Today is a day when the air is thick with the buzz of political drama
and forecasting. While the outcome of today’s election weighs heavy on my heart
and mind, my passion for sports is strong and imminent as ever.
First of all, I believe college football history is to be made this
weekend between the Alabama Crimson Tide, ROLL TIDE, ROLL!!! And the Texas
A&M Aggies, Whoop, Gig’Em!!! The reigning champions are having a phenomenal
season and playing their hearts out as they hold onto their undefeated title,
and the Aggies have made a strong debut in the SEC, that has brought shock to
fans of all conferences and teams. I truly believe Bama will hold on to their
reign after week 11, but I know A&M will put up a good fight with their
flighty offense and they’ll make the Tide play hard to win it. Needless to say,
I can’t wait to share the afternoon Saturday with some of my closest friends,
as they all stay true to the heart of the lovely Texas, and I lonesomely bear
all and holler for the Tide. It’ll be fun no matter what happens and we’ll make
memories. And I have my hound’s-tooth cardigan, worthy of Bear Bryant himself,
all ready to show my pride for the Tide!
On a more serious note, even though baseball season just ended, trade
agreements and free agent talks are just beginning to get heated up. You all
know I’m as die-hard a Texas Rangers fan as I am an Alabama fan. So the fact
that there are so many grey area players this off-season is a little
disturbing. I’ve tried to stay up to date with TR Sullivan’s blog, and other
MLB rumors, but I wanted to put all of my opinions into writing and officially
declare my feelings, so I can look back in a few months when the season begins
and see how cut out I am for the industry I’m working hard to make my way into.
So If you’re not into sports, you’ve surely had enough by now, so you
can forgivably be done reading and check back in a few weeks for a new post
related to more practical musings of my life. But if you know me, and how I
feel about my passions, and you enjoy the entertainment of my ramblings, stay
tuned for my 2013 Rangers forecasting, and some general MLB predictions.
Josh Hamilton is quite possibly the hottest topic of discussion in the
Rangers front offices right now. Everybody knows that this 5x American league
all star, former AL MVP, 2x silver slugger and winner of multiple other batting
and performance awards on the field has literally been through hell and back in
his career. But remarkably, Josh has prevailed through all with the grace and
strength of God on his side and proven to be an incredibly talented baseball
player. In his 5 years with the Rangers, Josh has had stellar seasons,
consistently setting and breaking records and blazing paths for himself and the
team as they made their way to post season play multiple times and made
franchise history in not one, but two World Series runs.
Josh is a hot topic, not only because of his offensive and defensive
productivity and success, but also because of the impact that his time in Texas
has had on his personal story. His comeback has been with the Rangers, and many
have expressed that if he leaves Texas, there’s a significant chance that he
could relapse. He has an awesome support system in the clubhouse, so that’ll be
a huge loss to undertake in moving to a new team, but if money is what he’s
truly interested in rather than proving his talent on the field and continuing
to be a good ballplayer committed to the excellence of being part of something
larger than self, is he truly worth keeping in Texas?
I’m biased, and I love him, but this ball club can’t afford arrogance,
and unfortunately that’s what society has turned the game into. Nobody above
the college sophomore level plays just for the love of it anymore. That’s just
sad.
So to sum up my thoughts on J-Ham, as sad as I am to say, I don’t
think we’ll see him on the home bench in Texas come spring. So with his shoes
to fill, lets talk about more players.
Mike Napoli has also moved to free agent status but may be a more wise choice to keep around the clubhouse than Josh for the figures that they’re worth. Josh has high interest, and Napoli is darn sure worth it, but doesn’t top as many lists so he’d surely be easier to bring back, but equally worth the fight. Plus, on the field, Nap’s far more versatile than Josh. He’s great behind the plate, but he’s also strong on 1st and he can fill the DH spot when Young needs to be on the field, not just in the lineup. He’s strong, offensively and doesn’t hit defensive slumps and I think he’s got longevity in him so he’d be good to invest in as far as high price offerings are concerned for the Rangers this year.
Lots of pitchers have declared free agency, which is totally normal, making
the pitcher market so vast. Currently the Rangers are looking at a rotation of
Darvish, Holland, Lewis (set to return for the ’13 season), Harrison and either
Ogando or the returning Feliz will complete the Rotation. These guys have the
potential to be strong with the two recovering from surgery and with relievers
in the pen like Ross, Grim, Kirkman and Scheppers I hope they look as good as
they sound. As far as the guys who have declared free agency, the Rangers need
to bring in someone who can join Joe Nathan to close out the games. Scott
Feldman needs to go. That’s plain and simple, his season of productivity in
Texas has come and gone. Guys I’d like to see stick around for a bit are
Dempster, Oswalt and Lowe. But, I know there are lots of other guys on the
market to look at who could come with low prices so seeing these guys go won’t
necessarily be too heartbreaking.
As for the Rangers current active and 40 man rosters, they could
definitely make it with what they have. Last season lots of young guys dazzled
fans with great talent and the farm system continues to show potential.
Jurickson Profar tops the list for future Ranger all-stars! This kid
can play ball, y’all, and biased as I am towards Ian Kinsler, he needs to watch
his back.
In the case that Josh isn’t back for the 2013 season, I think Kinsler
moving to the outfield could be good. His speed would be viable there and it
would give Murphy (who’s spotlight is to come) and Cruz time off, and help
Gentry as he eases into regular outfield play. Martin also shows potential, but
definitely isn’t ready for a regular spot in the lineup, so with Kinsler in the
OF, Washington could start Murphy and Cruz daily, rotating Kins and Gentry
sending in Martin and Beltre if someone needed a pinch hitter, runner or day
off. As for Julio Borbon, he makes the list of Rangers I wouldn’t be upset to
see go. He’s yet to prove himself offensively consistent and hasn’t worked to
earn a lot of playing time. If you don’t prove you want it, why are we keeping
you around?
In 2012, David Murphy definitely showed that he’s ready to be an every
day player, and Ron Washington has definitely seen that, and shown it by
starting him more towards the end of the season. He’s not up for free agency
for another year, and if he plays well this season, I definitely feel that the
Rangers will make him an offer. He’s a local boy and I think he’ll want to stay
around. Money’s not a big issue in his contracts either, so fingers crossed
that the Murph stays on fire and keeps burning up in Arlington.
Moving to the infield, with the possibility of Kinsler on the grass and
Profar taking his spot at 2nd the rest of the diamond seems pretty
set. Obviously Beltre’s got 3rd handled. Andrus and short are great
and Papa Moreland was heating up offensively and at first base towards the end
of the season. Then you have Napoli to stand in on first when Mitch is off.
Mike Olt and Brandon Snyder can also fill in at 1st and 3rd
respectively if needed and Snyder could also be converted to outfield if trades
required one of the bench players to leave. But Snyder and Olt are also young,
viable players who are available to trade in order to gain bullpen help.
My final note will be that although I love Ian Kinsler dearly, it may
be time for the Rangers to let him go. He could be the key to keeping Hamilton
and Napoli and they combined are definitely worth seeing him leave. His levels
of productivity have been down across the board. There’s less consistency
batting leadoff, less homeruns, RBIs, and stolen bases, and he missed several
critical routine plays last year picking up unneeded errors like never before.
I love the boy, and he’s still young with lots of ball left to play, but maybe
he doesn’t need to play it calling Texas home.
So basically, other than Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli, the bullpen is
the major area of concern for Texas this offseason. If there had been greater
consistency from some in 2012, there may have been a longer post season run,
but maybe a break from playoffs was good for the boys. Who knows?
I’m very optimistic and ready for December meetings to get here and
action to happen. It’s so much easier to just know what’s going on than to have
to wait.
Stay tuned for my further ramblings on who the Rangers should consider
investing in outside of the clubhouse, especially to build their pitching staff.
And please, let me know what you think of my first sports blog!!!
Love y’all!
In Grace’s Amazing Hands,
Katelyn “The Huke”
