The Rangers Report – 2006 Offseason

Team Record as of October 2, 2006

Final Record: 80-82

Third in the American League West

Farewell To DeRosa

Mark DeRosa signed yesterday with the Chicago Cubs to play second base for 3 years $13 million.  It’s a shame to see him go, as DeRosa was a great clubhouse guy and a solid contributor to the team.  The Cubs blew out the Rangers’ offer of 2 years, $6 million, plus a $4 million team option for 2009. 

With that in mind, will DeRosa regress?  A little.  Rosie was a fastball hitter and the occasional hard curve would usually kill him.  But he was still a solid contact hitter that should produce well for the Cubs.  He’s also a solid fielder at third and the outfield and could see some time out there, depending on what happens with the Cubs next season.

The Rangers will receive a sandwich pick for DeRosa, who was a classified as a Type B Free Agent.

The Washington Effect

Despite DeRosa’s loss, Ron Washington has already received several phone calls from players that are interested in playing for him.  For starters (no pun intended), Barry Zito, who seemed to be ready to avoid the Rangers at all costs, is now considering Texas as a possible destination.  Zito is 11-1 with a 3.75 ERA in 15 career starts at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.  Other names to keep in mind are Torri Hunter and Jermaine Dye.  Both have called Washington with a desire to play for him, though neither will be a free agent until 2008. 

One of the reasons why the Rangers fired Buck Showalter was the fact that several agents stressed that their clients wouldn’t re-sign or sign with Texas as long as Showalter was there.  If Washington’s presence can net the Rangers a pair of starters, then his hiring has already been worth it.

Coaching Changes

Washington has already made an impact as far as the coaching changes have been made.  Don Wakamatsu has been moved from bench coach to third base.  Art Howe is now the bench coach.  Mark Connor will remain the pitching coach and Dom Chiti will stay as the bullpen coach.  A no brainer move was to keep Rudy Jaramillo as the hitting coach.  The Rangers hope to bring in Gary Pettis, a former Texas Ranger, as the first base coach.  If the moves work out as planned, Howe will work with the infielders, with the exception of Hank Blalock.  Washington said: “I’m going to work with Hank Blalock. He’s my guy. We’re going to get him going right.”  If hired, Pettis will work with the outfield.

Possible Replacement Rangers From Within The System

Despite all that, the Rangers may have to depend on unproven talent in 2007 at some point.  Should the Rangers need to plug holes from within the organization, here's what we could see in Arlington, as of today.

• Replacing Gary Matthews Jr. - Freddy Guzman.  Guzman has the range and glove to play center as is and he can tear up the bases, something Ron Washington would love.  But the question is, can Guzman hit?  Some seem to think so, as Guzman hit solid enough numbers in the minors, but the translation to the majors isn’t always as kind.
• Replacing Mark DeRosa - Drew Meyer.  Meyer, orginally a first round draft pick that was hoped to be able to be a solid second baseman, has instead evolved into a utility player.  Meyer's taken starts at second, the entire outfield, and possibly at short.  While Meyer may not evolve into anything more than a defensive replacement, at the very least he gives the Rangers some flexibility as far as emergency starters are concerned.
• Replacing Carlos Lee or whoever the hell played DH - Jason Botts or Nate Gold.  Botts has put up gread power numbers in the minors, but disappointed in a brief call up last season.  Botts will likely get another shot during Spring Training, but he may be threatened by Frisco First Baseman Nate Gold, who went from project to prospect with his breakout season in Frisco.  One or Both of these guys could crack the 25 man roster..
• Replacing Brad Wilkerson, in case he becomes the DH - Victor Diaz.  Victor Diaz, a outfielder obtained from the Mets for catcher Mike Nickeas, could also be ready to step in.  Diaz has great power potential, but fell hard in the eyes of the Mets after a disappointing season in Triple A.  Diaz needs a solid spring training to restore the luster on his star, if he’s successful, the Rangers would be so much the better.

There's no guarantee that some or any of these moves will work out.  But remember, at some point the Rangers gave a third baseman thought to be nothing mroe than a DH a chance at first base, a second baseman who stepped up a shot at short, and a young shortstop transitioning to first a chance once an All-Star was traded.  And so far, Mark Teixiera, Michael Young and Ian Kinsler are all doing fine.

Hot Stove Rumors

• In a rumor that is actually quite frightening, when you consider how intensely they've scouted the farm system, the White Sox are interested in Nick Masset, a reliever in the Rangers' system that has been kinda made expendible with the rise of Wes Littleton, C.J. Wilson and Aki Otsuka, plus the extension given to Ron Mahay and the likely extension of Rick Bauer.  I'm not sold on this move, as I would rather play Freddy Guzman, the faster player.  Still, there is the possibility that Anderson could benefit from a couple of seasons under Rudy Jaramillo and turn into the second coming of Aaron Rowand.  I'm just not sure if it's worth sacrificing a reliever.
• The Rangers apparently haven't soured on Adam Eaton after all.  Reports are that Eaton is in discussions with the Rangers, as well as several other teams, to possibly return.  Word is that Eaton somehow wants to justify the trade that the Rangers made for him and prove that he can make it work.
•  The Rangers have also resigned themselves to the fact that Gary Matthews Jr. will likely be gone.  As a backup plan, the Rangers are currently talking to Dave Roberts, recently of the San Diego Padres, for a short term fix until the system yields a valid solution.  The Rangers will lose their first round pick if they sign Roberts, but they would in essence be sacrificing the pick the would gain on Matthews, while gaining an extra Sandwich pick.
• The Rangers are reaching out to far more free agent pitchers than just Barry Zito.  The Rangers are also disussing Vicente Padilla, Ted Lily, Gil Meche, and others.  Of that trio just mentioned, I'd take Padilla and Lily, though Lily may be a bit too fragile to last the whole season.

ESPN The Magazine's Tim Kurkjian reported on The Dan Patrick Show that the White Sox were "extremely close" to trading for Nationals outfielder Alfonso Soriano.  The asking price is likely starting pitcher pressed into relief Brandon McCarthy.  In my opinion, if this goes down, it's likely that a Player To Be Named Later would also be included into the deal.  If the White Sox do get Soriano, it's likely that Scott Podsednik will be shifted to centerfield in order to take the underperforming Brian Anderson's place. 

What this would do for the White Sox is give them an even more monsterous lineup that they already have.  The amount of runs that Soriano would supply batting fifth behind Jim Thome and Paul Konerko is almost astounding.  And while I doubt that the White Sox will retain Soriano (he's almost certainly going back to the Yankees), this type of deal would pay off very well in the short term.

However, I wonder what this would do to the White Sox in the future.  McCarthy's got a great arm and would be a solid No. 2 starter on any team.  If they do in fact trade him to the Nationals, the Nats will have a solid pitcher to build around while also giving them another young player with years of control left on him. If they can trade Austin Kearns to another team for a solid pitcher (possibly to the LA Angels for Ervin Santana perhaps?), the Nats would be in business.

Again, a more thorough breakdown will be done if and when the trade goes through.