Competition for the Rangers in the AL West gets weaker, then stronger in one afternoon....

[NYCdog]

First the A's deal Hudson to the Braves for Charles Thomas and promising young pitcher Juan Cruz. Yong Thomas should improve there offense and defense all together. Cruz, barring any health issues, could develope to be what his original team, the Cubs, thought he would be, the next Pedro Martinez.

Then Seattle goes out and signs Adrian Beltre to a 5 year $64 million dollar deal. Add that to Richie Sexson and Ichiro and if these young guys can stay healthy, the M's could be a really scary team for the next couple of seasons.

How will the Rangers top brass counter this.......

[Just211]

i still don't think you'll have to worry about Seattle.
And although i don't think Texas is willing to throw a lot of money at one guy, I'd like to see them land Delgado. He'd kill at the ballpark, and be a perfect DH/part time 1st baseman.

[sike]

pitching....to the Rangers its like the Lock Ness Monster...often spoke of, little seen.

Losing Hudson will hurt the A's for the immideate, Seattle does have some bats, but do they have the pitching?

[jayC]

Then again A's got one of the Brave's best pitching prospects. They have Rich Harden a guy with great stuff and a big arm. Mulder and Zito both have been 1st and 2nd place in CY young voting.

The Marniers could always get on base last year. They just couldn't drive in runs last year. I think the moves of Sexon and especially Beltre are way underrated. Watch out for the Marniers in 2005.

What about the Yankees. Signing Carl Pavano to a 4 year deal. Signing Jaret Wright who had a very good year. And topping it off with the Big Unit.
I like what the Braves have done adding Hudson and essentially Smoltz to the rotation.

[dalmations202]

I don't know how this offseason will turn out, but as usual, it looks like the Rangers are not doing much.

They save M$'s on the pAy-Rod trade, then save some more with Greer and Zimmerman coming off the books. Sign the big pitchers...that is all they need.

Then they sign Hildalgo -- a bat. Then they talk with Jose Valetine - a infielder. Then they sign some no names to minor league contracts.

Then after Hudson, Big Unit, Pavano, etc are gone......we will hear about how they tried so hard to sign a big time pitcher, but they just wouldn't come here.
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If Lowe and Millwood don't end up Rangers this year, I am going to keep b!@$%in about Rangers mgmt.

[MavsFanatik33]

Will Sexson and Beltre give Seattle enough wins to make the playoffs? Highly doubt it...Rangers havent made any moves but they didnt lose anyone either, besides Greer. A's are now 2nd best, behind us...

[ames7]

Very interesting... ESPN is reporting that Oakland is now shipping Mark Mulder to St. Louis! So much for the Big 3.

[GP]

Instead of shipping out players they need to try to find a way to build their fan base and raise the attendance. Teams like Oakland can complain all about being small market teams; however, I remember a time when Oakland used to have big crowds. They need to work on bringing back their fans. Selling off your players only makes the fans stay away.

[jayC]

By the same token most people before last season said the Rangers would be lucky if they didn't lose a hundred games. Beltre was an MVP candidate for the Dodgers. The Angels are better they added Steve Finley to an already potent line-up. The A's are counting on young starters to come up big. If only the A's had Tom Hicks then they could keep the former big three. The Rangers need to worry about not overpaying number three starters number one money. Two the Rangers need to develop pitching guys like Diamond.