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Mike Young is NOT defensively poor

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I’ve seen a few articles over the last year or two which claim that Mike Young is not a good defender. One of my favorite sites just revived this silly notion in a report today on moves they’d make. Here’s what they say:

Rangers: Trade Mike Young to the Orioles for Erik Bedard. OK, I just pulled this deal out of my ass. But in Bedard the Rangers get a 28 year-old who keeps the ball in the yard and has three years until free agency. Young, while a great player, is poor defensively and will be 30 next year. He has two more seasons under contract at a very reasonable price.

I’ve watched him day in day out for several years now, and I do not understand this “poor defensively”. I just do not understand it. I have come to the conclusion that people who say things like that have not watched him enough to have an informed decision on the matter. That issue aside..
Mike Young straight up for Eric Bedard? Uh, no. If I’m moving Young (which for the love of God I hope does not happen), then it better be for SEVERAL players, not just one. And one of them had better be Bedard.
I’m a fan of mlbtraderumours, but not of this story. Ugh.

Chris Young

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Nice piece of news from TR Sullivan’s blog over at MLBlogs. Former Ranger starter Chris Young is on the All Star tour of Japan. To that end, he is running a blog about the travels.
Check it out here.

Vicente Padilla, Carlos Lee file

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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. :)

Luis Gonzalez?

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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.

More players file

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On the second day after the World Series ended, several more players have filed for free agency, bringing the total up to 89. Several Rangers have filed, including Gary Matthews on Sunday.
Here is my updated list of Rangers and former Rangers that have filed:
Red Sox: Gabe Kapler, Doug Mirabelli
White Sox: Sandy Alomar Jr
Twins: Phil Nevin
Texas: Rod Barajas, Mark DeRosa, Adam Eaton, Gary Matthews Jr, & Eric Young
Blue Jays: Frank Catalanotto
Braves: John Thomson
Reds: Royce Clayton, Todd Hollandsworth
Mets: Ricky Ledee
Phillies: Aaron Fultz
Padres: Rudy Seanez
Giants: Todd Greene, Mike Stanton
Nationals: Alfonso Soriano
I wouldn’t mind having Alfonso Soriano back to play left field next year if it’s determined that Brad Wilkerson won’t work out. But they probably won’t take that gamble. Right now I’d rather have Soriano in left than Lee.

Four Rangers File for Free Agency

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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).

The Transaction Carosuel Begins

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Well, today is the first day after the World Series, which means that players are now eligible to file for free agency. Of course some big names filed. Barry Bonds, Nomar Garciaparra, & Frank Thomas. What’s been covered elsewhere is the fact that with the new rules from the CBA, you are no longer restricted in talking to your own free agents. Used to be if you didn’t offer them arbitration by Dec 7, you couldn’t resign them until next May 1. That no longer exists. The exclusivity period still exists, so for the moment only a player’s current team can talk contract. That ends Nov 11th, and Nov 12th is when anyone can talk $ with anyone else.
A couple of former Rangers filed for free agency. Not that I think we should really make a move on any of these guys, I’m just pointing it out from a “Former Ranger” standpoint – I try and keep track of where these guys go:
Filing for Free Agency today (the 28th):
Aaron Fultz (Phillies)
Ricky Ledee (Mets)
Doug Mirabelli (Red Sox)
Rudy Seanez (Padres)
Frank Catalanotto (Blue Jays)
Royce Clayton (Reds)
Some other former Ranger player movement in the last week or so:
10/03 – Nationals released Pedro Astacio & Ryan Drese
10/05 – Victor Santos efa from Pirates
10/11 – Phillies released Julio Santana
10/12 – Padres waived Manny Alexander
10/13 – Ken Huckaby efa from Red Sox
10/23 – A’s released D’Angelo Jimenez
Here are all the 2006 Ranger players eligible to file for free agency (Jerry Hairston was already placed on waivers back on the 11th, and a quick thought on them by me.
Adam Eaton (might get resigned to an incentive laden contract)
Carlos Lee (most likely will not be back, unless he goes for less $)
Eric Young (probably not back, I wouldn’t mind having him as some sort of coach though)
Gary Matthews (better be back)
Jerry Hairston (won’t be back)
Kip Wells (if back at all, as a non roster invite in spring training)
Mark DeRosa (would like to have him back)
Rod Barajas (likely won’t be back)
Vicente Padilla (wouldn’t mind having him back, but not for 4 years. 2 plus option, maybe)

Revisiting my predictions

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So, the World Series has ended. Congratulations to the Cardinals. Personally, I wanted the Tigers to win primarily because they had several ex Texas Rangers on their team (Pudge, Rogers, Monroe, Thames, etc)… But I’m OK with the Cardinals winning, even though Scott Rolen is on the team. Being a former Philly boy, Rolen gets the big ol’ Booooooo from me. I might live in Dallas, but you can’t take the Philly boy out of me.
Here’s a recap of my selections. I had two groups of picks. What I thought would happen, and what I wanted to happen:
What I thought:
ALDS: Twins/A’s: Twins (wrong)
ALDS: Yankees/Tigers: Yankees (wrong)
NLDS: Cardinals/Padres: Padres (wrong)
NLDS: Dodgers/Mets: Mets (right)
ALCS: Twins/Yankees: Yankees (wrong, didn’t happen)
NLCS: Padres/Mets: Mets (wrong, didn’t happen)
WS: Yankees/Mets: Yankees (wrong, didn’t happen)
What I wanted:
ALDS: Twins/A’s: Twins (wrong)
ALDS: Tigers/Yankees: Tigers (right)
NLDS: Padres/Cardinals: Padres (wrong)
NLDS: Dodgers/Mets: Dodgers (wrong)
ALCS: Tigers/Twins: Tigers (half right)
NLCS: Dodgers/Padres: Dodgers (wrong)
WS: Tigers/Dodgers: Tigers (wrong)
So, as you can see, I didn’t do too well. I actually had posted longer drawn out reasons why I wanted the teams I wanted, so it wasn’t as random as a coin flip, but heck, it didn’t matter. I was wrong. :)
Now the real fun begins. The World Series is over, and I expect the new CBA to be ratified pretty quickly, so we can get down to the business of baseball. It’s odd, as I’ve gotten older, I seem to enjoy the off season a lot more, even though it seems to be filled with more and more unimaginable tales of higher paychecks. :)
We can also get onto picking a field manager. Hopefully that doesn’t get strung along too much. In the spirit of predictions, I expect it will be Don Wakamatsu chosen. Mostly because of his built in knowledge of the players, there’s no learning curve that someone new might get. Of course, now that I picked him, he will not get the job if my story above is any indicator.

Managerial Search

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As I’ve gotten reminded about in email, I’ve been pretty quiet lately. Part of that is that not a lot has gone on in Ranger land. There is the search for a new field manager to replace Buck Showalter. That’s part of the problem. I don’t think I’m qualified enough to offer any kind of brilliant insight into any of the candidates. There’s been a lot said by the other local fans (Jamey, Lone Star Ball, etc), that my words wouldn’t offer anything brilliant. :)
I still am not sure which way they’re leaning. There is the quote that Wakamatsu is the favorite, but beyond that, I haven’t heard much about which way they’re leaning (which by all rights we shouldn’t anyway).
The only thought of my own I can add here is that I don’t think Ron Washington will get it, as he’s more likely to want the manager’s job of his own team than to jump ship over here and manage the Rangers.
Hopefully we’ll find out soon. That is after the World Series due to Selig’s “don’t announce any big news like that during the World Series” edict.

The Collective Barganing Agreement

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Something that’s not getting a lot of discussion is the fact that the collective barganing agreement expires after this season (December 19th to be specific). The last one was really painless, with no work stoppage. After the ugliness of the 80’s and the horror of 1994/1995, that was pretty good. But the word comes now that the new agreement has already been reached, months ahead of time. Here’s what I read over on the website “The Biz of Baseball“..

Bill Madden of the New York Daily News reports that we may be on the verge of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in MLB, months in advance of the Dec. 19th deadline.
As Madden reports: According to sources familiar with the negotiations, the owners and players have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor deal which will be announced by Selig at the World Series next week.

This is quite good news. Now there are several bullet points in this negotiation that I’ll be curious to see the particulars of. One is the substance abuse program, it was changed several times under the old one, I wonder if the new one will be changed even further. The situation regarding compensation regarding departing free agents and arbitration is another. One lesser talked about one is the tying of home field advantage to the All Star game. There’s plenty more, so I will definitely be interested in seeing the particulars of this; especially for HOW LONG. :)