Question: Is it time for you to do a "Rangers Report Card"? Including pitching, hitting, fielding, Ron Washington, and even ownership. It'll be interesting to read your thoughts on "The State of the Rangers".
Yes, I guess it is time for a report card. I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but out of the Ranger's camp, they have said they will only be pursuing top of the line pitching prospects. This came after I started evaluating the free agency market on starting pitching. I do not know if they are going to be foolish in chassing "older" free agents (I, personally, would stay away from 40+... especially the 45+ free agents out there, they are simply begging to be on the DL). I guess I should note that even the GREAT Julio Franco spent DL time this year. With that said, that would make the market pretty weak in the world of starting pitchers. The only way the Rangers would be able to get a top of the line starter under 35 would be by trade, unless someone snuck in under the radar, and I just plum missed him.
Now, an evaluation of Ron Washington is still pretty hard to do, since he is still "green" and only one year at the elm to show for his efforts. He started rough and couldn't get Millwood or Padilla on target for most of the year. Still with that said, going into the last three games of the season, they were ten games over .500 since dropping 20 games under WAY early in the season. And, it should be noted that the Rangers peaked in the mid 5's in ERA halfway through the season and finished with a team ERA under 5, which the Rangers haven't done in a good while... he still seams to avoid using pinch hitters, even if the hitter has struck out in his last ba-zillion at-bats, but with that being his only major flaw, I can see why the Rangers extended his contract. The Rangers hitting was very lack-luster this year, which is strange since the TX team boasts Rudy Jaramillo as the hitting coach. He may or may not return next season, and should he not, then hitting isn't going to get much better (it could, sadly, get worse. Much worse.). I would think that is one of the TOP things on the to-do list this 0ff-season. In fact, here's a little list as to what the Rangers should be doing this off-season.
TO-DO List:
Pitching, hitting and fielding... let's start with hitting. Like I said, this has been an "off year" for Rudy, as the Rangers ranked 20th in team batting average. The Rangers still ranked 10th in RBIs and the 179 team homeruns rank them 8th. The team leader was tied at 21 HRs, which is the lowest for the Rangers that I can remember. The Rangers stole 88 bases, which puts them at 17 out of 30. I think that is the highest I've ever seen them. I'm sure I've seen it up there when we had Gary Pettis and the Doctor of Defense, Mark McLemore... but those days have come and gone. Anyway, the Rangers, who are switching to small-ball, hit 42 Sacrifice Fly's (23rd) and 57 Sacrifice Hits (14th). So that is their hitting. No big hitter (although, if Blalock would have played the entire season - roughly 600 at-bats, he would have slapped around 30 HRs), although Sosa did provide some pop. It would be nice to resign him this off-season, but I don't see it happening.
Fielding, well the Rangers actually stunk it up. They finished tied 27th with two other teams and seeded 29th. Only the Florida Marlins botched more errors on the field. The Rangers finished with 124 errors and the Marlins led the majors with 137 errors. The Rockies had the fewest with 68 errors beating out the Baltimore Orioles who were second with 79 (that's 11 fewer errors - NICE!). The Padres were stolen on so much, they just started giving them second base when the opposition hit a single. I mean, why waste time, right? Anyway, the Rangers gave away 98 free passes to second and snagged 47 shoplifters. What that means is 67.6% of those trying to steal, they got away with it. So, when Washington came to town, the defense was supposed to get better. It didn't. Still, just his rookie year at the helm. We'll cut some grace. For now.
Onto pitching. We know this isn't as accurate as it should be. The Rangers climber their way up to 24th. They were at dead last earlier this season, so to climb their way up to 24th, it means they were pitching some good baseball. The Padres had the lowest ERA this season with a 3.70 ERA, and they only through one complete game. The Braves, who have been the benchmark for pitching, only through one complete game as well. The Redsox were the only other team to post under 4 with a 3.87 ERA. Homeruns are an indication of how the season goes... the Rangers gave up 155 homeruns which is the 9th fewest this season. Not bad, really. But when you think about how the Rangers walked so many of the other guys (2nd most in the majors), then that is exposing the problem. The walk is a killer. It raises the pitch count and it puts runners on base to score. Could the walk be the reason why there wasn't a complete game for a Ranger this season? Well, we could take a walk and talk about it... I think this is a reflection on Mark Conner (the pitching coach), but I do not know what the answer is... get rid of another pitching coach? Washington now has a season under his belt. I can't promise that I would be so generous next season. Johnny Out.
Now, an evaluation of Ron Washington is still pretty hard to do, since he is still "green" and only one year at the elm to show for his efforts. He started rough and couldn't get Millwood or Padilla on target for most of the year. Still with that said, going into the last three games of the season, they were ten games over .500 since dropping 20 games under WAY early in the season. And, it should be noted that the Rangers peaked in the mid 5's in ERA halfway through the season and finished with a team ERA under 5, which the Rangers haven't done in a good while... he still seams to avoid using pinch hitters, even if the hitter has struck out in his last ba-zillion at-bats, but with that being his only major flaw, I can see why the Rangers extended his contract. The Rangers hitting was very lack-luster this year, which is strange since the TX team boasts Rudy Jaramillo as the hitting coach. He may or may not return next season, and should he not, then hitting isn't going to get much better (it could, sadly, get worse. Much worse.). I would think that is one of the TOP things on the to-do list this 0ff-season. In fact, here's a little list as to what the Rangers should be doing this off-season.
TO-DO List:- Re-sign Rudy Jaramillo
- Sign Torii Hunter
- Stay away from Barry Bonds (it's a shame I have to put this)
- Stay away from any A-Rod talks... (I think we learned this lesson)
- Talk to Shawn Chacon about being a Ranger
- Sign Koji Uehara - a top of the line starter!
Pitching, hitting and fielding... let's start with hitting. Like I said, this has been an "off year" for Rudy, as the Rangers ranked 20th in team batting average. The Rangers still ranked 10th in RBIs and the 179 team homeruns rank them 8th. The team leader was tied at 21 HRs, which is the lowest for the Rangers that I can remember. The Rangers stole 88 bases, which puts them at 17 out of 30. I think that is the highest I've ever seen them. I'm sure I've seen it up there when we had Gary Pettis and the Doctor of Defense, Mark McLemore... but those days have come and gone. Anyway, the Rangers, who are switching to small-ball, hit 42 Sacrifice Fly's (23rd) and 57 Sacrifice Hits (14th). So that is their hitting. No big hitter (although, if Blalock would have played the entire season - roughly 600 at-bats, he would have slapped around 30 HRs), although Sosa did provide some pop. It would be nice to resign him this off-season, but I don't see it happening.
Fielding, well the Rangers actually stunk it up. They finished tied 27th with two other teams and seeded 29th. Only the Florida Marlins botched more errors on the field. The Rangers finished with 124 errors and the Marlins led the majors with 137 errors. The Rockies had the fewest with 68 errors beating out the Baltimore Orioles who were second with 79 (that's 11 fewer errors - NICE!). The Padres were stolen on so much, they just started giving them second base when the opposition hit a single. I mean, why waste time, right? Anyway, the Rangers gave away 98 free passes to second and snagged 47 shoplifters. What that means is 67.6% of those trying to steal, they got away with it. So, when Washington came to town, the defense was supposed to get better. It didn't. Still, just his rookie year at the helm. We'll cut some grace. For now.
Onto pitching. We know this isn't as accurate as it should be. The Rangers climber their way up to 24th. They were at dead last earlier this season, so to climb their way up to 24th, it means they were pitching some good baseball. The Padres had the lowest ERA this season with a 3.70 ERA, and they only through one complete game. The Braves, who have been the benchmark for pitching, only through one complete game as well. The Redsox were the only other team to post under 4 with a 3.87 ERA. Homeruns are an indication of how the season goes... the Rangers gave up 155 homeruns which is the 9th fewest this season. Not bad, really. But when you think about how the Rangers walked so many of the other guys (2nd most in the majors), then that is exposing the problem. The walk is a killer. It raises the pitch count and it puts runners on base to score. Could the walk be the reason why there wasn't a complete game for a Ranger this season? Well, we could take a walk and talk about it... I think this is a reflection on Mark Conner (the pitching coach), but I do not know what the answer is... get rid of another pitching coach? Washington now has a season under his belt. I can't promise that I would be so generous next season. Johnny Out.
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