How would you like to have the following pitchers on the Rangers right now?
Pitcher 1: 5-1, 1.06 ERA, 52 K, .190 OBA
Pitcher 2: 3-3, 3.94 ERA, 44 K, .237 OBA
Pitcher 3: 3-3, 3.18 ERA, 30 K, .228 OBA
Pitcher 4: 1.76 ERA, 6 Svs of 6 Opps.
WOW - That would be an incredible top 3 and closer, right? And we ALL know that in order to REALLY win in this league, you must start with pitching, RIGHT?
So Why, as a Rangers fan, must I continue to listen to John Daniels anymore? He questions his coach's future in the middle of a decent run. Well... Maybe he should look himself in the mirror. Maybe Hicks should be answering the same question about him!
Guess what... ALL 4 of these pitchers JOHNNY BOY TRADED AWAY!!! Not to mention the bats he's traded from here also. Yes... these 4 players were in the Rangers plans and our hope not too long ago.
1. E. Volquez.
2. Chris Young
3. John Danks
4. F. Cordero
I am starting to like a few of these players. I know Hamilton is a good player, but... MAN... we have to get some starting pitching. Good hitters can only carry you so far.
And now that I am seeing how bad his trades have worked out, do you really trust him with the future of this club?
Please don't bring that soft... look at them now... stuff. Manager Ron Washington is keeping this together, while Daniel's trying to brew up some plan on how to blow it up again.
In hindsight, you can bash a GM all day for trades that were made but look at them each seperatley
1. The fact we have potentially the best CF in the game right now due to the fact we traded Volquez, at worst I call this a wash. The Rangers have been look for a CF longer than they have been looking for pitching(besides, Volquez had plenty of shots with the Rangers and didnt perform so at the time it looked like we were getting the best end of this trade but again, at worst its a wash)
2. this one is the worst of the 4 but at the time, we traded for Eaton since we did have a legit shot at the divison that year until late. Dainels wanted a veteran in the rotation to help get us there. It didnt turn out well but at the time there was a reason for it, he wasnt just throwning away talent for the heck of it.
3. Danks wasnt living up to expectations in the minors and wasnt part of the big league rotation at the time so when the chance came to trade for McCarthy, a potential 2 or 3 starter, that was good trade. You cant judge this one until McCarthy either recovers fully from the injuries or eventually washes out due to injury. At this time you have to say this trade is a wait and see until next year, after 2009 season, if McCarthy doesnt perform or is injured again then this becomes a bad trade, in hindsight only.
4. Cordero wanted out and was bringing a bad attitude to the ballpark. He wasnt the full time closer when he was traded and didnt like it. Look at what happened to him in Milwaukee, he had a bad attitude there too. This one was addition by subtraction. Even though we didnt resign Lee after the season it turned out to be a good thing. We have a good young bunch of OFs and if Lee was here one or more of them wouldnt be playing.
All in all, if you second guess a GM for past trades, which is all our rights to do, you also have to figure in the what ifs concerning what would have happened if the trades didnt happened. Obviously, if Texas could have Volquez pitching like he is now and know it was consistent all year, alot of people would want him back, but I wouldnt trade Hamilton for any pitcher not considered a top 5 pitcher and even then i would have to think about it. This was going to be a rebuilding year no matter what and if Texas continues to play at or about .500 ball all year, the rebuilding will have been a success and 2009 will be a contention year.
Any GM in baseball can have this case made against him. At least John Daniels has been aggressive in trying to make this team better rather than sit on his hands and do nothing like a lot of GM's in baseball do. When it comes to trades, you win some and you lose some. The majority of all the players acquired through trades last summer are coming along nicely and should be helping the Rangers later this year and later on.
So Why, as a Rangers fan, must I continue to listen to John Daniels anymore? He questions his coach's future in the middle of a decent run. Well... Maybe he should look himself in the mirror. Maybe Hicks should be answering the same question about him!
This is a free country. If you don't want to listen to JD, turn off the radio or TV. JD questioned moRon Washington after a terrible start just as every other real Rangers fan did. If you had been paying attention the Rangers were playing terribly to start the season for the second consecutive season and did not start playing better until Wash's head was close to the chopping block. I wish they would have canned him and put someone else in.
I am glad the Rangers are playing better but I will not give Wash much credit. He is a terrible manager. He is clueless on how to use his bullpen and how to make out a line-up. Give me Art Howe until we find the right replacement.
1. E. Volquez. You say he had "many" chances? First off.. He came up to the big leagues too early in 05. He was not ready at that time. Then he had a decent 2nd half of the season in 06. Not great, but for a young guy... I saw promise. If you look at the stats they were not good. But he had some good outings. Then he was told in spring training in 07 that he would have to earn his way back onto the ballclub. He was horrible and lost it. The Rangers sent him all the way back to A ball. And he pitched remarkebly well at each level last year. He then came in and did very well at the send of last year. So we traded him for Hamilton. Hey- I like Hamilton, and he is a stud. But since when does trading starting pitching become a wash? Especially with this team.
2. Chris Young. I beleive you are wrong here. Daniels traded him with... do you want me to mention the other one? Yes... Adrian Gonzales... now batting close to .300 with 9 HR's and 29 RBI. But this trade was made prior to the season... Not in a "playoff hunt" like you claim.
3. John Danks. Ahhh... Another young arm. And a LEFT handed one at that. Which is hard enough to come by as it is. You say he wasn't living up to expectations in the minors? Well... in 06 he had a 4.15 ERA, but with 82 SO's to a mere 22 walks. This was at AA. They then promoted him to AAA where he had a 4.33 ERA with 72 SO's and only 34 walks. His ERA was a little high, but after only 3 years in the minors they gave up on him? A guy that had 154 SO's and 56 walks the yar before in the minors? As for McCarthy. There was a reason Chicago traded him. They knew it. And it wasn't crazy Ozzy. Its is because he is soft. I'm sorry... there is no waiting. This is another bad trade.
4. F. Cordero. Let me ask you a question. Why did Texiera want out of Texas so bad? He stated time and time again, that money would not be his deciding force behind wanting a move. Sure his agent is Scott Boras, and that is what he does. But A-Rod and Tex both shared the same view here. Management here does not have a clue. So you say Cordero was a cancer. The same things were said about them. Maybe there is a trend here? Maybe... the cancer is in the management?
This past summer, the Rangers had an opportunity to try and get J. Santana. I was angry about them not persuing him. then I was asked... Why would he want to come here. And I had no answer. Its true. Why WOULD the best pitcher in baseball want to come here? Look at the recent history. Great players come and go.
When it comes to trades, you win some and you lose some.
My point here is that you can't just go making trades to make them. His track record is not good. I've only brought up pitching. Daniels was asked about Wash's future before the recent run... true. But in case you have not heard. Last Thurs. or Fri. he was asked again. And his statement was "We will see around the All Star break". Whats that supposed to mean? this team looks like its starting to do some good things, and he wants to "wait until the All Star break" to decide if he wants to keep his Manager? It doesn't matter if he is great or horrible. The fact is this team doesn't need to hear that from their GM. Not now! Especially with his record!
The bottom line is with the way this team was made up playerwise going back 3-5 yrs ago, they werent going to win the division with what they had on the ML team or in the minors. Sometimes you have to cut loses and move on.
You seem to focus on the percieved bad trades that were made but dont bring up the good one. Look how well Daniels stocked the minors with good talent with the Lofton, Tex and Gagne trades, among other less major trades. They went from the 24th or so ranked farm system to the 3rd or 4th, thats doing something right.
I admit i was wrong on the time of year Eaton was acquired and in no way am i saying it was a terrific trade only that the reasoning behind it was meant to help the team, not destroy it, besides Gonzalez wasnt going to get playing time behind Tex and they had the full intention to resign him, he just wanted bigger money being Boras is his agent.
You cant focus on the bad and not mention the good. Mendoza was acquired from Boston before Murphy was and when he is healthy Mendoza has shown alot more than Volquez ever did. While, yes, some pitching was given up to get non pitchers, other trades were made to acquire better pitching depth and the draft has looked good the last few years as well. Only patience and time will tell how the traded/drafted young pitchers work out but considering how well the current guys are doing, we have a little bit longer we can wait. Next year you will see Diamond(if healthy) Mendoza, Murray, Feldman be more of a mainstay in the rotation. Obviously Jennings and McCarty wont be counted on until they show they are 100% healthy and even then, they could be bullpen guys or traded or just let go to open up room on the roster for they younger guys.
I havent been this excited about the Rangers potential since early 2000s and the future looks better than this year could turn out.
So, do we agree on all points, of course not. However, you cant say Dainels hasnt done good on some trades, and most of the good trades have happened over the last 1 1/2 to 2 years and have helped offset some of the bad ones.
I prefer to look at what we have now and how it affects the future not on the players given up and how well they are doing. Hindsight is always 20/20 and looking back can only cause ulcers or migranes if focused on to intently. :)
Maybe you are right. We dont see eye to eye. maybe its because I am frustrated with the direction this team has gone for the past 10 or more years... When did Hicks buy the team?
I feel that the best way to predict the future is to read the past. Sure you cant really "predict" anything. However the past does show signs into the future. My frustration in he first place is with him not backing his Manager when this team starts to show some life.
I can not give John Daniels credit for the Tex trade, because in my opinion, we should have never traded him in the first place. And as far as us having our first baseman already... Tex volunteered to move to the outfield a few years back whe we were persuing Delgado. And once Hicks and Daniels decided to trade Tex... he went to the highest bidder. Come on now... once Atlanta threw 1/2 their farm system at them, how could anyone turn it down? And John gets credit for that? What exactly did he do? Say Yes?
Murphy is an exception. They have manged to find a few players here and there.
Mendoza... you are joking right? A guy with 9.13 ERA and OBA of .391? Trust me... Volquez looked better than him in his first call up.
Its easy to say "wait until 2012" to see if these trades worked out. In the meantime, how many more bad ones will he make? If his sucess rate is 1 or 2 out of 20. WE ARE DOOMED FOR ANOTHER 10 YEARS. If in your job you ran a 10% success rate, how long would you last? He's not even hitting the Mendoza line.
Hey... but the Rangers are winning now. I guess I should be happy, right? .500 ball is a real accomplishment.
