[GigEmAgs]

You now, there was a time when it was fun to watch the Texas Rangers play. Like back when they had not just A-Rod, but other exciting players like Palmiero and Pudge Rodriguez. The pitching never was very good, but you could often count on Pudge and Rafa to shine in a pinch. Like the time Pudge had nine RBIs in one game, including one grand slam! Watta show.

But you know what? A-Rod was right later on when he got traded to the Yankees and complained that the Rangers didn't have much of an idea of teamwork. The ownership and the management aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer either. What do you do when you have a fair-to-middling team with three or four great players on it good enough to give you hopes of a pennant every once in a while? You sure don't trade your best players away. It still gripes me that Pudge went to the Marlins and helped take them straight to a win in the World Series.

WHAT were the Rangers thinking when they let Pudge go??? Or were they thinking at all?

Off the soapbox now.

[victory69]

pudge is a great player, but he is too much liabilty. he demands a high salary, but he is a frequent vistitor to the DL. the rangers needed to invest their money in pitching instead of pudge.
he was als onot good for the pitching staff in his younger years. he was always putting down the one sign and when he was shaken off the hitter new an off speed pitch was coming. he is a great player, but he is a potential liability to his team.

[GigEmAgs]

It's probably too late for Pudge to come back now anyway. It's been years since he played here, and he's probably getting fairly close to retirement. I still think he's a great hitter, though.

I agree that the Rangers should invest in pitchers. They always have a lot of them (like all teams I guess), but none of them ever seem more than pretty good at best. The need GREAT pitching, not pretty good pitching.

[CRMartin]

It really does come down to that for the Rangers. They have always lacked a good pitching staff. It seems they would start developing a good pitcher and then amazingly let him go to another team where he would flourish and become a superstar. I have to agree, the Texas front office and management is terrible when it comes to really understanding what it takes to create a championship calibur team. They don't even know where to begin. If your hitters go into a slump and you don't have a good defense with a solid pitching staff to help you out, you're doomed. The Rangers really need to get some of the spunk that comes with their nickname. Right now, they are just continuing down another dusty trail.

[davetex]

Do you remember two seasons ago? Talk about spunk. It seemed that every night you could turn on the game and find the Rangers behind 1-3 runs. Yet, you kept watching, because you just knew that one crack of the bat meant "Hello Win Column". I must have went to 30 games that year.

Currently the only players that have that "never say die" mentality are Tex, Young, and Mench. The front office is killing the Rangers fanbase.

"Batting for profits in '06"

[ThePundit]

Welcome davetex.

GigEm & CR Martin are correct. The Rangers will continue to lose because their pitching is lousy. At any level of baseball, it's ALWAYS about how good your pitching is. The Rangers are no exception.

[NASCARlvr]

Why continue to chastise the Rangers when the evil John Hart is out, and John Daniels is finally starting to build this thing correctly? Sure, they don't have the star power of yesteryear, but what did that get them... one freakin playoff win.

They've added 3 good pitchers, have 3 more as their top 3 prospects and are building a really solid team. The butcher Soriano is gone, and Kinsler is on his way... a shortstop trying to make the transition. Once he gets it, he will surly be better than what we had before. The outfield will be better with Wilkerson, and the infield will continue to be among the MLB's most productive. There is a lot to look forward to.

And don't cry about Pudge's departure... The best we could be with him is the Detroit Tigers, whahoo! It is a medical miracle that he can still do his job well... historically catcher's knees have blown up well before this point in their career. Bench, Berra and Piazza all had to give up their position early, and there was no reason to think otherwise with Pudge. Its great he got a ring with the Marlins but insane to think that could have been in Texas.

And on A-Rod... he is a whining prodigy, who might have had more success if he could ever manage to put up numbers before the team was buried in the West in July. He should try not sucking up a third of the payroll, disassociating himself from the team in the offseason, and being less robotic before taking shots at the team that made him immensly rich from that ivory tower in the Bronx

[Lefty Noob]

Hi, NASCARlvr, and thanks for joining us here at GoTeamsGo and sharing your thoughts about Pudge and the Rangers.

I did have to make a slight edit to your post, however. Please check out the link below to review our forum rules. Thanks!
Forum Rules

[GigEmAgs]

Hi NASCARlvr,

I agree that Pudge would probably never have made it to the World Series with the Rangers, which is sad...but they've never been a baseball powerhouse the way the Yankees are. I don't agree, however, that A-Rod's a whiner. I think he did a good job of keeping his mouth shut and trying to be a team player when he was here, but I think the Rangers deserved the comments he made about them after he left. It's true -- they weren't so good at working together. Wasn't his fault the owners were funneling a third of the payroll into his pocket; if they'd been running a business that way, it would have failed.

[davetex]

Originally Posted by ThePundit

Welcome davetex.

GigEm & CR Martin are correct. The Rangers will continue to lose because their pitching is lousy. At any level of baseball, it's ALWAYS about how good your pitching is. The Rangers are no exception.

While I agree with your statement, I must say that I think we did make an effort at improving our pitching for the 06 season. I think Millwood and Eaton are a good 1-2 punch. From that point on its anyones game. Losing Chris Young could come back to bite us in the arse. What I don't completely understand is why we gave up Soriano for some strikeout heavy outfielder??? The Nationals must love the Rangers.

Watch out for RA Dickey. He has been working on his knuckleball the entire offseason.

[davetex]

Originally Posted by NASCARlvr

Why continue to chastise the Rangers when the evil John Hart is out, and John Daniels is finally starting to build this thing correctly? Sure, they don't have the star power of yesteryear, but what did that get them... one freakin playoff win.

They've added 3 good pitchers, have 3 more as their top 3 prospects and are building a really solid team. The butcher Soriano is gone, and Kinsler is on his way... a shortstop trying to make the transition. Once he gets it, he will surly be better than what we had before. The outfield will be better with Wilkerson, and the infield will continue to be among the MLB's most productive. There is a lot to look forward to.

And don't cry about Pudge's departure... The best we could be with him is the Detroit Tigers, whahoo! It is a medical miracle that he can still do his job well... historically catcher's knees have blown up well before this point in their career. Bench, Berra and Piazza all had to give up their position early, and there was no reason to think otherwise with Pudge. Its great he got a ring with the Marlins but insane to think that could have been in Texas.

And on A-Rod... he is a whining prodigy, who might have had more success if he could ever manage to put up numbers before the team was buried in the West in July. He should try not sucking up a third of the payroll, disassociating himself from the team in the offseason, and being less robotic before taking shots at the team that made him immensly rich from that ivory tower in the Bronx

I have to agree with the majority of this statement. Although, I'm not completely sold on Daniels or Wilkerson. I think, while Daniels made some good moves, he missed a lot more good opportunities. But he is only a rookie. Perhaps we can pull a Theo/Red Sox season?!?! All Wilkerson does is strikeout and hit home runs. I think we have enough of those type batters. We need another Micheal Young.

[xdavidwattsx]

Originally Posted by davetex

I think we have enough of those type batters. We need another Micheal Young.

Agreed. Wilkerson was a move that continues to baffle me.

My only complaint with the pitching they picked up in the offseason is that they gave up Chris Young to do so. First rule of fight club...don't give up prospects that are just about proven.

On top of that, they'll lose KRog. Sure, he's just about done and the honeymoon was well over, but let's not forget he was easily their best pitcher last year.

[ahenderson]

Everyone needs to give John Daniels a chance to do his job! By the way in his first off-season he has added character guys like Wilkerson and the pitching will be the best since the playoff runs in the late '90s. So at least let this season play out and let Daniels do his job, because I think he's a bad arse, ****!

[CRMartin]

I would love to see Daniels turn the Rangers around and get them to play some exciting ball. I just think it will take more than just this season. They really do need to develop a CORE pitching staff with some solid closers. Will he do this? We can only hope.

[Lefty Noob]

Well, I don't mean to be twisting the knife or anything, but Pudge looked awful sharp yesterday. Rodriguez homered in his first at-bat and finished 3-for-3 with four RBIs in an 8-5 Detroit win over Cincy. Granted, its just Spring Training and there's no telling if his body will hold up over the course of a long season, but for one day at least he looked like Pudge of old.