Saturday Morning Rangers Notes
Joey MatschulatOdds and ends from the week that was:
● The Rangers have re-signed Kevin Richardson to a minor league deal and have extended an invitation to 2010 spring training (Richard Durrett, ESPNDallas.com)
[It's only tangentially related to Richardson reprising his role as a Triple-A insurance policy, but one recent item I found interesting was Taylor Teagarden's admission that his sporadic playing time arrangement with counterpart Jarrod Saltalamacchia conspired to kill his offensive productivity. It's utterly astounding that the Rangers know just as little, if not less about their young catchers as they did last winter, but it is what it is. Also, has it been confirmed that Saltalamacchia won't suffer any adverse long-term effects from his corrective TOS surgery, or should we be expecting a loss in arm strength going forward?]
● Rusty Greer, Thad Bosley, Clint Hurdle and Gerald Perry have been identified as the four finalists for the Texas Rangers' hitting coach position (Jeff Wilson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
[I really have no opinion about this, other than that it will be interesting to see how much latitude manager Ron Washington is given in the process of selecting his new hitting instructor coming off an 87-win season and with one more year left on his contract.]
● The Rangers, Rays, Blue Jays, Athletics and Red Sox are all "interested parties" in the bidding for Cuban left-hander Noel Arguelles (Kiley McDaniel, Baseball Prospectus)
[Wrote McDaniel of the 6' 3", 210-pound southpaw back on June 14th: "Arguelles has a solid curveball, changeup, and command, along with a recently-added slider that some scouts say has quickly become his best off-speed pitch. Some scouts saw him sitting at 88 mph recently and said Arguelles was out of shape, but other clubs have recently watched him hit 91 mph and say his body isn’t a big concern. Every team I’ve spoken with is comfortable with his talent, given his consistent international performances. Executives agree that Arguelles would have been a late first rounder or sandwich pick in the recent draft, if he entered the draft rather than become a free agent."]
Reader Comments (6)
Since the Rangers didn't want the hitting coach's (Rudy's) contract to extend beyond the manager's, it seems not as desirable an opportunity eg to Coolbaugh, who'd be giving up his (more permanent? ) AAA deal, or to any of the other coaches with experience, not wanting to risk longer-term opps for a likely 1-year stint (what with a change in ownership, and quite possible change in manager). So the most likely candidate to me looks like the guy with nothing (no other coaching opp) to lose: Rusty, who
a) could be a real "hit"
b) is popular with us fans; and
c) could get instant recognition (whether justified or not) if even two of the following changes happen CD continues his (post-AAA) past September, Hamilton resurrects, Kinsler lays off the high stuff, Cruz returns to hitting LHP as well as RHP, and one of our 3 young catchers rises to his hitting potential.
And such cause for a team's success could jump-start anybody's coaching career, whether or not a new owner (FO?, & manager?) wanted to go with someone of their own choosing, despite any perceived success.
And frankly, a humble, relaxed guy like Rusty, coming in without a prescribed "age-old" method, might be just the ticket to leave guys loose enough to fix those problems themselves.
Joey, I don't agree with you on the Rangers' knowedge of their cachers. Salty made a significant improvement defensively this past season. It was short circuited by TOS but he should make a full recovery from that. He regressed at the plate but I think they view him as their future catcher. I wouldn't be surprise dif TT got traded or spent par tof 2010 in AAA. He does need to play everyday.
Michael G's comment above, "Kinsler lays off the high stuff.." led me to thinking. Bbtia have had many excellent, in-depth artcles (thank you, David!) about pitchers and their "stuff", but I can't recall too much about just how Ranger hitters handle "stuff". Percentage of swings at first pitch seems to be as far as it goes.I realise that pitch recognition must be all important in the decision of whether to swing or not, but if pfx data can be used to compare pitchers, then surely it can tell us something about hitters. David......???
Take it with a grain of salt, but I know a member of the groundscrew who says the word around the organization is that Rusty's the top candidate. Again, not a high-placed source, but there's at least SOME cred there.
If defensive ability, game calling, and relationships with the pitching staff are the top criterion to be Rangers catcher, then Teagarden should be the starter in 2010. Salty has much to prove after surgery.
Joey: If our team is poised this winter to make a significant trade, which ML position players and ptichers have the highest perceived trade value on the Rangers team?