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Panic Or Patience? Perception of Rangers Moves Can Go Either Way

ARLINGTON - I spent the morning trying to work on a column on the state of the Rangers heading into the Angels series. The headline said: “Is the most urgent message the Rangers could send no message at all?”

The idea: Stay the course; don’t let slumps create a panic and certainly don’t let the Angels smell that panic in the air.  Fortunately, I ran out of time before a previous engagement called. Otherwise, I’d have been judging a celebrity chef cookoff when all kinds of turmoil took place in the Rangers’ lineup.

To summarize: They called up Julio Borbon and instilled him right in the starting lineup, batting sixth, no less, a spot young players have rarely hit in at any time in their first year or two in Texas, much less in their major league debut. They pushed Michael Young up to second from the third spot and put David Murphy in the third spot for the first time this season (and the third time in his career). They sat both Andruw Jones and Hank Blalock, only the second time this season in an AL game neither of them has started.

At first glance, it sure seemed like panic. But then, again, panic suggests sweaty palms and nervous tics at the first hint of trouble. You might be able to say that falling out of first place Saturday was the first real ramification of trouble and that being one-hit by Chad Gaudin for eight innings was the panic point. But trouble has been percolating for some time. The club ranks 11th in batting average at .255, but five points of that was gained in the first 10 days of the season. Since April 16, the Rangers are hitting only .250 (13th in the league) with a .3o9 OBP (last). Since June 1, it’s .220 and .282, both the worst numbers in the league.

Through it all, the Rangers have made no real performance-based changes to the lineup. They have given Chris Davis an occasional off day here or there, but he’s stayed the first baseman all season despite being on a rec0rd pace for strikeouts. Now, nearly three months in, they are making their first major change by giving Borbon a chance to play daily. It’s a little odd since Borbon is a leadoff hitter by nature, the real problem is the fourth spot and Borbon made his major league debut by hitting sixth. But solutions don’t always come in a bow.

“I think what we’ve done has been just the opposite of panic,” Rangers GM Jon Daniels said. “There are a lot of organizations that would have made changes a long time ago with both the lineup and the personnel. We really haven’t done anything. But we’re sitting here three months into the season and, aside from the first three weeks of the year, we haven’t been productive. It’s been a tw0-month slump. We’re trying to make adjustments and create a spark without being disruptive.”

Both Daniels and manager Ron Washington said this move isn’t designed to send a message to anybody in particular, but it should come across loud and clear to Blalock and Jones. A team struggling for runs is sitting the two players on the roster with the most career home runs as it begins its biggest series of the year to date. What other options did they have, though? In June, the pair is hitting a combined .173 in a cleanup platoon. Go back a littler further, like to May 1, and they are hitting a combined .216 with a .284 OBP – and that’s rounding up.

“This isn’t about singling anybody out,” Daniels said. “Weve got nine guys in the lineup who haven’t performed up to their abilities lately. We’ve been patient and we’ll continue to do so. But the bottom line is we need more production out of the lineup.”

That’s not a conclusion drawn in panic. It’s one made after watching the lineup struggle night after ight against Chad Gaudin, Kevin Correia, Greg Tallet, Dallas Braden and even Dontrelle Willis, who managed to put aside his social anxiety problems long enough to hold the Rangers to a hit in eight innings in May.

The Rangers offense needs changes. On Monday, management decided it had waited long enough for the team to make them on their own.