1) Over / Under on transactions: 1.5
2) Major announcement: Ability to trade draft picks
3) New owner impact: I wouldn't be happy about losing Ryan, but if Gilbert wins he'll bring in his own guys.
5) New ownership group: Greenberg January 5, 2010 14:00

1. Over/Under: 2
2. Major Announcement: Hicks will replace Selig...lol
3. Ryan needs to stay period
4. Given the turmoil of ownership, I expect Byrd to depart. So, Julio 75%, Gentry 20%, possibly slide Murphy over
5. December 16, 2009 noon

1). Over/under: 3
2). Major announcement: The Yankees will have all their world series titles stripped if their salary at the time was above $150 million.
3). New owners: Concerned, but not overly so. I would love to see Ryan and JD stay but will still be a fan and sit in my season seats if they leave.
4). Center field will be Borbon and Hamilton will spot him. Gentry comes up later in the year as well.
5). December 22nd, 1300.

1. 2 transactions
2. Replay
3. The thought of losing Nolan Concerns me deeply. But what concerns me more with Gilbert, is the thought of losing JD. Surely he will be retained for 2010 because of timing, but he will either be fired or the lack of security will cause him to jump at the mets gm opening next off season when Omar is fired. Sure we will still have the farm system he built, but the structure, philosophy and continuity will be gone. Instead of building a powerhouse we may be a 1 and done team like the dbacks.
4. Murphy/cruz/Hamilton will split time between dh and corner of, bourbon will get 150+ games in center
5. Dec 15 4pm

1) 1.5 at the meetings, 3.5 just before spring training.

2) International draft. The big revenue club's focus on international free agent market has tilted the playing field even further out of what. The option for smaller market teams to get huge value from time-to-time in the international free agent market is being taken away by bidding wars being jacked up by and won by the big revenue clubs. The small market clubs already have a bit of the advantage of the domestic amateur draft taken away from them by players who will just state a large bonus so they can fall to a high revenue team.

3) Losing Nolan is the main reason I hope Gilbert gets taken out of the running. Nolan is great, but I really like the continuity and teamwork of the current front office team. This is not the time to shake apart something that has been highly successful and on the verge of realizing the fruit of its efforts of the past 3 years.

4) Borbon in CF, occasionally spelled by Murphy. Hamilton in LF. Cruz in RF occasionally spelled by Murphy. Some cheap FA as the 4th OF, maybe Ankiel, Gathright, or Baldelli. If the Rangers are lucky, they'll get Carlos Delgado to DH but they are more likely to end up with the likes of Tatis.

5) Greenberg. Dec 10, 11pm

I can see your open thread questions are being reduced from educated guesswork to just guesswork. Well, winter does tend to wither the vine.

All I want for Christmas is a Greenberg/Ryan ownership. Grinch Gilbert scares me.

p.s. I wouldn't mind a Harden or Sheets stocking stuffer.

1--Over / under 3
2--Selig cutting his hair in something other than his bowl cut
3--Very concerned. Nolan brings the stability, accountability and baseball thought due diligence that this organization needs to continue toward a power.
4--I think there is still a good chance Byrd will sign a two year deal with Texas. He is past the huge payday opportunity and so the Rangers should be able to afford to be close to the biggest contract he can get. Plus I feel he really wants to be here.
5--Greenberg/3pm/Tuesday Dec8th

PLEASE TOM, LET YOUR FINAL ACT AS OWNER BE TO DO WHAT IT TAKES TO INSURE SOME CONTINUITY ..........I.E...........SAY NO TO GILBERT ! ! ! ! !

1. Over/ under 1
2. No idea.
3. Very concerned -- Nolan and JD have a good thing going. Rangers don't need another JJ playing with his toys when the Rangers are so close.
4. Borbon in CF, Hamilton in Left, Cruz in Right. Murphy as a backup.
5. Greenberg Decemmber 11 at 1 p.m.

It would be curious to see JD pull the trigger on anything major right now when the team is still in this financial muddle. My feeling is that they would like to get a RH bat for DH and OF play - maybe Bradley is the guy to go for there, if he can be had for a portion of his salary & a "B" prospect. I think they would be looking only at obtaining young, talented, cheap players, and those are the kinds of guys teams usually don't make available. So I'll guess they will make 2 minor deals this meetings - they'll either sign Pudge or they'll trade for a catcher, since Salty is so questionable right now, and they'll pick up a marginal player for DH/OF - a righty bat. Or they'll trade for Bradley.

1. I'd say they make 2 moves
2. I think something involving the draft may be in the works- either trading draft picks or an international player draft.
3. I think some of the concerns are a little hyperbolic. Like many people, I don't want to see Ryan and Daniels is displaced. But there are worse things than having Kevin Towers as your GM. And at least Dennis Gilbert is a baseball man, so perhaps he would be fine. In any event, I think Greenberg will be the new owner and keep Daniels/Ryan in place.
4. Borbon starts 140 games in CF, Hamilton plays 100 games in RF, Cruz plays 140 games in LF. Murphy gets 50 games in RF and 10 games in LF.
5. Greenberg, December 11, noon.

The second big announcement will be the unveiling of Scott Boras as the "Wizard" behind Bloomberg's sabermetric "Oz," as baseball people begin to realize the glossy 200-page statistical reports prepared by Bloomberg are actually propaganda-filled treatises playing up the prospects of Boras' clients and running down everyone else. . . .

1. Not more than 2 moves

2. International Draft or a Salary Cap of the two, and International Draft

3. I think that Tom Hicks was growing into the job of owner. The financial crisis got him because he was to highly leveraged and a large part of that was the English soccer team. While he deserve some critisim for the ham handed way he has tried to retain control of the team I can't say I would have done any different if I were he. i say that because one of the best things Tom Hicks has done is hire baseball people to run a baseball team. Ryan and JD have done a good job. JD started out with some bad moves but has learned from his mistakes and gotten much better. Ryan has given the Rangers front office a view from the field so to speak and the two seem to work together. Losing them would be a severe blow to the team. I don't want to see it happen. While Hicks has grown into the job he lost a large potion of the fans several years ago. He needs to sell for the good of the team even if he were not broke. If the Rangers win a World Series or even make the playoffs in the next two years then the new owners should honor him in some way

4. Byrd is gone. The outfield next year will be, barring a major trade. Cruz in left, Borbon in Center, A Murphy/Inglett platoon in Right and Hamilton at DH and sliding into to spell Cruz or Borbon. Either Boggs or Golson will be on the bench.

5. I liked the Exxon/Moble-Greenberg-Ryan rumor on the other thread. 3 PM Monday December 7

1 - - 1 move (in the rule 5)

2 - - instant replay

3 - - I see Nolan as being a little bit of credibility for a team that has been a laughing stock for years. Losing him would be a disaster at this point. On a side note is it sad that I think so little of Tom Hicks that I fear that he would hear the fans crying for Greenberg and sell it to Gilbert out of spite? Although I believe that MLB will have the final say as to who the club is sold to, so I guess Hicks' spite is a non issue.

4 - - Assuming that Byrd is gone I see Borbon getting the lions share of time in center, say 110 starts, with the rest going to Gentry/Murphy/bargain basement 5th outfielder picked up on the eve of spring training.

5 - - Gilbert (God help us), Dec. 17th, 10:00am

Q1)
3 moves & the news of another being agreed on in principle: 1 rule 5, 2 trades, and (though not the sale itself) news of the upcoming purchase by the majority duo of Greenberg /Ryan with help from others including a tokenistic 5% ownership by Hicks (independent of HSG).

Q2)
expansion of instant replay to include a pair of umpires at some central location with access to all games per day, available for a (ready-n-waiting) recommendation based on that cyber-umpire's review. Thus, in cases of on-field umpire doubt , the centrally located umpire will have already prepared his recommendation by the time the umpiring crew has discussed and decided on getting consultation...
Or MLB will announce a new partnership with apple to make the MLB "at bat" app free to I-phone users in 2010.

Q3) As someone already said, either way we'd get an owner who is a real baseball person ( not just a businessman). But one I don't trust because of close white sox ties, big dodger aspirations, big dreams of being an owner, President & GM rolled into one-and because Nolan won't work for him. The other I do trust because Nolan does. So yeah, although it's JD's smarts that the Rangers do desperately need to keep, it's Nolan's credibility that allows JD to operate in confidence. I'm concerned.

Q4) Except for occasional days of rest:
vs RHP

LF Hamilton, CF Borbon, RF Cruz, DH Moreland
vs LHP
LF Hamilton, CF Cody Ross, RF Moreland/Cruz (50/50%), DH MaxRam/Moreland (50/50%) (this assumes a Murphy (+) for Ross trade, and a breakdown in the Bradley talks-- so let me change those 2 trades above to just 1.

Q5) The Announcement: Thurs. Dec10th, 10am: Greenberg/Ryan and a smidgin of Hicks.

1. II think they get a cheap infielder. I think they try and make a trade for a "big" bat. Maybe a rule 5 pitcher or catcher. So, 3.

2.1st round of playoffs expanded to 7 games.

3. About to crap in my pants. Losing Ryan or Daniels would hurt this ballclub in ways that losing Neftali Feliz and Josh Hamilton can't.

4. That requires too much thinking. 70% of game in RF for Hambone, 95% games in LF for Cruz and 90% games in CF for Borbon with Murphy and player X getting the rest. Murphy will DH a lot.

5. Greenberg, Dec 21, 2009 @ 11:11:am GMT

1) Over / Under on transactions: 3 (JD trades Millwood to Braves, signs Petitte for 1 yr $12M (Millwood money), and re-signs Byrd for 4 yrs/$16M.
2) Major announcement: Change to playoff structure (all series are best of 7 / fewer off days between playoff games)
3) Ownership - I'm scared to death that someone with a huge ego will come in and clean house. Not only has Nolan improved things from a PR perspective, he's also influenced the way the Rangers view pitching and I would have to think his presence alone draws in pitching FA's that historically were afraid to pitch here. And if JD is canned and the new owner wears two hats (owner/GM), I will NO longer be a Rangers fan... that much I can guarantee!
I've said it a number of times and I've said it for the last 2 or 3 years; JD is a rising star and new ownership would set this team back 5-10 yrs by replacing him.
4) OF PT is split as follows:
Borbon in CF 75%
Murphy in LF 70%
Cruz in RF 70%
Hammy 40% DH / 60% between LF/RF
Gentry in CF 25%
5) New ownership group: Greenberg Dec 21, 2009 @ 5pm

BTW - does anyone have knowledge (similiar to Sheets) on where Harden prefers to pitch, etc...? I feel semi confident Sheets signs here... but I think Harden knows what the heat can do to your body and signs elsewhere.
It would be absolutely BRILLIANT if JD/Nolan figured out a way to sign both Sheets and Harden and "break them in" similiar to what the Sox TRIED to do with Pennyy/Smoltz. In other words, sign both guys to 2 yr contracts with the intent of limiting them (maybe 14-15 starts, 85-100 IP) in yr 1 and then pushing them to that 30 start/200 IP plateau in yr 2... when the Rangers may TRULY be ready to contend.

5. Greenberg/Ryan - December 14th - 1pm

@Joey - do I win? I guessed dec 15 at 4... I think official word came at 7:04??? :)