Probably the most fun I’ve had in drafting a blog post was in April when I looked at the team that could be formed using just recently departed, still active former Texas Rangers.
The point of that series of posts was to show clearly how bad the Rangers have bled talent out of their organization. To me, doing so is a clear indicator of Hicks’ terrible ownership and lack of commitment to winning.
It’s really almost magical the way Hicks and his front offices have run the Texas Rangers into the ground over the years.
Consider this magical disappearing act: Hicks managed to turn ARod into Soriano and then turn Soriano into Wilkerson (while still paying $7 million a year to the richest team in sports for ARod’s contract). That takes some real talent to in effect turn probably the most productive hitter into one of the worst!
Anyway, I thought I’d look back at the team of former Rangers I composed back in April and see how they’re doing (keep in mind that you have to grant me some dramatic license here as the salary of this team would be very unrealistic, but that’s not the point).
Lineup (with stats to date for this season: OBP/SLG/AVG):
1. Esteban German 3B/INF R (.372/.399/.284; 3hr; 29rbi; 36r; 8sb)
2. Gary Matthews, Jr. CF S (.338/.448/.275; 14hr; 65rbi; 67r, 12sb)
3. Alfonso Soriano LF R (.336/.511/.297; 18hr; 42rbi; 74r; 18sb)
4. Alex Rodriguez SS/3B R (.407/.633/.300; 39hr; 114rbi; 107r; 14sb)
5. Travis Hafner DH/1B L (.380/.438/.254; 18hr; 70rbi; 58r)
6. Carlos Lee RF R (.356/.536/.302; 24hr; 95rbi; 68r)
7. Adrian Gonzalez 1B/DH L (.339/.477/.265; 19hr; 68rbi; 64r)
8. Ivan Rodriguez C R (.289/.426/.279; 9hr; 50rbi; 39r)
9. Mark DeRosa 2B/U R (.363/.418/.288; 7hr; 54rbi; 40r)
Bench
Rod Barajas C R (.343/.376/.214; 4hr; 9rbi; 15r)
Mike Lamb INF L (.375/.478/.296; 11hr; 34rbi; 40r)
David Dellucci OF L (.301/.389/.234; 4hr; 20rbi; 25r)
Starting Rotation
Kenny Rodgers L (3-2; 5.23era; 17k; 12bb; 32.2ip)
Chris Young R (9-4; 2.02era; 119k; 44bb; 124.2ip)
Estaban Loaiza R Injured all season
Doug Davis L (9-10; 3.81era; 101k; 76bb; 146.1ip)
Adam Eaton R (9-8; 6.36era; 82k; 57bb; 133ip)
Bullpen
CL: Francisco Cordero R (36sv; 0-4; 3.14era; 66k; 17bb; 48.2ip)
SU Bryan Corey R Did not make an MLB roster
LR Chan Ho Park R (0-1; 15.75era; 1GS)
MR Fabio Castro L (12.27era; 5G; 3.2ip)
MR Darren Oliver L (4.39era; 43G; 41ip; 31k; 15bb)
MR Brian Shouse L (2.60era; 52G; 34.2ip; 20k; 11bb)
MR Aaron Sele R (3-1; 4.12era; 25G; 43.2ip; 26k; 18bb)
MR Dan Kolb R (9.00era; 3G; 3ip)
As with any team, I would have needed to make some early season adjustments.
Loaiza’s injury would have forced me to call on Danks (LHP; 6-10; 5.22era; 22GS; 122.1ip; 96k; 46bb) to fill his spot. Doug Davis’ surprising performance would be a plus. And with the offense and defense on this team, it’s safe to assume that each pitcher (maybe even Danks) would have several more wins based on their era’s. For the post-season, Young, Rogers and Davis would likely be more than enough to get the team through.
The bullpen would have needed some major retooling, but there aren’t as many former Rangers out there to choose from for the bullpen as you might think. Nick Masset is one guy who probably would have been added to the ‘pen. Still, with Cordero closing, and Oliver, Shouse and Sele contributing, there’s a solid core to build around.
The lineup would have been shuffled. Lamb and German would be platooning at 3B. Hafner, Lee and Gonzalez might have been shuffled around the order, and Dellucci would likely have been demoted and replaced.
But still, wouldn’t this be some team!
Now imagine adding in Teixeira, Gagne, Lofton and Mahay at the trade deadline!
How many games do you think this team wins for the season?
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7 comments:
I figure might as well post my comment on both sites:
Ooookayy.. interesting. Not sure what the point of all this is but interesting.
But just one thing: are you implying that Chan "Ho - there it goes" Park (sorry, couldn't resist a little dig at him) Aaron Sele and Adam Eaton are worth having?
Not at all. Back in April, they were the best choices available for the Ex-Rangers team.
The point is to stop and consider how much talent Hicks has let go versus the talent he's kept or acquired. This is one fun way to look at it and clearly realize how far Hicks' mis-management has let the team suffer.
Good to see you over here on the new site, Jon! Hope to continue to see you around the comments section after the blog move is final this weekend.
Sure thing, RoR. I'll be a regular reader no matter where you move the blog. Just one thing I wanted to mention about the new layout: I liked the comment meter on the old site - any chance you could put up something similar on this one?
Take Cordero off the list. he was consistant garbage for Texas, and his true colors are showing in Milwaukee, which will be the reason Milwaukee won't make to the post-season.
interesting list.
"Take Cordero off the list. he was consistant garbage for Texas"
You do realize he led the team in ERA 4 years in a row (and WELL below league ERA).... if he was "consistant garbage", I'd hate to think how you'd classify the REST of the pitchers.
Not many were calling Cordero "consistant garbage" the year he recorded a franchise-record 49 saves for the Rangers. It's a shame that you only remember the bad first half that cost him his job and led to him getting traded and not the nasty slider that would make batters dance a whacky tango in the batter's box.
he was good, until hitters figured him out. im glad the Rangers traded him. His fastballs became target practice and hitters had him figured out. he tried to overpower everybody with his fastball and on numerous occassions he got rocked.
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