Official 2014 Texas Rangers Spring Training Thread

[lainey12]

Hopefully he offers more advice than Jackie Moore did, which usually consisted of, "Great idea skip! Can I have a hug now?"

he probably will offer more advice, something tells me Washington prefers not to listen to anyone.

They can roll around on the ground hugging and smooching for all I care
if he can get Wash to bunt less

 

[romeo212000]

he probably will offer more advice, something tells me Washington prefers not to listen to anyone.

They can roll around on the ground hugging and smooching for all I care
if he can get Wash to bunt less

I swear to fucking God, if choo hits a leadoff double opening day and wash makes Elvis bunt him over there's no telling how much shit I will break.

 

[Nightcrawler]

MLB Washington defends his use of bunts - ESPN

This ought to piss us all off. Enjoy.

It should be a late game strategy.... When you're down 1 run and you're hitting in the 6th inning onward. I'd get so pissed last year when Wash would totally neuter the first inning with that shit. Just let the boys play.

 

[romeo212000]

It should be a late game strategy.... When you're down 1 run and you're hitting in the 6th inning onward. I'd get so pissed last year when Wash would totally neuter the first inning with that shit. Just let the boys play.

6th inning is too early at times. I don't even want to know how many outs wash gave away last year with that shit.

 

[DT LUNA]

6th inning is too early at times. I don't even want to know how many outs wash gave away last year with that shit.

Odds are he will do it again. He will not change his philosophy.

 

[Bmurph]

I swear to fucking God, if choo hits a leadoff double opening day and wash makes Elvis bunt him over there's no telling how much shit I will break.

I am almost guaranteed to come unglued and blow something up

 

[TheRangerDude]

I tend to agree, I would assume there are always budgets concerns...and imo, I don't see the owners pushing it up

certainly don't care if they do

For sure, budget is always an issue in business IMO and at the end of the this team is a business. I think even the Yankees and Dodgers have a budget... I just think their market allows them to have one much higher than many other clubs.

 

[TheRangerDude]

I swear to fucking God, if choo hits a leadoff double opening day and wash makes Elvis bunt him over there's no telling how much shit I will break.

I think we can pretty much guarantee some things around your house are in danger of being broke this season given how easily Wash can set you off. Just keep all the valuable stuff you have out of the room you watch games in... or just put a ton of pillows on the walls and on the floor in your game watching room.

 

[TheRangerDude]

Going back to that Trout 6 year $150M deal in the works... I sure hope they do that. Assuming they distrubute that evenly over the course of the contract, that would put their payroll at $175M. And $88M (50%) of that would be invested in 4 players this season alone. And technically speaking, its really only 3 players as 1 one those players, Wells, is getting paid $22M to sit on the couch this season. Also, two of them are on the other side of their prime. Factor all this in with the fact they have one worst farm systems in baseball and its good not to be a Halo fan. I mean, I think they will be better this season but their future looks really dim.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Going back to that Trout 6 year $150M deal in the works... I sure hope they do that. Assuming they distrubute that evenly over the course of the contract, that would put their payroll at $175M. And $88M (50%) of that would be invested in 4 players this season alone. And technically speaking, its really only 3 players as 1 one those players, Wells, is getting paid $22M to sit on the couch this season. Also, two of them are on the other side of their prime. Factor all this in with the fact they have one worst farm systems in baseball and its good not to be a Halo fan. I mean, I think they will be better this season but their future looks really dim.

Now if only Oakland would start sucking again..... Lol

 

[WastinSomeTime]

6th inning is too early at times. I don't even want to know how many outs wash gave away last year with that shit.

And the odd thing is if I remember correctly there were a couple in instances where it was obvious that a bunt was the right thing to do and we didn't. I cannot remember the exact games but I remember it because I was ready bust a gasket.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

At this time Ogando is not my main concern. Derek, Harrison and Lewis are. At least Ogando is healthy and ready to go. He may last and he may not but right now he is not the one we need to be so concerned with. Just glad we have him doing the job for some one else.

And I think that is part of the reason Justin would like for us to get Santana. I can understand both sides. It is hard for us because we do not always know the big picture and what the Rangers are trying to do as a whole. But like I said earlier today our pitching woes last year and the way things have started this year can make us a little uneasy. We really need some good news going forward from Harrison and Lewis.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Thanks Romeo for the article - one paragraph of many below

"The more they execute, the more likely the manager will let them swing away to attempt to move the runner, rather than rely on the bunt. And if the middle of the order drives in the runs as planned, won’t the discussion about the frequency of Washington’s bunts dissipate? "

To RW- You may also score more runs if you are not constantly giving up outs. Guys like Beltre and Fielder can hit more than just a single with a guy in scoring position.

 

[WilltheThrill]

Hopefully he offers more advice than Jackie Moore did, which usually consisted of, "Great idea skip! Can I have a hug now?"

And you would know this how exactly? I find it humorous that you claim to know exactly what advice Jackie Moore gave Wash and how often he gave it, when in reality you don't know the first thing about what they talked about.

I think that a new fresh voice in Wash's ear who sees things differently than Jackie Moore can and will be a great thing for the team. But as someone who personally knows Jackie Moore, I can tell you with 100% certainty that he often gave Wash a lot of advice and strategies that Wash chose to ignore. Also, it wasn't just Jackie's advice but Maddux's too which was often ignored. I'm sure Jackie made his share of bad calls during his time with the team, and a new change in philosophy there might be beneficial. But your continued portrayal of him as some bumbling old coot who didn't know what he was doing or rarely offered advice to Wash is grossly inaccurate.

Wash "do what he do" many times regardless of what his coaches tell him, as his new bench coach is about to find out.

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

I swear to fucking God, if choo hits a leadoff double opening day and wash makes Elvis bunt him over there's no telling how much shit I will break.

I will be disappointed - yes.

But I hope you realize its not always Wash calling for the bunt. Sometimes Elvis didnt feel like he could move the runner over w/o bunting. So he bunted. He lacked confidence in himself....or should I say confidence that he could execute.

That being said, not to bring up old wounds...but i'd rather Elvis bunt than hit into a DP like Young always seemed to do.


On if it’s his call or Ron Washington’s call whenever he bunts:

“It always depends …. 50/50 … As a player, you have to do what your manager asks you to do, especially with Wash, we know how he can turn … He will pull you aside. He’ll pull my hair for sure … Sometimes it depends. If I’m facing a great pitcher or the guy’s pitching amazing, and we’re having a hard time scoring runs, I’ll probably bunt in the first inning. If I feel great, I don’t really ever bunt, but whenever I don’t really feel comfortable to hit the ball the other way, maybe the guy has a nice sinker, I will take my chances, because when I’m bunting, I’m always going to try for a hit, so it’s either I’m moving or I’m getting to first base too.”


And also...

2. Elvis Andrus told me today that he intends to bunt less in the first inning and I think that’s a very good thing for this offense. No AL team has any business bunting in the first inning anymore. Andrus has been sharp in some early spring situational-hitting drills (hit-and-runs, hitting behind runners) and that will hopefully help convince manager Ron Washington not to put the bunt on with him early and to convince Andrus he can move runners without necessarily throwing away an out. In his career, Andrus has just one more sac bunt in innings 7-9 (23) than he does in innings 1-3 (22). If he’s gonna bunt, I think it should be when one run either wins the game or puts the game in the hands of the closer with a lead. Yeah, I’ve gotten past the idea that bunting early to take a slim 1-0 lead is a good idea. It isn’t.




Lee will be on the hill Opening Day. So if Choo does indeed hit a leadoff double...I fully expect Elvis to bunt him over....to try and get an early lead on Lee. Cause after all... there's this statistic from last season.

 

[romeo212000]

And how many times did we give away an out by bunting someone over in the first inning only to get nothing out of it, or get Ian thrown out on a missed hit and run? If Elvis doesn't feel he can execute then he doesn't need to be hitting second.

 

[Justinkm83]

Bacsik said on the fan that he'd rather have Jimenez and Cruz than Choo. I completely disagree.

 

[DT LUNA]

MLB TRADE RUMORS say Orioles Rangers and Blue Jays still have interest in Santana. Hope we don't.

 

[ESPN Refugee]

But I hope you realize its not always Wash calling for the bunt. Sometimes Elvis didnt feel like he could move the runner over w/o bunting. So he bunted. He lacked confidence in himself....or should I say confidence that he could execute.

It may be 50/50 but this is where Wash needs to demand Elvis to bunt less and actually way less. I like the fact that Elvis has speed and can bunt but the organization should not be paying him 120 million to what seems like bunting half of his AB's. I don't even want him to act like he's bunting. He's a better hitter than that. There's no excuse for this...bunting should be very very situational and not the norm.

 

[Justinkm83]

MLB TRADE RUMORS say Orioles Rangers and Blue Jays still have interest in Santana. Hope we don't.

Multiple sources tell Kubatko that the O's are not in on free agent starter Ervin Santana. The club would need only sacrifice its third-round pick to ink Santana or one of the other remaining free agents tied to draft compensation (Kendrys Morales and Stephen Drew), having already given up its first and second to land Cruz and Ubaldo Jimenez.