Blogs Rule: C.J. Wilson weighs in at the trade deadline

Update:
C.J. weighs in after the Teixeira trade. I'm like a commenter: we can't trade C.J. for this reason alone: his blog commentary is too much fun ...

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You realize, reading blogs over time, how much the space limitations and the editing process of newspapers tend to skew what you learn about various things. This is a good example: C. J. Wilson guest-posts at the kick booty-butt trade deadline gossip blog: Lone Star Ball.

C. J. is not a professional writer, yet he is interesting. He gives inside info on players from other organizations who are rumored to be offered to the Rangers, and whom C.J. has either played against, or at least has a professional ballplayer's opinions about. And THEN C. J. GOES INTO THE BLOG COMMENTS SECTION, AND DOES BACK AND FORTH WITH THE VERY BLOGHEAD FANS WHO HAVE BEEN FEVERISHLY SPECULATING ABOUT TRADES. Other C. J. comments:

you never know
I thought chris young was untouchable...after that trade I won't feel secure about my small spot on the roster for a while.

as far as the starter, reliever thing goes... depends on who you ask, and a lot of what ifs.

what if I can still throw 92-96 for 7 innings as a starter? um well then it's a no brainer I should be a starter. How will any of us find out? Unless they give me a chance, even if it's in AAA or AA for a month or two this year, nobody can be certain. Which is what I told people a few months ago.

what if everyone is healthy and there isn't a spot for me? then I guess I go back to the pen, but with an extra chip in my stack.

what if I suck as a starter? well then we all know it's written in stone that I stay in relief. I don't think I will suck, so I keep fighting the tides a bit until the timing works out that I get a chance.

right now I am a defacto setup guy of some sort- the organization will place me in a role they think is most beneficial to them- if we re-sign gagne, and aki, and benoit- then I do the same thing I'm doing now in 2008.

If we need a closer for next year and don't sign one, I'd like to think that the PTB (powers that be) allow me to compete for that role.

I'd rather take a chance at being the next eric bedard-ish guy than be a certain LH-specialist, especially if we're not contending for the World Series in 2008. Developing starting pitching is the hardest thing to do for most teams...we've all seen the growing pains and reality checks for colby lewis, ben kozlowski, volquez, dominguez, etc.

The thing that sticks in my head are the talks I had with Kenny Rogers the last few seasons. He's pretty sure I'm gonna be like him, come up as a flamethrowing lefty reliever, and forge my career as a starter when I get the chance. The question is- what direction is the team going in?

who the hell keeps yelling "throw the gyro" when I'm pitching?
by blue glove lefty on Sun Jul 29, 2007 at 02:27:00 AM EDT

A lil bit of an OT question for ya..
The trade talk is cool and all but gets old. I just wanted your take on which position player on the team would throw the hardest on the mound. I would think that MY could bring it a bit.
by Pitcher15 on Sun Jul 29, 2007 at 02:33:10 AM EDT [ Parent ]

desi relaford has
already pitched one or two scoreless for the mets and even got a strikeout or two. I saw the video- 92mph, 77mph changeup...

but dude- nelson cruz has the best arm on the team for sure! he might be a bit wild but could probably throw 95. wilky was a pitcher in college, so he can toss a bit, high 80's-90? and mike can probably throw mid 80's, maybe 90 as well. it's more how you use your body to get down the mound than anything else...hell feldman can throw 94 sidearm, but KLoe makes him look tiny in the muscle department. it's weird.

throwing really hard (guys like verlander, i.e.) is more about being super athletic and coordinated rather than just arm strength. I always had an amazing arm from RF back in the day but didn't hit 90 until I was a junior in college- I didn't learn how to throw off a mound and use the slope until then. but I had sick breaking stuff because of good feel, and learned later how to generate hip speed for power.

who the hell keeps yelling "throw the gyro" when I'm pitching?
by blue glove lefty on Sun Jul 29, 2007 at 02:40:22 AM EDT [ Parent ]

[...]

last one...
I liked the red jerseys- i could always get a red glove!

maybe the trade deadline will bring different circumstances, different teammates and prospects that will change the landscape of our future...so I will wait it out for a few more days before I go ask to start again.

myspace friend, you're correct that my rehab from tommy john surgery year of 2005 would be a bad window to view my starter potential through...take a guy who was throwing 50 pitches in AA and make him a starter in the bigs...yeah not really a prep you'd give for hurley on his way up, is it?

so my point is, if we're 10+ games under, we've got more to gain than to lose if I get a chance to start. everyone will either see it happen or realize it won't happen. and then I know it's time to focus on doing what I have to do to be a closer, which is less distance down the road I'm already going anyway...

if they trade me, how could I be upset? i don't have any control over it.

that's like if I jam the crap out of a hitter and carlos lee is chasing the ball in a medium jog, and he falls over and they give it a homerun instead of an error...oh wait that happened last year! and I was kinda mad but I couldn't do anything about it.

I don't really see winter ball as an option, I don't know the last SP we sent there...

who the hell keeps yelling "throw the gyro" when I'm pitching?
by blue glove lefty on Sun Jul 29, 2007 at 11:09:28 AM EDT

And I thought I was a creative baseball genius when I said C.J. was the answer to the Rangers need for dominant starting pitching! I was just one of a group of people - C.J. included! Reading C.J., I realize if the Rangers don't give him a chance to build his arm stamina, and be a starting pitcher, then they are fools.

If C. J. had written any of this for a dead tree publication, it would've been "professionally" edited in a way which skewed C. J.'s mellow. Someone like me wants to see C. J. in an unedited, give-him-all-the-space-he-wants form. It's interesting to get a vague feel for how the players feel at this moment.

I recently saw a television report about The Newburg Report. Many Rangers players follow the Newburg Report via their personal email accounts, or over the web. I was interested to hear Michael Young say The Newburg Report is the main way the veteran players keep up with the Rangers' minor league prospects.