Nolan Ryan = Gravitas, Part 2

Re MLB Trade Deadline: Thank God and Greyhound it's gone!

Whew!

The Halladay negotiations will help the Rangers make equitable trades over the next couple of seasons. Teams now know the Rangers will refuse to allow themselves to be robbed of talent. It is important for teams to know this. Jon Daniels was robbed, in order, of Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez, John Danks, Nick Masset. Daniels mentor, John Hart, tried to give away Ian Kinsler and Erik Thompson, only to be saved from himself by Larry Walker's refusal to come to Texas. Therefore, the protracted Halladay negotiations have prepped the ground for future trades via showing other teams that Jon Daniels and Nolan Ryan will not panic, and will draw a line in the sand. The Halladay negotiations served a purpose.



Re Nolan Ryan = Gravitas, an excerpt from Part 1:

Example 1: non-firing of Ron Washington when 2008 season opened disastrously

It's not that Washington was either fired or not fired. It is, rather, the non-firing gave Washington instant credibility ... insofar as Nolan Ryan obviously would not hesitate to fire Washington ... and, therefore, Nolan Ryan's baseball gravitas + decision not to fire Washington = additional credibility for Washington in the clubhouse, in the media, and in the minds of fans.

Example 2: non-pursuit of free agent pitchers

The source of much past grumbling in media, in blogs, and amongst fandom. Comes Nolan Ryan to say free agent pitchers cost too much money, and therefore the Rangers will concentrate on developing their own young pitchers. When Nolan Ryan says it - especially since Nolan earned scads of millions of $ as a free agent pitcher - it has more weight behind it than if Jon Daniels or Tom Hicks says it. This significantly tamps down the media/blogs/fandom grumbling. The Rangers still might trade for a young pitcher, but they will not be aggressively offering Barry Zito type contracts.


And now:

Example 5: non-trade for Roy Halladay

If it was strictly Jon Daniels making this call, would Rangers fans and media be so accepting of the decision?

Note: at the 11th hour (Eastern) last night, Halladay informed the Blue Jays he would not accept a trade to Texas. Halladay might have saved the Rangers from themselves. Whew #2!


Related End Zone: Nolan Wan-Kenobi