This morning comes the (pretty much expected) news that Texas Rangers GM John Hart and Manager Buck Showalter have been given contract extensions. Can’t say I’m surprised by either move.
The former I’m not terribly sold on, I still think that Grady Fuson would have been a better GM than John Hart is. Hart still seems to not turn up for bad news, he seems (to my eyes) to only want to talk about good news. On the other hand, I don’t view him with the vitriol that some do (Randy Galloway for example). I doubt any GM is out to tank the team, but I just would have preferred Grady Fuson. Hart’s contract is for two years renewable annually. That’s what the news stories say. We’ll see if it really is just two years, and isn’t some sort of “open ended” thing due to the verbiage of “annually”.
Buck Showalter on the other hand I was a bit more intersted in seeing an extension on. I rather like him, and was glad to see we’ve got him on board for awhile. His new extension (three years) locks him to the Rangers through the 2009 season (with a club option for 2010). The 2005 season is the third of the original four year contract that Showalter received. If you believe the stories, Showalter was the behind the scenes power that forced Fuson out and kept Hart as GM, as it gives Buck a GM that’s easier to his own whims and decisions. I don’t know if I’d go that far, but it’s obvious Showalter is a powerful person. I’ve spoken with him a few times, and as a fan, he always seems (to my eyes) to go out of his way to make sure the fans are included, thought of – something that not many baseball men do anymore. I like that.
So I give the moves a thumbs up, but not all the way up because of the extension (and the open ended nature of it) to Hart. You can read more details on this over at the Rangers website here.
Joe,
I like the new look of the site. The text is a little too light for my taste, makes it just a little too hard to read it. Keep up the good work.