On Sunday, the Rangers exercised their 2007 option on left handed reliever Ron Mahay. This is probably a move that won’t surprise anyone, I’d imagine. Ron’s 2007 salary will be $1.2 Million.

In a move that I think surprised nobody, Mark Teixeira won the 2006 AL Gold Glove award (link). That was pretty much expected.
Gary Matthews not getting the CF award was a little more of an eye raiser. However, that too is not completely shocking to me. I think a lot of the local campaigning for him, while valid, was a bit of the “homer vote”. Don’t get me wrong, he had a great year, but it’s always hard for a guy to get it on a career breakout year when there’s others who are entrenched in outfield (the 06 winners were Ichiro, Vernon Wells, & Torii Hunter).
Still, Matthews had a great year. Just hope it’s not his last like a lot of reports are saying.
Congrats to Mark Teixeira. Very well deserved. Also the former Texas battery of Kenny Rogers & Pudge won their respective positions’ gold gloves too.

Randy Wolf, Kenny Lofton, & Frank Catalanotto as Rangers in 07 and none of our free agents returning? So says this article on free agent possibilities over at mlbtraderumors. Here’s what they’re saying about Wolf, Lofton, & Cat…
Randy Wolf: It’ll be a somewhat risky signing, but the Rangers need some starters. I only have them down for one free agent starter, so another would have to come via trade. I could see a major splash with a Young or Teixeira trade.
My thoughts: Probably no worse a risk than Padilla was coming in here last year. Injuries are an issue, of course, and there’s the perception that Daniels is going to the Philly well yet again. I probably wouldn’t be upset with this at all. Would depend on the dollars/years. Also, there’s that trade Mike Young or Tex thing. Young ain’t happening. While I wouldn’t be happy about it, I could see Tex going somewhere else, but I don’t think any Ranger fan wants THAT.
Kenny Lofton: Someone has to fill the void in center if Matthews tests the market and finds something better. Why not a 48 year-old speedster? Should Matthews and Lee leave, the Rangers will have a lot of question marks in the outfield.
My thoughts: Might as well bring back Julio Franco, too. Oh hey, I hear Ricky Henderson is still officially not retired either. There’s gotta be a better stopgap option than Lofton. The only reason to bring him in would mean you’d make a major push to bring in Vernon Wells after 2007. There is that quote of Wells’ saying that he and Mike Young would be teammates eventually. As a Ranger fan, you have to like that.
Frank Catalanotto: Not only is he a former Ranger, but they tried to trade for him this summer. Texas has pretty good outfield options in Nelson Cruz and Brad Wilkerson, but stability and flexibility with Catalanotto and Lofton makes sense.
My thoughts: Would strike me as the same return as bringing back David Dellucci. I never wanted Cat to leave in the first place, but now that we’re a few years removed, I’m not sure if there aren’t better options there. Course our outfield is full of holes if all our guys walk, so we probably could use a pickup like this. Not a problem with it, but it strikes me as a sideways move.
The link above has some other ideas as to where the Ranger free agents will end up.
Carlos Lee – Astros
Vicente Padilla – Mets
Mark DeRosa – Phillies
Gary Matthews – Cubs
The report also has Alfonso Soriano joining DeRosa in Philly. The only way THAT would happen is if Philly can move Pat Burrell, which is no mean feat itself. I wouldn’t mind taking a flyer on Burrell down here in Texas, provided Philly picks up a bunch of salary. Course there’s that “too many times to the Philly well” idea again. :)

Good, good, GOOD! I very much like him, and didn’t want him to go. If you didn’t know, he was up for the Arizona Diamondbacks TV play by play job. That is no longer an option because the Diamondbacks just gave the job to Daron Sutton.
This is great news for Ranger fans, as I think Eric & Vic make a great team. Plus if he left, we’d most definitely miss this..
GOING.. GOING… GONE!!!!

IT’S A BIG FLY!!
I’ve gotten very used to Vic on the radio. Especially since I listened to a lot more radio games in 2006 than I ever had before. I always have preferred TV coverage, but now with a kid, you can’t always devote 100% of your attention to the game when it’s on TV. With the radio, I can be doing something else besides listening.
So I’m glad you’re sticking around Vic. Glad to have ya.

While the Rangers have not yet released their 2007 Spring Training schedule, some other teams have. Since we have to play these other teams :), one can glean a few of the dates from looking at the other teams’ schedules. Here’s a few dates I’ve managed to find for the 2007 Spring season.
Times are AZ.
Tue Mar 06 1:05PM – Mariners – Surprise
Fri Mar 09 1:05PM – Cubs – Surprise
Sun Mar 11 12:05P – Angels – Surprise
Sat Mar 17 1:05PM – Mariners – Peoria
Wed Mar 21 1:05PM – Cubs – Mesa
Thu Mar 22 12:05P – Angels – Tempe
Mon Mar 26 7:05PM – Mariners – Surprise
Wed Mar 28 1:05PM – Mariners – Peoria

To nobody’s surprise, Vicente “Show Me the Money” Padilla, and Carlos “Benji Molina can score on a ground ball to left from third” Lee both filed for free agency today. I expect that neither will be back, although I don’t think I’d be upset if we brought back Padilla.
By my count that leaves Kip Wells & Jerry Hairston Jr left as Rangers to file. Now Hairston was dfa’ed awhile back, but he’s still listed on free agent lists. I admit that I’m not entirely sure on Hairston – does he HAVE to formally file, or is he automatically considered a free agent due to his being dfa’ed? I don’t know.
I also thought of using “I never met a ball I didn’t want to dive for” as a nickname for Lee, as well as “let’s randomly hit the Angels” for Padilla. :)

This story says that the Rangers are interested in bringing in Luis Gonzalez. Here’s what the article says specifically.

Texas, which recently fired manager Buck Showalter and has not hired a replacement, appears to be interested in Gonzalez not only as a left fielder and designated hitter but also as a clubhouse stabilizer.

Left fielder, eh? Assuming that is true, I guess we can forget Carlos Lee. Not that I expected him back anyway. I would have thought Gonzo would have been brought in before Buck Showalter was let go. I don’t really have a problem with Gonzo, but I would rather them bring back David Dellucci, who would fill the same role more or less. Gonzalez’ 2006 numbers were .271/.352/.444. I’d rather have something stronger than that. Like Dellucci’s 2006 numbers of .292/.369/.530. :)
It’s kind of interesting, as the most solid outfield player we have at the moment is Nelson Cruz. Right now, our outfield:

• Carlos Lee – I’d be stunned if he was back.
• Gary Matthews – Filed for FA. It’s a question as to whether he’ll be back, but I want him back.
• Nelson Cruz – Under contract. Most stable OF we have (contractually), oddly enough
• Mark DeRosa – Could probably do a permanent OF position, its’ a question whether he’ll be back either.

That leaves us with holes all over the place. Yeah, there’s probably some options in the minors, but I’m not sure if the fan base wants to put up with a 2007 outfield where the “other guy” we got in the Kevin Mench / CoCo Cordero trade is our player with the most major league tenure. I think at least one of our OF FA needs to return. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s Matthews, but I don’t have anything real to base that on. I’m just “gut feeling” here. Given how my playoff predictions went, that’s probably not worth anything.
One of my favorite sites has lists of free agents for left field, center field, and right field.
Hey, Barry Bonds is looking for a job. Seriously, if we “import” a left fielder, I’d rather it be Alfonso Soriano.

Four Rangers filed today. They are: Rod Barajas, Adam Eaton, Mark DeRosa, & Eric Young. No real surprise on any of them.
Barajas isn’t expected back. EY likely wouldn’t be back, either.
DeRosa is expected (hoped?) to be back.
Eaton is kind of in the middle, but I can’t say I’d be annoyed if he returned.
That leaves the following Rangers eligible to file by Nov 11th: Carlos Lee, Gary Matthews, Kip Wells, Vicente Padilla, & Jerry Hairston (who was already dfa’ed).

I was planning on doing this this morning, but since Adam Morris over at Lone Star Ball has already done it, I’ll just link you over there.
Here’s a good collection of various stories about reaction to the Buck Showalter firing. Check it out.
Hi Adam! :)