Around the Horn: Friday (Evening)

I went to the Fort Worth Star Telegram's website today, and was greeted by this headline: "After bad winter, Texas Rangers ready to report to Spring Training." At first I disagreed. The Sheets deal fell through, sure, and there haven't been many thrills, but I wouldn't call it bad. Then I realized (thanks to Joe Siegler of rangerfans.com) that the Rangers have not signed a single free agent to a major league contract this offseason. Needless to say, I conceded my mental argument to the Star Telegram.

Breaking news from TR Sullivan: "Staying healthy is key to Texas staff." All kidding aside, he does point out the 14 different Rangers pitchers went on the DL in 2008 (not to mention cases like Hurley and Benoit).

Josh Hamilton thinks the Rangers can win 90 games. Good to hear that someone is more optimistic than Baseball Prospectus.

Hamilton also could "care less" about what position he plays. An interesting, but understandingly different, contrast to the Michael Young fiasco. Good to hear that he's not threatened or miffed by the Andruw Jones signing. Then again, who would be threatened by a guy who hit .158 and .222 the last two years?

The Rangers have released their Spring Training broadcast schedule. 5 games are going to be televised, along with 18 on the radio. An additional 8 will be broadcast online by MLB Gameday Audio.

Jeff Wilson has a report from Day One and Day Two of Spring Training.

FoxSports.com reports that Ben Sheets is shooting to be back by August. Of particular interest is this quote by Sheets:

"I think (the Rangers) have a good team. I was excited by the prospect of being near home," said Sheets, who is a native of Baton Rouge, La., and owns a home in Dallas . . . I can't say I ever felt great about doing that deal. But I felt for both sides it might have worked. They didn't feel the risk was worth it. They've got a right to feel that way. I wasn't mad either way."

He goes on to add:

"I'd be a good fit for teams making a run at it."

It will be interesting to see whether the Rangers "make a run" at Sheets upon his return, whether or not they are "making a run" at a playoff spot. I would think that Sheets pitching for the Rangers for two months would be a nice trial period for Sheets in Texas and allow him to get accustomed to the Ballpark and the team before next season.

13 days until Spring Training!

Around the Horn: Friday

Today in Oklahoma the temperature is about 70 degrees. It is days like this that make me wish the baseball season would hurry up and start already. College baseball starts on February 20th, a few days before the Rangers kick off Spring Training.

The new station that will be broadcasting the Rangers games, 105.3 The Fan, is reportedly not as powerful as KRLD and will thus not be able to reach as many Rangers fans. Why do I care about this? KRLD could occcasionally be picked up on clear nights in Norman, but according to the linked article, 105.3 The Fan can not be heard around Oklahoma City. Fortunately, I am obsessed enough that I have XM Radio's MLB package and MLB's Gameday Audio, so I will not be affected. There are, however, quite a few Rangers fans here in Oklahoma that are getting burned, and there are no Rangers radio affiliates in Oklahoma. It would seem natural to have Rangers coverage here in Oklahoma (or at least in the Oklahoma City area), given that the Rangers are the closest MLB franchise to most Oklahoma residents, and the Rangers' AAA team plays in the heart of Oklahoma City.

The rest of the reporting today deals mostly with pitchers who have elbow flexor tendon issues:

Gil LeBreton at the Star Telegram thinks the Rangers should wait on Sheets to recover from surgery to repair his torn right elbow flexor tendon. In other words, restructure the contract to let Sheets go through rehab and workout with the team. And then reap whatever "benefits" Sheets sows during the remainder of his contract. The other option for Sheets, of course, would be to wait until August when he is healthy and sign with a playoff bound team desperate for every possible advantage, like the Yankees. For those who are worried about a pitcher's performance after such a surgery, TR Sullivan added this bittersweet endorsement in his "Friday Happy Hour" notes:

"Andy Pettitte had flexor tendon surgery in August 2004. Came back to go 17-9 with a 2.39 ERA for the Astros in 2005. The 2.39 ERA is the lowest ever in his career. Victor Zambrano had the surgery three years ago though and his career is still not back on track."

Speaking of pitchers recovering from flexor tendon surgery, Jeff Wilson reported the Rangers' signing of Jason Jennings to a minor league deal this morning, and Richard Durrett is wondering why people are so opposed to this deal. I'm with Durrett here; the Rangers are going to need all the help they can get. It's not as if Jennings is the new ace, or like he's going to be blocking any of our pitching prospects. Many fans, I imagine, have soured on Jennings based on his performance last year, and based on the pitcher we traded to make room for Jennings on the roster. All that aside, I don't think the Rangers can lose on this deal. If Jennings pulls a 2008 then just relegate him to a long-relief role or send him down to AAA.

Around the Horn: Thursday

If you haven't heard by now, the Rangers have all but passed on Ben Sheets, who is likely to require flexor tendon surgery. The surgery, depending on who you talk to, could keep Sheets out for the enitre first half or for the entire season. Considering that John Hart is still on our staff, I'm surprised we didn't try to sign Sheets to 5 years and $65 million. Is anyone else looking forward to another season with Millwood as our ace? Richard Durrett gives his projections for the starting rotation given this latest development: Millwood, Padilla, Harrison, McCarthy, and Feldman.

The Rangers are also working towards installing LED technology throughout the Ballpark, most notably the left field scoreboard. I have to admit it looks pretty snazzy (see below). I was always a fan, however, of the old-fashioned manual scoreboard. I'm not sure whether this is an actual or projected image, but you can't argue with its appearance:

Around the Horn: Friday

All quiet on the Rangers front this afternoon. But we do have some interesting material from around the league:

Ken Rosenthal, in an article about high-caliber free agents still in waiting, suggests the idea that Sheets pull a "Clemens" and wait until the summer to sign with a team in the heat of a pennant race. For mostly selfish reasons, I can't say I'm on board with him there.

Over at Crawfish Boxes, a Houston Astros blog, they make the connection that 5 of the biggest flops in Astros franchise history have been Texans, dubbed the "Texas Effect." This is due in no small part to the Astros, in general, being littered with Texans; the Rangers native to the Lone Star State that I can think of are Taylor Teagarden, Chris Davis, and David Murphy. Any more?

Remember the Yankees' spending spree earlier this offseason where they spent $400 million to sign three type A free agents? I was a bit apprehensive that this affluent display had not quite reached its conclusion, and that the Steinbrenner family would set their eyes on other pitching options (notably Ben Sheets). Well, according to Major League Baseball policy, they can't. Fortunately, restrictions imposed by Major League Baseball prohibit any team from luring more than three Type A free agents in the same offseason. I'm not sure that the Yankees would have been aggressively pursuing Sheets anyways, given their recent problems with injury prone veterans like Carl Pavano, but they did just sign AJ Burnett for five years and $82.5 million . . .

On a similar note, NPR writes about the Yankees' utter defiance of the economic recession. The article includes some quotes from former Rangers president Mike Cramer, now a professor at NYU. It was the concluding sentences of the piece that won me over:

"So even if the Yankees seem recession proof, they do stick to the economics law of supply and demand. They supply a great storyline for baseball, by demanding that every non-Yankee fan has at least one deep-pocketed nemesis team to root against."

Around the Horn: Thursday

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." --Rogers Hornsby

Truer words have never been spoken, especially since the ice storm that has hit North Texas and Oklahoma the last several days, there hasn't been much to do except stare out the window and wait for the baseball season to start (and update your new blog, of course).

Even Derek Jeter, in response to a question about Joe Torre's new book that makes inflammatory remarks about the Yankees, said "It gets to a point where it seems like we're always talking about the same thing . . . It seems like every year at this time it's the same questions about the same things. I think everyone is eager to get to Spring Training and start playing on the field." For once, Mr. Jeter, I think you are on the same page as Rangers fans.

Speaking of "the same questions about the same things," we have more on the quest for Ben Sheets from Dayn Perry over at Fox Sports, who writes that the suitors of Ben Sheets should be cautious, but perhaps not as cautious as has been hyped. He makes a good case by citing 2009 projections from the most reputable sources out there (Bill James, Chone, marcel, and ZiPS). None of these projections, however, take into account that Mr. Sheets is likely to pitch most of his games at Rangers Bandbox in Arlington . . .

We learned yesterday that Jack Benoit will likely be out until the All Star break. Coupled with the loss of Eric Hurley to a similar injury, leaves our relief situation looking pretty bleak: CJ Wilson (career ERA 4.83), Dustin Nippert (career ERA 6.40), Luis "Three Run Inning " Mendoza (career ERA 7.37), Willie Eyre (career ERA 5.23), Derrick Turnbow (career ERA 4.30), Josh Rupe (career ERA 4.57), Frank Francisco (career ERA 3.72). Admittedly, I don't expect CJ Wilson to repeat last year's masterpiece 6.02 ERA, but this bullpen wouldn't even strike fear into the heart of Mario Mendoza (see: career batting average).

Perhaps there is bullpen help elsewhere . . . T.R. Sullivan's article on Benoit's rehab and consequent surgey includes a list of the "best right-handed relief pitchers" that are still on the market. The only one one the list who caught my eye was Eric Gagne, who we might be able to get at a bargain price. On another note, former Ranger Eddie Guardado (LHP) is still unsigned as well . . .

And, in case you've been asleep for the better part of the offseason or wasted your time on the Cowboys, USAToday.com has a good refresher of the Ranger offseason thus far.

Around the Horn: Wednesday

It appears that, while we are mired in the offseason funk between the Michael Young scandal and a possible Ben Sheets signing, the only Rangers news out there is just more of the same about the Michael Young scandal and a possible Ben Sheets signing.

Since I started this blog after and during these events, instead of "weighing-in" on them, I can just link to articles that I agree with:

Despite what I just said, I was thinking about writing a post weighing-in on the Michael Young situation, since I didn't quite agree with any assessment I had read. But then I found this article written by Evan Grant several days ago which saved me from writing the next article in a series of articles on this subject that scream "this offseason has been way too boring." The gist of the article is that both the Rangers and Michael Young reacted appropriately and in the best interests of themselves and the team. Check it out.

Also, Cal Ripken talks about Michael Young's transition to third base in the Dallas Morning News today. Ripken was one of my favorite players back in the day, so I particularly like this one.

Most of us know the pros and cons of signing Ben Sheets. Still, this article by Richard Justice of Yahoo Sports lays them out pretty clearly. Good article, and I agree with just about everything he wrote except the first line:

"Ben Sheets is about to make some general manager look really, really smart or really, really dumb."

In general, for teams with already semi-solid pitching staffs, this would be true. The Rangers are not this type of team, as we know. After many failed attempts to woo pitchers of Sheets' caliber, the fact that Sheets is "damaged goods" should be viewed more as an opportunity than a risk for the Rangers. Even if the worst became true and Sheets flops in a Chan Ho Park-like fashion, taking the chance at bringing a true ace to Arlington will not have been "really, really dumb" for GM Jon Daniels.

That is all. For now.