1. I'd like to see Ryan/Daniels left in place.

2. I'm not local so I'm probably less qualified to answer but, anecdotally it seems the biggest consumer issue after the heat (retractable roof ain't happening folks) is the parking. More of it, at more reasonable rates would be a step in the right direction vis-a-vis customer relations.

3. Not conspiratorial at all. I believe RW knows it, I believe Ryan has personally advised him about it, another unsatisfactory display of early season baseball won't be accepted. With Hurdle on board, having passed the vetting of both NR and JD, the decision to switch gears would be an easier one. Just my opinion. Brilliant question by the way ;)

4. Easy answer is Engel Beltre.

5. Playing 1b for the Braves.

1. I suppose I'd stick with the lesser of the two evils, and stay the course w/ the current front office. Although I'm not enthused w/ MLB controlling our spending.
2. $50 mil, huh? Renovations......let's renovate the front end of our rotation w/ John Lackey.
3. Absolutely not, ask those players in Colorado what they think of Hurdle. They made Mr. Gumby(aka Tracy MOY).
4. Tough one, since I haven't seen any of them play. I'll go with Beaven & Beltre. If you gave me the option of Hype Failures in either the minors/majors I'd go w/ our catching trio of Salty/Tea/Max. Wow, what a diff. a yr makes.
5. Playing 3B or RF/DH, as Smoak has taken over the reigns @ 1B.

1-4. Ditto
5. Clint Hurdle's trophy bat: Beaten out by Salty as AL MVP only b/c of his lesser-regarded position of full-time shared 1B/DH emergency 3B.

My dittos applied to the first post. BPowell was the quicker typist between us, and intervened!

1. I think any new owner is probably smart enough to realize that he needs to leave the Ryan/Daniels team intact for at least the first year.

2. ???

3. One reason I thought they would hire Hurdle is becuase of that very scenario.

4. Dererk Holland, though I am not sure he qualifies for your list. Second choice, Max Ramirez.

1. Leave Ryan and Daniels alone. For all the crap Daniels has taken, in 20-20 hindsight, he's actually done a very good job, especially with younger players.

2. I don't know..

3. I think RW has earned some security. But I, for one, have never cared much for his on-the-field moves at all. I think the Rangers would be better of with Clint Hurdle as manager. I have a feeling he's going to be the next mgr, whenever the time comes, too.

4. Any pitcher could be put here because you just never know... Beavan's loss of velocity is frightening. But for the hell of it, I'll go with Wilmer Font.

5. ..in the running for AL MVP at 3d base. MY will be the DH and the Rangers are a very good team (100 wins) but still have their hands full with the Angels.

I still can't believe they didn't put a roof on the Ballpark when it was an option. That, to me, is one of the most boneheaded decisions the franchise has ever made. I can't tell you how many times when I lived there I stayed home to watch games on TV for the sole reason that it was 96 degrees outside AFTER the sun went down.

I know that a roof is not possible now - and in every other way the ballpark is great - but that's the renovation that NEEDS to be done.

1 - I would rather gamble. Since Tom Hicks has owned this team it has been a roller coaster of anticipations as he has muddled through processes that've gotten the Rangers nowhere. Be it managers or GM's or players. In the end they've all gone sour. The last thing I want to see is Hicks accepting his own bid. (Sorry Tom. I do believe you care)

2 - Create a Walk of Fame. Preferably outside the ballpark. Make it just like Hollywood's, except hand prints and signatures are baseball related.

3 - Yes. That would be conspiratorial thinking.

4 - Michael Main.....until he reverts to an outfielder.

5 - Playing ball in someone else's organization. (Sorry Chris. Hope I'm wrong)

1. Stick with current ownership and current management.

2. No ballpark renovations; stay in maintenance mode.

3. Its not conspiratorial to have a legit option B at manager.

4. Engle Beltre.

5. Three years from now, Chris Davis is a father.

1) Unfortunately I would probably stick with Hicks even though I don't think he has a clue on how to run a MLB team and absolutely is not a fan oriented owner, but we would be assured of Nolan Ryan staying in place. But, would probably have no problem with the Greenberg group as it appears that Nolan Ryan would be part of their ownership group. Best cas scenario would be a Ryan ownership group!!

2)More reasonably priced parking in season ticket holder lots and absolutely do something with the Coca Cola screen in the stadium. Bot screens (denterfiled and right field) need to go and get some modern that works all the time with more player information available on them!! Either that or retire the operator......most of the time the Star Spandled Banner wording is not in sequence with the playing of the anthem!!

3) Hurdle is the manager in waiting......period!!

4) Max Ramirex
5) Chris Davis is an MVP for the Rangers!!!!

1. Hopefully we can have a new owner who's smart enough to see that they are assets to the ballclub, and leave them both where they are.

2. Ditto Craig. I don't need a roof like some people are suggesting (MN does though. What were they thinking?).

3. I want Clint to be a full time hitting coach and get out offense's sh*t back together first. Then maybe be the manager in waiting.

5. Starting 1st baseman for Texas, and in the running for MVP. (With Smoak traded at the deadline as part of a package for a playoff ready starter)

1. I would love to see JD stay, but I want to get rid of Tom Hicks more. While JD has shown a fantastic ability to acquire and develop minor league talent, I'm not as sold that he can take the last step of making this team a contender by trading for major league talent.

2. I would love to see more development around the stadium. My dream would be for a Old Monk/Flying Saucer type beer place near the stadium that would make going out to a game on the weekend a late-night affair. Not that you could accomplish it, but it would also be great if you could take public transportation in.

3. Though Ron Washington has earned respect from last season's win totals and the way that the players think of and play for him, some of his questionable lineups and overworking of certain relievers don't make him completely free of blame.

4. I'm starting to wonder if Michael Main will become our Rocco Baldelli.

1 - I think the money guy at the top is overrated, but Daniels and Nolan are the key part of the equation. Those two have to stay if the Rangers want to build a dynasty with all the young talent they have right now.

2 - A retractable roof, with the remainder going to no show jobs split between Christopher Moltisanti and Paulie Walnuts.

3 - Its not conspiratorial and it occurred to me also, but is likely to be a bigger issue on blogs than it will be in the clubhouse.

4 - Omar Poveda

5 - Playing 1B for the Rangers, hitting 40 HRs a year and winning Gold Gloves.

1. You have to stick with JD and Ryan running the show.
2. Forget ballpark renovations. I will take my 50M and dump it into putting a winning/contending team to put in front of the people.
3. Growth was the main objective in 08 and 09. The AL West will be the expectation in 2010. If Wash begins to stumble, Hurdle would be someone who could step in and run the team if necessary.
4. MaxRam
5. ++++Defensively at 1st, +++Offensively, with fewer strikeouts. But NOT a Ranger due to Smoak.

1. Stick with JD/NR
2. Retractable roof like Houston.
3. Yes , the replacement is in place.
4. Holland
5. San Diego on first base.

"++++Defensively at 1st, +++Offensively, with fewer strikeouts. But NOT a Ranger due to Smoak."
Will someone please explain to me why and when Smoak was anointed the 1st baseman over Davis, no matter what caliber player Davis becomes? If Davis doesn't make it, bring Smoak in, sure. Smoak had real problems in AAA if I remember correctly, and Davis showed good improvement when he came back to the Majors. Davis is better defensively overall I thought. Why is everyone so down on Davis being our first baseman of the future?

I think it's easy to see why so many jump Smoak over Davis. Smoak was pretty average at the plate last year in about 200 AB in AAA, but he still managed a .363 OBP. Davis' for Texas last season was around .285. That's a huge difference. Smoak is seen as being a better pure hitter, and supposedly has a better glove, although as many will attest, Davis really showed an improved defensive game in 2009. Davis, of course, has more raw power.

What I would love to see is Davis get back to his 2008 numbers, and TX keep him as DH with Smoak at 1B. The Davis of 2008 was a major threat - we need him hitting like that in 2010.

The Rangers will be in the same situation with Chris Davis and Justin Smoak as Salty, MaxRam, and Teagarden. The Rangers dropped the ball in regards to moving one of our backstops when the their stock or ceiling was at its highest. Now we're left with three "average to above average (potentially)" catchers. I think JD will admit this if cornered. JD has made some mistakes (which GM hasn't), but I do not believe he has made the same mistake twice. Davis or Smoak will be moved in the next year or two in a package deal to get an immediate impact arm.
The last couple to three years have been about stockpiling young players and growing the organization. I think we need to understand that our approach should change into becoming a contending AL team. Whats the value of the best and deepest farm system in the bigs? Nothing if you don't move some of these prospects and adjust your approach.

1. Out with Hicks, keeping JD and Nolan.

2. A better video display.

3. The sooner Clint is manager, the better. I'm glad he's looking over Wash's shoulder.

4. Agree with someone above...Beltre and Beavan.

5. I just get the feeling that Smoak will displace him. He may be back in AAA in 3 years.

I disagree. I've read/heard.witnessed that Davis is the better 1st baseman. I most often hear Smoak's glove described as "decent". Davis is very good, and can also play 3rd.

Thanks for the input, but I'll keep hanging out in the minority school of thought that Justin Smoak isn't all he's hyped up to be, at least not in the near future (2010) like a lot of fans think. I don't think rushing him threw the system in two years is going to work for him the way it did for Andrus. Davis or Smoak is going to have to be traded and I'd rather it be Smoak than Davis.

I totally agree with Davei. I wonder if the people saying Smoak's defense is better are basing that off the initial scouting reports that he was a "future Gold Glover" rather than seeing him now or current scouting reports.

Davis is that right now and he hadn't hit the Soph Slump, could have won a Gold Glove THIS year. I think that Smoak's defense isn't as good as advertised - and the defense from Davis is better than advertised.

I absolutely, positively do not want Clint Hurdle as a manager. Clint Hurdle the hitting coach I'm ok with, but did you see the effect he had on Colorado last year? They were something like 10 games under 500 with him as a manager and something like 30 games over 500 without him. I'd say that's a really good reason to not have him ever be considered for another managing position again.

Unless he has a better 2010 than 09:
#5 Asking if i want fries with that.

1. I would personally go with a new ownership group. However, I think everyone who has submitted a bid will be intelligent enough to keep the front office together (for at least one season). The key here is that they probably all realize that to fire Nolan Ryan in Texas would immediately drop them below what we already think of Hicks. It would be suicide as an owner.

2. I would sink the money into reviving the Glory Park idea. I would hope Jerry and others might follow suit. I've said before that I believe Glory Park would improve attendance at the Ballpark, Six Flags, and even at the Death Star.

3. I wouldn't call it conspiratorial.

4. Well I don't think Blake Beavan will really live up to the hype, but I think we're already seeing that. I also don't think that Justin Smoak will completely live up to the hype of the early comps that were made (he'll still be really good). I think the best one I heard was something like 'this guy has the potential to be a switch-hitting version of Adrian Gonzalez...with more power.' That's a lot of hype to realize. I think I also hear that in effect he'd be like Mark Teixiera except he hit for a better average and have more pop from the right side than Mark. Is he going to be a solid regular or even an all-star? I think so, but the comp of Adrian with more power -- that's Albert Pujols. Justin Smoak is not Albert Pujols.

5. Three years from now, Chris Davis is receiving his first silver slugger award."