Since there is very little Hot Stove action in RangerLand, (and with props to Rob Neyer, ESPN, who I stole this from)

Here's a pretty good read (I thought, anyway) about the Best PiB, over 5 year periods, since the early 70's.

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2010/01/04/best-players-in-baseball/?249417e8

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Supposedly the Angels are the 5/2 favorite to land Halladay......if reports are correct (Infielder Brandon Wood, a pitching prospect like Trevor Reckling or Jordan Walden.) How can the Rangers NOT be in the mix?

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http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3140826

The Angels have offered Kendrick, Mathis and one (but not both) of Adenhart/Santana. Would the Ranger's be willing to part with Kinsler, Laird & Hurley (or Volquez)? Some reports say Florida wants to add a lower level pitching prospect (Gallaraga/Pimental?).

I think I'd do that deal, as much as I'd hate to lose Kinsler. Kinsler=>Kendrick, Laird=Mathis although Hurley/Volq probably <Andenhart/Santana.<p> At the very least we could BoSox the Angels and drive the price up on a division rival....any interest?

By all accounts JD is still set on doing something about CF....what are the pros/cons on the available options?

Rowand? Looking for at least 5/$75M, that's the biggest negative.....
AJones? Down year...weight issues...could he be had for 4/$60M?....
Cameron? What would he cost? 25 game suspension starting '08 season.....
Crisp? Boston's crazy 3 prospect asking price...3 years for $18.5M (buyout of $500K in 2010)....
Patterson? Maybe 2 years $7-8M...is he really that far behind Crisp?....

Lastly, a trade for young guy's (Mets/DBacks?).

What's realistic? Will we still need another bat?

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/Headlines.aspx?sport=MLB&hl=226592

Would/Could the Ranger's put a package together to trade for (and sign) Santana?

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Seems like teams would be smarter than this.

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Twins' offer comes up short
Sep 4 - According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Twins late last month offered Torii Hunter a three-year deal worth $45 million, but Hunter -- a free agent at season's end -- is believed to be seeking a five-year, $70 million deal.

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update the standings!

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I heard they might cancel it, but thought they had a few more episodes left. I really liked that show. Guess the snappy repartee was too much for the average Geico user to follow.......too bad!

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Just wondering......the last few days someone threw out a Westbrook/Casey Blake for Aki/Wilk (maybe throw in Bauer and/or a prospect)......or a possible deal with the Phillies, Burrell/Leiber for Aki/Wilk/Bauer and/or a prospect. Burrell is slated for $13M this year and $14M next, Leiber $7.5M (but only 1 year), that deal would save the Phil's $12.5M this year and get them out from under Burrell's $14M next year. They're looking for someone to set-up Gordon and want to shed money, so????

I thought his new training regimen sounded good.....at least he'll be in damn good shape if we do end up getting him.

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From Buster Olney

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I thought Wilk was eligible for arbitration, but didn't see where the Ranger's had offered it. They offered on Padilla and declined on Eric Young & Barajas, but no mention of Wilk. Anybody know the details ?                                                                                                          

with Michael Young ? Would 6/$60M get it done ?

I say do it.....it'll be cheap now and look even cheaper in years to come. He'll die on the field and probably get 200 hits when he's 40.                                                                                                            

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More important than any old FA signing, huh Shark ?

http://www.aolmusicnewsblog.com/2006/11/27/joel-madden-and-hilary-duff-call-it-quits

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Just wondering the thoughts on Lugo ? Keith Law lists him as the 3rd best position FA left and almost allthe interested parties see him as a SS. Some comps:

Player   TEAM   POS   G   GS   INN   TC   PO   A   E   DP   PB   SB   CS   RF   FPCT  
  1. M Young TEX SS 155 155 1356.1 747 241 492 14 113 --- --- --- 4.86 .981
  2. A Berroa KC SS 131 129 1117.1 572 188 366 18 95 --- --- --- 4.46 .969
  3. R Clayton CIN SS 129 121 1055.0 528 170 340 18 54 --- --- --- 4.35 .966
  4. J Lugo TB SS 73 72 620.1 328 113 201 14 42 --- --- --- 4.56 .957
  5. A Cora BOS SS 63 47 434.0 239 66 167 6 47 --- --- --- 4.83 .975

Sounds like he's looking at a helluva payday.......Cora made $1.4, Berroa $2M, Clayton $1M......When Lugo gets 4/$24M how good will MY look then ?

Will he be a guy who will "blossom" out from under Buck and with Washington? Or will he even be a Ranger by ST, as Evan Grant predicts. He obviously has talent and may not be as "maddening" as, say Loiza, but he may be close.

But his stats (KO/9, HR's allowed, etc.) are pretty good and his OPS allowed the last two years is .625. He made $750K and is eligible for arbitration for the 2nd time. What'll he get in arb? $1.2-$1.3? In this market (Stanton got 2/$5.5 from Cincy) he and Mahay ($1.2) could be steals.

Wonder why the Ranger's couldn't catch Oakland (or the Angels for that matter) ? Think it because of pitching ? Well, check this out :

THREE-YEAR DESCENTS (OPS)
PLAYER 2004 2005 2006
Abreu .972 .879 .886
Adams .887 .708 .601
Berroa .693 .680 .592
Bigbie .768 .742 .601
Blalock .855 .749 .726
Bonds 1.421 1.071 .999
Burnitz .815 .757 .711
Burroughs .713 .617 .558
Casey .915 .793 .727
Castilla .867 .722 .578
Chavez .898 .795 .786
Dunn .958 .927 .855
Edmonds 1.061 .918 .821
Erstad .746 .706 .605
A. Everett .702 .654 .642
L. Ford .827 .715 .599
L. Gonzalez .866 .825 .796
J. Guillen .849 .817 .694
Hairston .773 .704 .523
Helton 1.081 .979 .880
J. Lopez .873 .780 .683
Y. Molina .685 .653 .595
Mora .981 .822 .734
Nixon .887 .803 .767
A. Ramirez .951 .926 .913
Uribe .833 .713 .668
Varitek .872 .855 .725
Wilkerson .872 .756 .728

We had 3 of these guys in the line-up AT ONE TIME !!! Wilkerson at least has the injury excuse, the other 2 just suck. No wonder the Ranger's offense was weaker.......this might be the only time its ever happened (upon 2nd glance, I guess it happened in Baltimore, too).......Just wondering at this point, is Hank even salvagable ?

this from ESPN this morning:

Agent Paul Kinzer said he is negotiating on behalf of free-agent pitcher Vicente Padilla, who had formerly been represented by SFX. Kinzer said reports that Padilla will represent himself in contract talks are incorrect.

Padilla, 15-10 with a 4.50 ERA in 200 innings with Texas this season, is reportedly seeking a four-year deal for $10 million a year.

In this market he probably gets it.

http://www.tmz.com/2006/11/05/man-busted-after-allegedly-threatening-to-kill-duff

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and get it over with ? Analysis lately is there is plenty of money to be spent and this years F/A's are gonna get a big chunk.......what would be the "real" impact (negatively) on the Ranger's if they happen to miss by a couple of million each on 3-4 year deals with those two ?

Give Matthews 3/$24 with an option....Padilla 3/$27 with an option and be done with it......realistically, as Scott Lucas points out, the Rangers have no in-house option close to GM, Jr. who has solidified a 2 problem spots for Texas.....also, Padilla has no ready replacement to win 15 games and not have to be "begged" to come and pitch at TBIA.

Back to the original question, is we miss by a mil a year on both, haven't the Ranger's made much bigger mistakes on much bigger gambles ?  

Looks like most on here will get your wish........GM,Jr's agent says they will explore the market......betting he's gone.

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I know this will have many on here howling but, if we could package Blalock and prospects for a pitcher and DeRo gets big money to start elsewhere, would Arias be an option at 3B?

He didn't look "overmatched" at the plate in his brief audition, as many on here predicted. Not nearly like Cruz (.225?) or even Blalock himself vs. lefties (.216) or post AS break (.237).

If DeRo leaves why couldn't he slide in as the utility inf, maybe platoon at 3B and spell MY & Kinsler once in awhile ? Obviously, he won't hit .545, slug .636, and have an ops of 1.220 over a full year, but he looked like he could contribute.

Boy, that's hard to say, but, they've got a chance to win 95 games.....If they split the rest with LAA and win 2 of 3 from Seattle.

Awhile (AS break) back we were debating how many wins it would take to win the division....most thought maybe 88-89 would do it.

I still have NO idea how they've done it with THAT line-up & Harden out most of the year, I thought I'd be the first (on here) to give Billy Beane his props ! (and admit you were right, ChrisM....that's hard to say, too !)

Seems there is a "mental thing" about pitching at TBIA, as opposed to pitching on the road, this year anyway. In past years the "jet stream" was more of a factor, so maybe were the higher pitcher's #'s.

After reading about Tejeda's struggles at home and Millwood's early problems at TBIA......the question becomes, "Are they trying to be too fine & not just pitching, because of the Ballpark" ?

Millwood seems to have figured it out lately, but does some of the blame need to go to the catcher's (and Buck, who's calling most of the pitches, anyway) for the approach ? Is there really a difference pitching here as opposed to other "hitter's" parks ? And even though our offense has been down this year at home, has our opponents been down here as well ?

As of now the Ranger's expected record is 80-70....while Oakland's is 79-69 and the Angel's is 76-74 (oh, were it true). My question is, "Is it a reflection of pitching & defense ? Coaching ? Just pure luck ?

Seem's like we're always 5-6 games under achieving, while our competition always over-achieves by 5-6 games. That's 10-12 games in the standings.....which is pretty hard to overcome.

Am I one of the few who has a real concern about Edinson Volquez ever being consistent enough for the big leagues ?

He can look great at times and make hitters look silly with his change, but with his mechanics, will he ever have command ? I'm beginning to think he'll never have enough consistent command of his fastball to allow the change (his best pitch) to really carry him........looks like there are WAY too many moving parts (arms, legs, head, etc.) for him to ever be able to repeat his mechanics.........

I know there has been alot of Buck-bashing (and a few defender's) but HOW..........in the most critical moment of the season does he have a right hander (and a rookie at that) whose side arm delivery doesn't bother lefties.......FACE 4 LEFTIES IN A ROW (you know the results) with Mahay & CJ Wilson in the 'pen ?

If there can be any defense, I'd love to hear it......Buck has gotta go !!!

Who's the DH ?

Does Cruz play everyday ?

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Just wondering ya'll's opinion on........

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