I hate the Yankees!
I don't hate their players. (Not most of them, at least.) Or their manager. Or their general manager.
I used to hate them (and still do) because when they decide they'd be better with Randy Johnson or Mike Mussina or Gary Sheffield, they just go get the guy. Now I'm beginning to hate them more because when Kevin Brown or Jaret Wright or Carl Pavano doesn't quite work out, so what? Outspend the mistake. Nobody's worse off.
At least nobody who plays for, works for, or roots for the Yankees.
When I heard that New York was zeroing in on signing Kyle Farnsworth for three years and about $17 million, I cringed. I never expected Texas to be in the running for Farnsworth, who was sure to get multiple opportunities to close games — or to be paid like a closer — but his deal, just like B.J. Ryan's (Toronto) before it, and Scott Eyre's (Cubs) and Bobby Howry's (Cubs) and starter Esteban Loaiza's (Oakland), is making things tough on Jon Daniels and two dozen other GM's in the league.
Kathleen O'Brien of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports this morning that Texas believes it remains in the hunt for Farnsworth, but for the Rangers to sign the 29-year-old, it's going to take a contract that he probably doesn't deserve. And suddenly Matt Morris and Paul Byrd and Octavio Dotel and Felix Rodriguez got a little more expensive, if not a lot.
That all means that trying to capitalize on the trade market to fill needs becomes even more important. I wouldn't go so far as to advocate what Baseball Prospectus's Joe Sheehan suggested yesterday, tongue sort of in cheek ("I count 197 major-league free agents, of which 173 appear to still be available. My recommendation is that none of them — none — should be signed."), but the market is once again out of whack, as it ends up being just about every winter.
The same Ranger names keep cropping up in this trade rumor and that — Alfonso Soriano, Adrian Gonzalez, Gerald Laird, Kevin Mench (when I saw that Brian Giles re-upped last night with San Diego, my first thought was: "Hello, J.D.? This is J.P."), Laynce Nix — and now we're seeing Hank Blalock's name repeatedly since it's known that the club was willing a week ago to include him in a deal.
Texas has made a formal contract offer to Dotel, according to local reports, likely for a one-year deal heavy on incentives, and two-year offers to starters Morris and Byrd, according to the Star-Telegram's T.R. Sullivan, who also notes that the club might look into second-tier starters Brett Tomko, Byung-Hyun Kim, Jason Johnson, Brian Moehler, and Brian Anderson and relievers Jose Mesa, Braden Looper, Felix Rodriguez, and Jason Grimsley.
As for Dotel (who, despite coming off Tommy John surgery in June, could be ready to pitch again in April), don't count on anything happening for a week; Texas (and St. Louis and whoever else is in on the reliever) will probably wait to see if Oakland will offer him arbitration. If the A's don't (which is the likely outcome), the team signing him won't surrender a pick — but if a team signs him before Oakland's December 7 deadline to decide, it will forfeit the pick to the A's (in the Rangers' case, a second-rounder).
Different story on Morris (a Type A free agent, like Dotel): the Cardinals are sure to offer him arbitration, meaning Texas would lose its second-rounder to St. Louis regardless of when they sign him. Same with Atlanta and Farnsworth, also a Type A. (If the Rangers sign both, they'd forfeit both their second- and third-round picks.)
Justin Rodriguez reports in today's Times Herald-Record (which apparently circulates in Morris's Montgomery, New York hometown) that the righthander has declined the Rangers' offer to show him around Ameriquest Field today. Morris reportedly prefers to stay in the National League (though it's not a necessity), and is attracted to the idea of joining the Giants and his old battery mate Mike Matheny.
There are also multiple stories, including one from Sullivan, indicating that Texas is among the teams expressing interest in trading for Barry Zito, who is perceived to be available now that the A's have committed to Loaiza for three years.
Sullivan adds that the Rangers have revived trade talks with Florida regarding outfielder Juan Pierre.
Sullivan also reports that Ranger righthanders Frankie Francisco, Ryan Bukvich, and Nick Regilio, all coming off elbow surgery, have started throwing programs but aren't expected to be ready for spring training in February, and that Ricardo Rodriguez, whose season was cut short due to shoulder problems, is also throwing. The organization would like to see Rodriguez pitch winter ball.
Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com writes that Texas is among the teams interested in free agent outfielder Preston Wilson.
There's a lot of speculation, now that Paul Konerko has decided to stay with the White Sox, that the Angels will turn their attention to Manny Ramirez. Scary. The Los Angeles Times suggests that they might even ask Texas what it would take to get Soriano. The New York Post reports that Philadelphia and Boston have discussed a deal involving Ramirez and Bobby Abreu.
Righthander Julio Santana, once a poster child for failed 1990s Rangers pitching prospects, has resurrected his career to the point that, at age 31, he was able to land a guaranteed contract. The Phillies signed Santana yesterday.
At MinorLeagueBall.com, John Sickels has reviewed the 2005 campaigns turned in by what he considered the Rangers' top 20 prospects before the season began.
Catcher Taylor Teagarden, the Rangers' third-round pick in June, had Tommy John surgery last week after injuring his throwing elbow during fall instructs but, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, should be able to hit early in the 2006 season. The Rangers, according to Grant, hope Teagarden will be able to catch before the season ends.
Does Teagarden's injury make it less likely that Texas would trade Laird or Rod Barajas? No. Teagarden wasn't going to impact the big club for at least two years. Does it affect Mike Nickeas's timetable? Not really. He's probably destined for a return to Frisco, just as he likely would have been even if Teagarden were healthy.
The Rangers have hired former big leaguers Scott Servais and Charlie Kerfeld to fill front office positions, according to Sullivan. Servais, who was a scout with Colorado, takes over as farm director, assuming some of the duties vacated by Dom Chiti when he was named big league bullpen coach. Kerfeld, who scouted for San Diego for one year after doing so for Seattle, joins Texas as a special assistant in professional and Latin American scouting.
Gonzalez remains hot. He's raised his Mazatlan numbers to .329/.393/.540 with six homers, 14 doubles, and 30 RBI in 41 games, and though he's played mostly first base, he did make an appearance in right field a few days ago.
Edinson Volquez has arrived in the Dominican Republic, and in his first appearance for Los Azucareros, he threw 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out three. Juan Dominguez debuted for the same club as well, surrendering a run on four hits, no walks, and a strikeout in 1.1 innings of relief. Their teammate Omar Beltre, the surprise addition to the Rangers' 40-man roster two weeks ago, has pitched four times, blanking the opposition on four hits and a walk in five frames, fanning six. The club also features Esteban German, who is hitting .336, and Ruddy Yan, who sits at .305.
Watch out for Johnny Lujan. He finished his Clinton season by giving up one earned run in 22.2 August and September frames, and in the Puerto Rican Winter League he's now fired 11 scoreless innings, scattering six hits (.171 opponents' average) and three walks while fanning nine with his high-octane stuff.
The Star-Telegram's Jim Reeves notes that the Rangers have commissioned a company out of Canada to study the wind currents in Ameriquest Field, to determine how the Gold Club affects them, and to recommend what can be done to improve the conditions. It's the same company that did the original wind studies when the stadium was built in 1992.
The Winter Meetings kick off in Dallas on Monday, and when the first day is winding down, we'll gather at Tin Star in the Quadrangle (2626 Howell Street, Dallas, Texas 75204) for a 2006 Bound Edition Release party, beginning at 6:00.
Three of the Rangers' top prospects have committed to appear at the event to sign autographs: righthanders Thomas Diamond and Michael Schlact and third baseman Johnny Whittleman. All three are featured and photographed in the book's feature section, and Diamond is also on the cover.
The fact that Whittleman and Schlact are my top candidates in the book for 2006 breakouts among all position players and all pitchers is completely coincidental (and does result in their photos appearing on facing pages). I wrote those features months ago and sent them to the printer two weeks ago. We didn't even hatch the idea for this event until this week.
Whittleman decided he wanted to be here for this event and is driving up with his family from Humble. Schlact is getting on a plane from Marietta, Georgia and staying in Dallas, all at his own cost, just for you: "I want to try to give back to you and the Ranger fans any way I can." Whittleman and Schlact are just teenagers. They get it.
The cost to get autographs from all three players is a purchase of the 2006 Bound Edition ($25), whether you've prepaid or buy one that night. (And since some of you have asked, if you can't be there on Monday, that's fine — I'll be shipping later in the week.) You will be limited to three autographs per player.
Will Carroll and one or two other writers from Baseball Prospectus will be there as well, maybe with some up-to-the-minute news to share from the Winter Meetings.
We're thinking about doing a Q&A session with the Rangers prospects and with Will. Stay tuned.
The new run of Newberg Report T-shirts won't be ready for Monday (but will be ready by time I ship books out), but I'm bringing the remaining inventory of the current shirts (a couple dozen total) and will discount them (from the current $15-17 price) to $10 each, until they run out.
The party starts on Monday at 6:00 and will go until 8:30 or so.
While we're there, we'll have the TV set tuned to ESPNews, and it wouldn't be out of the question to see a Jon Daniels press conference announcing a trade for a pitcher. It's looking more and more like that's going to have to be the avenue to add a frontline starter this month.