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From the Windup: Following the Rays

Pat LackeyPosted Sep 18th 2008 9:00AM by Pat Lackey (author feed)
Filed under: Orioles, Rangers, Reds, AL East, AL West, NL Central



From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Unless you're a Red Sox fan, the best story in baseball this year is the Tampa Bay Rays. By now, everyone likely knows the story but let's recap. In 1998, the Rays came into existence. In every season between 1998 and 2007, they won between 61 and 69 games, except for in 2004. They won 70 that year.

This year, though, is a different story. With last night's win over the Red Sox, they've got 90 wins and a two-game lead in the AL East, a division that seemed to be locked in a deep stranglehold that the Yankees and Red Sox would never let up. The amazing part is that everyone saw this coming in some form. GM Andrew Friedman has rebuilt Chuck LaMar's mistake from the ground up and the Rays are winning because they're good, not because they're lucky.

Baseball is cyclical and every couple of years, a young team bursts on the scene and surprises everyone. Who among baseball's long suffering franchises is next? There are seven franchises that haven't made the playoffs since the turn of the century; the Pirates, Nationals, Royals, Brewers, Blue Jays, Reds, Orioles, and Rangers (sorry Mariners and Giants fans, you've been good this century and that disqualifies you from this exercise), so let's take a look at them and see if we can't figure out who might be in line for the next turnaround.
Continue Reading From the Windup: Following the Rays

Who Won and Lost During Trading Season?

Andrew JohnsonPosted Jul 31st 2008 9:08PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)
Filed under: Astros, Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, Phillies, Pirates, Red Sox, White Sox, Yankees, MLB Transactions

Take a deep breath, baseball fans. The dust has settled after another trading deadline, and what a deadline it was. Three future Hall of Famers were moved. So was a reigning Cy Young winner and two former All-Stars. And we haven't talked about Rich Harden yet. Undoubtedly, 2008 was the most entertaining trading season in recent memory for baseball fans.


Truth be told, it will take years before we know who helped themselves or hurt themselves at the 2008 trade deadline. That's just the way it is when boom-or-bust prospects are involved. But here's an educated (and roughly ordered) guess anyway at which teams won and which teams lost now that the July 31 deadline has come and gone.

Winners

Angels: With a double-digit lead in the AL West, the Angels didn't need to do anything to get to October. They went out and got slugging first baseman Mark Teixeira anyway, and it's nothing short of a coup. For all the praise heaped upon Mike Scioscia's throwback run-at-all costs strategy, it hasn't done much for Los Angeles in the postseason. The Halos have scored 17 runs in their last eight postseason games dating back to 2005, and they don't have single regular slugging over .500 this year. They needed a bat to go all the way in October, and that's just what they got in Teixeira.
Continue Reading Who Won and Lost During Trading Season?

Salty Is Going to Feel Salty

Tom FornelliPosted Mar 21st 2008 12:50PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Dallas, Rangers, AL West, MLB Rumors

The Rangers saw the writing on the wall with Mark Teixeira last season, and knowing the odds of Tex returning to Arlington were slim when he becomes a free agent after this season, they dealt the slugging first baseman to Atlanta a year early so they could get a better return. It was a smart move by the Rangers, and one that landed them a very nice prospect in catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Saltalamacchia was brought over to not only replace Tex's bat, but also handle the Rangers pitching staff for years to come. Well, as opening day draws nearer, it's becoming more apparent that Salty's future with the Rangers is going to be put on hold for a while. All signs are pointing to Jarrod starting the season at AAA.
Unofficially, the contest is over, it appears.

Gerald Laird, manager Ron Washington's favorite whipping boy in the first part of last season, has won the Texas Rangers' starting catcher job.

And young prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia soon will be headed back to the minors.
While the move probably won't be very popular amongst Rangers fans, and it definitely won't be music to Salty's ears, it really is the right move for the Rangers to make. Gerald Laird has earned the starting job this spring and whether they like it or not, the Rangers and Saltalamacchia will be better off with him playing everyday in the minors instead of sitting on the bench in Arlington most of the time.

Kenny Rogers Needs To Say He's Sorry

Tom FornelliPosted Nov 15th 2007 1:25PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Dallas, Rangers, AL West, MLB Gossip

Kenny Rogers still hasn't decided where he wants to play next season. Is he going to return to the Detroit Tigers, where he helped turn a losing team into American League champions in 2006? Or is he going to go back to his old flame, the Texas Rangers, for a fourth time.

It's as if the Rangers and Rogers are like that dysfunctional couple you know who constantly fight, and then break up, but when you see them at that party the next Friday they're making out in the corner again.

So is Kenny going to make out with the Rangers some more? Not if he doesn't tell them he's sorry first.
Like his general manager did a day earlier,Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks said Wednesday that under "certain circumstances," he would welcome a fourth marriage between the club and free agent pitcher Kenny Rogers.

Hicks also made clear what those "certain circumstances" would entail: Some degree of a public apology from Rogers for the way his last tour with the Rangers ended in 2005.

 "He's got to take care of some unfinished business," Hicks said. "He's got to apologize."
In case you forgot, Rogers didn't leave the Rangers under the best of circumstances last time around. There was talk that Rogers had told the Rangers he'd retire if they didn't give him a contract extension, another report from somebody within the organization saying Rogers was faking an injury, and it all culminated in Kenny attacking that cameraman.

He later apologized to both the cameraman, and the fans, but he never apologized to the Rangers.

In other news, Tom Hicks also told Jarrod Saltalamacchia that he can't bring any more chewing gum to batting practice if he doesn't bring enough for the whole team.

Kason Gabbard Has Forearm Stiffness

Tom FornelliPosted Aug 13th 2007 1:04PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Dallas, Rangers, AL West, MLB Injuries

It was supposed to be a nice little story when Kason Gabbard took the mound for the Rangers on Sunday. He was half of a high school reunion in the Rangers battery, as Jarrod Saltalamacchia was donning the tools of ignorance.

Gabbard and Saltalamacchia, two of the most recent additions to the Rangers, went to high school together at Royal Palm Beach High. The reunion was very short lived, in fact, it only lasted 18 pitches.
Gabbard, who has had four surgeries on his left arm, threw just 18 pitches before signaling to the dugout that he was hurting. He had just retired Delmon Young on a fly ball to start the second. After a brief consultation on the mound with manager Ron Washington, pitching coach Mark Connor and trainer Jamie Reed, he was replaced by Willie Eyre. He is listed as day-to-day with left forearm stiffness. His next scheduled start is Friday at Minnesota.

"It's just a minor setback," said Gabbard, who acknowledged having some stiffness in the forearm after his throwing session on Friday. "I told them I'd stay out there and pitch. I'll be ready to go on Friday."
Gabbard may be saying it's nothing major, and he could be telling the truth, but there's still plenty of reason for the Rangers to worry. After all, Gabbard has had four surgeries on his arm already, and Akinori Otsuka experienced some forearm stiffness earier this season as well. Much like Gabbard, he didn't think it was that big of a deal either.

Otsuka then sat out for three weeks before being placed on the disabled list, and hasn't pitched since July 1st.

The Rangers Were Deadline Winners

Tom FornelliPosted Aug 1st 2007 1:06PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Dallas, Rangers, AL West

Last night PostmanR broke down the winners and losers of Tuesday's trade deadline. While I agree with what he said about the teams he included in his breakdown, I couldn't help but feel he left one team out in the winners category.

The Texas Rangers.

I know, I know, how can the team that lost the best player be considered a winner? It's pretty easy really, you just have to look at who the Rangers got back in the deal.

If there was one thing that this trade deadline made abundantly clear, it's that teams these days do not want to give up on prospects. With the current market price of veterans growing higher, it's important for a team to keep around it's much cheaper and younger talent to fill roster spots.

Yet, that didn't stop the Rangers or Jon Daniels from scoring some highly-touted prospects. They got Jarrod Saltalamacchia who's poised to be the Rangers catcher of the next decade, along with another of the Braves top prospects in shortstop Elvis Andrus. Along with those two, they also got a couple of good young arms. All for a guy who didn't want to be in Texas in the first place, so it's a value worth much more than two sandwich round picks after next season.

They were also able to pry Kason Gabbard from the Red Sox for Eric Gagne. Considering that one of the concerns the Red Sox have is their fifth starter, getting Gabbard from Boston is quite a steal for the Rangers. In seven starts for the Red Sox this season, Gabbard has gone 4-0 with a 3.73 ERA and now he has a chance to become a staple at the top of the Rangers rotation.

So in the end, even though it won't make much difference this season, the Rangers are going to come out of these two trades looking pretty good. They have a plan to rebuild, and on Tuesday they took a couple of steps to help speed up that process, which makes them winners in my book.

Previously at FanHouse:
Your MLB Trade Deadline Winners and Losers
Mark Teixeira Turned Down $140 Million

Your MLB Trade Deadline Winners and Losers

PostmanRPosted Aug 1st 2007 1:20AM by PostmanR (author feed)
Filed under: Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Minnesota, New York, Red Sox, White Sox, Twins, Rangers, Braves, Mets, Padres, AL East, AL Central, NL East, NL West, San Diego, The Word

Two teams vying for the playoffs made deals for big names. Two last place teams swapped players. Guys you thought were gone ended up staying. Teammates weren't happy. But really, it was just a bunch of vagabond players switching uniforms.

Here are your winners and losers:

Winners:

Atlanta Braves

Sure, they gave up a top young player in catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia (that last name is just way out of control) but picking up Mark Teixeira -- even though his power's a bit down -- brings a proven power hitter on board and a quality defensive first baseman to boot. If Andruw Jones can knock out of his season-long slump (which he seems to maybe be doing) the Braves have a shot at taking over the Mets in the NL East or at worst picking up the Wild Card. In the long run this might not work out in Atlanta's favor, but for the here and now it did.
Continue Reading Your MLB Trade Deadline Winners and Losers

The Teixeira Trade Signals a Seller's Market

Pat LackeyPosted Jul 30th 2007 3:15PM by Pat Lackey (author feed)
Filed under: Atlanta, Dallas, Rangers, Braves, AL West, NL East, MLB Rumors

Let the Mark Teixeira fallout continue. While Mullet just told you what the trade of Big Tex to the Braves might mean for your favorite contending team, I'm here to tell you what it might mean for your favorite non-contending team. It's pretty easy, actually. This trade, coupled with the Scott Linebrink deal, has firmly established a strong seller's market at this trade deadline.

Let's look at things. For a little more than one season of Teixeira (he's eligible for free agency after 2008), who is certainly a good hitter but who has seen his home run power erode the past two seasons, and an unproven reliever, the Braves are giving up one of the better prospects in the game in Jarrod Saltalamacchia, as well low level shortstop Elvis Andrus (another of their top prospects) and two pitching prospects. That's quite a ransom. Throw that in with the three decent pitching prospects the Padres for the struggling Linebrink, and you've got quite a market for teams looking to sell of valuable assets.

But what does this mean exactly? The prices for guys that are on the block like Damaso Marte, Salomon Torres, Jermaine Dye, Eric Gagne, and even guys that might be available like Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr., have all just gone way up. So do the teams on the bottom of the standings try and trade someone maybe they hadn't considered before because of the potential to get some real value in return like the Rangers have? Or will the contenders just stand pat because of the escalating price tags, unwilling to mortgage the future for a run at the playoffs now? Judging the early activity levels, I'd guess the latter, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

Previously at FanHouse
What the Mark Teixeira Trade Means For Your Favorite Team
Report: Braves to Land Teixeira
Brewers Trade for Scott Linebrink

Report: Braves To Land Teixeira

Tom FornelliPosted Jul 30th 2007 12:18PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Atlanta, Dallas, Rangers, Braves, AL West, NL East

It's been talked about for a while, and yesterday I explained why I thought it made the most sense, but it appears that the Braves and Rangers are about to agree on a deal that will send Mark Teixeira to Atlanta.

From Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal,
The deal is done, pending a review of the medical records of the players involved, according to major-league sources.

The Braves will receive Teixeira and left-handed reliever Ron Mahay.

The Rangers will receive catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Class A shortstop Elvis Andrus and two pitching prospects.
One of the two pitching prospects the Rangers will be getting is believed to be lefty Matt Harrison. One of the stumbling blocks of the deal was that the Rangers weren't sure they wanted Harrison after he experienced some shoulder trouble. An MRI revealed no damage, so the Rangers decided to take a chance.

I think that this will be one of those deals that helps both clubs, which I think is the point of a trade. The Rangers aren't a better team right now without Teixeira, but with the young players they're picking up from the Braves, they're building something in Arlington.

As for the Braves, they just became a lot more dangerous. They now have two powerful switch-hitters in their lineup with Teixeira and Chipper Jones. They've also gotten a first baseman that can hit to go along with his Gold Glove defense. The Braves first basemen have the worst OPS than any other team in the league, and Teixeira will change that.

The question now is, what will the Mets do to answer?

Previously at FanHouse:
Major League Mongering: Who's Going to Get Teixeira?
Braves Up the Ante for Teixeira
Mark Teixeira to Atlanta?

Major League Mongering: Who's Going To Get Teixeira?

Tom FornelliPosted Jul 29th 2007 12:50PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Angels, Rangers, Braves, AL West, NL East, MLB Gossip, MLB Rumors, Anaheim

Major League Mongering will look at players rumored to be on the move between now and the July 31st pseudo-trade-deadline.

In what's been a pretty quiet trade market so far this season without any big name players switching jerseys, a lot of the focus has been on Mark Teixeira of the Texas Rangers. The first baseman is easily the best player available to any contending team who's interested, thanks to his big bat and gold glove defense. It's basically a given that Teixeira will get traded, but to whom?

The two teams who are competing against each other for Tex's services are the Braves and Angels. With a new movement by teams around the league to do everything possible to keep their top prospects, you would think that Jon Daniels would've jumped at the Braves offer. Jarrodd Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, and the Braves best lefthanded prospect in Matt Harrison for Teixeira. That's three top notch prospects for one player. Considering the Rangers are entering a rebuilding process, that's exactly the kind of deal they'd have to be looking for.

The sticking point is that the Angels just won't go away. General Manager Bill Stoneman has told Daniels that he'd package Casey Kotchman, Joe Saunders and a prospect for Texeira, just as long as that prospect isn't Brandon Wood or Nick Adenhart. Daniels, of course, is telling Stoneman he wants either Wood or Adenhart in the deal.
Continue Reading Major League Mongering: Who's Going To Get Teixeira?
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