At least he won't be an automatic out like Quintero/Towles. Watching the #8 hitter coming to bat has historically meant time to go take piss during Astros games. It was even worse when we used to trot out Everett/Ausmus/pitcher a few years back.
Who would we get for that kind of money ... just another 4-5 starter that everyone would complain about. I'm excited about this season, and I'll think we'll be better than most expect
We usually are. Everyone forgets this team played 11 games over last year. They'll cite you to stats as to why they shouldn't have....but I feel like we see those stats nearly every year. I don't think we're going to set the world on fire...but I could see us hanging tough and playing late in the season for that wild card spot.
Assuming we don't sign Pudge, we may have a worse blackhole in the lineup this season than Everett/Ausmus/pitcher. whoever's playing 3rd/whoever's catching/whoever's pitching/Michael Bourn (that's almost half the lineup ) At least we have the pitching to compensate for it, right? Sorry, in advance.
Totally. As a fan, I am truly looking long-term at the situation. I don't have enough optimism in my entire body to do otherwise. 2 or 3 more good drafts is what I want to see. It'll be awesome to finally have some good, young prospects to get excited about again. Here's to the next Lance Berkman, the next Roy O, etc...!!!
I saw a LOT of RAngers games when Pudge played here, and I even used to work on the Texas Rangers TV show we had up here for a while. The problem with Pudge is his ego. He Refuses to work with the pitchers. It was funny, everytime Pudge missed games, the Rangers Pitchers had much better outings due to a huge increase in communication with their catchers. Ivan doesn't like to research or watch batting footage of opposing teams and he's a primadonna in the clubhouse. I'd rather pass on signing this "past-their-prime" player.
I don't buy that he went to 2 world series with two different teams The Rangers always have terrible pitching
Wow. Have you read that, or heard it? That's some pretty damning stuff. Hey texanskan: he went to a world series (2 total) with two different teams, IIRC: the Marlins and the Tigers.
Richard Justice talked about this a little bit in a blog yesterday...that Ivan's reputation for calling a game was flat-out awful...that his communication with pitchers was poor.
The Rangers had a backup catcher (its been a loong time, so I forget his name) who was late in his career and couldn't hit very good, but when he played, the Pitching staff looked a lot better. He was known for his in depth study of the opposing teams batters and for excellent communications with the pitchers. From what I understand, the pitchers actuallyl liked working with him better than Pudge. Ivan was a primadonna in the community and in the clubhouse. Because I used to work on the Rangers TV show, I heard a lot of stories from people at the ballpark, media people, etc. Although his communication was a topic of discussion on local sports talk shows as well.
Exactly...I have to believe PUdge would be a hell of a lot better contributor than Ausmus... Is he a prick? maybe when he was younger, but I got to believe he's a better option than what we have...
mets have no interest in pudge, per mlbtraderumors. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/02/rosenthal-on-hu.html#comments
I've talked to people that have been in the clubhouse with Pudge, and they actually spoke well about his ability as a game-caller. Am I saying Richie is definitely wrong? No, I'm not. But here's my suspicion. For whatever reason, it's hard for a lot of fans (well, and writers, too) to accept that overall teams (especially in baseball) win and lose games. Everybody wants to chalk it up to the marquee player(s), just like the idiotic "Yao is Ilgauskas/Smits" thread in the GARM where the OP says Yao is the same as those because he hasn't won a playoff series. The Rangers' pitching has always been abysmal... but it's a lot easier to put the blame on one person, particularly the star/face of the franchise, especially if they've already left town. (see? it was all his fault, now we have hope!!!) No one wants to accept the harsh reality that their overall team talent just isn't good. So I wouldn't be surprised, based on some of the positive reviews I've heard of Pudge, that some of this "poor game-caller" talk is just homer spin from people in the Rangers' community trying to find a scapegoat for their failures. And then that spreads to people like RJ, who aren't around the Rangers much and don't know any better.
