Oh well, so much for that experiment. In a second tour of duty that rivaled the brief third tour of duty for Rick Helling in 2004, Kevin Mench was traded today.
The Rangers sent Shrek to the Toronto Blue Jays for “cash considerations”. Basically, “Dude, you’re not good enough for a player, so here’s some cash the team doesn’t really need”. In all fairness, Kevin wasn’t really tearing it up, and there are so many more possibilities in the outfield right now that he didn’t have a realistic shot to make it back to Arlington with the big league club.
In other Toronto outfield news, they signed Brad Wilkkkkkkerson today to a contract. I’m not entirely sure how this works contractually. Wilkerson was DFA’ed by the Mariners on April 30th. I never saw a followup saying he was actually released as such. Today, the Jays said he was signed as a free agent, which implies he was released. Assuming that’s the case, I don’t know what he gets as salary. If anyone knows better, please let me know. He was owed $3 Million from the M’s, so he’s still due the proated for that. Not sure how that impacts any Toronto salary.
I liked both of these guys (even if Wilkkkkerson was a disappointment here). However, for Toronto to get both of these guys at once, they must be hurting for OF depth.

The Seattle Mariners DFA’ed Brad Wilkerson on Wednesday. That was a bit of a surprise. Brad’s time here wasn’t great, but I figured he had a slot in Seattle. I guess they were tired of his whiffing like the fans in Texas were. Seattle is still on the hook for the rest of his signed salary this year, which was $3 million. He also had $2 mil more in incentives, which he obviously will not get the chance to reach.

I think Brad’s uniform number below is the way most Ranger fans will remember him.

It’s one of the uglier words in the English language. CANCER.

Former Ranger pitcher Doug Davis apparently has thyroid cancer. I won’t try and get in the way with my own words, I’ll just copy a few wire stories I read here and here. I will say this, I’ll make sure and lift him up in prayer, so I urge the rest of you who are Ranger fans to do the same. Even if you’re not a Rangers fan, do it anyway. Doug was one of the nicer guys ever to throw a ball for us.

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It wasn’t a big deal (for me) seeing him in an Indians Jersey. Or a Tigers. Kansas City was a bit strange, but this just looks weird to me. I can’t tell you why. Just a gut thing.

ESPN writer Tim Kurkjian yesterday wrote an article about Juan Gonzalez’s comeback attempt with the Cardinals. It’s an interesting read. As a Rangers fan who remembers all the “stuff” he did (pointing at the official scorer, the HOF game/baggy pants thing/general moodiness), I wonder how well this will play in St. Louis.
The article says his swing was still there, being described as “long, smooth, georgeous”. I wonder if said swing is still susceptible to the low and away slider like it always was. When asked why he was attempting a comeback, he said this:

“I have goals in mind, I came back to finish those goals — 500 home runs is a goal [he has 434]. But the No. 1 reason I’m [in camp] is to make this team.”

It would be interesting to see him come back, because at his prime, he was someone I did like. It just seemed like there were too many “issues”, though. Be interesting to see if he’s back in the majors.

Tonight I decided to look around the various camps and see who was in camp that played for the Rangers.
These guys have played at least one game at the major league level with the Rangers. There are others who have been Rangers in the minors only, but I didn’t get into those guys (like Ryan Dempster, Aaron Harang, and John Danks who were all minor leaugers, or Glendon Rusch and Brian Anderson who were NRIs with us a few years back). This also covers guys like Terrmel Sledge or Freddie Bynum who were technically major league Rangers, but were really just ships passing in the night.
Guys who are non roster invites have (NRI) after their name. Everyone else listed is on that club’s respective 40 man roster. I believe I’ve gotten everyone that fits the parameters listed above. If you spot someone I missed, please let me know in the comments below, I’ll get the article updated.
AL West:
Anaheim: Darren Oliver, Gary Matthews
Oakland: Justin Duchscherer
Seattle: R.A Dickey, Brad Wilkerson
AL Central:
Cleveland: Aaron Fultz, Dave Dellucci, Travis Hafner, Rick Bauer (NRI)
Detroit: Armando Galarraga, Kenny Rogers, Pudge Rodriguez, Marcus Thames
Minnesota: Dennys Reyes, Mike Lamb, Craig Monroe
Chicago Sox: Nick Masset
Kansas City: Ron Mahay, Esteban German, Ken Huckaby (NRI)
AL East:
Boston: Bryan Corey, Doug Mirabelli, Dan Kolb (NRI), Michael Tejera (NRI)
NY Yankees: Alex Rodriguez
Toronto: Rod Barajas, Gregg Zaun, Matt Stairs
Baltimore: Jon Leicester, Guillermo Quiroz, Ryan Bukvich (NRI), Esteban Yan (NRI)
Tampa Bay: Carlos Pena
NL East:
Philadelphia: Fabio Castro, Adam Eaton, Jamie Moyer
NY Mets: Fernando Tatis (NRI)
Atlanta: Mark Teixeira, Ryan Drese (NRI)
Washington: Mike Bacsik (NRI), Rob Bell (NRI)
Florida: None
NL Central:
Chicago Cubs: Mark DeRosa, Alfonso Soriano, Andres Torres (NRI)
Milwaukee: Eric Gagne, Brian Shouse, Gabe Kapler, Laynce Nix (NRI)
St. Louis: Randy Flores, Ryan Ludwick, John Wasdin (NRI), D’Angelo Jimenez (NRI), Juan Gonzalez (NRI)
Houston: Doug Brocail, Carlos Lee, Victor Diaz (NRI)
Cincinnati: Francisco Cordero, Mike Stanton, Edinson Volquez
Pittsburgh: None
NL West:
Arizona: Doug Davis
Colorado: Kip Wells, John Koronka (NRI), Matt Kata (NRI)
San Diego: Chris Young (DAMMIT), Adrian Gonzalez, Marshall McDougall (NRI)
Los Angeles: Esteban Loaiza, Rudy Seanez, Chan Ho Park (NRI), Tanyon Sturtze (NRI), Danny Ardoin (NRI)
San Francisco: Victor Santos (NRI)
In looking over the rosters, I had to do a double take when I was looking at Houston’s. They have a 28 year old pitcher named Mark McLemore. I actually stopped, as I was not expecting to see that. :)

Finally read a breakdown of some of the contract numbers for Alex Rodriguez’ new Yankees contract. Of most immediate importance to Rangers fans is how much we’re still paying the Yankees. I know a lot was made over us saving a ton of money with Alex opting out. He did do that, but we’re not totally off the hook.

There was deferred money from the original contract still due. Those payments appear to have been changed, and we are apparently still paying $3 million a year in 08, 09, & 10. The original deferred numbers show a lot more than that $9 million owed from years 2001-2007. The three opted out years from 08-10 of the original contract would tally up to the $9 million. There’s deferred money from the actual played contract years of 2001-2003 while in Texas. Got traded to New York, they renegotiated the contract, and there was a change in deferred money from 2004-2007, but we still were on the hook for deferred money from those years (NY had some, too). This money was originally scheduled to be paid starting in 2016, and running through 2022. I cannot imagine all that money (which according to my notes was $26 million) was replaced by the $9 mil I saw in the new contract. I can’t imagine we still have to pay the $9 million in deferred money (which was slated for years 2023-2025) anyway (now in 08-10, with interest no less). Can any of the sports writers in the area make sense of that? MY HEAD HURTS!

A little more easier to understand is his salary. $27m in 08, $32m in 09 & 10, $31m in 11, $29m in 12, $28m in 13, $25m in 14, $21m in 15, $20m in 16 & 17. Stupid numbers, but they seem pretty straightforward. Given the amount of total dollars involved, I can’t imagine some of THAT isn’t deferred too, but I don’t see any notes on that.

There’s a $10 million signing bonus. $2 million of that was paid at signing I believe (Dec 13, 07). The rest is broken down in $1 million increments due every January 15th from years 2009 through 2013. There’s a final $3 million payment in on Jan 15, 2014.

There’s a $30 million marketing bonus tied to home run milestones. There’s a $6 million bonus for each of the following career home run records:

• 660 (Willie Mays)
• 714 (Babe Ruth)
• 755 (Hank Aaron)
• 762 (Barry Bonds)
• 763 (Barry Bonds)

Yeah, that’s right – he gets $12 million just for HR 762 & 763. Technically those last two are “tie current major league record, and break current major league record”. That’s Barry Bonds of course. It’s probably going to be 762 & 763 – I can’t imagine Bonds actually playing anywhere in 2008. He’s probably done.

Seriously, if there’s anyone with more detailed knowledge than me about the deferred money situation, I’d love to hear from you. Here’s my Arod page, where I have all the notes I’ve tried to keep since late in 2000 when we signed Arod originally. Thanks.

I don’t write much about steroids in baseball, because to be honest, I’m sick and tired of hearing about it. Problem? Yeah. Do I want it gone? Yeah. Do I want to hear about it anymore? HELL NO!

Still, from time to time, one has to pay attention to it, and I ran across a great article by former Ranger Doug Glanville about steroids. Doug has a reputation of being one of the brightest players in baseball (well, retired now, but you get my point). Doug’s article from the New York Times this past Wednesday talks about his feelings on steroids, and why players do such a thing. It’s a great read, here’s a few quotes from it..

In 1998, I was the new kid in Philadelphia, battling Lenny Dysktra for the center field job. Five years later, I was mentoring another new kid, Marlon Byrd, so he could replace me. Faced with that rate of career atrophy, players are capable of rash, self-serving and often irresponsible decisions. Enter steroids.

There is a tipping point in a player’s career where he goes from chasing the dream to running from a nightmare. At that point, ambition is replaced with anxiety, passion is replaced with survival. It is a downhill run and it spares no one.
We’re scared of failure, aging, vulnerability, leaving too soon, being passed up – and in the quest to conquer these fears, we are inspired by those who do whatever it takes to rise above and beat these odds. We call it “drive” or “ambition”, but when doing “whatever it takes” leads us down the wrong road, it can erode our humanity. The game ends up playing us.

It’s an interesting thought, and could explain why some players never seem to give up the ghost. Growing up in Philadelphia when I did, the best pitcher we had for the longest time was Steve Carlton. “Lefty” as they called him came to Philly in 1972, and stayed a Phillie until 1986. At that point it was obvious he wasn’t what he had been before, but he was a prime example to me of not knowing when to stop. Glanville’s article talks about that a bit. After leaving Philly in mid season 86, Carlton was a Giant, a White Sox, an Indian, and a Twin, going into the 1988 season when he appeared in four games with the Twins (1 start, 3 relief appearances). Heard stories he tried Japanese ball after that. Anyway, some players don’t know when to stop, and that coupled with what Glanville says about this issue makes sense.

Give Doug’s article a read. Thanks to the Phillies blog “Balls, Sticks, & Stuff” for the link.

Coco won’t have to worry about coming back to Arlington any time soon to have his saves record blown again. He signed with the Reds today for an amazing contract. Four years, 46 million with an $12 mil option on 2012 and a $1 mil buyout. (Story here).
Seems a bit pricey – I don’t envision Coco as one of the elite closers (aka over $10 mil a year). I also don’t envision the Reds as being close enough to contending where they’d need an expensive closer.
The Yankees threw a stupid amount of money at Mariano Rivera, but at least he has a track record. Coco can save, yes – but I don’t see him as being THAT good.
What do you think?