Things to do this offseason:

1. Get the albatross that is the A-Rod contract off the books. DONE. Thanks Scott.
2. Find a Centerfielder - one that can cover the vast outfield at TBIA and can contribute in the middle of the order. Welcome Milton Bradley Josh Hamilton.
3. Find a First Baseman - one that is above average defensively while not a total black hole in the lineup. Looks to be a Broussard/Shelton Botts combo plate at 1B.
4. Decide on a closer - either in house find or one on the free market. Market seems to be out of question for Texas. Congrats Mr. Wilson. Seeya Aki. Hello Everyday Eddie and ####umori.
5. Find a utility infielder who can play anywhere in the infield and has no problem getting 10-15 ABs a week.

Current 25-man roster:

Catchers:
Gerald Laird: $500,000 (estimated)
Jarrod Saltalamacchia: $390,000

Infielders:
Michael Young: $5,000,000 (jumps to $16mm in 2009)
Hank Blalock: $4,500,000
Ian Kinsler: $400,000

Outfielders/ DH:
Frank Catalanotto: $4,000,000
Marlon Byrd: $1,500,000 (arby)
Nelson Cruz: $380,000
Jason Botts: $380,000
David Murphy: $380,000

Starting Pitchers:
Vicente Padilla: $11,000,000
Kevin Millwood: $8,500,000
Brandon McCarthy: $380,000
Kason Gabbard: $380,000
Edinson Volquez: $380,000

Swingmen:
Kameron Loe: $400,000
Rob Tejeda: $380,000

RH Relievers:
Aki Otsuka: $4,500,000 (arby)
Joaquin Benoit: $3,000,000
Frankie Francisco: $400,000
Josh Rupe: $380,000
Wes Littleton: $380,000

LH Relievers:
C.J. Wilson: $400,000
A.J. Murray: $380,000
John Rheinecker: $380,000

PROJECTED 25-MAN TOTAL TO DATE: $46,500,000

With an estimated 70-75 million to spend, Jon Daniels has some money to go and get his CF and 1B. I would rank the CF options by who I think will be here are:

1. Hunter
2. Rowand
3. Cameron
4. A Jones

and 1B options:

1. Casey
2. Lamb
3. Erstad

With a lack of real upgrades in free agency, I could see Daniels being very active in the trade market. My first guess is that Laird is packaged with others on the farm to get a young defensive CF.

As for pitching, as sad as it is, the rotation is set with Milwood/Padilla/McCarthy/Gabbard/Volquez. The infield is set with Blalock/Young/Kinsler/Salty with only the 1B to find. The OF is up for grabs with Botts most likely the DH.

Gagne may be an option again next year for you guys. Both he and the Rangers are interested in a return.

He pitched well there, seems like it would be a good move.

Agreed. I think his Boston blowup could work out very good for the Rangers. He comes in here cheap, saves some games, and the Rangers flip him again for prospects.

Along those lines I would be all for bring Lofton back as well. I still think this team is playing for 2009, so I am not going to convince myself that any veteran brought in can't be flipped come August and September.

I love how during the winter meetings all the local papers can talk about how the Rangers are going to remain quiet.

No more than three articles in today's paper discuss how Santana would be too expensive, in players and money, for the Rangers to get Santana.

Don't we need all of about 2 sentences to tell us that, not three stories.

Lot of action in here.

Just wait until they bring back Sosa and Gagne. Look out 70 wins!!!

They probably should have tried to sign A-Rod.

Why sign a no-power hitting dunce like Casey or Erstad (assuming you mean Darin) when you can start Salty at 1B and have a switch-hitting, young, cheap, and similar and possibly better production that the guys you're wanting? Maybe sign Lamb to fill in if Salty falters or Blalock gets hurt.

Big Salty fan here, so I may be a bit biased.

The word on Salty is that they want his bat behind the plate. Now which plate is still up in the air. He will battle Laird in ST (if Laird is not traded) and could either start, back up, or most likely, start the season in AAA and get more experience handling pitchers.


In other Ranger news, they traded for Chris Shelton who could compete for the 1B job. I can't believe all I get to type about is Chris Freakin Shelton.

Chris Shelton is a guy that should stick. He's got some pop and knows the value of a walk.

He does have a career batting average of like 0.550 at TBiA, so he's got that going for him.

Perfect one-year stopgap for CF. The best a Ranger fan can hope for is that he does well enough to fetch something at the trade deadline.

This thing is going nowhere with Hicks in charge and the stadium in Arlington. Ever.

It took me a lifetime to realize this, but I'm convinced.

If we are lucky we might catch a division once every 15 years or so. And there's nothing in place or coming up to make me think any of those pieces are here.

Will his ACL be ready for even May?

If his knee is OK by May, he'll hurt something else by the end of July.

The unofficial official word right now is that he will have zero spring training, but be ready for the season. We will see. I think reuniting with Washington might help Bradley, but what I worry about is that we are going to end up with 3 above average corner fielders and no true center fielder. And you just can't do that playing 81 games in Arlington. You gotta have someone who not only can go get it making individual plays, but you almost need a field general back there who takes charge.

Texas does not have that guy on the roster.

Funny that you focus on Bradley's D. He's pretty solid in the field, although he'll be 30 in April and will lose range as he ages.

His bigger issues are the nagging injuries that strike him every year, his emotional immaturity and his lack of offensive production. He's been a decent, albeit inconsistent producer in the past. AT this stage of his career, he has very little margin for regression. He doesn't have great power, hit for a high average, or run exceptionally well. If he drops off a little bit in these areas, he's an average player. And he's not the kind of guy an organization will tolerate if he's not producing. The one thing he does really well is to take a walk which is a old player's skill. But it's hard to see a lot of room for improvement there. One thing he has going for him in Texas is The Ballpark. It's the best hitters park he's ever played in. It could help him as long as he doesn't swing for the fences too much.

If you check out his comps on BR, most of the guys on his list were out of baseball in their early 30s. Bogart should wish for the second coming of Ben Oglivie who led the AL in HRs in his age 31 season after getting traded from Detroit to Milwaukee.

Rangers busy tonight as they have traded minor league infielder Tug Hulett to Seattle for veteran first baseman Ben Broussard.



Also Aki Otsuka was made a free agent tonight as well. Guess that arm isn't coming along like they hoped.

Here is your more than likely 2008 Opening Day starting lineup, bench and pitching staff:

LF Frank Catalanotto
2B Ian Kinsler
SS Michael Young
1B Ben Broussard
3B Hank Blalock
CF Marlon Byrd
RF Milton Bradley
DH Jason Botts
C Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Bench: David Murphy, Ramon Vazquez, Chris Shelton, Gerald Laird

Rotation: Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Brandon McCarthy, Kason Gabbard, Edinson Volquez

Bullpen: C.J. Wilson, Joaquin Benoit, Frank Francisco, John Rheinecker, Kameron Loe, Wes Littleton, Scott Feldman or Bill White. Seven of those eight.


It's almost painful to type, will probably be more painful to watch. When the Rangers are good again only 4 of the 5 in the starting lineup will be there (Young, Kinsler, Botts, Salty) and I'm guessing only a handful of pitchers (all who will be in lesser roles than they are now, with the exception maybe being Wilson and Volquez.)

Link to Dallas paper.

I like the move for the Rangers they give up a decent pitching prospect but get a guy who could be an every day player for them right now and really help in center.

I talked to my boss about the deal after first posting it here and he hates the deal as a Rangers fan. His belief is that the Rangers gave more talent which is the opposite of what I thought. He could be saying to much to give for a CF.

you can change your CF and SP now......

I really, really like this move. Volquez is never going to be more than a number 4 or 5 starter in the league. I think Hamilton can be really good and fills a real need for Texas. There is no one in the Rangers farm system with as high a ceiling in CF than Hamilton, meanwhile I think Volquez is not as good as several SP on the farm.

Good deal.

This was part of the Newberg Report this very morning:



This makes me feel even better about the trade.

My boss is also a huge Rangers homer and wasn't excited about the deal. I've found through the years that the biggest homers are the ones that most overrate the home squad's farm system. There's enough pitching that they don't HAVE to keep a guy like Volquez hoping he bounces back and becomes a stud.

Seemingly one side trade that makes me wonder whether the Reds have some off-field reasons for selling high on Hamilton.

It's actually a GREAT trade for the Reds. They trade from a surplus to address a need. And seriously, have you guys seen Volquez's numbers? Volquez began this season in High-A and struggled mightily for reasons unknown, but moved up to AA and AAA and was nothign short of great. His combined stats from AA and AAA:

116.1 innings, 71 hits, 9 homers (all in AA), 40 walks, 128 strikeouts, 2.40 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 9.9 K/9

A fastball that can hit 97 (that is usually in the 92-94 range) w/ a change that clocks in @ 83mph. And the Rangers Minor League Player of the Year last year.

The Reds have a guy you may have heard of ready to man CF: Jay Bruce (#1 hitting prospect in MLB), so they shore up their pitching staff by trading a high-risk/high reward guy that has a history, albeit short, of injury problems.

Couple Volquez w/ Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto and the Reds have 3 potential stud under-24 pitchers to go w/ Harang and Arroyo.

As a Reds fan, I LOVE this trade, but will miss Josh. He was a great comeback story and a potential MVP LH hitter. But pitching >>>>> OF.

Yeah....this pretty much sums it up for me too. Except it is hard to say I love the trade because I like JH so much.
JH is such a great story I hate to see him go, and I hope he does stay healthy and wins mutiple MVP awards in his career.
But the Reds have a glut in the OF and are desperate for pitching.
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

No one loves Ranger prospects more than me (with the exception of Jamey Newberg), but I worry that Volquez may never "get it" at the major league level. I watched him pitch live 5 times (3 in Arlington, 2 in Frisco) and just wonder with all of his talent if he isn't going to be just a AAAA pitcher. I wish him all the luck, and agree that Pitching>>OF, but will take Hamilton and his ceiling over Volquez and his.

Terrible move by the Reds. Trading a guy like Hamilton who you have under control for several years and puts up stats the way he did last year for a pitching prospect is unconscionable.

Volquez could be special if he gains some command. His walk rate was much better in 07 than in previous years so maybe he's turning it around. But not many pitchers can be successful at the Major League level w/ 4 BB/9.



Bruce will be a fine big league hitter but I think he's better suited for a corner OF slot. Freel is probably their best defensive CF option. You never can tell what Dusty is going to do, but Freel is the type of player Baker has given a lot of run in the past.

I'll be shocked if Bruce isn't manning CF by the end of May. The guy's going to be a monster in that park.

The great thing about the Rangers. No expectations leads to no heartache.

They are the cure for your Boys/Mavs/Stars playoff hangover.

Behind on transactions...just to catch up:

Signed Marlon Byrd to a one year deal. Byrd/Hamilton/Bradley OF is very good at running the ball down when healthy.
Signed Eddie Guardado and Kazuo ####umori to solidify the bullpen. This should be a really strong part of the team, and has the most trade value late in the season.

Should sign Jason Jennings sometime today to tommorow. Another nice project, should be a number 4/5 and might be useful to flip later on.

Jennings a Ranger

Overall this is a no-brainer type situation. One year deal, fairly cheap money. Will bring some competition to the starting rotation.

I don't like this signing actually. Eventually the Rangers are going to have to stop signing retreads to one year deals then watching them leave. They should roll the young guys out and see what they have and start building around that talent.

I wish I had a way to bet on "won't pitch 100 innings"

How about a beer and entertainment dance at the Lodge that he does?

Talked to my #1 Rangers authority. Paraphrasing.

Says Rangers are 4 years away. FOUR. Won't spend money because there aren't any up and coming players in the system to give pop to this thing. Also waiting for the Yankee implosion to fully complete before taking a stab at a WC run. The draft picks in the last several drafts and prospects picked up will form a new core of this team plus one or two mega FA signings and maybe something happens in 2011 or 2012.

He said this with some degree of excitement. I'm like, if all these prospects are so money then why not get into a "buying" mode now?

This is getting absurd. Will we even sniff 10 games out of the division by the time the highs are in the 90s.

God I hate Dallas sports right now.

Murton for Byrd would be a steal for the Rangers, the Cubs adding pitching to go along with Murton would just be illegal.

Agreed, Murton for Byrd is almost laughable.

But I've seen crazier........and sweet Lou just doesn't seem to like Murton.

Love it that we will probably have a whole year of snow monkeys.

Rangers thread slipped to page 3

Interesting story about former Ranger R.A. Dickey, now a Rule 5 player in the Mariners' camp.





Link to article in John McCain's favorite newspaper

Latest on the Red's side of the Hamilton/Volquez trade:

Big fat Sidney Ponson is a Ranger. I only like this as a way to maybe let some of the hurt arm get healthy and let Ponson serve up BP for a while. Any inning he pitches in Arlington this year is a wasted one.

I remember when that ##### was a highly sought after FA worthy of a huge contract and all that.

So volquez is in the reds rotation. I'm headed to the high five to jump off. See ya guys later.

Let's see him do it for real before we start chewing on gun barrels. He has teased before. Even if he is their number 4 or 5, I still like our end of the trade. I would hate to see what this lineup would be right now without Hamilton in CF batting third.

You know what I hate. One game right in prime "get crap done outside" hour followed by 5, FIVE west coast road games. What a buzzkill. I pretty much only watch the home and east coast games because it's way too much of a time investment to get involved in those GD west coast games and not stick around for the payoff.

Oh well. Will at least monitor via the miracle of TIVO tonight when I can.

Well Millwood didn't just suck. So we have that going for us. For now.