Texas Falls Short In Fukudome Sweepstakes

12:35 PM Update: According to Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 in Chicago, the Rangers reportedly offered more money than anybody else for Fukudome; furthermore, the losing bid submitted by the White Sox was almost identical to the Cubs' winning bid.

Wow.

* * * * *

The Texas Rangers' pursuit of free agent outfielder Kosuke Fukudome has come to a screeching halt.

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com is reporting tonight that the Chicago Cubs have reached a preliminary agreement with the 30-year-old Japanese superstar on a four-year contract, which is expected to be worth approximately $12 million per season.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune's Tom Krasovic, the Padres offered Fukudome at least three guaranteed years with an annual salary in excess of $10 million, but came up short in the end - along with the Rangers, White Sox and possibly the Giants.

Only one emotion immediately springs to mind when summarizing this turn of events from the Rangers' perspective: disappointment.

In other news, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News says that the Rangers are taking a "tight-lipped approach" toward the long-anticipated Mitchell Report, which is not only expected to contain numerous revelations concerning baseball's "steroid era," but could also be released as early as Thursday.

Club spokesman Jim Sundberg publicly addressed the investigation via written statement on Tuesday:

"The Texas Rangers, like every major league team, understand that these are serious issues for our club, our players and our fans. We worked many hours to provide thorough, accurate and comprehensive materials to Senator [George] Mitchell's inquiry. It has taken us well over 1,000 hours to assist in this effort. With the final issuance of the report, we will be able to focus all of our attention to the start of the 2008 baseball season."

Somehow, I have a gut feeling that more than one ex-Ranger's name will end up buried within this 400-page monstrosity.

In addition to re-signing Triple-A Oklahoma right-hander Franklyn German to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp, Texas inked six other minor league pitchers on Tuesday: left-handers Eric Cyr (yes, that Eric Cyr!) and Carlos A. Perez, as well as right-handers Adalberto Flores, Alfredo Gonzalez, Corey Ragsdale and Jake Dittler.

In 59.1 innings with the Redhawks in 2007, German went 2-2 with a 3.49 ERA, and fanned an impressive 72 batters. However, a poor 1.52 WHIP, fueled by an eye-popping 46 walks, might have had a little something to do with the 27-year-old Dominican Republic native not getting an opportunity to ply his craft with the big league club last year. Nonetheless, German will have another opportunity to make the Rangers' 25-man roster next spring.

MetsBlog.com's Matthew Cerrone notes that while the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox are currently believed to be the front-runners for Twins left-hander Johan Santana, the Rangers are supposedly the "third team in [the] mix," rather than the Yankees, Mariners or Angels. Interesting.

And finally, newly acquired outfielder Milton Bradley will undergo his physical exam on Wednesday, which remains the lone obstacle in the way of his one year, $5 million contract being successfully finalized. Should everything go off without a hitch, the signing could be officially announced by the Rangers as soon as Thursday.

But given that Bradley is still recuperating from a torn ACL, it might be prudent all the same to keep your fingers crossed that he actually does pass his physical.

The Rangers may have lost out on one of their prime off-season targets on Tuesday night in Fukudome, but to fall short again on another free agent outfielder, especially one with whom an agreement had already been struck, would be nothing short of gut-wrenching.

Tuesday Morning Rangers Notes

As the dust continues to settle from Sunday's surprise acquisition of outfielder Milton Bradley, another free agent target of the Texas Rangers may be on the verge of selecting his next employer.

According to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, free agent Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome was not expected to inform his agent, Joe Urbon, of his intentions to play in the Major Leagues in 2008 until sometime after 10 PM CST on Monday night. Even then, however, Urbon was not planning on informing any of Fukudome's potential suitors of his client's decision until Tuesday morning.

But once Fukudome makes the long-awaited announcement that he will indeed play in the United States next year, a deal could be completed very quickly - perhaps within a single day, according to Urbon.

Though the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres currently stand out as the stateside favorites to obtain Fukudome's services, the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers remain in the hunt. All four teams reportedly submitted bids to Fukudome's camp last week.

Beyond a somewhat vague post from MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan over at "Postcards from Elysian Fields" on November 28th (in which Sullivan suggested that Texas club officials were "quietly optimistic" about their chances of signing the crown jewel of the winter's Japanese free agent crop), there have been few hints available to indicate just how serious the Rangers are about bringing Fukudome to Arlington.

Do I find that in itself particularly concerning? Not really, considering that Texas quite literally flew out of nowhere to quickly strike an agreement with Bradley on Sunday morning, mere hours after his return to the Padres was reported as imminent by the San Diego press.

However, this quote from a Sunday piece by Wittenmyer's Sun-Times colleague, Chris De Luca, appears to be a pretty damning condemnation of the Rangers' odds of winning the Fukudome sweepstakes:

The Cubs essentially have tabled all other major moves until they get a definitive answer from Fukudome. Sources say they are prepared to offer a mega-package similar to the eye-popping deal they presented last off-season to free-agent left fielder Alfonso Soriano, who bagged an eight-year, $136 million contract.

While I sincerely doubt that the bidding for Fukudome will exceed the $70 million plateau, it doesn't seem a stretch in the least to believe that he might snag a deal worth between $50 million and $60 million over four years. And if the increasingly fierce competition between the Padres and Cubs has indeed reached that point, you can probably count the Rangers out.

Well, assuming that Akinori Otsuka's now infamous endorsement of San Diego to Fukudome hasn't eliminated the Rangers already.

T.R. Sullivan released the latest edition of his MLB.com mailbag column on Monday morning, which led with a brief discussion of why Texas was wise to pass on the likes of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis - not that they would have consummated a deal anyway, mind you, after the Marlins responded to the Rangers' exploratory interest in a trade by denying them permission to speak with Cabrera's agent about a possible long-term contract extension.

Sullivan also touched on numerous fan-proposed trade and free agent possibilities for the Rangers, including Corey Patterson, Kevin Mench, Ken Griffey Jr., Tim Lincecum, Dan Haren, Austin Kearns, and Adam Dunn. In addition, Sullivan participates in this curious exchange regarding the conundrum at catcher and first base:

I know that Jarrod Saltalamacchia is a bit younger than Laird, but isn't it better to have a catcher who can stop the ball and throw out runners attempting to steal?

-- Johnny A., Fredericksburg, Texas

My opinion? Put Laird behind the plate and move Saltalamacchia to first base. The Rangers have plenty of catching depth and need a big bat at first base. If Saltalamacchia's best asset is offense, then put him at first base and let him swing the bat. Give Laird two years and then see where the Rangers are with Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez.

Seeing as how I've been a huge advocate in favor of keeping Jarrod Saltalamacchia behind the plate and dealing Gerald Laird, we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

And finally, there's the obligatory "Huh?!?" trade proposal of the week:

What do you think about Michael Young and Laird for Jacoby Ellsbury and Clay Buchholz? The Red Sox don't get much offense out of the shortstop position.

-- Rodney G., Fort Worth, Texas

I don't know either.

The Milwaukee Brewers have finalized a one year, $10 million contract with right-hander Eric Gagne, while the New York Yankees have reached a preliminary agreement with veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins on a one-year contract worth $3.75 million.

According to a Saturday report from Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Rangers GM Jon Daniels was willing to go as high as $6 million on a one-year deal for Gagne, with a second-year club option possibly attached. For what it's worth, I would have probably matched the Brewers' offer had I been in Daniels' shoes - but then again, I probably wouldn't have pursued Hawkins to begin with either.

I'm not exactly sure how I missed Mike Hindman's latest prospect preview of right-hander Thomas Diamond over at "Rangers Farm Report," considering that it was published over a week ago; in any event, Hindman ranked Diamond as the organization's 10th best pitching prospect, and praised his explosive stuff while simultaneously critiquing his occasional lack of aggressiveness and focus on the mound. An excellent read, as always.

FOXSports.com's Dayn Perry ran down the five worst off-season signings to date on Monday, and not surprisingly, the behemoth five year, $90 million contract that the Angels and GM Tony Reagins doled out to center fielder Torii Hunter last month made the list:

Hunter's a good player being paid like a great one. He provides good defense in center and right-handed pop at the plate. Those are good things, to be sure. However, Hunter also has weaknesses. Most notably, his on-base skills leave something to be desired, and he's got some low-grade platoon issues. Also, Hunter's going to be 37 years old by the end of this deal, and that means the Angels will be paying him a lot of money during his decline-phase seasons. There's also the fact that Hunter is coming off a career season at the plate, and he's probably in for a "regression to the mean" in 2008. Hunter will help the Angels, but they're paying him way too much money to do so. By comparison, the Andruw Jones contract looks like a serious steal.

To quote the immortal Tom Hicks: "Great success," Anaheim.

Former Rangers first baseman David Segui admitted to the Baltimore Sun on Monday that he experimented with anabolic steroids and purchased shipments of steroids from Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski during his playing days, while re-iterating his June 2006 admission to ESPN that he used HGH with a legal prescription from a Florida doctor.

During his one season with Texas, Segui batted .336/.391/.519 with 11 HR in 351 AB; he would later be dealt at the 2000 trade deadline to the Cleveland Indians for enigmatic outfielder Ricky Ledee, who's still toiling away in the National League with the New York Mets.

The Washington Nationals and catcher Paul Lo Duca have agreed to terms on a one-year, $5 million deal, which all but eliminates the Nationals from the shrinking pool of potential trade suitors for Gerald Laird.

And finally, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel issued a rather cryptic remark on Monday evening concerning the Brewers' possible interest in a deal with the Rangers:

The fact that Kevin Mench was designated for assignment, on the heels of allowing Geoff Jenkins to become a free agent, tells you that the Brewers have something else in mind for LF. Look for them to pick up an outfielder or acquire a third baseman and move Ryan Braun to LF. I'm starting to get some vibes on Texas third baseman Hank Blalock.

Although the likelihood of Blalock being dealt this winter remains slim, Milwaukee does possess one interesting wild card that could, in theory, quickly send the cogs of a trade spinning into motion.

That wild card would be the man who originally drafted Hank in the third round of the 1999 MLB Draft, and the man who may have a better grasp and more intimate knowledge of Blalock's value than anybody else in the game.

The man of whom I speak, of course, is none other than Brewers GM Doug Melvin.

NEWSFLASH: Rangers Sign Milton Bradley

After weeks of speculation and discussion, Jon Daniels and the Texas Rangers finally pulled the trigger on their first free agent splash of the off-season on Sunday.

And curiously enough, it's a splash that nobody apparently saw coming.

Numerous media sources, including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News and T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, are reporting that the Rangers have agreed to terms with free agent outfielder Milton Bradley on an incentive-laden one year deal worth approximately $5 million, pending a physical exam later this week.

As Major League Baseball's winter meetings drew to a close last Thursday morning, all indications from Bradley's camp appeared to point toward the 29-year-old switch hitter returning to the San Diego Padres for a second tour of duty. Indeed, MLB.com's Corey Brock quoted an anonymous baseball source on Thursday who said that the Padres were "close" to signing Bradley to a one year, $4 million contract.

But according to Evan Grant, Texas made a "strong push" over the last two days to swoop in and grab Bradley. That resurgence of interest on the Rangers' part undoubtedly played a major role in Milton informing San Diego on Friday of his need for more time to decide on whether or not to accept their offer, a day after Padres club executives expressed optimism over being able to reach an agreement.

However, it doesn't appear as though Bradley chose Texas based solely on the merits of the Rangers' lucrative contract offer alone. The chance to once again play for manager Ron Washington, who served as third base coach of the Oakland Athletics throughout Bradley's tenure as a member of the A's, and who publicly lobbied for the signing of Bradley during last week's winter meetings, reportedly played a significant role in Milton's decision-making process.

Make no mistake about it, Bradley is a game-changing talent - well, when he's able to stay on the field that is. During an injury-shortened 2007 campaign, Milton batted an impressive .306/.402/.545 with 13 HR in 209 AB, divided unequally among the Athletics (65 AB) and the Padres (144 AB). Prior to that, Bradley compiled an OPS+ of 114 or higher in three out of four consecutive seasons spanning from 2003 through 2006.

Furthermore, his cumulative EqA of .323 ranks third among all MLB outfielders who received at least 200 plate appearances during the 2007 season, behind only the Tigers' Magglio Ordonez (.336) and the Giants' Barry Bonds (.353).

Prorated out over an entire season, Bradley's offensive production last year would have catapulted him to baseball's elite offensive tier - and would have probably fetched him a contract comparable to that of the one center fielder Torii Hunter received from the Angels last month, if not greater.

Although Bradley has spent the vast majority of his major league career in center field, injury woes have limited him to mostly corner outfield duties over the past two seasons. Granted, that may be for the best, as his RZR ratings during that period (.906 in 802 innings in RF in 2006, and .891 in 326 innings in LF in 2007) suggest that he is an above average defensive corner outfielder when healthy.

Unfortunately, that familiar "when healthy" qualifier remains perhaps the biggest catch to this signing. Over the course of his eight-year Major League career, Milton has logged just one season where he has played more than 101 games (141 games in 2004), and has appeared in just 232 games over the last three years. In 2006 and 2007 alone, Bradley made a whopping eight trips to the disabled list.

There's also the slight matter of Bradley's torn right ACL to consider, which he sustained during the course of a bizarre altercation with first base umpire Mike Winters on September 23rd.

Bradley underwent season-ending surgery on September 27th, and while a report released last week by Bradley's surgeon seemed to indicate that his rehabilitation was going exceedingly well (with Milton even shedding 15 extra pounds!), it's no lock that Bradley will be ready by Opening Day - or for that matter, will be able to play in the field for a while after his debut in the Rangers lineup.

Fortunately, Bradley's move back to the American League affords Texas the luxury of protecting their newest investment via the DH role, which the Rangers will likely utilize early and often in the season as they attempt to transition Milton back to an everyday role as a corner outfielder. Given Bradley's extremely sketchy health history, don't expect to see him patrolling center field at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington with any type of regularity in 2008.

Now, Milton's more than questionable conduct both on (and off) the field over the course of his baseball career has been well documented and publicized; as such, I feel any great need to go into all of that, though the term "headcase" has been used more than once (and probably accurately, I might add) in describing Bradley. But even after taking all those issues into account, Jon Daniels and company apparently were not deterred:

Last week at the winter meetings, general manager Jon Daniels said the Rangers evaluated character when pursuing players.

[...]

Bradley has had other run-ins � most notably with Cleveland manager Eric Wedge in 2003 � but players have called him a good teammate and he has been recognized in the past for outstanding community service.

"We�re not going to judge him on perception," Daniels said. "There were some things on Sammy [Sosa] last year we had heard through the grapevine, and it turned out not to be true."

Among other things, the Rangers' decision to sign Bradley would seem to suggest that the club has privately expressed some degree of confidence in Ron Washington being able to "fix" Milton's outstanding character issues, so to speak.

Indeed, it doesn't seem a stretch to think that Washington might become more of a father figure to Bradley than his own biological dad, whom he admitted to having an almost non-existent relationship with during a fascinating 2003 interview with ESPN's Alan Schwarz.

And if you make the admittedly lofty assumption that the Rangers will be able to coax a full, healthy season out of Bradley in 2008, there's every reason to believe that he'll be able to provide the Texas offense with the explosive jolt that they so desperately crave.

For Ron Washington and the Texas Rangers, however, trying to make that scenario come to fruition might be their most difficult challenge yet.

Rangers Notebook: Gagne Out, Ethier In?

Scratch another name off of the Texas Rangers' rapidly shrinking list of free agent targets.

According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, the Rangers have discontinued their pursuit of free agent right-hander Eric Gagne, due to what Grant describes as an unwillingness on the part of the organization to tender a multi-year contract offer to Gagne and his agent, Scott Boras.

Although this reason strikes me as the most plausible explanation for the Rangers' sudden change of heart, Grant further hypothesizes that perhaps the financial demands from Gagne's camp on a one-year deal grew beyond the team's "comfort zone."

That bothers me, on multiple levels.

It's no secret that Gagne, who will be 32 on January 7th, struggled mightily as a member of the Boston Red Sox during the final months of the 2007 season; granted, those struggles were most likely attributable to his sudden change in roles. But putting all of that aside for a moment, the fact remains that Gagne delivered 33.1 innings of quality relief out of the Texas bullpen last year, during which the 2003 NL Cy Young winner recorded a filthy 2.16 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 29 strikeouts.

Additionally, Gagne, despite his relatively low IP totals with the Rangers due to a pair of early season stints on the disabled list, compiled a 14.4 VORP - good for 4th on the Rangers staff, behind Jamey Wright (17.1 VORP in 77 IP), C.J. Wilson (21 VORP in 68.1 IP), and Joaquin Benoit (27.2 VORP in 82 IP). Regardless of your personal thoughts concerning the various merits and faults of Gagne, there's no denying that he was one of the Rangers' most valuable pitchers in 2007.

And despite there being an apparent mutual interest between both Gagne and the Rangers during the winter meetings, it now appears that ship has sailed, leaving Texas to pursue less savory bullpen options - such as free agent right-hander LaTroy Hawkins, who will not only be 35 on December 21st, but is also suffering from a rather disturbing falloff in his K/9 ratio, and will likely not benefit too greatly from the transition back to the American League.

Now, I can certainly sympathize with the front office's wishes to avoid committing to multiple years with Gagne, considering that he remains a pretty serious injury risk going forward. In fact, such a proposition would have toed the line between foolhardy and dangerous, since the guaranteed value of the contract would have probably exceeded $10 million annually.

But if, on the other hand, the issue was that Gagne wanted a one-year deal, but the price tag exceeded what the Rangers were willing to spend - well, that's another matter altogether. I fully comprehend that Jon Daniels and company are attempting to see the current rebuilding plan all the way through; trust me, I want this club to succeed as much as every other die-hard Rangers fan out there.

However, signing Gagne to a one-year deal, even with a club option year attached, does nothing to detract from that rebuilding focus. Even though it's fairly common knowledge that 2008 is not the targeted liftoff point for Texas, the organization still owes a certain obligation to their fanbase to put a somewhat competitive product on the field.

And right now, I'm beginning to have serious doubts as to whether or not the Rangers will even be able to accomplish that goal in 2008; indeed, they may be lucky to win 70 games. Depending on your choice of metric, Gagne, conservatively speaking, likely would have added somewhere in the range of 3-4 wins to next year's club - not exactly earth-shattering, but nothing to sneeze at either.

Keep in mind that this entire argument operates off of the assumption that Gagne and Boras were seeking additional money in the negotiating process, rather than additional guaranteed years. Perhaps Evan Grant's original hypothesis will prove to be correct, and this whole rant will be rendered completely moot.

But in any event, I wish owner Tom Hicks the best of luck in luring those coveted season ticket holders out to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington next year.

I have a feeling he's going to need it.

Meanwhile, MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan touched on the Rangers' ongoing search for outfield help in his Friday evening piece, noting that the club is not interested in free agent center fielder Corey Patterson beyond a one-year commitment. I would express some frustration at the Rangers for their stance here as well, if not for the fact that Patterson's mediocre offensive upside makes him an unattractive long-term option anyway.

Curiously, Sullivan also says that Texas is "openly interested" in Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier, who has reportedly shot to the top of the Rangers' wish list. The signing of center fielder Andruw Jones to a two year, $36.2 million deal on Thursday night has complicated the outfield situation in Los Angeles, making it probable that one out of the trio of Ethier, Juan Pierre and Matt Kemp will be dealt this winter.

Ethier, 25, hit .284/.350/.452 with 13 HR in 447 AB for the Dodgers in 2007, good for a .269 EqA; in 2006, the lefty outfielder slugged 11 HR in 396 AB, while compiling a more impressive .308/.365/.477 line at the plate.

Although capable of playing either corner outfield spot, Ethier made 102 appearances in right field for the Dodgers during the 2007 season, compared to just 60 in left field. Furthermore, Ethier is considered as a quality defensive outfielder: among all players who recorded at least 700 innings in right field in 2007, Andre's RZR (or Revised Zone Rating) came in at .918 - ironically, tied with Houston's Luke Scott for the highest mark in the game.

On top of that, John Dewan's "The Fielding Bible" rankings peg Ethier at +16 in right field, good for third best in baseball during 2007. Couple Ethier's league average offensive production with his well above average defensive capabilities in right field, and you have the makings of a very solid young ballplayer - and coincidentally, one who would be under club control for another four years. Count me in, if the price is right.

Sullivan does conclude by mentioning that the Rangers continue to keep tabs on free agent Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, who has yet to formally announce his intentions to play in America next year. That being said, FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reported on Friday afternoon that Fukudome's decision to cross the Pacific was imminent, so it doesn't sound as though there's any chance of him staying in Japan at this point.

The Cubs and Padres continue to be named as the front-runners for his services, with several other clubs (including Texas) on the periphery. Baseball Prospectus's Joe Sheehan did weigh in on the situation during his Friday afternoon chat session - and his answers may surprise you:

Richard (San Diego): How much do you think Fukudome will ultimately sign for?

Joe Sheehan: 4/52.

[...]

Travis (San Diego): Fukudome - Pads, Cubs, or Other?

Joe Sheehan: Other. I think this one is going to come out of the blue.

Sheehan's last response, in particular, is very intriguing. Does he know something that we don't? We'll find out soon enough.

The Baseball Writers Association of America opened its doors to web-based baseball writers for the first time on Wednesday, and subsequently voted in 16 of the 18 writers submitted for approval, including the likes of ESPN's Peter Gammons, Tim Kurkjian, and Buster Olney, SI's Jon Heyman and Tom Verducci, and the aforementioned Ken Rosenthal.

Who failed to make the cut? ESPN's Rob Neyer and Keith Law, the only two national baseball writers that I can confirm have read my work here at Baseball Time in Arlington. The BTiA Jinx, perhaps? I doubt it could hold a candle to the infamous "BaD Radio Curse," but it's worth pondering.

In any event, Rob Neyer has plenty of thoughts about the entire debacle over at Baseball Think Factory; meanwhile, a nasty public feud between Law and several prominent BBWAA members appears to be on the verge of breaking out, making this a situation definitely worth keeping an eye on.

And finally, if you've been waiting for a news story that combines both the Texas Rangers and thuggish NFL players, this is probably a big day for you:

Suspended NFL player Adam "Pacman" Jones will be sentenced to one-year probation after pleading no contest Thursday to a reduced charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct in a Las Vegas strip-club melee during the NBA All-Star weekend in February.

Jones, 24, said little during the arraignment. He wore a blue Texas Rangers baseball cap into the courtroom, taking it off and handing it to a lawyer as he answered questions from the judge.

Yep, that's the Rangers in a nutshell: making news for all the wrong reasons.

Winter Meetings Quietly Conclude For Texas

With Major League Baseball's 2007 winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee now officially in the books, Jon Daniels and the Texas Rangers have just one somewhat lackluster trade to show for all their effort over the past four days at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.

Lackluster, yet intriguing.

Wednesday afternoon's deal that shipped outfielder Freddy Guzman to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for first baseman Chris Shelton won't electrify the Metroplex's various newspaper, radio and TV media outlets with a jaw-dropping headline; however, it's a move that not only carries virtually zero risk, but also potentially significant upside for Texas in 2008.

Shelton, 27, may be best known to Ranger fans as the guy who helped terrorize knuckleballer R.A. Dickey with a pair of moonshot home runs at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on April 6th, 2006. Dickey would allow six home runs in just 3.1 innings that night, tying the all-time American League record for most home runs allowed by a single pitcher in one game.

A career .281/.348/.477 hitter in the big leagues, Shelton was relegated to Triple-A Toledo following the July 2006 trade deadline acquisition of first baseman Sean Casey. Upon his arrival in the minors, Shelton hit .266/.372/.440 with 3 HR in 109 AB, and during a full 2007 campaign with the Mud Hens, batted .269/.381/.420 with 14 HR in 498 AB.

What, exactly, caused Shelton to fall out of Detroit's good graces so quickly? A quick glance at his 2006 batting splits provides a strong hint: after an historic April that found the right-handed slugger batting .326/.404/.783 with 10 HR in 92 AB, Shelton's offensive production slumped miserably the rest of the way.

From May 1st onward, Shelton hit just .256/.318/.363 with 6 HR in 281 AB, forcing the Tigers to bring in some much needed organizational depth behind their struggling first baseman. Casey wound up sticking for good, a decision which is undoubtedly somewhat attributable to his incredible .432/.447/.730 line at the plate for Detroit during their magical 2006 playoff run.

With shortstop-turned-first baseman Carlos Guillen expected to take over the position full-time for Detroit in 2008, Shelton was viewed as an expendable piece by Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski, and was designated for assignment on November 30th.

Freddy Guzman suffered a similar fall in the organizational depth chart rankings to that of the man he was dealt for. After being acquired in May 2006 as part of a two-for-to swap with the San Diego Padres (don't worry, Guzman might be the most successful of the bunch), Guzman failed to establish himself as a legitimate option in the Texas outfield equation over the course of the next 18 months.

Given that Guzman almost certainly would not have survived the winter on the 40-man roster anyway, the Rangers should consider themselves fortunate that they were able to obtain anything of value for him at all - much less a decent player who might be able to adequately fill a gaping hole in the Rangers' presently constructed roster.

Baseball Think Factory's Dan Szymborski has an updated 2008 ZiPS projection out for both Shelton and Guzman, with Shelton's forecast in particular weighing in at .264/.353/.437. Although that seems just a tad on the light side, it's still a more than fair projection; tack on Shelton's middling defensive capabilities and consistent LHP/RHP batting splits, and you have the makings of a player who's respectably close to the league average threshold for his position.

And for my money's worth, I would be just fine with that type of production out of my first baseman next year. Chalk up another smart roster move to the rapidly improving r�sum� of Jon Daniels.

With time running short on me, here's a collection of Rangers-related quick hits to take us out tonight:

• MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan and the DMN's Evan Grant each have pieces reflecting on the Rangers' quiet winter meetings, with both mentioning that Texas was in on center fielder Andruw Jones before his agreement with the Dodgers on a two year, $36.2 million contract. Not only was Jones unwilling to come to the AL on a short-term deal, but the Rangers refused to go past two years on their offer.
• The Rangers' interest in free agent center fielder Corey Patterson may now be cooling, as the club told his agent, Scott Boras, that they weren't interested in committing to more than one year on his client. Texas may be willing to go to two years on center fielder Mike Cameron, but all indications out of Nashville the past several days seemed to point to the Rangers withdrawing from his group of potential suitors, so take that for what it's worth.
• The Rangers have a pair of one-year contract offers out to veteran right-handers LaTroy Hawkins and Eric Gagne, with the offer to Hawkins confirmed to have a second year club option attached. I think it should be obvious by now which pitcher I want Texas to sign.
• Turns out Jamey Newberg was right: the Rangers were not eligible to make a selection in Thursday morning's Rule V draft, as Shelton was immediately added to the 40-man roster. Texas did add five players in the minor league portion of the draft (Levi Romero, Francisco Cordova, Clayton Hamilton, Jaime Trejo and Dustin Majewski), and lost nobody, so it's not a total wash.
• The Padres are close to signing outfielder Milton Bradley to a one year deal worth approximately $4 million, so you won't be seeing a violent confrontation between a drunken redneck and an irate Bradley at RBiA anytime soon.
• Contrary to previous reports, the Rangers aren't in on Cubs right-hander Mark Prior.
• Texas third baseman Hank Blalock is not available via trade, unless the club is absolutely bowled over with an offer they can't possibly refuse. The same likely applies for right-hander Vicente Padilla, though I suspect he's much more available than Blalock.
• Manager Ron Washington wants his club to finish with at least 85 wins in 2008. Somehow, I just don't see the odds of that happening being real great at this point.
• Evan Grant wants the Rangers to get a long-term contract extension done with second baseman Ian Kinsler, moneywhip free agent outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, and possibly look into bringing back recently DFAed outfielder Laynce Nix.
• Unfortunately for Evan, Tom Krasovic of SignOnSanDiego.com is reporting that it "sounds like the Cubs might go as high as $12 million to $15 million a year for Fukudome," while Padres CEO Sandy Alderson said on 1090 AM XX Sports Radio on Thursday night that San Diego presented Fukudome with "one of the top two or three offers" ever proposed by the team. Uh oh.
• Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia could start the 2008 season at Triple-A Oklahoma according to Jon Daniels, but I'm not really buying into the idea that the Rangers are serious about doing that. I still expect Gerald Laird to be traded at some point this winter, though the likelihood of that happening may have fallen slightly in the past few weeks.
• The Rangers are marketing geniuses.

That was fun, wasn't it?

NEWSFLASH: Guzman Dealt For Shelton

2:10 AM Update: OK, so those thoughts on Shelton aren't forthcoming anymore tonight.

As far as the roster situation surrounding Thursday morning's 9:00 AM CST Rule V draft is concerned, Jamey Newberg weighed in on Wednesday evening with some information that conflicts with what I published below:

Shelton had been designated for assignment by the Tigers several days ago, but because Texas is trading for him before he cleared waivers, he goes onto the Rangers' 40-man roster, taking Guzman's spot and keeping the roster at a full contingent of 40, which at the moment means Texas cannot participate in tomorrow morning's Rule 5 Draft.

That's also contrary to what is being said by Lone Star Ball's Adam Morris; however, it's usually wise to defer to Jamey on procedural matters such as this. In any event, it'll be interesting to see if Jon Daniels has another surprise roster move up his sleeve within the coming hours.

And if you're a big fan of Sean Casey, then T.R. Sullivan has some great news for you!

Ironically, the Rangers don't look at Shelton as their leading candidate to play first base, but instead are trying to sign Casey as a free agent.

Take it away, Norm.

8:25 PM Update: Sullivan is now reporting that the player to be named later is first baseman Chris Shelton, who was designated for assignment by the Tigers on November 30th. Very, very nice pickup; I'll have more thoughts on this later tonight.

One additional note worth considering: unless I'm horribly mistaken, this will not have implications on the Rangers' ability to make a selection in Thursday's Rule V draft. Although Sullivan has leaked the name of the PTBNL, the club has not made that official yet, and won't do so until after the draft.

Therefore, the Rangers' 40-man roster will, technically, be comprised of just 39 players going into the draft. Texas could designate recently acquired outfielder Nick Gorneault for assignment to make room on the roster after the draft, should Jon Daniels and company actually decide to make a selection.

* * * * *

Per T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, the Texas Rangers have traded Triple-A Oklahoma outfielder Freddy Guzman to the Detroit Tigers for a player to be named later, who will be identified after Thursday morning's Rule V draft.

Guzman, 26, hit .269/.348/.363 with 4 HR in 535 AB for the Redhawks in 2007, and stole 56 bases in 70 attempts - good for an impressive 80% success rate on the basepaths.

Freddy failed to establish himself as a legitimate center field option for the Rangers during his two years with the organization, and in fact received just 13 at-bats with the big league squad between 2006 and 2007 combined.

While Guzman's explosive speed could make him a perfect fit for a National League club looking to add an inexpensive pinch runner/fifth outfielder (though that has not happened, as of yet), the implications of the deal on the Rangers could be far more significant.

With the Texas 40-man roster now reduced to just 39 players, the Rangers could well be gearing up to select a player in Thursday morning's Rule V draft, which requires any team that wishes to make a pick to have at least one available spot on their 40-man roster.

Given that Texas is currently entrenched within the middle stages of their rebuilding plan, choosing a unprotected prospect with high upside has the potential to reap some attractive long-term benefits for the organization.

Alternatively, this deal could signal the club nearing an agreement with one of their targeted free agents, such as infielder Mike Lamb or right-hander Eric Gagne.

Stay tuned.

Rangers Winter Meeting Wrapup: Day 2

The first big domino has finally fallen at Major League Baseball's winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee.

Not surprisingly, it doesn't involve the Rangers.

Although the trade has not yet been officially announced as of 12:40 AM CST on Wednesday morning, numerous media sources are reporting that the Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers are on the verge of completing the winter's first blockbuster deal.

Within the constraints of the trade, the Marlins have agreed to ship All-Star third baseman Miguel Cabrera and left-hander Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers, in exchange for top outfield prospect Cameron Maybin, left-hander Andrew Miller, backup catcher Mike Rabelo, and minor league pitchers Eulogio De La Cruz, Dallas Trahern and Burke Badenhop.

Wow.

It's hard to argue against the logic behind this trade for either of the parties involved: although the acquisition of shortstop Edgar Renteria earlier in the winter seemed to suggest that Detroit was moving into "win-now" mode, this is perhaps the clearest indication yet from Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski that his club is going all in, with the obvious hope of snatching the American League crown from the Red Sox in 2008 en route to a World Series championship.

And Marlins GM Larry Beinfest, for his part, managed to acquire exactly what he was aiming for in Maybin and Miller: young, cheap and exciting talent with superstar potential that will remain under club control for many years to come.

Though none of the three minor league arms coming back Florida's way possess the kind of explosive upside that Maybin and Miller carry, De La Cruz's filthy power arsenal and Trahern's serviceable repertoire could definitely pay dividends for the Marlins at some point down the road.

And as a die-hard fan of the Rangers, there's one other particularly nice side effect that comes as a result of this trade that shouldn't be overlooked: Miguel Cabrera will not be an Angel.

The hated Angels, who had long been rumored as a potential suitor for Cabrera's services, had reportedly been attempting to work out a deal consisting of some combination of prospects for at least a week, ranging anywhere from right-hander Nick Adenhart to second baseman Howie Kendrick to catcher Jeff Mathis.

But in the end, for reasons that we may never know, there just wasn't a deal in the cards. With the signing of center fielder Torii Hunter, Anaheim owner Arte Moreno sent a message to the baseball world that he wasn't afraid to shell out the big bucks for premium talent - even if there wasn't a particularly pressing need for said talent.

As such, if the Angels had managed to successfully pull off a deal for Cabrera, there's every reason to believe that they would have signed him to a lucrative, long-term contract extension, which would have enabled the 24-year-old slugger to terrorize the AL West for years to come.

Instead, Angels GM Tony Reagins is left with secondary (albeit, still attractive) options to pursue, including the possibility of dealing for Baltimore left-hander Erik Bedard or shortstop Miguel Tejada. From a third party standpoint, it would seem that Anaheim's biggest deficiency right now concerns their questionable offense, rather than their already deep pitching staff.

And personally, I'd much rather see the Angels pursue a player like Tejada, who watched his offensive numbers decline significantly in 2007, who is now on the wrong side of 30, and who is owed $26 million over the next two seasons, rather than a mid-20's superstar who has likely yet to reach his peak.

Moving back to Rangers-related matters, MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reported late Tuesday evening that members of the Texas front office met up with the Minnesota Twins earlier in the day to discuss the price of left-hander Johan Santana, who is still being heavily linked with the Boston Red Sox.

Jim Reeves of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has more details on the Twins' asking price for Santana, with manager Ron Washington confirming that Minnesota demanded a package from the Rangers consisting of right-handers Edinson Volquez and Eric Hurley, along with third baseman Chris Davis and possibly shortstop Elvis Andrus. Ouch. Unless the deal between the Red Sox and the Twins completely and abruptly falls apart, I don't feel this topic is even worth re-visiting.

T.R. Sullivan also has an excellent recap touching on some of the other developments from within the Rangers' camp on Tuesday, including the following:

• The Mike Rhyner-dubbed "Baseball Anti-Christ" Scott Boras met with Texas to discuss a possible contract for free agent right-hander Eric Gagne. At this juncture, there doesn't seem to be much interest league-wide in Gagne, but that could change quickly if the middle relief market begins to thin out.
• The Rangers offered free agent reliever LaTroy Hawkins a one-year deal with a club option for a second season, but Hawkins is seeking two guaranteed years. Yuck.
• Dreaming of an Aaron Rowand, Andruw Jones or Mike Cameron Rangers jersey for Christmas? Keep dreaming. The Rangers are now considering those three options too cost-prohibitive, and have turned their attention to free agent center fielder Corey Patterson. They've also made an inquiry into the medical records of Milton Bradley, who will seem fine and well until he goes berzerk on a drunken redneck heckling him from RBiA's right field lower home run porch.

Though Frank Catalanotto is the club's Opening Day first baseman for the moment, that could change quickly, as the Rangers are being considered as the front-runners for Mike Lamb; GM Jon Daniels and Thad Levine were spotted walking with one of the Levinson brothers, who represent Lamb, through the Opryland hotel lobby on Tuesday by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. It's about time we were named the favorites to sign somebody.

Evan Grant also has his latest "Inside the Rangers" newsletter out, which leads with an interesting discussion on why the Rangers shouldn't deal catcher Gerald Laird or third baseman Hank Blalock this winter, namely because their values are at all-time lows. Grant touches on a variety of other issues, and fires off a rather curious rebuttal to those of us who believe that Texas may have dodged a bullet in not signing Torii Hunter.

Then again, as Jim Reeves noted on Tuesday morning, this is a pretty mediocre lineup right now, and though the addition of Hunter would have indeed helped to a certain extent, the positive benefits associated with signing Hunter still likely wouldn't have been near enough to springboard this club into competitiveness in '08.

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times quipped on Tuesday afternoon that free agent Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome is "almost certainly" going to sign with the Chicago Cubs, which seems to jive with the rumblings of Chicago being the early front-runners. Although such a statement might seem premature, given that Fukudome hasn't even officially committed to playing in the Major Leagues next year as of yet, it's unsettling nonetheless.

And if you're looking for more ominous signs of Texas falling out of the Fukudome sweepstakes, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times implied earlier in the day that the market for Fukudome could approach the magnitude of Torii Hunter's five-year, $90 million contract. Not good at all.

According to Yahoo.com's Jeff Passan, there is speculation abound that it will take a five year, $50 million offer to snag free agent Japanese right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, one of the few starting pitchers to generate any public interest from the Rangers thus far this winter. That's a lot of money for a pitcher who will not only be 33 years old on Opening Day '08, but also likely profiles as a middle of the rotation starter, at best.

With the Dodgers now out of the Cabrera sweepstakes, FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Los Angeles is working hard on a deal that would allow them to acquire St. Louis third baseman Scott Rolen. Don't be surprised if Hank Blalock's name starts to come up again in trade rumors over the next two days, now that the market's best third baseman is no longer available.

Legendary Texas Rangers broadcaster Mark Holtz failed to make the Hall of Fame ballot once again, with Joe Nuxhall (82,304 fan votes), Bill King (7,659) and Joe Morgan (6,065) all receiving nominations for the prestigious Ford C. Frick award instead. Seriously, Joe Morgan?

Texas Rangers scout Tom Giordano will be honored by his peers as East Coast Scout of the Year at a banquet in Nashville on Wednesday, with Jon Daniels and John Hart expected to be in attendance.

Giordano, whose most notable achievements include selecting Cal Ripken Jr. in the 1978 MLB Draft, and recommending the selection of right-hander Frankie Francisco in the trade that shipped outfielder Carl Everett to the White Sox in 2003, joined the Rangers in 2001 as part of Hart's front office regime. At least something good came out of all that.

There's so many more rumors worth touching on, and so much more analysis that I'd like to divulge, but time has run short on me. My availability on Wednesday will be sketchy, at best, but I'll try to provide as many updates as possible as baseball's winter meetings enter their final two days.

Rangers Rumor Rundown: Day 1

Even as the entirety of the baseball world waited with bated breath in anticipation of a potential Johan Santana mega-deal, one inevitable fact likely remained lodged in the backs of the skulls of numerous team executives across the league on Monday.

Life must go on.

And so it did.

With Day 1 of Major League Baseball's winter meetings at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee now in the books, here is a quick rundown of the various happenings that took place in the trenches, along with a brief synopsis of where the Texas Rangers currently stand:

• Yahoo.com's Steve Henson set the rumor mill into motion early Monday afternoon, after reporting that the Rangers were "quietly shopping" third baseman Hank Blalock, and were planning to approach the Dodgers concerning a possible deal.
• The flames behind the Blalock rumors began to spread rapidly after that, with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reporting several hours later that there was talk circulating through the hotel lobby of a possible deal that would send Blalock to the Cardinals in exchange for third baseman Scott Rolen and outfielder/first baseman Chris Duncan. Yuck.
• In response to the rumored Blalock to St. Louis deal, GM Jon Daniels offered this quote in fairly short order: "I wouldn't write that." Although Daniels maintains that Texas isn't interested in trading Hank (and especially not for a package consisting solely of Rolen and Duncan), MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan believes there could indeed be the basis for a deal shipping Blalock to the Dodgers for third baseman Andy LaRoche or outfielder Matt Kemp - but only if the Dodgers don't snag Miguel Cabrera first. So does FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, who thinks that the Phillies might also be in the mix.
• According to Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 in Chicago, the Cubs are having "all sorts of trade discussions" on right-hander Mark Prior - and among the teams confirmed to be interested are the Padres and the Rangers. Despite his highly questionable health history, there aren't many players in this winter's market more intriguing than Prior.
• ESPN's Jerry Crasnick writes that the Rangers are one of several clubs "keeping tabs" on free agent outfielder Geoff Jenkins, along with the Phillies, Rays and Padres. If there's some kind of strange mystique surrounding Jenkins that makes him a more attractive option than Brad Wilkerson, I'd love to hear about it.
• While Jon Daniels denied that there was a Blalock trade in the works, he did publicly acknowledge that the Rangers have had conversations with the Pittsburgh Pirates regarding outfielder Jason Bay, whose stock has fallen considerably due to a poor 2007 campaign. Texas would be willing to part with some of their bullpen depth in a potential deal, but there doesn't seem to be anything major developing on this front as of yet.
• The Cubs are expected to make a serious play for free agent Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome soon, with the White Sox, Padres, Rangers, Royals and Dodgers also showing plenty of interest. Expect business to pick up in this department very soon.
• T.R. Sullivan noted that Texas is one of three or four teams still enticed by Red Sox center fielder Coco Crisp, though Boston will likely keep him if they're able to successfully turn center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury into Johan Santana. According to one Red Sox club official, Boston has no interest in trading for catcher Gerald Laird, and the Nationals, who are in desperate need of catching help in the wake of the Milledge trade, have yet to inquire on Laird. Interesting.
• Evan Grant says that there is mutual interest between the Rangers and free agent right-hander Eric Gagne, which would seem to lay the groundwork for a possible return by Gagne to Arlington. Although no formal discussions have yet taken place between Texas and Gagne's agent, Scott Boras, Grant feels that a deal could be struck by the end of the winter meetings if things fall into place quickly enough. A one year deal, possibly with a club or vesting option attached, would suit me just fine.
• On a related note, T.R. Sullivan says that Boras has had little success drumming up interest league-wide for Gagne's services - though that's never stopped him from trying, has it?
• Free agent right-hander Brett Tomko has been offered a one year deal by the San Diego Padres, though at least five other teams have contacted Tomko's agent, Joe Longo, regarding the 34-year-old hurler. Yes, the Rangers are included in that group. Blech.
• In his Monday evening wrapup, Sullivan noted that Texas has had "extensive talks" concerning the Diamondbacks' Carlos Gonzalez, the Mets' Carlos Gomez and the Cubs' Felix Pie, but was rebuffed on all fronts. The Rangers also continue to investigate the middle relief market, including LaTroy Hawkins and Eddie Guardado, and are currently looking into the medical records of Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Jason Jennings.

Catcher Guillermo Quiroz has been signed to a major league contract by the Baltimore Orioles, who have added the 26-year-old backstop to their 40-man roster. Quiroz, a one-time top prospect for the Blue Jays, hit .266/.307/.398 with 6 HR in 259 AB for Triple-A Oklahoma in 2007, and went 4 for 10 at the plate during a month-long September stint with the Rangers. Happy trails, Guillermo.

Bizarrely enough, in the time it took me to complete this segment, the Boston Red Sox vaulted ahead of the New York Yankees in the Johan Santana sweepstakes, and may now be on the verge of completing the winter's most anticipated blockbuster trade.

Stay tuned to BTiA all throughout Tuesday - as the rumors come down, I'll be doing my best to pass them on in a timely manner.

Rangers Gear Up For Winter Meetings

After a flurry of news and notes on Friday that, in one way or another, somehow impacted the Texas Rangers, the last 48 hours have brought forth an almost deafening silence.

And with the onset of Major League Baseball's winter meetings now but mere hours away, the hardest part for general managers, players and fans alike is about to begin: the waiting game.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News touched further on Sunday on the dim prospects of much excitement being generated by Jon Daniels and company in Nashville this coming week, and how the Rangers are likely going to stand pat:

"We've talked about a lot of different things with clubs," general manager Jon Daniels said Friday. "This is an expensive market. Sitting here today, I don't know if we are going to make any significant moves [in Nashville]."

How riveting. Although Texas has done their share of inquiring about the two most attractive players currently on the trade market (Johan Santana and Miguel Cabrera), Grant says that the Rangers are "long shots to end up with either."

Granted, with the Yankees threatening to pull their multi-player offer consisting of right-hander Philip Hughes, center fielder Melky Cabrera and a third prospect off the table if a deal for Santana is not reached by Monday night, the Red Sox refusing to part with left-hander Jon Lester for Santana, and the Angels silently fuming at the Marlins' high asking price for Cabrera, it's quite possible that neither superstar will be dealt this winter.

And as Lone Star Ball's Adam Morris noted on Sunday, the Rangers, armed with one of baseball's most electrifying and promising young farm systems, could easily best any club's top offer for either Cabrera or Santana if they so desired. The wisdom behind doing so, of course, would be another matter entirely.

In the meantime, Grant says Texas still has interest in a variety of different players, with some being of the "under the radar" variety - including relievers Eddie Guardado, Eric Gagne and LaTroy Hawkins, outfielder Jason Repko, and first basemen Ben Broussard, Mike Lamb and Sean Casey. Out of that group, only Gagne and Lamb do much for me, and that's not saying a whole lot.

Of course, the Rangers' top off-season priority may now be free agent Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, who is a strong candidate to play in the United States next year. In his latest blog entry over at "Postcards from Elysian Fields" on Sunday night, T.R. Sullivan reported that the Rangers are likely to meet with Fukudome's agent, Joe Urbon, at some point this week in Nashville.

On a related note, credit goes to Adam Morris for finding this Fukudome projection constructed by Chone Smith, author of the popular CHONE projection system. Chone's forecast for Fukudome predicts a .283/.373/.465 batting line, 16 HR and 38 doubles in 357 AB for the 30-year-old outfielder in 2008, with the low at-bat totals being a result of the right elbow injury he sustained last year.

Couple that with excellent defense from a corner outfield spot, and you have a player who is probably worth the $40-45 million that it might take to sign him. It remains to be seen, however, as to whether or not the Rangers can top the plethora of offers that Fukudome's camp will likely receive from the growing collective of teams interested in bidding for his services, including the Cubs, White Sox, Padres and others.

According to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, right-hander Akinori Otsuka has been throwing pain-free for a month without experiencing any setbacks. In addition to participating in long-toss sessions from 120 feet, Aki has also been receiving medical treatment for his injured pitching arm. Very, very good news.

In his latest "Every Given Sunday" piece, Baseball Prospectus's John Perrotto floated the rather curious possibility of the Rangers shipping shortstop Joaquin Arias to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for center fielder Joey Gathright.

Although Joaquin's trade value may be at an all-time low as a result of the injury bug keeping him off the field (and poor offensive production hampering him when on the field), Gathright isn't much more than a glorified version of outfielder Freddy Guzman, who has languished at Triple-A Oklahoma for the better part of the last two years.

Seeing as how Guzman may already be in danger of becoming a 40-man roster casualty in the near future, swapping Arias for Gathright doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense on the surface.

And finally, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Jim Reeves suggested in his latest "Postcards from the Ledge" segment on Sunday that Tom Hicks should hire Nolan Ryan as the Rangers' next team president, due in large part to the "wow" factor and "instant credibility" that he would bring to the organization. In a Friday phone interview, Ryan said that he would "definitely entertain the idea" if approached. A fascinating idea on Reeves' part, in any event.

Rangers Notebook: The Calm Before The Storm

After weeks of speculation, it appears that the New York Mets are finally out of the running for catcher Gerald Laird.

And ironically enough, the move that triggered this sudden turn of events might someday play a role in the dismissal of the man who helped engineer it: Mets general manager Omar Minaya.

The Washington Nationals and the Mets completed a two-for-one swap on Friday morning, with New York shipping outfielder Lastings Milledge to the Nationals in exchange for outfielder Ryan Church and catcher Brian Schneider. Not only is this trade baffling on several fronts, but the resulting fallout has all but eliminated an oft-rumored suitor for the Texas Rangers' 28-year-old backstop.

Although I'm admittedly not as high on Milledge as some in the baseball community (and still believe that he could turn out to be a bust, though the odds of that may be falling), Baseball Think Factory's Dan Szymborski neatly summed up the trade in one short paragraph:

I don't think I have to even go into detail why this is good for the Nats. The Nats get the cheapest player in the trade, the most valuable player in the trade, and the player with the least service time in the trade, and the player that most fills a need for their new team in the trade.

Church, 29, hit .272/.349/.464 with 15 HR in 470 AB for Washington in 2007, just one year after compiling a nifty .276/.366/.526 batting line and clubbing 10 HR in only 196 AB. Make no mistake, he's got a decent amount of value as a solid corner outfielder - but given his age, Church has likely reached his offensive peak, which makes him more or less a known quantity.

The same can be said for the 31-year-old Schneider, though the word "solid" is nowhere to be found in describing his capabilities as a ballplayer. Brian hit just .235/.326/.336 with 6 HR in 408 AB for the Nationals last year, is declining defensively, and is owed just under $10 million over the next two years. In other words, Schneider is rapidly approaching that dreaded replacement-level threshold, and may well end up becoming a liability for the Mets in fairly short order.

Milledge, on the other hand, is trending in the opposite direction. The highly touted 22-year-old outfielder hit .272/.341/.446 with 7 HR in 184 AB for the Mets in 2007, and only figures to improve over the coming years; in fact, Szymborski's ZiPS projections peg him at .286/.365/.500 by 2009, with Baseball Prospectus's PECOTA revealing a similar result of .291/.365/.491.

While there is some debate as to whether his future in the outfield lies at the corner spots or in center field, his offensive potential could eventually render him a superstar either way.

But in the end, it may have been Milledge's alleged attitude and makeup problems that were the biggest factors in his hasty exit from the Mets organization.

It was no secret that New York manager Willie Randolph and Milledge were on less than cordial terms, and several incidents (including Milledge high-fiving fans along the right field at Shea Stadium on June 4th, 2006, after hitting his first major league home run, and dropping a profanity-laced guest verse on a rap song earlier this year) tarnished his reputation within the organization, rightfully so or not.

While this trade may indeed pay short-term dividends for the Mets, this could well turn out to be a disaster within the long-term scope of things. And given that many are considering this to be an act of "selling short" on Minaya's part, I can only help but wonder what a comparable offer from the Rangers might have looked like.

Laird, in particular, is more of an asset than Schneider: he's younger, cheaper, better defensively, and has much higher offensive upside. To complete a deal, however, Rangers GM Jon Daniels would likely have been forced to part with additional talent: catcher Max Ramirez, perhaps? Outfielder Marlon Byrd and a lower level pitching prospect? I'm not sure.

After all, Minaya was looking for an adequate outfield replacement for Milledge in completing this trade, and as we all know, that's not exactly an area of strength within this organization right now. Nonetheless, it's probably all a moot point - the Mets now have their two catchers in Schneider and the recently signed Ramon Castro, which undoubtedly knocks them out of the running for Laird.

And with the Rangers announcing on Friday that catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia will take over behind the plate on a full-time basis in 2008, Laird could end up being left hanging out to dry:

"Everybody agrees it's in his best interests to catch full-time," Daniels said. "His value is greatest as a catcher so that's where he's going to be."

Bingo, he gets it: as I've harped on before, the best way to maximize Saltalamacchia's offensive value is to keep him at catcher, where he could become an elite force as opposed to being merely a good first baseman. However, Daniels also re-iterated that the club is not motivated to trade Laird:

"We started the off-season saying Gerald and Jarrod would be there in Spring Training and unless something unforeseen happens, we don't want to trade away Gerald," Daniels said. "He's a better player than people give him credit for. He made a lot of strides last year. He still has room to grow and I think there's more there offensively, but he's a good defensive catcher."

Curiously enough, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News went so far as to suggest that Laird could reclaim his job if Saltalamacchia struggles in spring training, or early on in the season. Yeah, because spring training numbers are such a great indicator of regular season performance.

Richard Durrett discussed the unlikely possibility of the Rangers jumping into the Johan Santana sweepstakes over at the DMN SeamHeads Rangers blog on Friday, with "zywica" over at Lone Star Ball also touching extensively on the subject. All things considered, I don't think it's a move that would make much sense for Texas - but that's mainly because I don't think there's any way the Rangers could sign Santana to a long-term extension.

Free agent left-hander Kenny Rogers agreed to a one year, $8 million contract with the Detroit Tigers on Friday, which effectively ended any remaining speculation as to where the 43-year-old southpaw was going to pitch in 2008. Upon consummating the deal, Rogers fired off this quote to the media:

"There was really never any other choice but Detroit," said Rogers, who represented himself in contract negotiations. "The possibilities of playing somewhere else didn't appeal to me at all."

Indeed, throughout the entire negotiating process, there was not a single peep from Rogers indicating that he was seriously considering going elsewhere - and though the Rangers made headlines as a result of Jon Daniels' recent proclamation that the club was willing to "take him back," it never appeared for one moment that the interest between the two parties was mutual.

Daniels, for his part, admitted on Friday that any talks between the sides were purely exploratory, and seemed to downplay the notion that he was even involved:

"Somebody with the organization talked with him, but that was it," Daniels said Friday. "I did not talk to him."

Well, that's that.

According to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers are not planning to offer arbitration to any of their four free agents, a group consisting of right-hander Jamey Wright, outfielder Sammy Sosa, first baseman Brad Wilkerson, and infielder Jerry Hairston. Texas has interest in re-signing Wright, but it sounds as though there's little hope of the latter three returning next year.

FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal confirmed on Friday evening that both Chicago teams were pursuing free agent Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. Courtesy of Jamey Newberg, the Tokyo press is reporting that at least ten teams are in the hunt for the 30-year-old's services, with the Cubs, Rangers, Giants and Padres being mentioned as the early favorites.

Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post reported early Friday morning that the Rockies, Tigers, Yankees and Rangers were among a growing collection of teams willing to offer a multi-year deal to 34-year-old reliever LaTroy Hawkins. Todd Van Poppel: Part III anybody?

MiLB.com's rankings of the top 50 prospects in baseball are complete, with shortstop Elvis Andrus (#38) and right-hander Eric Hurley (#25) making the cut. One caveat: the rankings were calculated by polling twenty members of the scouting community, which probably means that a greater emphasis was placed on tools over results in conducting this set of rankings.

Owner Tom Hicks has reportedly contracted a third party hiring firm to lead a national search for the Rangers' next club president. The post was vacated by Jeff Cogen back on November 15th, and may not be filled until sometime in January.

And finally, Thursday night's KDFI/My27 broadcast of the highly anticipated showdown between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys drew a 32.7 rating and 46 share in the Metroplex, besting a 1997 rerun of "Barney Miller" as the new all-time highest rated program in the history of the station.

I wonder if the Rangers will ever even begin to sniff that benchmark?

Friday Morning Rangers Notes

Apologies in advance for this morning's abbreviated piece; a dearth of relevant Rangers news, combined with your favorite football team losing a huge game to the Dallas Cowboys, kind of has a way of sapping the collective sports life out of you.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Jim Reeves published an new article on Thursday morning concerning Texas's relatively quiet off-season to date, and how the Rangers are unlikely to make a big splash at next week's winter meetings:

"We're going to keep turning over every stone, talking trades and every scenario, but there's a chance we're boring right now," Daniels candidly admitted Wednesday. "We may not be making headlines this off-season. We pushed our chips to the middle of the table in the middle of last season."

The remainder of Reeves' piece is essentially a rehashing of previous information, but one item in particular does jump out at me:

The Rangers have also had conversations with the Red Sox regarding Coco Crisp, but Boston is asking for two from a list of three of Texas' premium young players.

Frankly, the Rangers likely wouldn't give up even one of those players straight up for Crisp. Left-handed reliever C.J. Wilson, for instance, is one of the players the Red Sox coveted.

Yeah, no thanks.

Meanwhile, Richard Durrett put forth the idea of the Rangers pursuing injury-plagued Cubs right-hander Mark Prior over at the DMN SeamHeads Rangers blog, which comes as a result of unanimous rival executives reporting to the media earlier this week that Chicago was indeed willing to deal the 27-year-old ex-fireballer.

It's fairly difficult to predict exactly where Prior's health is going to go as we move forward, but if I were Jon Daniels, I'd be reluctant to offer up much of value if a trade opportunity theoretically presented itself. Although stranger things have happened before, there just doesn't seem to be much of a basis for a deal happening here.

ESPN.com's Jayson Stark ran through the rumor mill in his latest "Rumblings and Grumblings" column on Thursday, which revealed some interesting Rangers tidbits buried underneath the heap of Johan Santana and Miguel Cabrera trade proposals:

• According to various club executives across the league who have been in touch with the Red Sox and GM Theo Epstein, Boston has put all trade talks involving Coco Crisp on hold until the Johan Santana situation resolves itself. That being said, I doubt Epstein would balk for one second if the Rangers actually offered Eric Hurley in exchange for Crisp, or the aforementioned C.J. Wilson.
• The Rangers have reportedly "kicked the tires" on outfielders Rocco Baldelli, Jim Edmonds and Juan Pierre. Out of the trio listed, only Baldelli does much for me, and he's likely resigned to a role as a corner outfielder or designated hitter in 2008 due to his balky hamstrings.

In addition, Stark mentions that right-hander Vicente Padilla has been made "extremely available" on the trade market, while including this rather amusing quote:

"I once heard somebody say," quipped one baseball man, "that he doesn't just have baggage. He has luggage."

And finally, if what newly inked Angels center fielder Torii Hunter said to the Los Angeles Times is actually true, then his new ballclub overpaid for his services by at least $20 million.

But after the events that transpired leading up to Hunter's surprise agreement with the Angels on the night before Thanksgiving, I'm not sure if we can believe much of what comes out of Torii's mouth anymore.

Crisp, Laird Trade Talks Break Down; Rangers Evaluate Off-Season Plan

If Wednesday's developments are to serve as any type of precursor of what's to come this winter, the odds of center fielder Coco Crisp becoming a Ranger within the next three months now appear to be firmly planted somewhere between slim and none.

Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reported on Wednesday morning that the Red Sox had placed a "high bargaining price" on the 28-year-old Crisp, and were attempting to talk the Minnesota Twins into accepting Crisp as part of a blockbuster trade package for ace southpaw Johan Santana, in lieu of sending over promising young center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury.

In addition, Silverman noted that the Rangers' attempts to trade catcher Gerald Laird as part of a deal for Crisp had been rebuffed by Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, who kindly informed Jon Daniels and company that Boston wanted three unnamed prospects in exchange for Crisp.

The trio demanded by Epstein, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, consisted of right-handers Eric Hurley, Luis Mendoza and a third lower-level prospect. Unbelievable. You'd have to assume that Boston's asking price for Crisp will fall at some point - but when, and by how much?

By the time the Red Sox decide to quit hemming and hawing about and reduce their demands, many, if not all, of the serviceable center field options left on the free agent market will have likely vanished.

And, of course, that's exactly what Theo Epstein wants. If the Rangers' center field situation in 2008 comes down to choosing between the organization's pre-existing internal candidates (such as Marlon Byrd and David Murphy) and throwing down three decent-to-good prospects for Crisp, I'll stick with Door #1.

In fact, I would probably rather bring back current Lewisville Lizards manager Tom Goodwin for a second tour of duty of patrolling center field in Arlington than I would relinquish Hurley for Crisp. That should tell you just how down and out I am on that idea.

Meanwhile, T.R. Sullivan offers up a pretty thorough assessment of the Rangers' current off-season plan, which touches on where the club currently stands and where they're planning to go next. Center field, first base and the corner outfield spots remain top priorities for Jon Daniels, who would also like to add a veteran late-inning reliever to his team's arsenal:

"There's a high price for mediocrity on the free-agent market and a high price for young talent on the trade market," GM Jon Daniels said. "We're going to continue to give opportunities to as many of our young guys as possible and find long-term fits in positions we don't have young players. There may be some areas we can upgrade short term, but figuring out the right cadence is critical."

Sullivan gets a bit more specific on some of the latest rumors in his latest blog entry over at "Postcards from Elysian Fields," which includes the following tidbits:

• Club officials are "quietly optimistic" about their chances of successfully signing free agent Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, and Texas may float a three year, $30 million offer to his camp relatively soon - if they haven't already done so, that is. Assuming that Fukudome pans out in the Majors the way that many are predicting he will, $30 million seems like more of a bargain than anything else.
• Texas remains interested in free agent center fielder Aaron Rowand, but his current asking price sits at five years, $75 million. Barring some drastic turn of events, Rowand won't be a Ranger come next spring.
• Free agent center fielder Mike Cameron might be available on a two-year commitment, though FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reported on Wednesday that Cameron was already evaluating multi-year offers from the San Diego Padres and at least one other club. A two-year pact for Cameron would have to be considered a satisfactory way to end the center field imbroglio that's currently enveloping the Rangers. Yes, I enjoy using the word "imbroglio," if you haven't noticed by now.
• Agent Scott Boras is trying his best to sell Texas on the high points of free agent center fielder Andruw Jones; thus far, the Rangers are having none of it. Going one year with a club option on Jones isn't a bad idea in theory, but somebody will undoubtedly serve up a long-term deal to his camp on a silver platter - and the man who the Ticket's Mike Rhyner has dubbed as the "Baseball Anti-Christ" will be lying in wait, ready to pounce.
• The Rangers have at least some degree of interest in free agent right-hander Jason Jennings, though I would highly doubt that the extent of that interest goes beyond the customary "kicking of the tires."
• Mets' outfield prospects Fernando Martinez and Carlos Gomez both interest Texas, as well as Diamondbacks' outfield prospect Carlos Gonzalez. I've previously touched on the merits and faults of Gonzalez, and while Sullivan says the Rangers would "love to get" Gomez, John Sickels isn't quite as impressed. Right-handers Philip Humber and Mike Pelfrey are also mentioned, the latter of whom was broken down extensively by BTiA's own Jason Parks earlier on Wednesday.

Pitching-wise, the possibility remains of the Rangers pursuing a high risk/high reward type starter such as Bartolo Colon or Freddy Garcia, though Daniels is well aware of the inherent danger involved in making such a commitment:

"It's something we'll look at," Daniels said. "We're talking about a guy coming off an injury, but the risk/reward scenario might be better than paying for the high price of mediocrity. It might hit bigger than a guy who is considered 'a sure thing.' But there is a real risk that the guy may have a setback and you get nothing for your investment."

Oddly enough, however, the Rangers appear to be the most concerned with their bullpen. Eric Gagne continues to intrigue the club, but veteran options such as Rudy Seanez, Octavio Dotel and LaTroy Hawkins are all out there for the pickings.

Granted, they're not very good options, and one would think that Texas would have learned their lesson about inking mediocre veteran relievers already (see: Exhibits 1A, 1B and 1C), but I'll give Jon Daniels and company the benefit of the doubt - for now.

Or at least, until the front office does something stupid.

Longtime friend Joe Siegler has a fascinating (and very lengthy) piece reviewing all of the current and upcoming major league ballparks, which includes an in-depth look at the corporate sponsorship deals attached to each ballpark where applicable.

Joe also tucks historical background, personal thoughts and opinions, pictures, and much more into a very neat package. It's a simply incredible undertaking, and one which I'd highly suggest everybody go check out.

And finally, courtesy of Lone Star Ball's Adam Morris, here's what Baseball America's John Sickels had to say concerning the Rangers' revamped farm system during his weekly ESPN.com chat session on Wednesday:

Nathan (San Diego): When I open Baseball America's 2008 Prospect Handbook, which team's farm system am I going to find made the biggest jump from last year?

SportsNation Jim Callis: The Rangers. Via trades and the draft, plus the improvement of prospects already on hand, they'll jump from No. 28 last year to perhaps the top five. I haven't broken down all the systems, so I can't be more precise.

Awesome.

Mets Pursue Laird; Diaz Placed On Waivers

As it turns out, the New York Mets may not be out of the hunt for the services of catcher Gerald Laird after all.

Newsday's David Lennon reported on Tuesday that newly acquired catcher Johnny Estrada may actually be an impending non-tender candidate, and also noted that Mets GM Omar Minaya continues to inquire about alternatives behind the plate. That list of alternatives includes the Orioles' Ramon Hernandez, the Nationals' Brian Schneider, and - yes - the Rangers' Gerald Laird.

Minaya obtained Estrada from the Milwaukee Brewers last Tuesday in exchange for much maligned right-hander Guillermo Mota, who served a 50-game suspension to begin the 2007 season after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance last November. After his activation to the 25-man roster on May 30th, Mota proceeded to struggle mightily the rest of the way in the New York bullpen, compiling a 5.76 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in 59.1 IP.

Perhaps the key to this deal was Mota's $3.2 million salary for the 2008 season, which Minaya was more than eager to unload from his club's payroll. Non-tendering Estrada would not only free up that money, but would also open the door for Omar to bring aboard a more palatable backstop candidate via trade. Whether or not that will happen is anybody's guess at this point, but I fully support any move that might improve Laird's trade value.

On a related note, catcher Jason Kendall agreed to a one year contract worth $4.25 million with the Brewers on Tuesday night; the deal also includes $1 million in possible incentives, based on the number of games he starts in 2008.

Kendall, 33, has undeniably become one of the worst all-around catchers in baseball, which is further evidenced by the fact that he hit a putrid .242/.301/.309 with 3 HR in 466 AB split between the Cubs and A's in 2007. He also allowed opposing baserunners to swipe 111 bases against him in 131 attempts, good for a miserable 15.3% success rate at throwing out would-be basestealers.

I'm not entirely sure as to whether or not this signing is a by-product of this winter's especially barren free agent catching crop, or if it speaks more about the competence (or lack thereof) of Brewers GM Doug Melvin; hell, maybe it's both.

However, I do know one thing: this signing sucks.

Richard Durrett touched on the possibility of Texas pursuing free agent center fielder Aaron Rowand over at the DMN SeamHeads Rangers blog on Tuesday, while Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram discussed a potential fit between center fielder Mike Cameron and the Rangers. I'm beginning to get more and more behind the idea of signing Cameron, though guaranteeing anything beyond a two year deal is dangerous.

Free agent Japanese right-hander Hiroki Kuroda has reportedly been offered a three year, $27 million contract by the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rangers are believed to be interested in Kuroda, though Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic quotes unnamed industry insiders who believe that the Seattle Mariners are the heavy favorites to land the 32-year-old hurler.

The Hanshin Tigers have withdrawn a four year, $18.5 million offer to free agent Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, leaving the Yomiuri Giants as his only Japanese suitors. The odds of Fukudome making the long trip across the Pacific in search of his next employer just got better.

Outfielder Victor Diaz has been placed on irrevocable waivers for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release, according to the Dallas Morning News. Perhaps he can take Fukudome's place on the Chunichi Dragons.

The Rangers announced their entire 29-game 2008 spring training schedule on Tuesday, which you can check out here. Cactus League play will begin in Surprise, Arizona on February 27th at 1:05 PM CST, with the Rangers hosting their complex-mates, the Kansas City Royals, in their annual "Charity Game."

Five days until baseball's winter meetings commence at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Wood Rejects Rangers; Texas To Enter Cabrera Sweepstakes?

For the second time in less than a week, a high profile free agent who calls the Metroplex home has spurned the Rangers.

Right-hander Kerry Wood agreed to a one year, $4.2 million contract with the Chicago Cubs on Monday afternoon, meaning that the 30-year-old fireballer will remain property of the North Siders for at least one more season.

The deal includes performance bonuses, based largely on the number of games that Wood finishes in 2008 (from 20 to 55), that could escalate the value of the contract by another $3.45 million.

Cubs GM Jim Hendry acknowledged the strong interest league-wide in Wood's services, and said that Kerry rejected "numerous multi-year offers" in favor of returning to the organization that he had spent the entirety of his nine-year professional career pitching for.

The Rangers had made their interest in Wood publicly known in recent weeks, and were undoubtedly hoping that a competitive offer would woo the Irving native over to the Junior Circuit. Indeed, T.R. Sullivan remarked in the wake of the news coming down that Jon Daniels had been willing to offer up a two-year deal, which probably would have been worth somewhere in the range of at least $9-10 million.

Despite the inherent injury risks involved, Wood would have nonetheless made for a fine complementary piece in the Texas bullpen, where he likely would have helped bridge the gap between the middle relief core and closer C.J. Wilson. But even with no less than four competing offers spread out in front of him on the bargaining table, Kerry opted for an unusual choice in this day and age of free agency madness: loyalty.

And that, my friends, deserves some credit.

Meanwhile, SI.com's Jon Heyman reports that the Rangers are among the six teams known to be "making pitches" for superstar third baseman Miguel Cabrera, who was placed on the trading block some time back by Florida's payroll-conscious GM, Larry Beinfest. Cabrera, 24, hit .320/.401/.565 with 34 HR in 588 AB for the Marlins in 2007, and is generally considered to be one of the more dangerous offensive weapons in baseball right now.

It's anybody's guess as to how heavily involved the Rangers are on Cabrera, but with Miguel just two years away from free agency (and a potentially historic payday), I have a really hard time seeing Jon Daniels and company wrecking their freshly replenished farm system for a player who, very likely, would not be club property come Opening Day 2010.

Unless, of course, Tom Hicks was ready to throw a contract extension offer worth upwards of $200 million in Cabrera's direction as soon as a blockbuster trade was consummated.

And if you're looking for an idea of what Beinfest and the Marlins might be seeking in exchange for their prized young trade commodity, Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel suggested on Monday that the Angels might have to cough up second baseman Howie Kendrick, catcher Jeff Mathis, outfielder Reggie Willits, and a pitcher: anybody from Ervin Santana to Joe Saunders to Nick Adenhart.

What would a comparable package from the Rangers likely consist of? Try Elvis Andrus, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Eric Hurley and one more blue chip prospect, for starters.

That makes for a nice segway into T.R. Sullivan's latest MLB.com mailbag, which includes a couple of real fan-proposed doozies:

I have a three-team blockbuster trade for you. The Rangers send Hank Blalock and Gerald Laird to the Dodgers and also send Matt Harrison to the Marlins. The Dodgers send Andy LaRoche and Andre Eithier to the Marlins. Finally, the Marlins send one Miguel Cabrera to the Rangers. What do you think?

-- Paul G., Shreveport, La.

Well, at least this proposal has the Rangers giving up several fairly valuable players...

How about trading Gerald Laird, David Murphy and Thomas Diamond for Carl Crawford? Crawford's young and he brings an immediate boost to the offense and defense.

-- Paul R., Keller, Texas

...unlike this one. Wow.

Would the Rangers consider a straight up deal of Coco Crisp for Jarrod Saltalamacchia? If not, what would it take to acquire Saltalamacchia?

-- Mark I., Lynn, Mass.

Alright, enough of this.

Beyond the comedy portion of Sullivan's mailbag, T.R. touches on the possibility of shortstop Michael Young being forced to a different position by the influx of young infield talent coming through the pipeline, as well as the ideas of pursuing free agent pitchers Jason Jennings and David Riske, among others.

Sullivan also has an informative one paragraph summary of the Rangers' current off-season gameplan, which has obviously required an on-the-fly alteration due to the Angels' acquisition of Torii Hunter:

It sounds like the Rangers will make their best pitch for Crisp, continue to push hard on Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, and look at Mike Cameron as a short-term alternative. The Rangers appear unwilling to go the same distance for either Jones or Rowand that they did with Hunter.

Now that's what I like to hear.

Last Wednesday, BTiA favorite Scott Lucas asserted that the club's decision to re-sign infielder Ramon Vazquez wasn't terrible, "as long as he�s limited to 25 starts and/or 150 plate appearances from the bottom of the order" in 2008. Vazquez received a one year, $800,000 contract from the Rangers on the eve of Thanksgiving, a move which seemingly locks him in as the club's primary backup infielder next year.

Upon his promotion from Triple-A Oklahoma on May 17th to help cover the absence of the surgery table-bound Hank Blalock, Vazquez impressed his new coaches and teammates with a dazzling 10 for 19 run at the plate over a six game stretch, including three home runs (two of which came in the road portion of the Lone Star Series at Minute Maid Park) - good for a .526/.545/1.053 batting line.

Unfortunately, manager Ron Washington was apparently so overwhelmed by Ramon's strong first impression that he ended up handing him semi-regular at-bats over the final three and a half months of the season; 300 AB, to be precise. And while the Rangers weren't exactly overflowing with enticing alternatives at the time, it still strikes me as rather inexplicable that Washington was allowed to overexpose Vazquez to such a great degree.

Just how overexposed was he, do you ask? After that initial 10 for 19 run at the plate, Vazquez ended up hitting a miserable .208/.279/.326 over his final 279 AB, bringing his VORP for the year down to an abysmal -5.0. That's obviously sub-replacement level offense from any position, but the impact stings even more when taking into account the fact that over two-thirds of those at-bats came at third base - a traditional power position.

Of course, the most baffling thing to come out of all of this might be the realization that Ramon, for whatever reason, received 43 AB batting second in the Texas lineup; he hit .116/.170/.209 there. The negative effects of Vazquez's weak offensive game can at least be minimized to some extent by allowing him to languish at the bottom of the order, but the Rangers have no such luxury at their disposal when their manager is allocating prime, top of the order at-bats to a mediocre journeyman.

Granted, the Rangers are supposedly going to head into 2008 with two backup infielders rather than just one, so perhaps somebody else will step up big in spring training (German Duran, anybody?) and prevent us from seeing too much of Ramon. And for what it's worth, Vazquez appears to be a pretty classy guy, so I do find it rather hard to rag on him excessively.

But with Washington's more than questionable usage and handling of Vazquez during the Rangers' 2007 campaign, there's plenty of reason to be terrified at the thought of another serious injury to the Rangers' infield. And if Blalock proves not to be completely healthy come next spring - well, watch out.

The Rangers announced the promotion of Double-A Frisco manager Dave Anderson to the role of minor league field coordinator on Monday, with minor league coach Scott Little replacing Anderson in the Frisco clubhouse. In addition, Damon Berryhill was named manager of the Single-A Bakersfield Blaze, after spending the last three seasons as the organization's catching coordinator.

Little, 44, managed the Double-A Harrisburg Senators of the Washington Nationals organization to a less than sparkling 55-86 record in 2007, after guiding the Single-A Vero Beach Dodgers to a pair of 77-win seasons (and subsequent first round playoff exits) in 2004 and 2005.

KRIV/FOX 26 in Houston is reporting that the Astros have signed former Rangers reliever Doug Brocail, though the terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed. Brocail was respectable for Texas in 2004, compiling a 4.13 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in 52.3 IP; unfortunately, an additional 21 IP in 2005 yielded an ERA nearly a run and a half higher, as well as a career-high 1.69 WHIP. Ouch.

But after undergoing a pair of angioplasties in early 2006 to relieve severe coronary blockage in his heart (99%, to be exact), Brocail rebounded from his brush with death with a solid 2007 campaign, as the 40-year-old veteran pitched his way to a 3.05 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 76.2 IP. Oddly enough, he struggled mightily within the pitcher-friendly confines of Petco Park (4.88 ERA in 31.1 IP), while flourishing everywhere else (1.79 ERA in 45.1 IP). I don't know either.

And finally, C.J. Wilson loves guitar shredding and Europe.

Sunday Morning Rangers Notes

For whatever reason, I have the hardest time working up enough motivation to write anything related to Rangers baseball while on vacation. Too much turkey, relaxation and ridiculous college football upsets, I suppose.

As far as the stunning late Wednesday night twist in the Torii Hunter saga that led to the 32-year-old center fielder signing on with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim through the 2012 season, I have little of substance to add beyond the already brilliant commentary put forth by Adam Morris and Jamey Newberg on the subject. But, hey, here go a few thoughts anyway:

• Contrary to a previously published report in the Chicago Sun-Times that suggested the Rangers had offered Hunter a contract that was close financially to the deal he eventually obtained from the Angels, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported on Friday morning that in reality, Texas offered something in the range of five years, $70 million. The Rangers made a more than reasonable first offer, but when you have a competitive club offering up $90 million on a hard deadline, it's not surprising that Torii jumped at the opportunity.
• With the Hunter signing, Anaheim GM Tony Reagins made his team better for 2008, and in all likelihood, 2009 as well. Beyond that point, however, things get very dicey when taking Hunter's age into account, as well as the strong likelihood that his offensive game will begin to show signs of decline. It's a decision that's likely to show dividends in the short-term for the Angels - but probably not so much in the long-term.
• Gary Matthews Jr. is reportedly being moved to a corner outfield spot to accommodate the Hunter acquisition. In the first year of his five-year, $50 million contract, GMJ put up a .252/.323/.419 batting line with 18 HR in 516 AB for the Angels - good for an OPS+ of 93. That's not overly terrible offensive production from a center fielder, but barring a fairly drastic improvement in 2008, those same numbers are going to look really, really ugly in right field.
• Over the next four seasons, the Angels will be paying up $28 million per year for the services of Hunter and Matthews alone. With revenues in baseball at record levels, the pockets of owners across the league may never have been more flush with cash than they are right now. Nonetheless, that is a huge chunk of money to allot towards two players who are not elite among their peers offensively or defensively.

Beyond that, there's really not much more to say. With the Rangers apparently targeting 2009 or 2010 (though more realistically, the latter) as their lift-off point into the competitive waters of the AL West, Hunter would not have made a whole lot of sense for this team, as the majority of his value over the life of this five-year contract is likely to come to the surface over the next two seasons.

In other words, he likely would been good when the Rangers, as a whole, would not have been. And vice versa.

Given the serious nature of the discussions between Torii's camp and the Arlington brain trust, there was the very real danger present of the Rangers making a huge, potentially crippling financial mistake.

But they didn't. Tony Reagins and the Angels, on the other hand, might have.

And for that, I am thankful.

Meanwhile, T.R. Sullivan has some notes on where the Rangers plan to go in the wake of Torii Hunter's defection to the West Coast, including their increasing interest into the Japanese free agent market - particularly in the pitching department.

As far as the still gaping hole in center field is concerned, it sounds as though Rangers GM Jon Daniels may be leaning towards the idea of pursuing Mike Cameron, given that Aaron Rowand and Andruw Jones are beginning to appear too cost-prohibitive for the tastes of Tom Hicks. The idea of signing Cameron is much more appealing than that of signing Hunter, though his age and 25-game suspension for testing positive for a banned stimulant are reasons to remain wary.

Mike Hindman's latest Prospect Previews segment is up at "Rangers Farm Report," which contains a detailed look at the 11th through the 15th best pitching prospects in the organization's farm system right now - in Hindman's estimation, at least. A fascinating read, as always.

In addition, MinorLeagueBall.com's John Sickels has his long-awaited 2008 Top 20 Prospects list out for the Rangers, which you can check out here. Not surprisingly, Sickels echoes the sentiments of most who have studied and written extensively on the revamped Texas farm system in recent months, as he says that "this is a loaded system."

If you're not yet familiar with the fine work being published by Jason Cole and former BTiA writer John Vittas over at Lone Star Dugout on Scout.com, this might be a perfect opportunity for you to do so. All premium content across the Scout.com network has been made freely available for viewing through the holiday weekend, which is something I'd highly recommend everybody take advantage of.

Right-hander Francisco Cordero signed a four year, $46 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds on Friday, making Cordero the recipient of the richest four-year deal ever doled out to a closer. Make no mistake, Cordero's a quality relief pitcher; he's just not a relief pitcher worth $11.5 million per year. And though the Reds were in desperate need of a stabilizing force after the miserable year put up by their bullpen in 2007, I'm not certain that Cordero is the answer.

Finally, condolences to the family and friends of 28-year-old pitcher Joe Kennedy, who tragically passed away early Friday morning after collapsing at the home of his wife's parents in Florida. The cause of his death is not yet known (and autopsy results are not expected for six to eight weeks), but a preliminary report suggests that an enlarged heart may have been a contributing factor.

Rest in peace, Joe.