Wednesday Morning Rangers Notes: 5:00 A.M. Musings Edition
Joey Matschulat
Nelson Cruz mashes a two-run double against the Tigers on Thursday, May 21st.Your putting-things-in-perspective moment of the morning: during Thanksgiving Week 2007, the Rangers were aggressively courting then-free agent center fielder Torii Hunter, who, before his acceptance of a mammoth five-year deal from the Angels, fielded a $70 million offer from Hicks Sports Group and friends. Contrast that against the current "we might be lucky to shell out $5 million" level of fan despondence:
● Outfielder Nelson Cruz has drawn heavy league-wide interest, but one major league source says the Rangers "are not motivated" to trade him due to his modest salary and high level of productivity; the Braves, Cardinals and Giants are cited as teams who could bolster their efforts to acquire him (Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi, FOXSports.com)
[The only real story here would be if teams weren't interested in a player raking in league-minimum paychecks while posting three-plus-win seasons; if that were indeed the case, one would have reason to wonder if he had contracted some sort of contagious exotic disease. As things currently stand, Cruz is one of the Rangers' most valuable major league trade commodities, but by no means is the organization in a position where it can really feel comfortable divesting productive offensive pieces without recouping some significant talent.
Starting pitchers from those aforementioned could-be suitors such as Jair Jurrjens, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez obviously stand out, but you're not getting your hands on those first two without some hefty pot-sweetening. Sanchez is clearly more attainable, but the strikeout-inclined southpaw has a few warts of his own (high walk rates, entering his arbitration-eligible years), and Giants general manager Brian Sabean may not be motivated to move one of his core rotation pieces for Cruz alone. Keep an eye on this, but don't squander too much time thinking about it.]
● Probable non-tender candidate Jack Cust is expected to be traded by Athletics before the December 12th signing deadline, and Texas "may have interest" in acquiring him (Adam Rubin, New York Daily News)
[That last thing you just read? Strike it from your memory bank. Rubin -- or his editors -- evidently removed the reference to the Rangers' potential interest at some point after this story was originally published, so you could probably say that it's actually not a rumor at all ... but it does lead into an interesting thought.
Dave Cameron recently opined about the potential for value creation through enhanced positional depth as opposed to the more conventional -- and costly -- method of simply adding better players, and applying this line of thought to the Rangers' highly tenuous designated hitter situation makes somebody like Cust stand out a little bit, from the standpoint that he was a pretty good offensive producer not all that long ago and could be acquired on the cheap while providing a layer of protection in the event that Texas ultimately rolls into Opening Day with no real solution at the DH position.
Problems: (a) Cust is a 'three true outcomes' player and is about to enter his age-31 season, meaning he's a strong candidate to age not so well, (b) Cust could net upwards of $4 million in salary arbitration this winter, greatly diminishing the chances that any team trades for him and (c) Cust was barely a league-average hitter in 2009 and has next-to-zero defensive value. Very interesting principle. Wrong player to try and force into the framework.]
● Reputed Rangers target Jermaine Dye claims that he's open to the idea of moving to first base (Rosenthal and Morosi)
[Smart flexibility-expanding gambit or desperate attempt to remain relevant in this market? You decide. Dye has the right height and wingspan for the job, but there's so much more that goes into quality first base defense -- proper positioning, making good reads off the bat, lateral agility, scooping low throws in the dirt, making the Chris Davis-patented extended stretch -- and he's so inexperienced as an infielder that it's easy to envision him encountering some Andruw Jones-esque fielding problems.
Extricating him from his native defensive environment -- that being right field, which he has been pretty bad at patrolling over the last four seasons -- and inserting him at first base likely enhances his value, but only in the sense that going from a minus-15-run outfielder to a minus-five-run first baseman is a good thing; put another way, he's still a defensive albatross whose shortcomings leave him best suited for the designated hitter role. And we already know just how sketchy that proposition looks on paper.]
● Right-handers Tanner Scheppers (95.9 mph) logged the third-highest average fastball velocity among all 2009 Arizona Fall League participants; Matt Harrison (93.3 mph), Evan Reed (93.3 mph) and Danny Gutierrez (92.5 mph) also appeared on the top 40 AFL speedballers list (J.J. Cooper, Baseball America)
[I had been looking for a way to gratuitously insert that oh-so-captivating video of Gutierrez dealing with his filthy curveball in the AFL Rising Stars Game from two weeks ago, but now I can do it in the proper context:
Said Surprise Rafters pitching coach Tom Phelps of Gutierrez (via Baseball America's Ben Badler): "He's about as good as anybody here at commanding his fastball, and he knows how to change speeds. His curveball's a good change of speed from his fastball -- it really slows the hitters down. He's a guy who could develop his changeup a little bit more and learn how to use it, but his fastball's so good and he can command it so well, that's how he attacks hitters."]
Quick Hits: The Rangers are reportedly interested in 34-year-old Japanese left-hander Hisorani Takahashi, though to what extent is not clear; he brandishes a high-80s fastball, potentially plus screwball and less-than-optimal durability as a starting pitcher, which is certain to evoke bad memories of Kazuo Fukumori ... Shortstop Omar Vizquel has inked a one-year, $1.375 million deal with the White Sox, with whom outfielder Andruw Jones (one year, $500,000) has also signed; meanwhile, right-hander Josh Rupe has inked a non-roster deal with the Royals.
Reader Comments (9)
All the names mentioned in this blog are all "blah" players, other than the first two pitchers.
If I were the Rangers, I'd try to sign Byrd but otherwise, I'd lay low and wait for the farm to pan out. It's all there, it just needs to mature.
Call me conservative but that's the way to save money and build a good ball club. They may not win in 2010 but they will shortly afterwards - and probably for years to come.
I think Cruz is one of those late-bloomers whose best baseball still lies in front of him. I would argue in favor of keeping him, if possible, although Jurrjens or Cain for Cruz might be tough to pass on. Byrd is a late-bloomer, too, and he likewise even be better next year, too.
Here's a nice daydream: Hicks sells, Daniels, Ryan, and coaching remain intact, and Byrd is re-signed. Happy Thanksgiving, baseball lovers!
would a new owner have the right to replace the manager?
"would a new owner have the right to replace the manager?"
He'd have the power to do so, certainly, and I think that real hands-on owners will sometimes have a say in the process, but that's generally the sort of decision that's left in the hands of upper management. Of course, it would be far simpler -- and make far more sense on a fundamental level -- for a new owner to impose changes in upper management and THEN lean on his new hires to shake things up in the dugout.
Gutierrez looks like the real deal.
He needs a bit more control or a changeup but Holy Cow what a steal. Give him a perscription for valium or ritelin or what ever he needs to get his head screwed on straight and teach him a circle change
Even MLBtraderumors noted how poorly Byrd hit against LHPs last year. It would be silly-- especially now that we have a chance to change it-- to construct another OF of 4 (out of 5) outfielders who hit RHPs well, and LHP poorly. We need at least one more OF (eg Cody Ross) who can pound lefties with Hamilton. And for that we need Byrd's old spot.
Moreland looks like our best sub for Cruz against LHP if he fails to hit them again, and insurance at 1B if CD fails to hit lefties but Cruz comes around against them. (And Moreland can still be our DH vs lefties if both Cruz & Davis hit lefties well next year) Not even Smoak hit LHPs last year, so Moreland, using Byrd's spot, looks like "The Answer" to the question we need to ask before even thinking about re-signing Byrd.
And if it takes Murphy to get Ross from FLA, or even Cruz & (even painfully) more to get Nolasco and Ross, I'd still consider it well, despite my agreement with JPaul-- that Cruz is going to be even better in the years to come. And he was already last years's Ranger co-MVP with Feldman in my book.
ps Joey, thanks for the incredibly "GUT--" video. We need his efficiency! 2 strikeouts in his first 6 pitches! I hope our clubhouse is just the ticket for him to keep things in perspective... as the current Rangers seem to do so well, starting with MY.
"He needs a bit more control or a changeup but Holy Cow what a steal. Give him a perscription for valium or ritelin or what ever he needs to get his head screwed on straight and teach him a circle change"
Trip offered a very interesting opinion related to this Gutierrez-needs-to-get-his-act-together line of thought the other day: "Gutierrez, in my mind, is sort of like a “best case” version of Neil Ramirez." It's a good comp in more ways than one. Based on what I've learned and read about him since the trade, it's probably fair to question where his maturity level is and wonder if he can rise above his past problems. Enormous talent, though. Just enormous. That curveball is "the stuff that dreams are made of."
Mike: Ross is an interesting name, as are several of the others I've kicked around (Fernando Tatis, Xavier Nady, Reed Johnson and Jonny Gomes), but the thing with Ross is that he's probably due for an arbitration raise into the $3M+ range and isn't really somebody you'd want batting against RHP ... that strikes me as a pretty decent amount of money to sink into a platoon player with iffy plate discipline. Beyond that, I guess he's got some decent defensive chops in the outfield, so there's something.
In other news, Murray Chass calls Hicks the single worst owner in baseball, states that he has virtually zero chance of reclaiming the Rangers (which I suspected would be the case all along, but you didn't need keen and penetrating insight to know that), dismisses Jim Crane's viability as a bidder and seems to ultimately endorse Chuck Greenberg/Nolan Ryan. Also, Evan Grant wrote earlier that he's hearing "that the club has no money to do anything." Knowing what we know thus far this off-season, that makes very little sense to me, and I fully intend to write at length about it on Friday.
Thanks, Joey, and happy last hours of Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for BBTIA: contemplating baseball as deeply as leisure warrants, without losing sight of civility.