No to starting pitcher – price is too high.
No to reliever – the arms (when healthy) are here.
Yes to a bat. If Chris Davis is a lost cause (and the jury is still out), would the Rangers assume remainder of Aubrey Huff’s $8-mil contract?

I would target a starting pitcher (any chance Ben Sheets is that guy?) and move Holland out to the pen primarily to keep his innings at a manageable level. No way this rotation continues to pitch the way it has been. I am assuming the bats will turn around once Hamilton is back and Kinsler returns to form.
Again, assuming everyone is healthy, the bullpen seems to be in decent shape with Frankie, CJ, O’Day, Jennings and Guardado (and maybe Holland and Feliz later this year).

1)STARTING PITCHING IF PRICE IS RIGHT
2)BULLPEN
3)BIG BAT

on a rental basis for 2009 only so as to not clog up the path for Davis/Smoak/Ramirez in 2010.

Simple, won’t cost you a dime. Send Chris Davis to OKC and bring up Justin Smoak to replace him.

Make no trades for the playoffs this year. Stick to the plan that has been in place, play for 2010 and beyond. If someone comes calling in Mid-July asking about Marlon Byrd/Andruw Jones/Hank Blalock, oblige by asking for a #3-#7 prospect and LA talent from the interested team. If someone thinks that Padilla can keep his head on straight enough to help them for the stretch run, that’s 1 MLB ready SP and 2 “will be ready soon” types at any position.

I wouldn’t let Millwood go, as the Millwood we are seeing now, looks an awful lot like the one that Atlanta had for 3-4 years.

I would agree with becca:

1) starting pitching
2) bullpen
3) bat

Priority #1 is a high OBP bat. Power is optional, high OBP and low strike outs is a must.

if that can’t be had then –

A proven Ace.

I am a believer in building from within but remember the pieces in your farm system need to be use to build the big league team in one of 2 ways: either be used as a player on your big league club or be use as a trade chip to get a piece for the big leage club.

eric

I am serious. I dont want to be the downer in the room and hope to god i am wrong about this, but i just dont see it out of Holland. He throws a low 90′s fastball with no movement and an 83 mph slider. I hope it is just growing pains and he improves his curve/change that he has been working on but I just dont see it.

Halliday has a groin injury and is day-to-day. I think he will be just fine. We are not talking about any injury to his arm.

And im not attacking you, but you were probably in the camp who thought it was too much to trade Blalock/Danks for Beckett in 2005.

anytime you can get a frontline starter for prospects you do it. That is of course assuming they are willing to pay Halladay.

Obviously no one would make this deal including me assuming Halladay wants to go to free agency and make 120 million
but to say I cant be serious, well I am

1) get a bat that can actually work a count and GET ON BASE.

2) a bullpen arm

No deals.

The “plan” has always been geared toward 2010.

Anything that happens in ’09 is icing on the cake.

Let the kids (Davis, Holland, Kinsler, Mathis, Harrison, Felman) take whatever lumps come their way, bring up the other top prospects in lieu of journeymen (Eddie, Jennings, etc) and hopefully, let them all gel in time to start the decade of excellence beginning next year.

There are either too many holes or none at all; no deals

No need to make any changes now. No need to abandon the “plan”. Chances are we need at least one starting pitcher, a bat (or two) and bullpen help.

If we can swing a small deal for a bat, then you do it, but otherwise, let this team do what it can with this talent and continue to break-in the kids. Players like Feliz and Smoak can see the roster in Aug / Sept if they are ready.

This approach puts us in prime position for a run in 2010…where we CAN make those trades if needed. We are ahead of schedule to compete, but I don’t think we are quite ready yet.

I’m going with the last option here. I think there are too many/no holes at all, mainly no holes, and we need to ride out the rest of the season. We have a great group of core players, and even though Chris Davis is slumping with the bats, when he makes contact it’s usually for a home run, and he will be a Gold Glove winner at first base.

I was all for Padilla getting claimed on waivers, but it looks like we’re stuck with him. I am hoping he can clean up his act. I think we should just be patient and wait for the bats to pick back up again. Our pitching is getting it done. When was the last time we won back-to-back shut-outs?

Evan,
We mentioned you in my journalism class here at UNT. I like hearing your views during the fifth inning and the post game show. Keep up the good work.

I agree with those who say, “stick to the plan”. But if you can get another decent reliever without giving up anyone who figures in next year’s plan, I would consider doing it. Remember, if the Rangers make the playoffs this year, it will be because of pitching. Frankie is now a ?, O’Day has had a ludicrous workloadm, Eddie might be losing it, hitters might catch on to Jennings’s slow slop out of the strike zone.

Stick to the plan.

it might sound crazy to some, but if you’re following the ‘Road to Arlington’ articles by Hindman, you know the problem down the road ISN’T pitching… the system lacks a truly power hitter.

The only guys who make sense for the rotation are Oswalt, Halladay or Lee; that’s it.

The FA class is weak, both at players and pitchers.

So, I’ll go for a big bat or a power reliever; and I’ll look in to teams were you can trade (i.e. San Diego, Washington, Baltimore, Cleveland, San Francisco, Florida) Therefore I’ll go with: Adrian Gonzalez or Nick Johnson as the top priority. Then guys like Brad Hawpe, Huston Street, Bobby Jenks, etc, etc.

NO DEALS

Starting Pitching: we get Harrison back this week, and while it will take him a start or two to get back up to speed, he’ll help fill a big hole …

Big bat: unless we move a combination of veterans (Blalock/Byrd) or excess youngsters (Murphy/Boggs), can’t see where we’d play one … I’m not messing with Davis at 1B, because we need his defense there … he’ll get it worked out.

Bullpen Arm: the only one out there that I’m remotely interested in is Street, and more to keep him away from the Angels than what he’d bring to us, which would be a lot, potentially … other than him, I’d rather see us go with some of the intriguing young arms we’ve got in the system …

Call me selfish, but I’m more interested in hanging on to our own kids than shipping out packages for the names that have been talked up out there …

But that’s just me … maybe it’s just too much sun over here in Florida

Sao,

I agree with you about AGonzalez. His OBP is .414 and he is a Gold Glover. Give them Kiker, Ramirez and Davis and have them throw in Mujica for the pen to go along with Adrian.

STAY THE COURSE! The polan is working, you can see it on the field. 2010 is “the” year, dont screw up the next 5 or 6 or longer years, by deviating from the plan now. Leave it alone. Holland is gaining the most important thins he can, experience. Harrison is coming back, and ditto on the experience, Davis, will be fine, he is already starting to wake-up, just getting out of bed slowly, but is getting out of bed. The kids on the farm, are not quite ready yet, but let’s reap the benefits of them for several years, instead of somebody else.

1. Big Patient Bat, (Adrian Gonzalez, 2007-2010, 9.5M; Paul Konerko, 2009-2010, 24M)
2. Quality Right-Handed Relief Pitcher, (LaTroy Hawkins, 2009-3.5M; Chris Sampson, 2009-0.449M, arb. elig)
3. Quality Starter, (Brandon Webb (if healthy),2009-6.5M, 2010-8.5M; Matt Cain (if they are willing to give him up),2009-10-6.7M, 2011 option)

I would also see if Moises Alou is interested in one last go around as a DH.

As far as what I would give up, I’d say anyone not named kinsler, Andrus, Holland, Smoak, or Teagarden is fair game. While many of the others are very promising, they’re all still young with unproven makeup and at any moment an injury could derail them (i.e. Hurley) or they could just lose value from a crappy season, (i.e. Salty).

I’m not in favor of chasing an ace SP this year. No matter what we say here, Halladay is not going to be available as long as Toronto stays within shouting distance of the playoffs. Other than him, I just don’t see anybody else that’s worth 2 or 3 of our top prospects.

Our offense should be okay, if Kinsler and Hamilton return to form and Davis can start creeping towards a .230 or .240 average. I just don’t see a spot on the field to add an impact bat, other than DH possibly. And let’s tap the brakes on claiming that Smoak and Borbon can easily replace Davis and Byrd. Considering that none of us have seen those guys hit against MLB pitching, let’s not start just calling up every prospect because they’ve looked good at AA or AAA. What CD last year was pretty remarkable, it doesn’t usually happen that way.

So, that leaves us with a bullpen arm. If we can trade an established bat (Blalock/Byrd/Murphy) for a solid RP, then I say do it. But nothing earth-shattering, let’s essentially stay the course and let these guys develop for another year.

It’s time to get smart and look to the future.

Good Starting Pitching will be too costly in a trade, and we’ll be okay with the kids.

As for the Big Bat, it’s time to look for a solid bat. If Rudy J can’t get Chris Davis to refine his stroke, maybe it’s time to move him. How about a trade with Houston with CJ Wilson for Jose Valverde and Michael Bourne? That would strengthen the bullpen and give us a quality CF to move Hamilton to RF. If we need an extra bat, how about Garrett Atkins, Jorge Cantu or Cory Hart? Or perhaps even acquiring Chris Young from Arizona for Chris Davis. Or maybe Mike Jacobs in KC.

As for relief, Houston Steet couldn’t hurt the pen.

@09 is the Year

Your lineup is a bit out of whack. When Borbon comes up, he is the leadoff hitter. That is why the Rangers drafted him and that is what he is being groomed for. Andrus would be a GREAT #2 hitter behind him, they have comfort with that since that’s how they hit in Frisco last season.

Borbon CF
Andrus SS
Kinsler 2B
Cruz LF
Hamilton RF
Young 3B
Davis 1B
Smoak DH
Salty/TT C

Why mortgage for someone that is close to being ready any way? Try Smoak out in August/September to see what tweaks need to be made for next year and beyond.

Glad I am not the only one in the “no trade” for a possible playoff run group.

What seems to be missing from this discussion, although it would seem verboten with the Rangers in first, is that we need to be “sellers” and not “buyers” this year. Who do we trade away to help 2010 (like the Lofton for Max R., Gagne for David Murphy, CoCo/Mench/Nix for N. Cruz).

Perfect example would be Andruw, Omar, Hank, Byrd/Murphy, and 1 catcher for quality pitchers.

BTW, all who think we can get anything from Boston consider it not doable. They are looking at desperate teams with payroll problems (like the Pirates and Jack Wilson $5m).

If I make a trade, its for a starting pitcher. Holland needs to return to the pen for more time to adjust to big league hitting. May as well write off McCarthy for the year. End of August is the earliest we can hope for him to be back. Hunter is the only viable option in AAA. Padilla leaves after this season, so we will still be an arm short for next year. I’m not willing to give up the shop for one though.

We get a big bat back after the break and have Smoak and Borbon on the verge of being ready in the minors. Don’t waste any significant prospects on hitting.

I can see trading for a reliever if we can’t get a starter. Again though, don’t give up the farm for a rent-a-pitcher.

Basically, unless we can add an arm without an an exorbient price, I stand pat. Basically, I agree with Doc. Too many holes to fill this season. Next season is the year to start trading to patch the gaps.

Please have patience. DO NOT trade “blue chip” prospects for a short term rental. We could blow a decade of competitive baseball for just one try at the “Gold Ring.” If anything, go after a big “salary dump” that won’t cost us our elite prospects.

You guys who are saying play for next year do understand that next year the competition is likely to be much stiffer in the division than this year right? Even if they might end up with a better team next year, so may everyone else in the division. This is the year to strike at the jugular and go for it.

I am generally a “stay-the-course” guy. But the division is more up for grabs this year than in the past. Angels are weaker. Let’s not mortgage the future, but a tweak might be in order.
Trades for Starting Pitchers are too expensive. Josh will be the big bat. We have seen how fragile a bullpen rotation can be when anyone misses. So, put together a small package of futures for Huston Street. Then, you can close games with a combination of Street, C.J., and Frankie, with O’Day mixed in for good measure. Game might be over by the 6th inning some nights.

Too many question marks: How will Hamilton play when he gets back? Frankie’s arm problems are how severe? Can Holland be an effective starter at this level? Harrison’s injury is for how long? I would be in favor of staying the course at this time but if Holland isnt ready and Harrison doesnt bounce back right away, i would consider starting pitching the highest need but I would not be in favor or mortgaging the future for a rent-a-starter. Getting bullpen help would be cheaper and probably more doable. I dont really understand why so many people are ready to ditch Chris Davis.

I’m a stay the course person, unless a TRUE ACE who is not a rental is available. If we can’t have him for at least 2 years, don’t do it. Only for an ACE would I give up premium prospects.
don’t trade for bullpen help
I wouldn’t mind an OBP bat, but only as a second-tier trade; don’t give up premium pitching prospects. For a bat, if you have to ask yourself if the price is too high, then it is.

Stand pat. The Rangers need to continue their commitment to talent devlopment and resist the urge to buy a temp worker(s).

The Rangers would be better served as sellers in the July 2009 market.

i agree with all the “stay the course” folks. 2010 has been and should still be the plan. this year has been great so far, but we shouldn’t jump the gun and start renting players, giving up prospects, or rushing our farm system for a WS run this year. If we’re still in this thing at trade deadline, keep the current roster and run with what you’ve got. If it starts to slip late and teams come calling for Jones, Hank, Padilla, or Byrd, listen to their offer and if it makes sense for the future take it. This year has been great, but by all accounts we are still a year ahead of the plan so no need to start making blockbuster deals just yet.

Stay the course. If we can tread water within our own division while Ian and CD get right and Josh gets healthy, we should be able to make a run at it. If we could get a late inning right handed relief pitcher to bridge the gap from Jennings to O’Day, I wouldn’t mind doing that, but only for a marginal prospect (not Smoak, Felix, Beavan, Kiker, Borbon, Vallejo, Max, or Main), so basically we couldn’t get much.

On a side note, Anaheim is officially pushing the panic button. If we can get the offense right and get Josh healthy, we have a shot. We will have to win the division because Boston and New York are about to run away with the wild card and AL East.

1. Starting pitching if it is young and under our control for multiple years AND we don’t give away pitching to get it.

2. Otherwise stick to the plan.

I would consider SP the number 1 priority but only if it was a guy like Halladay, Webb, or Cain. Bullpen is probably the most realistic target but with so many buyers the price will be enormous so I’d be more in favor of adding a bat that some team is trying to dump like Garret Atkins. If we can get a big deal done I would try and build it around Chris Davis and some of our younger talent. Maybe CD, Martin Perez, Kasey Kiker, and other pieces for Halladay. The thought being to move Blalock to first for the rest of this year and rotate Hamilton and A Jones at DH and bring up Smoak to man 1b next year.

1. Stand Pat- Still got a ways til trading deadline. Should see where we are about 7-10 days before trading deadline. Someone could get hurt and then need ammo to fill it. Were in first place and have good players down in minors. I really would like to see the pirate get a shot at bullpen(AJ Murray). Also have Eyrie and Nippert returning soon plus Frankie Fransisco. Then there are other guys with good arms like Mendoza and MAthis, Moscosco and Madrigal are just now getting there shot. Also have some other good relief arms. Outfield options are plenty with Bourbon, Golson. DH and catcher with Max Ramirez- starting to heat up. Middle infield options with Arias and Vallejo. Let’s stand pat until right before trading deadline to see if starters are still doing well and we don’t have injuries. Don’t want to shoot guns to early.

How about a leadoff bat? I don’t know which team would be a fit, but I think Kinsler batting 6th could be a good move.

I don’t have a name to throw out, but I see leadoff as just a big of a need and a thumper.

I’m with those saying the Rangers should be sellers. Let’s get something for Andruw, Blalock, and/or Byrd-especially Andruw.

They’re all players on their way out, and unless the Rangers are 5+ games up at the deadline (which I doubt) then ship them off to keep that farm system stocked.

I hate to wait another year, but it seems it what needs to be done.

A top starter is clearly the team’s No. 1 need. While Millwood is having a solid year, he’s no ace. However, I don’t see a fit, other than signing Sheets and praying to Baseball Jesus that he can return to top form.

I seriously doubt Halladay will be available; Peavy and Oswalt are highly unlikely to approve a trade here; and the Mariners will want top dollar for Erik Bedard because they got fleeced by the Orioles (second best trade in the last decade next to the Rangers-Braves deal for Teixeira).

Bullpen help is No. 2, and I would have liked to see the Blalock-for-Saito deal with Boston, but Rosenthal says Daniels passed.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9688414/Red-Sox-reliever-drawing-interest-from-several-teams

Valverde could be had, but my guess is Houston will ask too much.

A hitter would be nice, but we don’t have a major need anywhere other than first base, and like some of the other folks, I think Smoak will be ready to take over very soon.

I support the stay-the-course mantra. Jon Daniels has done a tremendous job of recovering from some early gaffes (the Chris Young, Alfonso Soriano and John Danks deals) by turning around the farm system in record time through deals (Teixeira, Gagne and Lofton) and the draft.

The bottom line is Texas isn’t a contender this year. Sure, it would be sweet to squeak into the playoffs, but anyone banking on them winning it all is smoking some nice sheet. Next year is the year to make a serious run — now is the time for patience.

Regarding Sheets, as noted in other articles. He is nowhere near the mound yet in his rehab and not talking contract either. My best guess is that he wouldn’t make much of an impact this year but if possible to sign him before season ends and get him going for next year then ther may be possibilities…