Sunday, July 05, 2009

What the Texas Rangers should do at the trade deadline:

Nothing.

Sit tight. Compete for the division championship.

The Rangers have 7 capable starting pitchers:

Millwood
Padilla
Feldman
Harrison .(when he returns from IR)
Hunter .. (has given up 3 runs; then 2 runs; then 1 run)
Holland . (reports of his demise are knee jerk overreactions)
Nippert . (hasn't proven his capability, but I expect he will)

The Rangers have 15 capable relief pitchers ready to go:

Francisco
Wilson
O'Day
Jennings
Guardado
Grilli ..... (a pleasant surprise: Rangers ERA is 2.09)
Eyre .....(battle tested and healthy)
El Duque
Madrigal (excelling in AAA)
Mathis .. (having success in Arlington in long relief)
Moscoso (excelling in AAA)
Diamond (announcing his presence with authority)
A.J. Murray (all he does is pitch his booty off, then get hurt)
Hinkley ..(excellent LH relief, anyone?)
Feliz

The Texas Rangers have enough pitching to win their division.

What the Rangers don't have is enough disciplined hitting. However, rather than trade for disciplined hitting, they should let their own hitting ripen and mature into a state of championship quality discipline.

Just sit tight, compete for the division championship, and it should be an entertaining summer and an exciting September.

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Note: I would be very happy to not see Feliz and Smoak until the end of April, 2010. Especially Smoak. He is a Boras client, and there's no reason to start his clock early. If you promote him at the end of April, 2010, he remains Rangers property through 2016.

If Borbon is sent back down after only a few days (less than 7?) in Arlington: his prospect clock also fails to start. Borbon is also a Boras client. I would be perfectly happy to not see him until the end of April, 2010. He can mature his plate discipline in AAA.

1 comment:

Dusty Chris said...

I agree...leave good enough alone.