I have pretty much been reading non-stop (after about two hours of cooling off) about the Rangers. The speculation is rampant. More than I ever remember. So let me put a big fat “nobody knows anything” on this and join the games.
Several comments about the Rangers re-visiting the Red Sox and talking about Jacoby Ellsbury. He is, for sure, a gifted athlete. He is different from Josh Hamilton. Wouldn’t put up the same numbers but plays much better in the outfield. The problem with him? He actually gets hurt more than Josh does. Not sure how JD feels, but for me, that’s a no.
The Dallas Morning News had a nice picture gallery with suggestions that included Ellsbury but also Tori Hunter. No thank you. Too old. On their list they also had Colorado Rockie Carlos Gonzales. He goes into the “I wish” category. I don’t think we would give up what they would want for someone that young, that talented, with that many years left on his contract. I agree with everyone though, that it all starts with Josh.
I am not a fan of re-signing Josh. Not totally because of his late season collapse. Not the ridiculous lazy play in the outfield in Oakland either. I am tired of the drama. The injuries. The bizarro comments to the media. I don’t like that it takes a village to hold him up. I think that may have played a bigger role in our demise, more than any of us will ever know for sure.
As far as the money goes? Don’t spend it on Napoli either. Mike was hurt more than not this season. Mike never got his swing on track this year and I can only remember one noteworthy game in Boston early on. I won’t rule out his return. He was looking at a big contract before this year. That’s the funny thing about free agents and will be true with Napoli and Hamilton. Napoli will be sold with last year’s numbers and Josh will be sold on his very hefty season numbers. Both are misleading. Ryan Dempster and Roy Oswalt won’t be back. It’s doubtful for Mark Lowe. I won’t rule out Mike Adams and Koji Uehara returning to the Rangers. They both have some miles left.
I firmly believe that we will make at least one “blockbuster” trade this off-season. We have enough moving parts to make two. For fun and nothing else, I will throw a couple out this week.
The last bit of speculation I read about this weekend involved Ron Washington. Most was about him staying. I read a few reasons why he might be let go. Some of the reasons were valid and one particular one got my attention. It had to do with Wash not playing Jurickson Profar more. I truly believe he could have provided a spark that this team sorely needed. I have no idea how good his numbers would have been, but his attitude is infectious. According to some sources, Nolan was more than miffed. The only thing I have to offer on Wash is, if that were to come to pass, I would totally expect our next manager to be Mike Maddux. I still think that is a long-shot.
I Think the Replacement for Josh will Come VIA Trade
No Pepper 