He owns Liverpool as well now doesn't he?

How aboutHarry Kewell at third base and Steven Gerrard at SS.

Most of us don't think about the Rangers at all, so don't worry about being an embarrassment, Ranger fans.

I am hopeful that he can work the same magic at Liverpool, Phil....

signing a-rod? not bad at all.

hiring washington? many thought (or think) he'd be a good manager.

hiring john hart? same thing as above.

I am hopeful that he can work the same magic at Liverpool, Phil....

Hi mate, how are you?

Lets hope he does screw Liverpool. The whole Manu/Chelsea/Liverpool/Arsenal sideshow has gotten tiresome.

The best story of the year was sadly the relegation battle.

Just kidding

Good to see Vaughn blamed Feddie for the World Cup fiasco, not the fact that he is Jeter like in the field and contributed absolutly nothing with the bat. I didn't realise you were playing India this summer. I am looking forward to that now.

OK, Reevesie, let's talk about your points.

Trying to mesh his hockey and baseball front offices

Dunno, sounds like a bad idea to me, but Mike Modano didn't move to shortstop or anything.

Lack of continuity in philosophy and front office personnel, which began with the firing of general manager Doug Melvin

Or in other words is traceable to John Hart. I suppose Mr Hicks could have guessed Hart would be a kind of jitterbug with no consistent direction. Point taken.

Giving The Ballpark a NASCAR-like look with advertising plastered on anything that doesn't move and some things that do

Doesn't seem to have impeded the team much.

Building the infamous Gold Club without first checking to see what it might do to the wind currents

OK, but -- both teams, home & visitor, have to play in the same wind currents.

Hiring John Hart to replace Doug Melvin

You made that point once already.

Failing to re-sign Pudge Rodriguez

Letting Pudge go in 1997 would have been a disaster. Letting him go in 2002, after he'd missed large parts of three straight seasons, was common sense, especially at the asking price.

Signing Alex Rodriguez and Chan Ho Park

I'm sorry, I don't see the parallels. This is like criticizing the Academy for giving Oscars to Katharine Hepburn and Marisa Tomei.

Letting Nolan Ryan, the most credible baseball name in Texas, slip away to the Astros

And Ryan has won a whole buncha games for those Astros. On credibility alone.

Allowing Hart and Buck Showalter to run off John Blake, the most savvy PR director in baseball, who told them the truth instead of what they wanted to hear. He now does that job for the Boston Red Sox

John Blake is very competent at his job; I don't see how PR helps the team on the field one way or the other, though.

Hicks is also responsible for hiring the youngest (and lowest-paid) GM in the game in Jon Daniels and allowing him, in turn, to hire a completely inexperienced (and lowest-paid) manager in Ron Washington

Daniels has been spinning his wheels quite a bit. Again, it's quite fair to blame Hicks for not hiring better GMs. Washington, however, is a different story. I don't see how you can blame Washington for going 20-37 with an outfield of spare parts, a starting rotation from hunger, and most of the actual good players on the team slumping or injured.

ticket prices have shot up at The Ballpark in the last decade. Ten years ago you could have the best seat in the house for $25. That same seat is now $100 and other tickets have risen from 50-100 percent or more across the board. Let's not even talk about what you pay now for parking and concessions

I don't like this either, which is why I go to the Ballpark less & less. But it hasn't seemed to diminish attendance or profits or wherewithal to field a good team.

In the meantime, the Rangers have drafted poorly, leading to a lack of player development. There's not a single position player currently in the system that fans can expect to make this team next spring

Poor drafts might well be an issue, but "nobody making the team next year" is not good evidence of it. This ain't football, and it ain't college sports. It is a good thing in pro baseball if no kid out of AA can crack your lineup.


Yes, Hicks should sell, because he's lost the confidence of the people. But he won't because he now sees the new Cowboys' stadium as another financial windfall, with development coming around both stadiums that Hicks could never get off the ground on his own

Um, like all the great development that flocked to the Ballpark neighborhood after 1994? Let me make a wild prediction and say that this simply will not happen. The only major development that has come to the Ballpark neighborhood is the Cowboys stadium itself. Nor do I see how Mr Hicks is going to benefit somehow from this projected "development." Nor do I see how it affects Ranger fans hope, unless somehow it could increase it by increasing the flow of money to the team, which would be a smart move, right?

In the meantime, the Rangers have drafted poorly, leading to a lack of player development.

Let's look at some of those drafts, shall we?

2002: Kameron Loe is in the rotation. He's not doing especially well yet, but he's a potentially useful back-of-the-rotation guy. The Rangers might still get something out of Nate Gold, mashing at Oklahoma.

2003: John Danks was traded for Brandon McCarthy, who is in a similar boat to Loe right now. Wes Littleton has been up and down, generally pitching well out of the pen when he's been up. Ian Kinsler is the starting 2B. Hudgins and Sinisi were traded for Freddy Guzman; one or both will probably get to the majors at some point. Emerson Frostad might make it as a utility player, especially if he can continue to catch.

2004: Hurley could be in the rotation next year. Diamond's struggled at higher levels and is hurt now, but I wouldn't rule him out yet. Ben Harrison is a long shot. Mike Nickeas was traded for Victor Diaz.

2005: Teagarden could be the catcher in '09. Mayberry doesn't have the average, but is flashing the power.

I think that's a pretty decent draft record, actually. Not great, and it's legit to point out the lack of position players - but in fairness, the Rangers have been focusing on pitchers in those drafts where you would expect to be seeing position players now, getting Kinsler appears to have been a coup, and the last couple of years are promising.

-- MWE

The worst part about Hart is that he was never around. In fact, when he left, some high profile players said that they rarely saw or spoke to the man. There is something terribly wrong with that. I seriously doubt that Hicks could have forseen this, but, as the man writing the checks, I think he could have held Hart accountable for all the time he spent away from the team (apparently playing golf). Instead he gives the man an extention, and then keeps him around as a consultant. This is the root of the problem. Hicks was influenced way too much by the wrong people. There was a power struggle between Hart/Buck and Fuson, and I think Orel was involved in some capacity. There have been a lot of accusations in the papers and on the Web, but nobody really knows for sure. Still, the wrong people won that battle, and scared off a very talented man in Fuson. Sustained winning (at a reasonable price) requires a good farm system, something that Hart decimated in his first few years on the job. Fuson was brought in to fix this problem; first under Hart and then as the GM. Due to the power struggle, this never happened, and set the team back even further from being good. Daniels realizes the problem that this team faces (little to no talent in the high minors, especially position players). This past offseason was pretty obvious about what Daniels is doing to try and fix this team. He wants to rebuild the farm system while staying competitive. In reality, this is a pipe dream; you can't do both at the same time. So when push comes to shove between these two ideologies, Daniels chooses the farm system. This is why he let GMJ, DeRosa, Lee, et. al. leave via free agency. He needs the draft picks if he wants this team to get better.

This article by Evan Grant shows that the scouting department suffered under Hart. He cut resources for scouting, and had conflicts with Fuson about which type of player to draft (Fuson wanted college players, and Hart wanted young highschool players with lots of upside). Daniels has increased the resources for scouting, and has picked personnel that have a good reputation and who don't differ totally with Daniels as far as oppinions go. Since 1995, the Rangers have had six different scouting directors, all with different philosophies. From a scouting standpoint, Daniels is doing all he can to turn this team around. Their nine picks in the first five rounds could go a long way. However, I fear that somebody will catch the ear of Hicks and promise him that he can bring in more profit by winning now as opposed to the more conservative approach Daniels is taking. Given the number of mistakes Daniels has made so far (he is young, so these things are to be expected), his days could be numbered. This, more than anything, would hurt the Rangers. Daniels has a good plan for the future.

Mike,

Keith Law had an article posted here yesterday about the results of the '02 draft. The Rangers took Drew Meyer, who has done nothing for the Rangers. There are some decent players in the system, but, on the whole, it is one of the worst in baseball. Nate Gold might be mashing, but he is 27. Loe and Littleton have good arms, but seem better suited for the pen, which is really not a problem for the Rangers. The attention given to pitching has really hurt this team as they look to fill their OF for next season. The two best prospects were Cruz and Diaz, none of whom were drafted by the Rangers. So far, Diaz is the only one who merits any consideration for next season. For a team that spent so much time and draft picks on pitching, you would think they would have more to show than a few bulllpen/back of the rotation type of players. While pitching is a hot commodity, you can't trade these types of pitchers for quality positional players. All is not lost for the Rangers' farm system, but it is quite barren at the upper levels.

PS - what about Botts?

As of this morning, the Rangers -- not the Royals -- are the worst team in baseball.

Hicks has stolen something precious indeed. My heart!

Keith Law had an article posted here yesterday about the results of the '02 draft.

I read it.

There are some decent players in the system, but, on the whole, it is one of the worst in baseball.

There is a lot of upside in the lower minors, and that, to me, takes it out of the realm of "one of the worst".

-- MWE

So there's a group of people that actually miss George W. Bush?

Mike,

Law has an article (insider status necessary) that puts the Rangers farm system at 26 in the Majors.

signing a-rod? not bad at all.

In a sense it was a bad decision. I'm guessing that the Park signing was partly due to A-Rod stumping for his buddy Scott's client.

I can't prove that, but it seemed that the whole A-Rod/Hicks/Boras dynamic might have caused undue pressure to sign Chan Ho. I remember a column I did when Park was on the market and I just pointed to his home/road splits. Away from Chavez Ravine, he was a .500 pitcher with a well-below average ERA:



If memory serves, Boras negotiated with Hicks and not the GM at the time regarding Park. Hicks' baseball people I'm sure (or would like to think) would be aware of Park's terrible splits and how he would pitch in Arlington.

For awhile it seemd that Hicks would do whatever his new buddy A-Rod asked and I wouldn't put it past Boras to put the bug in Rodriguez's ear for Hicks handle the negotiation himself and to sign him.

If that is the case, the A-Rod signing might not have been a great idea from an on field perspective although Hicks parlayed the signing into some nice coin.

Best Regards

John

Law has an article (insider status necessary) that puts the Rangers farm system at 26 in the Majors.

Off the top of my head: I'd rather have the Rangers' current system, as a whole, than any of the following:

San Diego
Houston
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
Seattle
St. Louis
White Sox
Cubs
Baltimore

There are individual prospects in some of those systems who may be better than any single prospect the Rangers have, but as a group, I think the Rangers will get more out of what they currently have than any of those teams will.

-- MWE

I'm guessing that the Park signing was partly due to A-Rod stumping for his buddy Scott's client.

If you believe the stories around the area at the time, it almost *solely* due to that.

Law has an article (insider status necessary) that puts the Rangers farm system at 26 in the Majors.

I personally trust Mike Emeigh opinion on the minors as much as I trust anyone, including but not limited to Keith law.

So there's a group of people that actually miss George W. Bush?

Well, there's definitely a group of people who wish George W. Bush was still the owner of the Texas Rangers.

This article by Evan Grant shows that the scouting department suffered under Hart. He cut resources for scouting, and had conflicts with Fuson about which type of player to draft (Fuson wanted college players, and Hart wanted young highschool players with lots of upside). Daniels has increased the resources for scouting, and has picked personnel that have a good reputation and who don't differ totally with Daniels as far as oppinions go.

Marvelous piece of writing by Grant (one of my favorite beat writers). There's just one little piece I'd quibble with:

...2005, when Hart, manager Buck Showalter, player personnel director Dom Chiti and current scouting director Ron Hopkins all jockeyed to make selections. Neither of the Rangers' top two pitching selections from that draft have won a game above the Arizona Rookie League.

The top two pitching selections were drafted in rounds 4 and 5, behind Mayberry, Whittleman, and Teagarden, who are at this point arguably the three best position player prospects in the system. In the context of those rounds, Funk and Kirkman were not unreasonable choices. If you look at the group of HS pitchers taken in rounds 4 and 5, you don't see many others who are having a great deal of success. Singling out the Rangers for these picks doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

-- MWE

I personally trust Mike Emeigh opinion on the minors as much as I trust anyone, including but not limited to Keith law.

Thanks, but that's not necessarily a good thing :) I have my own set of blind spots, too (see Ryan Howard).

My suggestion to everyone who's interested in prospect evaluation is simple: read everything you can, from whatever sources you can find, and then draw your own conclusions from the data. No one person or group can see everything there is to see, and you can be sure that you're missing something if you rely too heavily on one set of recommendations.

-- MWE

mike,

in case you still here (your email addy from this site don't work)

would you please tell me what you think of the astros farm (don't include any guy who has been in the majors please) and tell me if you think there is anyone who should be good enough to be a ML ballplayer - ignore age since the astros do

thanx

i personally think the farm is as close to bare as you can get except for a few pitchers, but i would like your opinion