rangers trade thoughts........

[terpsfball09]

One positive out of this slump is that maybe we'll lose so many games we can become sellers and sell Cruz. He'd be the best bat on the market. I'm so positive, i know.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

I see that Olt is starting to heat up. Went 2-3 last night and drove in all 3 runs with a homer and hit one the night before.

 

[lainey12]

If all you go out and do this trade deadline is get Norris while letting Garza go to another contender you risk losing the clubhouse
Wasn’t there a tweet or blog post recently from one of the local guys hinting that the clubhouse needed reinforcements and it would provide a huge boost to morale.

I don’t think Norris provides that boost. Garza does IMO

There were also complaints from the clubhouse in the offseason, along with their agents that they were concerned about the lack of moves.
None of that excuses poor performances from any player, just so I'm clear.

But I'm in agreement about morale, and add confidence to that. You can go thru all the numbers you want in this game, but making millions won't make any player an impermeable robot that's not vulnerable to losing the ever important confidence. Assuming the talent is there, confidence is everything, especially in this game where there is a lot of time to stand or sit around and re-hash your mistakes.

from what I read, they want the moon for Norris, JD won't go there and he shouldn't.
No idea what to make out of the Garza situation that doesn't look good, except my original statement here that I never really believed in 'imminent' deals. Sure, I get excited when some trade looks good, but typically pretty pessimistic until the player is in a Ranger uni.

The A's are in a pretty good spot to go on another winning tear with their schedule. We aren't.
As far as this team is concerned, Kinsler is spot on in his interview after the sweep.
Essentially he said this was a team he expected to beat, they didn't and how they come back and respond to the Yankees Series will be telling.
That's what the team can do, look at some pretty embarrassing/costly mistakes, evaluate it, accept it, and then FORGET about it completely.
you move on, and you move on quick.

And we wait to see what JD can put together, that ideally does give them a morale/confidence boost. I'm pretty confident JD will get a couple pieces that at least improve our chances, even if it doesn't pan out.
Interesting week ahead.... to put it mildly.

 

[lainey12]

Well, we still have to the 31st. And it may take us to the last second as it did Dempster. But with so few 'sellers' we have so few options. Wish Tepesch and Grimm handled themselves better with their chances here at the end.

That's what we are down too, it's all fingers crossed at this point...on every level, from trades to performance to managing.
I'm prepared to say the A's probably won't lose one game in the next 7 days...if not more, they are poised to go on another killer July winning streak

So..there's this
and this
and that's it

 

[Old school]

While a trade for an impact player would be helpful, the truth is this team must find some consistency and play better. In the end another player will not fix a lot of our problems. Sloppy play, mental mistakes, and swinging for the fences when a single gets the job done is something that needs to be fixed from within. This team has fallen into a lot of bad habits and this needs to be addressed. There is no accountability on anyone except the occasional rookie.

 

[pegasusredleg]

I wouldn't count on either one.

I agree. Look at how long Jeter was out and then after one game he is out for an injury unrelated to his DL injury. Lewis and Harrison may come back late next month but expect them to be like Ogando and have sorness that puts them on the 15 day DL. Which pretty much says what you stated above.

 

[pegasusredleg]

That's what we are down too, it's all fingers crossed at this point...on every level, from trades to performance to managing.
I'm prepared to say the A's probably won't lose one game in the next 7 days...if not more, they are poised to go on another killer July winning streak

So..there's this
and this
and that's it

I don't know...The Angels played the A's tough so we can possibly expect a 2-2 split when they go to O.co later this week. Astros? Crap shoot really, you never know when the Stros will put up 7-8 runs in a game but you are probably correct...They will sweep the Stros and we need to be perfect against the Yankees.

 

[DT LUNA]

While a trade for an impact player would be helpful, the truth is this team must find some consistency and play better. In the end another player will not fix a lot of our problems. Sloppy play, mental mistakes, and swinging for the fences when a single gets the job done is something that needs to be fixed from within. This team has fallen into a lot of bad habits and this needs to be addressed. There is no accountability on anyone except the occasional rookie.

Could not agree more but the people responsible in addressing these issues are a complete failure in doing so.

 

[1prboy]

I'm not so sure the Rangers want to give up a lot young prospects for a pitcher like Matt Garza in light of the way that they've been hitting and playing as of late.

 

[1prboy]

One positive out of this slump is that maybe we'll lose so many games we can become sellers and sell Cruz. He'd be the best bat on the market. I'm so positive, i know.

Cruz is a FA at the end of this season. Combine that with a possible steroid-use suspension and the Rangers aren't going to get anything of value for him. At best they would get another rental player.

 

[lainey12]

While a trade for an impact player would be helpful, the truth is this team must find some consistency and play better. In the end another player will not fix a lot of our problems. Sloppy play, mental mistakes, and swinging for the fences when a single gets the job done is something that needs to be fixed from within. This team has fallen into a lot of bad habits and this needs to be addressed. There is no accountability on anyone except the occasional rookie.

Offensively speaking, the RISP problem is so horrible, I'm not sure what you do. Benching players won't help and likely makes it worse, as far this "accountability issue" goes. So many of them struggle with RISP, you can't bench half the team ya know? First, they never seem to dominate early, consistently (seemingly, I don't have the numbers) and always trying to come back from deficits.
So then you have this major problem where a lot of the lineup is pressing to make something happen.
You're absolutely right about just going with a pitch and getting the single. But they know all this, so the only thing I can come up with is a pretty big loss of confidence when runners are on.

How do you fix that? I don't know, but they better figure it out, and fast.

 

[lainey12]

I don't know...The Angels played the A's tough so we can possibly expect a 2-2 split when they go to O.co later this week. Astros? Crap shoot really, you never know when the Stros will put up 7-8 runs in a game but you are probably correct...They will sweep the Stros and we need to be perfect against the Yankees.

I know, I'm pretty pessimistic when it comes to the A's losing, especially against those two teams. (I know the Angels beat them twice...which almost makes me think it's not going to happen again)
I certainly like your version better.

 

[Hambombs]

This team kinda reminds me of the Giants. Very good pitching bad offense although we have way more offense then we are showing. But our 1-2 of Darvish, Holland matches up with anyone in the playoffs, we probably have one of the best 1-2. If this offense can wake up a bit I like our chances of making the playoffs.

 

[Jbear]

This situation is the culmination of one and a half seasons of poor management. The way that Wash handled Hamilton, Young and two month-long periods of overall poor play last season has carried over to this season. The pitching injuries and "the season is long so short periods of poor play are understandable" excuses are being used as defense for the team not playing better. Wash still believes these guys are going to wake up one day soon and run off a long win streak that will fix everything. His stupid gut is the basis for this type of wishful Wash logic.

JD needs to step up soon and clear the air that this team's offense has been badly under performing for much of the season and that the manager, coaches and players need to pick it up soon or major changes will be made. JD needs to indicate that yes the starting pitching injuries have been a factor but it is not the real reason for the Rangers problems since the start of June. Lineups have been a huge problem, RISP failures, base running failures, pitching mismanagement, base coach errors, hitting coach ineffectiveness, general inability to put down sac bunts or hit sac flies at key times and other "little things" have collectively led to a situation where all too frequently the Rangers can't win a game unless the other team is held to less than four runs.

Garza and a bat will not fix anything if the team continues to score poorly, if Wash continues to put people in the wrong lineup spots, if the team continues failing to hit with RISP, if they continue to have poor ABs without working pitch counts, if the third base coach and hitting coaches don't pick up their job performance, etc. A record of 0-36 when trailing after 8 innings has nothing to do with Rangers pitching and everything to do with an overall lack of fundamental baseball skills. This kind of overall crappy play and crappy management cost Valentine his job last year (but it was worse than this I admit) and resulted in a major retooling of the Red Sox. Perhaps the Rangers need a major retooling too.

The player's coach, sun flower eating shtick of Wash has worn thin. He has been the manager of teams loaded with talent over multiple seasons that have won a lot of games. I have maintained for a long time that the value of his managerial contribution to this success was being seriously over weighted. He is a pretty miserable game manager who is getting free pass in large part because the players love him. He is not going anywhere soon but he needs to be put on public notice that even his performance is subject to review at the end of the season.

 

[pegasusredleg]

Could not agree more but the people responsible in addressing these issues are a complete failure in doing so.

I think it is pretty strong to say everyone involved are complete failures. We are at a frustration point as fans, as with the players and front office. Fans are frustrated because the team is not performing to the high standards of the previous three years. Players are frustrated because they go out there on one night and have a Holland performance and score enough runs to win and then the next day the opposing team scores 5-7 runs and the offense goes 1-12 with RISP. So there is ample frustration on both the hitters and pitchers on this team, it is real and understandable. The FO is frustrated because they see players that should be performing not performing and know a couple of trades will not heal a team but hurt the mid to long term hopes for the team. So in the end, it is what Wash says it is...you grind it out.

One more quality arm in this rotation may "guarantee" you two more quality starts a week but will the offense show up during that quality start? Don't know now the way they are playing. One more power bat may break the 0-26 record the Rangers have after being behind in the eighth inning but one more bat won't get you to a .600 rating overnight or for the rest of the season.

This is the third time this season we are in a prolonged funk. The first one in May was a blip. The second one in the June, more pronounced, lost us the division lead and this third one is yet to be determined, but we now have a hole to climb out of. The first rule of holes is to stop digging though

 

[pegasusredleg]

I'm not so sure the Rangers want to give up a lot young prospects for a pitcher like Matt Garza in light of the way that they've been hitting and playing as of late.

A valid point but the problem is not going away. The FO either decides to pull the trigger and help this team out now (although how little it may contribute) or "grind it out" and hope the rooks can mature quickly.

Another point to consider is why would Garza want to come to a team that, currently, blows games with quality starts?

 

[pegasusredleg]

This team kinda reminds me of the Giants. Very good pitching bad offense although we have way more offense then we are showing. But our 1-2 of Darvish, Holland matches up with anyone in the playoffs, we probably have one of the best 1-2. If this offense can wake up a bit I like our chances of making the playoffs.

Ham, don't know about matching in the playoffs with only a 1-2 of Holland and Yu. To survive the playoffs you need at least a 1-2-3 punch and a fourth that is consistent in keeping the team in the game. We don't have that formula right now, nor will we EVEN IF Harrison and Lewis come back. Harrison and Lewis will require monitoring when they come back and will not be to full form this season. That we can count on.

 

[Hambombs]

A valid point but the problem is not going away. The FO either decides to pull the trigger and help this team out now (although how little it may contribute) or "grind it out" and hope the rooks can mature quickly.

Another point to consider is why would Garza want to come to a team that, currently, blows games with quality starts?

Well you could say that with a lot of teams. rangers go into a funk at some point every year

 

[Hambombs]

Ham, don't know about matching in the playoffs with only a 1-2 of Holland and Yu. To survive the playoffs you need at least a 1-2-3 punch and a fourth that is consistent in keeping the team in the game. We don't have that formula right now, nor will we EVEN IF Harrison and Lewis come back. Harrison and Lewis will require monitoring when they come back and will not be to full form this season. That we can count on.

That's why I think we could still get Garza or Peavy. Plus Ogamdo is no Sloutch.

 

[Hambombs]

Plus you don't need a 1-2-3 to win in the playoffs. Rangers starting staff barely went 4-5 inning in the playoffs in 2011. Are staff that year wasn't that great