It was tongue-and-cheek about the horrible state of the '90s Rangers. Nothing to do with you and 2011's constant petty pissing frenzy.

I'm sure Drew Meyer is having a good year somewhere.

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If Texas signs Kendrys Morales, they will give up the #33 pick.

Roughly 20 teams in the league will have to give up a higher pick than that (possibly as high as #12) to sign Morales.

So you can continue with the 2+2 doesn't equal 4, route -- or accept the painfully obvious statement that Rangers will have to give up less to sign Morales than most other teams in baseball.

Next you'll be telling us how similar Dash Harris was to T.J. McConnell.

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You're not reading, or thinking, or some combination thereof.

No one has said the Rangers wouldn't be giving up a better pick than the majority of the league.

People, or me at least, have said that it isn't meaningful.

That's all.

What does Arizona's point guard have to do with this? I don't know. I don't know why you dislike me much. I do know TJ McConnel is putting up 6.5 points a game shooting .333 from the 3 point line and .571 from the free throw line.

[This message has been edited by Txaggie2011 (edited 12/27/2013 2:11a).]

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It was tongue-and-cheek about the horrible state of the '90s Rangers. Nothing to do with you and 2011's constant petty pissing frenzy.

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You know, I probably disagree with you more than anyone here, and I let you know about it.

Yet Im happy we seem to keep up a good working relationship. I can appreciate that.

I skipped your posts for a couple weeks, after you called me a liar. However, you kept posting, so I eventually got over it.

You (and others) may not agree with me, but when I justify my points (and am right) it seems people think I put too much information. I get that on the Politics Board as well, and simply suggest an apology would be fine.

I think I was the only one who still expected Tanaka to be posted.

I'm not always right, but at least well reasoned in my own head. FWIW.

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No one has said the Rangers wouldn't be giving up a better pick than the majority of the league.

People, or me at least, have said that it isn't meaningful.

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Whether or not you deem it as "meaningful" or not doesn't change the fact that the Rangers still have the upper hand compared to most other teams that would be bidding for Morales.

You try and claim I'm fighting an argument nobody made by... you fighting an argument nobody made. Bravo.

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What does Arizona's point guard have to do with this? I don't know. I don't know why you dislike me much.

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I don't dislike you at all, I think you are a very knowledgeable poster that does himself a great disservice by being consumed with trying to argue any point made by me and a few other posters on here -- no matter how ridiculous the counter-stance is. At this point it's approached troll level.

The TJ McConnell reference is just an example of a counterpoint you had to make that, when it was revealed as painfully incorrect, you abandoned the thread in question. It shows that it's hit the point that you don't even do your research before disagreeing, you just immediately disagree and then try and support the stance later on.

But if that's your shtick, then I guess ride it out.

[This message has been edited by free_mhayden (edited 12/27/2013 9:56a).]

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Whether or not you deem it as "meaningful" or not doesn't change the fact that the Rangers still have the upper hand compared to most other teams that would be bidding for Morales.

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When I say "its not meaningful", feel free to also read it as "they don't have the upper hand."

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The TJ McConnell reference is just an example of a counterpoint you had to make that, when it was revealed as painfully incorrect, you abandoned the thread in question. It shows that it's hit the point that you don't even do your research before disagreeing, you just immediately disagree and then try and support the stance later on.

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I've actually been keeping track of TJ McConnell putting up shooting numbers on Dash's level all season.

I figured I'd let some games go by now that he's not at Duqeunse, or I'd just drop it because I really don't care.

If you're going to bring it up and tell me my comparison was painfully wrong, at least bring it up after TJ had a big game and is not scoring all but 0.5 points a game more than Dash did in the season or maybe when he's back above 60% at the free throw line?

Talk about arguing that 2 and 2 does not equal 4.

quote:

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I don't dislike you at all, I think you are a very knowledgeable poster that does himself a great disservice by being consumed with trying to argue any point made by me and a few other posters on here -- no matter how ridiculous the counter-stance is. At this point it's approached troll level.

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Then enjoy another's knowledge and stop doing a disservice to yourself and reverting to this crud in every thread.

You should come to the soccer board where I spend most of my time. Its a real humdinger.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 12/27/2013 10:28a).]

Anyways, I'm left pondering if Morales should have taken that qualifying offer and lived the Seattle high life at 14.1 million for a year.

Think of all the lattes!

New York Daily News seems to think the Mets aren't going to be players (and they'd be giving up a 3rd round pick), so maybe you mark off another potential suitor.

Choo passed his physical, their website is reporting that 2:30 this afternoon we'll get a press conference.

A lot of pissing and moaning going on in this thread

Buster Olney Top 10 lineups (I don't have a subscription, but didn't need to go past #1):
http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/buster-olney/post?id=4175

Top 10 rotations:
http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/buster-olney/post?id=4191

For those with a subscription, I'd actually like to know what his rankings are for both Top 10 lists.

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1. Texas Rangers

The Rangers’ front office saw the flaws in the team's batting order, the lack of left-handed power, and have aggressively reached for repairs. But it’s not as if the Texas offense was a black hole in 2013: The Rangers finished eighth out of 30 teams in runs, and now they’ve added two left-handed hitters who ranked among the top 30 in the majors in on-base percentage, in Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo. There is notable risk in the long term in Fielder and Choo, given the Rangers’ seven-year investments in each, but in 2014, Texas could run out a lineup that looks like this:


LF Shin-Soo Choo
SS Elvis Andrus
1B Prince Fielder
3B Adrian Beltre
RF Alex Rios
DH Mitch Moreland (for now)
2B Jurickson Profar
C Geovany Soto/J.P. Arencibia
CF Leonys Martin

The question mark should be attached to Moreland because it is possible that Cruz could return on a team-friendly deal -- but only on a team-friendly deal, like Adam LaRoche’s modest two-year contract with the Washington Nationals last winter. Otherwise, the Rangers will be content to let Cruz go elsewhere.

2. Boston Red Sox

Boston was the only team to score more than 800 runs last year, and the Red Sox led the majors in that category by a margin of 57 runs. Xander Bogaerts may quickly evolve into an upper-echelon hitter, and the Red Sox retained Mike Napoli and signed A.J. Pierzynski. But they do appear to be vulnerable to some regression for a couple of reasons:



1. Jacoby Ellsbury is gone from the top of the lineup, and while Jackie Bradley Jr. appears to have the skill set to eventually become a good leadoff hitter, he’s no sure-thing replacement for a player who finished 13th in the majors in WAR in 2013, per FanGraphs.

2. David Ortiz, the most important hitter in the lineup, is 38 years old. That might not mean anything next season, and maybe it won’t mean anything in 2015. But the only perfect record in major league history belongs to Father Time, who is undefeated; eventually, Ortiz’s skills will be affected by age and injury. The Red Sox's hope is that happens later, rather than sooner.

3. Detroit Tigers

The Tigers have had three straight years of near-misses, reaching the American League Championship Series in 2011 and 2013 and playing in the World Series in 2012, and a lot of that is due to the explosiveness of their lineup -- starting with Miguel Cabrera, the back-to-back winner of the AL MVP Award.

This could be the year he reaches 400 homers (he needs 35 more), and he needs just five more hits for 2,000. Fielder put up good numbers in his two years with the Tigers as well, but now his production is gone -- yet Detroit might have a more functional lineup, with more speed and more depth, if the Tigers get positive answers to at least some of their major questions:

A) Was Ian Kinsler’s offensive slide in 2013 the beginning of the end, or was it just an aberration?

B) Can Austin Jackson, who will be 27 this season, get back to being an above-average offensive player, after seeing his OPS drop by more than 100 points in 2013?

C) Will Victor Martinez stay healthy, because he will be charged with the responsibility of protecting Cabrera in the lineup?

D) How smoothly can Nick Castellanos transition into the big leagues, as he assumes third base? His minor league performance suggests he could be a steady contributor, if not a dynamic force.

4. St. Louis Cardinals

No team has been better at making changes on the run without losing anything. Adam Wainwright went down and the Cardinals still won the 2011 World Series. Chris Carpenter didn’t throw an inning in 2013 and a bunch of talented young guys stepped in.

Now the Cardinals are looking at turnover with half of their every-day lineup after leading the National League in runs in 2013, with Carlos Beltran, David Freese, Pete Kozma and (perhaps) Jon Jay out. But St. Louis could be just as good: Matt Adams assumes an every-day job at first base, Allen Craig moves to the outfield, Kolten Wong and Mark Ellis figure to share time at second base (with Matt Carpenter moving to third), and Jhonny Peralta moving in at shortstop.

5. Los Angeles Angels

You start with the game’s best player, Mike Trout, and go from there -- and the safe money is that the Angels will get more out of Albert Pujols than the 443 plate appearances they did last year, and that Josh Hamilton won’t be quite so bad for quite as long as he was in 2013.

In spite of all of the Angels’ offensive dysfunction, they finished seventh in runs scored, which brings us back to where we started: They have Trout, getting on base 300 times, scoring more than 100 runs, compiling 75 to 85 extra-base hits, stealing 30-plus bases. And nobody else does that.

6. Oakland Athletics

The Athletics’ barometer comes down to this: When they’re playing well, they are really good at two things -- they draw walks, and they hit homers.

Oakland ranking (walks/homers)
2011: 13th/24th
2012: 5th/7th
2013: 3rd/3rd

The past two seasons, they’ve drawn walks and they’ve hit homers, and they’ve won back-to-back AL West titles, while finishing first in runs scored among all 30 teams in the second half of 2012 and ranking fourth in runs for the 2013 season. There’s no reason to think they won’t have a good offense again in 2014: Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick appear to be candidates for bounce-back seasons, and Oakland loves Craig Gentry for the damage he does against lefties.

7. Cleveland Indians

If you’re looking for a team as a sleeper for a breakout offensively, I’ll take the Indians, who were already really good last year, finishing tied for fifth in runs.

Think about what didn’t go well for them last season: Michael Bourn (.676 OPS) and Nick Swisher (.763) really didn’t hit the way they have in the past; they had only one hitter with more than 20 homers; Yan Gomes didn’t establish himself as the every-day catcher until the second half of 2013; Asdrubal Cabrera had a terrible year, with a .700 OPS; and Lonnie Chisenhall wasn’t able to establish himself as a third baseman, and Cleveland finished 26th in OPS at the position; Carlos Santana is trying out third base in winter ball, and may or may not be an option there. David Murphy takes over in right field for Drew Stubbs, and between him and Ryan Raburn, the Indians should get better production out of the position.

Will the Indians be as dynamic as the Rangers or Red Sox? Probably not. But they seem to have the personnel to get better.

8. Colorado Rockies

Yes, their best players seemingly suffer a whole lot of injuries, with both Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez missing a significant number of games, and their search for the Mile High Holy Grail of Success continues. But year after year, the conditions and their ballpark help them generate strong offensive production (and not-so-sterling pitching numbers).

Justin Morneau is set to take over from Todd Helton at first base, and in theory, Gonzalez will shift to center field now that Dexter Fowler is gone -- although you wonder whether those plans will change. The Rockies didn’t have a 30-homer hitter in 2013, but they had four guys with 20 or more homers, and Tulowitzki and Gonzalez seem capable of more and better -- if they can stay on the field. Gonzalez has missed 114 games over the last three seasons, and Tulowitzki has become something like the Derrick Rose of shortstops: He’s played in more than 143 games once in the past six years.

9. Kansas City Royals

Their window to win is right now, and general manager Dayton Moore augmented his lineup in two troublesome spots. He paid top-of-the-market dollars to sign Omar Infante to fill in at second base and traded for Norichika Aoki to be the leadoff man, which allows Ned Yost to move Alex Gordon to somewhere in the middle of the lineup.

This could be a dynamic lineup, with power and speed and depth, but so much of the Royals’ season will depend on the development of their best young players -- like the 24-year-old Eric Hosmer, who had a very good second half in 2013, and third baseman Mike Moustakas, who enters an extremely important year in his career after posting an OPS of .651 last season. Salvador Perez has a unique ability to square up a ball, but needs patience; last year, he had 41 extra-base hits, 21 walks and just 63 strikeouts in 526 plate appearances. This is a big year too for Billy Butler, one of baseball’s last full-time designated hitters; he hit into a league-high 28 double plays last season, while his slugging percentage dropped about 100 points.

My guess is that the improved depth of the lineup helps all of them, and the Royals become a strong offensive team. But that’s hardly a sure thing.

10. New York Yankees

The Yankees finished out of the top 10 in runs scored for the first time since 1991, as Joe Girardi pieced together a collection of misfit toys -- journeymen and castoffs and unproven young players -- around Robinson Cano.

Now Cano is gone, but the Yankees would seem to have a good chance for an offensive recovery because the depth may be better, with the addition of Ellsbury, Brian McCann (whose left-handed swing is perfect for Yankee Stadium), Beltran, (who will aim to collect his 400th career homer and 2,500th career hit over the next couple of seasons). Mark Teixeira is set to be back at first base, Derek Jeter is penciled in -- lightly -- at shortstop, and the Yankees’ hope is that Kelly Johnson gives them some production at third or second. But again, the Yankees’ collective age will make them more vulnerable to injury, and Girardi may be looking for pixie dust again.

Honorable mentions: Tampa Bay, which will field as deep a lineup as any in Andrew Friedman’s time as GM; Atlanta, loaded with young players who continue to evolve; Arizona, because Paul Goldschmidt is already among the game’s best hitters; Washington, which could field an excellent lineup if Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth stay healthy enough to remain in it.

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[This message has been edited by corleoneAg99 (edited 12/27/2013 3:14p).]

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Mashiro Tanaka will represent a significant upgrade to the winning bidder, and as some executives said last week, the expectation is that he'll get a contract well over $100 million. Matt Garza, Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez will also land someplace. David Price could be traded someplace soon.

With those big names still in limbo, we rank the top 10 rotations in MLB.

1. Detroit Tigers

Rick Porcello could not have been more ill-suited for the Tigers over the last two seasons, because he needs the support of his defense and Detroit had little to offer. Now that the Tigers have upgraded at shortstop, with Jose Iglesias, and at third base (with Nick Castellanos taking over for Miguel Cabrera) and first (where Cabrera will be stationed), Porcello's ability to generate ground balls should be better exploited.


Remember, Porcello turns 25 years old on Friday and already has 149 starts in the big leagues; numerous evaluators believe he's headed for a strong season, at the back end of a rotation that includes the Cy Young Award winners from 2011 (Justin Verlander) and 2013 (Max Scherzer), as well as the highly underrated Anibal Sanchez. This group completely dominated the Red Sox in the postseason, after leading the majors in a whole lot of categories during the regular season, including ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts (more than 100 more than the second-place team) and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The trade of Doug Fister surprised a lot of executives because the right-hander had been such an effective part of the rotation, but Drew Smyly appears more than ready to take over Fister's spot and give the Tigers a left-handed presence in their rotation.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

With Tanaka now available in free agency and David Price being dangled by the Tampa Bay Rays, the Dodgers may well add another star to their rotation before the start of spring training. They already have the reigning Best Pitcher On The Planet, in Clayton Kershaw -- who already has two Cy Young Awards and a second-place finish -- as well as Zack Greinke, who ranked fourth in ERA after the All-Star break.

Hyun-Jin Ryu is a strong No. 3, posting an ERA+ of 119 in his first 30 starts in the big leagues, and in the final two spots in their rotation, the Dodgers' current plans are for Dan Haren, Josh Beckett, Chad Billingsley and Stephen Fife to carry the load, one way or another. But as we've seen with the Dodgers, plans can change quickly.

3. Washington Nationals

A lot went wrong for Washington last season, from the erratic offense to their bullpen issues. But the Nationals' failure to contend for the NL East title can't be blamed on the rotation, which finished the year with the seventh-best ERA in the majors -- and now they've added Doug Fister as their No. 4 starter, and he should thrive in the NL, where his overall athleticism will play well.

The general perception of Stephen Strasburg was that he had a down year, but he allowed only 6.7 hits per nine innings, the fourth-best in the NL, and his ratio of strikeouts per nine innings also ranked fourth; only five pitchers allowed a lower OPS to opponents than Strasburg's .588.

Jordan Zimmermann, 27, was good enough to be part of the early Cy Young conversation, and after finishing the year with a 3.25 ERA in 213 1/3 innings, he seems destined to climb into the highest tier or starting pitchers. Gio Gonzalez had a 3.36 ERA in 32 starts. Ross Detwiler figures to be the frontrunner for the No. 5 spot in the rotation.

4. St. Louis Cardinals

Throughout the 2013 season, questions hovered over the St. Louis rotation, about whether Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia would be able to pitch or Jake Westbrook would be able to bounce back or whether the young starters would hold up over the long season. But through all of that, the Cardinals finished second in the majors in starters' ERA, with Adam Wainwright leading the way.

Michael Wacha has only nine regular season starts in the big leagues, but showed enough last October -- when he had a 2.64 ERA in five starts, including a pivotal outing against the Pirates -- that many evaluators are convinced he is already a star. The Cardinals' handling of Shelby Miller in the postseason created something of a mystery among rivals about how the team truly feels about the right-hander, but Miller's strong performance for most of the regular season cannot be dismissed; he had a 3.06 ERA in 31 starts, after all.

Joe Kelly saved the Cardinals in the late season with a series of excellent outings, and presumably, he'll be back in the rotation, and Lance Lynn continues to be the plow horse of the group, having compiled 377 2/3 innings and 33 victories the last two seasons.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates' finished fifth in the majors in starters' ERA last season, benefitting from two of the better comeback stories of 2013, in Francisco Liriano and Charlie Morton; Liriano allowed only nine homers in 26 starts, and Morton surrendered just six homers in 20 starts.

The Pirates have spent a lot of weeks waiting to hear from A.J. Burnett about whether he wants to pitch in 2014, and the numbers say he would be worth the wait: Although Burnett was bypassed in an important playoff game at year's end, he gave Pittsburgh 30 starts and 191 innings that were an important part of what was a pretty good rotation. Gerrit Cole demonstrated that he is a star in the making, walking just 28 hitters in his first 117 1/3 innings in the majors while allowing just seven homers.

Wandy Rodriguez has long-term concerns about his elbow, Jeff Locke will need to recover from a late-season slump, and Edinson Volquez will try to win a starting job. But it's worth remembering that no matter who the Pirates run out in their rotation, they will be supported by one of the better defenses in the majors, while working in one of the best pitchers' parks. The Pirates' starters allowed by far the fewest total bases in 2014.

6. Oakland Athletics

The Athletics finished 2013 ranked second in the AL in ERA, but a lot of that production belonged to Bartolo Colon, who has moved on after finishing second to Anibal Sanchez in ERA last summer. The Athletics signed left-hander Scott Kazmir to a two-year, $22 million, with the hope that he can fill in for Colon; other teams passed on Kazmir because of his medical history. Jarrod Parker and Sonny Gray will likely lead the Oakland rotation, along with A.J. Griffin and Dan Straily. The Athletics' dream is that Gray and Straily develop into upper-tier starters.

7. Texas Rangers

It's the part of the Rangers that doesn't get as much notice as it should, because of the history of offense in the home park. But Texas finished fourth in the AL in ERA last season, largely because Yu Darvish is among the best starters in the majors now; his 277 strikeouts last season were easily the most in 2013. Derek Holland threw 213 innings and actually had one more quality start (22) than Darvish, and Martin Perez helped the Rangers stay in the race late in the season.

The Rangers don't yet know what's possible for Matt Harrison, who was limited by injury to just two starts in 2014, or for Colby Lewis, who signed a minor league deal. Alexi Ogando was effective, when healthy, but was able to make only 18 starts among his 23 appearances.

8. Atlanta Braves

The winter has been filled with angst for Braves' fans over Atlanta's lack of a bona fide ace. But while the Braves might not have a Cy Young candidate, they do have depth, and even after the since-departed Tim Hudson went down with a season-ending injury in July, Atlanta's rotation -- comprised of Mike Minor, Kris Medlen, Julio Teheran and others -- performed well.

Brandon Beachy should be in better position to be a factor as he nears the two-year anniversary of his elbow surgery. Alex Wood showed a lot of promise in his first season in the big leagues, which included 11 starts.

9. Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati rotation generated one of the best performances of any team in 2013, finishing third in ERA -- but once again, the Reds' starters will be at the center of intrigue in spring training because of the ongoing question about how to best utilize Aroldis Chapman.

Former Manager Dusty Baker was never in favor of the idea of using Chapman as a starter, and Chapman himself has said he wants to continue being a reliever. But part of the split between Baker and the front office was over Chapman and his role, and Baker is now gone, while his replacement, Bryan Price, has advocated using Chapman in the rotation. It's worth noting, however, that on the Reds' own website, Chapman is listed as the closer.

The Reds are hoping for the return of Johnny Cueto, to head a rotation that also includes Mat Latos, the ever-improving Homer Bailey, Mike Leake and Tony Cingrani. But stayed tuned to see if new manager Bryan Price affects change in Chapman's status.

10. Tampa Bay Rays (for now)

We're going to put them in the list for now, because they still have David Price listed in their rotation as of today. But friends say there was a reason why Price overreacted to criticism after his Game 2 playoff start in Boston in October, in calling reporters nerds: Price was emotional because he knew he may have pitched his last game for the Rays -- and some rival executives believe he'll be moved before the start of spring training.

Even if the left-hander is dealt, Tampa Bay will have a really good rotation, headed by the unflappable Alex Cobb, left-hander Matt Moore (who seemed to figure stuff out in 2013) and the talented Chris Archer, and the Rays always seem to be able to generate young pitching in their minor league system.

But Price is their most experienced and most accomplished starter, and if he's dealt, well, the Rays just won't be the same.

Honorable mentions: The Miami Marlins, headed by Jose Fernandez; the Boston Red Sox, with Clay Buchholz's looming as a pivotal X factor; the Seattle Mariners, if they happen to be the team to land Masahiro Tanaka.

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Gracias

I actually think #7 could be a little low for the Rangers pitching staff. The starters are just now coming into their prime. And if you combine that with the guys coming off of injury it might be one of the deepest group in the majors. They are going to have a couple guys having to start in the minors that would be in the majors with most other clubs.

Vinny

I agree, to an extent. We can't rely or pencil in Harrison. As for now, you could pencil in Tepesch as #5.

Comparing just AL:

Detroit
- Sanchez (29): #1 in AL ERA
- Scherzer (29): #5 in AL ERA
- Verlander (30): #16 in AL ERA <- You gotta believe he'll be better
- Porcello (25): #31 in AL ERA
- Smyly (24)

Oakland
- AJ Griffin (25): #24
- Jarrod Parker (25): #25
- Dan Straily (25)
- Sonny Gray (24)
- Scott Kazmir (29)

Texas
- Darvish (27): #4 in AL ERA
- Holland (27): #14 in AL ERA
- Perez (22)
- Ogando? (30)
- ?

3rd isn't bad.

Tampa is 10th and that is the only other AL team.

Texas has some questions. They are younger than Detroit, but older than Oakland.

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I actually think #7 could be a little low for the Rangers pitching staff. The starters are just now coming into their prime. And if you combine that with the guys coming off of injury it might be one of the deepest group in the majors. They are going to have a couple guys having to start in the minors that would be in the majors with most other clubs.

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That's generally what the clubs ranked in front of the Rangers are saying, too.

I tend to think 7 is low too, especially when you account for the Ballpark launching pad factor.

Is this the year that Font actually gets a look in spring training? Seems like he's been on the bubble for a call up for a while now. Don't know if he's ready for the rotation yet but could be another young arm in the pen

Born

I've been waiting on Font for a while, as well.

His projection is closer. I've said a few times this off-season that he'll be part of the BP. As they added Ross 2years ago, and JoJo last year. Font will be this year.

The BP will be great to watch in ST, I think.

Soria and Feliz are leading contenders for Closer.

Scheppers and Ross were being stretched out this winter.

Cotts and Frasor are both on the squad.

Kirkman may return.

Ogando may be rotation or BP.

his numbers in low A/A/AA ball were pretty salty

maybe they found something they can work with.

[This message has been edited by David_Derry (edited 12/30/2013 5:14p).]

Rumor is it's Samsung

Guess that #7 ranking is null now that Holland is out for the first half? Two spots to fill now.

between the naming rights and the tv deal there should be plenty of $$$ to invest in this team in the upcoming years

Where was Angie Stevens on this naming deal? I would have thought she'd be able to outbid some 4th tier finance firm.

I didn't know the baggage and upside of signing Hanson:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/02/rangers-to-sign-tommy-hanson.html

Control through 2015 on a minor league deal.

If he gets the mental piece worked out... could be a HUGE get.

I trust the Maddux bros in this one.

Who better to bring Hanson back from the dead than them

Exactly.

And it was a Major League deal. Looks like if he makes the team out of ST... he'll be #5.

> Darvish
> Perez
> Ogando
> Harrison*
> Hanson

One good thing about getting some long-term position players... It helps allow the team to load up on SPs on the 40-Man for ST. LOGS of competition and LOTS of opportunity for a player who can put it together.

Stretched: Ross, Scheppers <- Both want out of middle-relief
Injury Return: Harrison + Colby <- Both are proven MLB SPs
Bubble: Hanson, Feierabend, Mathis <- 2nd Chances
Minor League: Tepesch, Galarraga, Luke Jackson, tons of others

Solid BP, as well.

And at $2M/yr... no reason they can't still sign\trade for another.

Talented, but very shaky rotation.

Agreed.

Lots of potential.

Last year we needed Grimm and Tepesch to hide holes for 2 months... then 3 months... then 4 months.

I don't see help on the way, per se. We'll leave ST with what we'll have for the season.