Ben Broussard is THE FUTURE

I am onboard with Mike Hindman's sarcastic headline, and with his sentiments:

Ben Broussard is THE FUTURE: Jason Botts liberated.

"At some point, you've got to commit to people you believe in. The only way young players are going to develop is if you give them a chance to learn and sometimes they learn through failure, a little bit." - Jon Daniels

It's not easy being a fan of this organization.
It's never been very easy.
It's nearly impossible today.

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I haven't been this frustrated since Ian Kinsler was traded for 2 months of 38 year old Larry Walker. Walker, via refusing to consent to the trade, saved the Rangers from themselves.

When Chris Young was traded, I could not understand the reasoning. I told myself that maybe Adam Eaton was a crafty and effective major league pitcher. I was slightly comforted by an anonymously quoted Rangers Management voice saying the team believed Eaton was ready to step up and be a #1 starter. THAT anonymous quote was an incredible bit of cynicism. At his very best possible level of excellence(a level, btw, which Eaton has never yet attained in his career), Eaton is a #4 starter on a championship team. He will likely never attain that level of excellence in his career. He is, in actuality, either a #5 starter on a good team, a #4 starter on a mediocre team, or a high school coach(not that there's anything wrong with that!).

When Danks was traded, I found it curious that a LH who works at 94 (and can throw harder) and has no significant control issues was traded for a RH who works at 89. I found it curious that a team with a dearth of LH pitching would trade a nice LH prospect(plus RH prospect Nick Masset). Yet, I had to admit I had only ever seen Danks throw to one hitter. I had, otoh, seen Brandon McCarthy shut down the Rangers in Arlington. Brandon McCarthy did look like a nice prospect.

In the shakeout, McCarthy turns out to be obsessively finicky: about his motion and mechanics, about the condition of the mound and the weather, about the umpire, about his pregame meals and routine, about how his uniform fits. Danks, in comparison, is a Texas-born disciple of John Wayne.

McCarthy turns out to need perfect control in order to succeed(and perfect umpiring, and perfect everything else). McCarthy often lacks lacks perfect control. Danks turns out to be the mentally tough battler (under all conditions) which he was advertised to be. Maybe Danks doesn't project as a #1. But he does project as a durable LH #2 or #3 who will battle in all conditions. Danks projects to an Andy Petitte level of major league success. McCarthy's success (due to his finicky nature and his less speedy fastball) is less of a good bet.

I'm old enough to have been aghast when the Rangers gave up Ron Darling and Walt Terrell for Lee Mazilli. And now I'm aghast over Botts(even as I retain hope that he just miiiight end up in OKC).

I could go on, but the point is made: It's hard to be a Rangers fan.