Rangers Off-Season Thread - Page 5 - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Male30Dan · 02-19-2007, 09:13 AM

We will have a great bullpen. Our starters sure could use that true ace which would move Millwood/Padilla down to the 2/3 spots that they should be in on a playoff team; however, with a couple of guys like Tejeda and McCarthy, we might just suprise some teams with our 3-5 production. We know what we are getting out of Millwood/Padilla barring injury, (14-18 wins with Millwood likely closer to the latter and Padilla closer to the former), but we really don't know what to expect out of the rest of the staff. And who is the #5?

I guess we will know soon enough.

bobatundi · 02-19-2007, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayC

Peter Gammons in his blog had the McCarthy as the number one player to have a breakout season. The guy is only a year older than Danks, and he is further along in his development.

I hope Blalock can recapture some of is early career magic. Ron Washington sounds like a great player's manager.

I'd love to see some analysis of how often Gammons is right on stuff like that. I've always thought he was totally (a) senile and (b) full of crap.

jthig32 · 02-19-2007, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobatundi

I'd love to see some analysis of how often Gammons is right on stuff like that. I've always thought he was totally (a) senile and (b) full of crap.

Well, according to the blog, he polled about 70 front office, field, and scouting people. It's not his opinion but theirs. So who knows.

sike · 02-19-2007, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthig32

Well, according to the blog, he polled about 70 front office, field, and scouting people. It's not his opinion but theirs. So who knows.

all the better...

ames7 · 02-23-2007, 01:20 AM

Here's that update on Frankie Francisco we wanted:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...de.c06961.html
Good news:

Quote:

He pitched seven scoreless innings in the Dominican Republic. His fastball was back up to the 93-95 mph range, and he pushed it up to 97 on a couple of occasions. New manager Ron Washington has noticed. Thursday, he singled out Francisco's bullpen throwing session as "explosive."

LonestarROB · 02-25-2007, 07:10 PM

Mike Young and the rangers a "very close" to reaching agreement on 5 year extension. Per ESPN/MLB.

ames7 · 02-28-2007, 12:33 AM

Disturbing news...GMJ named in steroids raid...
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns

Wow. I hope it's not true. I've always liked GMJ, even if I didn't advocate resigning him to a big deal.

Five-ofan · 02-28-2007, 02:07 AM

btw i just want to get this out there. To you fantasy guys if its remotely possible I would try REALLY hard to get tex. I think hes going to have a MONSTER year. Something like 300/50/140/110 with a 400 obp and 600 slugging.

jthig32 · 02-28-2007, 08:43 AM

Count me as thoroughly disappointed by all this talk of Sosa basically being guranteed 120 at bats. How disappointing.

Male30Dan · 02-28-2007, 09:15 PM

Ya never know Thiggy... He might deserve more when all is said and done!

jthig32 · 02-28-2007, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Male23Dan

Ya never know Thiggy... He might deserve more when all is said and done!

Maybe, but I certainly wouldn't bet on it.

Rudy had a lot of good things to say about Phil Nevin last year, and he was not nearly the long shot to help this team that Sammy is.

Murphy3 · 03-01-2007, 06:59 AM

If Sosa isn't producing, I don't see the Rangers forcing at bats on him. Right now, they're just trying to pump him and the fans up about the guy being a ranger.

jthig32 · 03-01-2007, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Murphy3

If Sosa isn't producing, I don't see the Rangers forcing at bats on him. Right now, they're just trying to pump him and the fans up about the guy being a ranger.

Hmmm. I'll bet you're wrong.

I think the best chance we have of being saved from Sosa sucking is JD simply not putting him on the team.

But, if he's on the team, I'm pretty sure Washington's gonig to give him a solid 100 to 150 at bats, no matter how he's hitting.

They're using Frank Thomas last year and their justifier for doing that, but Sosa is a huge longshot to replicate anything close to what Thomas ended up doing.

Murphy3 · 03-01-2007, 12:37 PM

Production at some point will have to occur.. If it doesn't occur during spring training at all and then doesn't occur quickly in the season, I don't think he'll be on the team long enough to get the AB's...

richard_ · 03-01-2007, 12:43 PM

MY extension done

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...e.b2765f5.html

LonestarROB · 03-04-2007, 11:59 PM

Rangers game will be on FSN tomorrow afternoon for those interested.

Five-ofan · 03-05-2007, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richard_

MY extension done

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...e.b2765f5.html

we overpaid... Ah well i cant think of the rangers without MY so i guess its ok...

Male30Dan · 03-16-2007, 12:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Male23Dan

Ya never know Thiggy... He might deserve more when all is said and done!

As I said!

Flacolaco · 03-16-2007, 12:40 AM

Sosa.....

ugh

Male30Dan · 03-16-2007, 12:52 AM

Yeah yeah yeah hockey boy... He has played better than ANYONE ELSE on our team during the first half of spring training. All I am pointing out is there were those that thought he would offer NOTHING. He seems to still have something, wouldn't you say?

jthig32 · 03-16-2007, 08:35 AM

Dude, you can't seriously be making this claim based on spring training, can you?

We have no idea whether he has anything left.

Flacolaco · 03-16-2007, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Male23Dan

Yeah yeah yeah hockey boy... He has played better than ANYONE ELSE on our team during the first half of spring training. All I am pointing out is there were those that thought he would offer NOTHING. He seems to still have something, wouldn't you say?

Oh I agree....

I've just been so trained over the years to not trust any of the rangers off season moves. I want to have high expectations for them, I really do....

ames7 · 03-19-2007, 02:18 PM

Newberg flash: Diamond undergoing Tommy John, done for the season. SUCKS.

Flacolaco · 03-19-2007, 03:21 PM

Poor Ron Washington is still all smiles and sunny skies....

He'll learn quickly what Rangers fans know.... the look on your face will soon be described as "defeated"

jthig32 · 03-19-2007, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Poor Ron Washington is still all smiles and sunny skies....

He'll learn quickly what Rangers fans know.... the look on your face will soon be described as "defeated"

Jee, thanks for your contribution to the thread....

ames7 · 03-19-2007, 03:28 PM

More from Newberg:

Quote:

The Rangers have announced that the ballpark is being renamed Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, immediately. The renaming follows an agreement with Ameriquest Mortgage Company to return the naming rights to the team.

Okay then.

edit: Oooh, does this mean they're taking out the tacky bell?

jthig32 · 03-19-2007, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ames7

edit: Oooh, does this mean they're taking out the tacky bell?

One can only hope. What a ridiculous thing that was.

edit: Apparantly Hicks told Galloway this afternoon that the bell would definitely be gone.

ames7 · 03-19-2007, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthig32

edit: Apparantly Hicks told Galloway this afternoon that the bell would definitely be gone.

*high fives* I think what I loved the most about it was how it didn't actually ring, it swayed slightly while they played ringing sound fx over the PA system, sometimes out of sync. Either that or the fact that it looks like it was made of cheap plastic. Bye, bell.

Kirobaito · 03-19-2007, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ames7

*high fives* I think what I loved the most about it was how it didn't actually ring, it swayed slightly while they played ringing sound fx over the PA system, sometimes out of sync. Either that or the fact that it looks like it was made of cheap plastic. Bye, bell.

Not looks like it was made of cheap plastic. WAS made of cheap plastic.

Five-ofan · 03-19-2007, 09:41 PM

its too early to say anything about sosa one way or the other but spring training success isnt really much to go by.

Male30Dan · 03-19-2007, 10:24 PM

Of course it isn't... Now if he were hitting .180 with 20ks I bet it would say a lot.

jthig32 · 03-20-2007, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Male23Dan

Of course it isn't... Now if he were hitting .180 with 20ks I bet it would say a lot.

It wouldn't, except that it would matchup with his most recent performances in the majors, and his age.

I'm not saying he can't be useful. Hell, maybe he's found some HGH again. But, let's not get all excited beacuse of some spring training numbers. Jerry Hairston and Matt Kata are also hitting the cover off the baseball.....

#1MavsFan · 03-21-2007, 12:39 AM

Laird hauled off in arrested development
But which Rangers player triggered the Hair-raising situation?
By T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com

"Man, I thought I was getting a divorce," Gerald Laird said after the incident ended. (Orlin Wagner/AP)
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• Complete Spring Training coverage
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SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Catcher Gerald Laird was led out of the Rangers clubhouse on Sunday in handcuffs, escorted by two Surprise police officers.

"There's no way," Laird said with a dazed and stunned look on his face, a towel covering the handcuffs.

Reporters chased after him, trying to find out why he was arrested.

"I have no idea," Laird said, before being put in the back seat of a patrol car.

There was a rumor going around that he had been hit with a paternity suit and was being taken to police headquarters to give a DNA sample. But that didn't explain the handcuffs.

"I'm not at liberty to say," one grim police officer said, ordering a camera crew to get away from the car. "Give him his space. This is not easy for him."

Teammate Jerry Hairston ran out of the clubhouse and asked the officers if he could give Laird a message. They gave him permission and Hairston jumped in the back seat.

It was then that Laird was told he was the victim of the best and most elaborate practical joke pulled by the Rangers this spring. A few of his teammates were the ones who had the police officers come into the clubhouse and tell him that a former high school classmate had filed a paternity suit.

"Man, I thought I was getting a divorce," Laird said with a sheepish smile as he emerged from the squad car with many of his teammates standing outside the clubhouse laughing at him.

"Hey, Gerald, did you call your attorney?" Michael Young asked him in the clubhouse.

"Who do you think I was going to call, my wife?" shot back Laird, who married the former Kelly Leaton in the offseason and has a child, Berlin Elizabeth.

Spring Training
News and features:
• Gagne, Tejeda part of Rangers' good day
• Gagne makes spring debut for Rangers
• Rangers notes: Sosa to face Cubs
• Rangers ballpark gets official name change
• Rangers mailbag: A vote for Wright, Chen
• Bauman: Gagne takes small step forward
Multimedia:
• Brad Wilkerson interview: 350K
• Mark Teixeira at Rangers camp: 350K
• Gerald Laird at Rangers camp: 350K
• Hank Blalock interview: 350K
• Jim Molony on Sosa's comeback
• Young on Rangers, Sosa: 350K
Spring Training info:
• MLB.com coverage | Schedule | Ballpark | Tickets

"Hey, Gerald, I'll call my attorney for you!" Sammy Sosa yelled from across the clubhouse. "You know I'd do that for you."

It was the best practical joke around here since two years ago when a Surprise officer pulled over Hank Blalock in a 35-mph zone and told him he was clocked at 59. Blalock was also told he would go to jail if he didn't stop arguing.

But he never got to experience the feel of handcuffs.

"Not good," Laird said. "At first I thought it was a joke, but then they kept going and going on. It was funny at first, then I started to believe it.

"I was like, look, you can't arrest somebody for a DNA test."

Laird immediately launched his own criminal investigation into the perpetrators. Hairston is considered a leading suspect.

"There will be payback," Laird said. "J-Hair, it's going to be a long year for him."

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/n...news&fext=.jsp

chumdawg · 03-21-2007, 12:58 AM

So incredibly NOT funny.

Dirkgreatness · 03-21-2007, 01:32 AM

That was harsh.

ames7 · 03-21-2007, 10:43 AM

Ron Washington has off & said Joaquin Benoit has made the team. Sigh. Fine! Whatever. But if we inevitably need a starter during the year, you better leave him the hell out of this. *grumbles*

That leaves 2 spots left in the bullpen & Washington has said we've got our lefties. Candidates are down to Wes Littleton, Frank Francisco, Scott Feldman, Mike Wood, Rick Bauer and Francisco Cruceta + whoever loses the 5th starter battle. I fail to see why Bauer & Cruceta is still part of this conversation.

Male30Dan · 03-21-2007, 12:29 PM

Francisco is in... Feldman vs. Littleton...

jthig32 · 03-21-2007, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Male23Dan

Francisco is in... Feldman vs. Littleton...

Actually, Washington said yesterday that one of the three that doesn't make it for the 5th rotation spot will probably be in the bullpen, meaning that it's basically Francisco, Feldman and Littleton vying for one spot.

I'd put my money on Feldman at this point, unless Littleton fixes his mechanical issues soon.

sike · 03-21-2007, 01:59 PM

ok...so I've obviously not been paying close enough attention to spring ball...will one of you Rangers-boys help me out with a short catch up and how you feel about the team for 07?

thanks,

the real sike.

jthig32 · 03-21-2007, 02:09 PM

I have no idea how to feel. I am excited about some things, not excited about others.

I think our bullpen will be great, I think our offense will be frustrating at times.

I think our season will hinge on McCarthy and Tejeda, and to a lesser extent, Sosa, Wilkerson and Cruz.

I think this season could be a disaster in the short term, and I think we could win the division.