had before. I always have preferred TV coverage, but now with a kid, you can’t always devote 100% of your attention to the game when it’s on TV. With the radio, I can be doing something else besides listening.
So I’m glad you’re sticking around Vic. Glad to have ya.

While the Rangers have not yet released their 2007 Spring Training schedule, some other teams have. Since we have to play these other teams :), one can glean a few of the dates from looking at the other teams’ schedules. Here’s a few dates I’ve managed to find for the 2007 Spring season.
Times are AZ.
Tue Mar 06 1:05PM – Mariners – Surprise
Fri Mar 09 1:05PM – Cubs – Surprise
Sun Mar 11 12:05P – Angels – Surprise
Sat Mar 17 1:05PM – Mariners – Peoria
Wed Mar 21 1:05PM – Cubs – Mesa
Thu Mar 22 12:05P – Angels – Tempe
Mon Mar 26 7:05PM – Mariners – Surprise
Wed Mar 28 1:05PM – Mariners – Peoria