Random Musings On The Texas Rangers' Ownership Situation
Fireworks light up the sky over Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Friday, June 26th.You know what I'm having an incredibly hard time coping with right now? The fact that these last 10 games have been not only forgettable, but also crushing in the playoff-hunting sense. We've grown too accustomed to late-season disappointment and apathy over the last decade, and 2009 has been a welcome departure from the norm ... but I don't think any of us were ready for it to end. Not like this, anyway.
With the Texas Rangers essentially playing for 90 wins and/or pride, a little extra developmental time for the flourishing under-25 set and not a whole lot else, a highly unsettled ownership situation figures to hog the limelight as the off-season draws ever nearer.
What is this going to mean, coverage-wise? It's going to mean that, in all likelihood, even the most innocuous quotes and tidbits -- anonymous or otherwise -- from prospective bidders, members of the Hicks Sports Group entertainment empire, the commissioner's office and sports business pundits are going to be dissected and re-dissected to the brink of exhaustion. Sounds great, doesn't it?
In the last 48 hours, it has come to light that (a) neither George W. Bush nor Nolan Ryan have designs on becoming involved whatsoever, (b) former Padres CEO and major league umpire disciplinarian Sandy Alderson is rumored to be cobbling together a potential group of investors and (c) apparent longshot Dennis Gilbert -- a one-time baseball superagent -- is fronting an investment group that has already submitted a bid for the financially beset franchise to Hicks Sports Group.
None of these developments are terribly interesting when viewed in isolation, but the appearance of two relatively high-profile names on the map rightly piqued my interest. According to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Gilbert would be "active" in running the team if he should be so fortunate as to submit the winning bid, with visions of creating a regional television network similar to the Yankees' extremely profitable YES Network venture, and building a baseball academy in Mexico loaded with amateur Japanese talent.
Alderson has similarly pushed the innovative envelope during his professional career, keying in on sabermetric principles -- particularly the value of on-base percentage -- during his 15-year stint as the Athletics' general manager, emerging victorious in baseball's infamous showdown with its umpires at the end of the 1999 season and, much later, spearheading the Padres' push into Latin America; that culminated in the unveiling of a state-of-the-art baseball academy in Najayo, San Cristobal early last year.
I think that one of the prerequisites to being a quality owner is -- or should be, at least -- having the common sense to recognize that the current management team deserves a shot to finish what it has started. Sufficient funding? Well, duh. But another prized attribute in any potential majority owner would, I think, be that willingness to take a few chances beyond the mere scope of baseball operations and better position the organization to reap the rewards of the hopefully upcoming procession of winning seasons.
A lot of people have questioned why the Rangers, equipped with a relatively new venue and positioned in one of the nation's 10 largest media markets, have failed to gain much of a regional foothold, much less a national one. Much of that has to do with consistently mediocre baseball being played in Arlington over this last decade (with 2004 and 2009 being the notable exceptions), but I've long believed that there is untapped marketing and branding potential in the Rangers just waiting to be realized ... and maybe, just maybe, Gilbert or Alderson or another nameless participant in the bidding is just the person to exploit that.
Quick Hits: Team USA's Justin Smoak has now clobbered nine home runs in 10 games in the Baseball World Cup in Italy, with at least part of that white-hot streak being the product of swing adjustments prescribed by minor league hitting coordinator Mike Boulanger during Smoak's second-half stint at Triple-A Oklahoma City ... Left-hander Eddie Guardado, who turns 39 years old on October 2nd, is contemplating retirement ... Josh Hamilton (pinched nerve, lower back; sore right gluteus muscle) has resumed taking batting practice and shagging fly balls and believes he is ready to return to the lineup ... Third baseman Michael Young (strained left hamstring), who re-aggravated his injury after attempting an early comeback last Tuesday, remains out indefinitely.
12 Comments | in Analysis, The Season
Reader Comments (12)
Seems like George W. and Nolan R. could put together some sort of ownership group and keep Nolan as president This franchise made Bush a millionaire and it gave Ryan a lot of cash and an appreciiative fan base. Come on guys, whatcha think?
The only comment I have is that it sounds like some progress is being made towards selling the team. Hopefullly it can get done before June of next year.
I agree that the Rangers could be marketed better and that fielding a consistent winne would do wonders for raising revenue... but the thought of an "innovator" buying the team and possibly reconstructing things from the inside out scrares me to death.
We FINALLY... after years of suffereing... have a good foundational plan that should breed success for the next 5 years, at least! If that were to be blown up to satisfy someone's ego (a new owner), the Rangers fan base (what's left of it) will dissapear very quickly.
My memory is too poor to remember what attendance was like in the mid 90's when this team was winning the AL West... was the ballpark regularly sold out?
I think that as long as the Cowboys stay in Texas, the Rangers will always play 2nd fiddle... that much is obvious... but you're correct in that there must be an untapped market here that could generate revenue for this team.
Think of how Mark Cuban changed the Mavs and turned them into a profitable business... I think Cuban's smart enough to leave things alone (mgmt, gen mgmt, etc...) if it's working and only focus on the marketing side. Why is Cuban not a player with the Rangers?
who is this Mike Boulanger guy, and how much cheaper than Rudy would he be? A guy that fixed both Chris Davis (at least, until Rudy screwed him up again) and helped Smoak to his current tear should be rewarded.
Every Day Eddie turns 39 10 days before I do. I no longer feel bad about my physique.
Adam: I believe that Davis credited Scott Coolbaugh for his major tear at OKC, so I wouldn't get too carried away about replacing Rudy with Boulanger, Coolbaugh, or anyone else for that matter.
Bush has said that he's not interested in Rangers ownership but I heard Nolan tell Norm Hitzges on the Ticket two weeks ago, that he would be interested in being involved in an ownership group.
As long as the Rangers continue on their chosen path and Jerry Jones continues to run the Cowboys, the Cowboys shadow will get shorter.
I know this is a Rangers blog but I have to ask you guys a question in hope that someone will actually answer me (unlike the morons on the DMN blog).
On several running plays against the Giants, The Cowboys used that "cut back" blocking scheme the Broncos used to run when they churned out "great" RBs (Terrell Davis, etc...). Has anyone ever seen the Boys do this?
It typically requires a much smaller O-Line... but on the 4 or 5 plays they used it (Sunday night) they averaged a good 7 or 8 yds + per carry. I was impressed with it and thought that it was a smart move by Jason Garrett and co... yet when I read Monday's paper, there's no mention of it.
Was I imagining that this happened? I could've sworn the announcers even mentioned it.
I don't know, seems like a semi-big deal to me... for nothing more than to give props to Garrett for being innovative and creating a mismatch for the Giants massive D-Line.
Bob Sturm at the D Magazine Inside Corner blog (http://insidecorner.dmagazine.com/) would be the first person that comes to mind to answer your question. He keeps track of every personel package they run for every play of every game. As for the play you're thinking about, it sounds like a counter play where the guard pulls back and runs to block on the other side. I think it was the 2 yd TD run by Barber that was created by this play. Kyle Kosier pulled to the right side and took his linebacker a few yards into the endzone. They did talk about this play on the broadcast.
"Bush has said that he's not interested in Rangers ownership but I heard Nolan tell Norm Hitzges on the Ticket two weeks ago, that he would be interested in being involved in an ownership group."
T.R. Sullivan reported that Nolan is "apparently not in the bidding," which I took to mean as Nolan and Don Sanders quietly bowing out.
Dave H. - thank you!
And I don't want to turn this into a Cowboys discussion but the plays I'm referring to were not counters... instead they had the whole left side of the O-Line pull and then cut everything back to the right, leaving a gaping hole for MB III (or Felix) to run through...
That's why I'm so interested in discussing it... because it's something I've never seen them do and I was curious if it was in Garretts bag of tricks... or it was something they worked on in training camp.
Anyway, thanks very much... I appreciate it!!!