Rangers Notebook: Josh Hamilton To Texas
By Jared Sandler | @sandlerJ
105.3 THE FAN -- Josh Hamilton to the Texas Rangers. A move with a mystery attached to it in 2007 and a move with a mystery attached to it in 2015.
How the fans will greet Josh is a mystery.
How Josh will perform is a mystery.
How Josh's personal life will hold up is a mystery.
But why this deal, which requires you to pay an approximate amount of reportedly $7 million over the next three years, makes sense isn't a mystery at all.
For 2015, Hamilton's presence and potential offers some excitement for a team and a season that has featured virtually only glum news. But, make no mistake about it, this move isn't about 2015. No, no, no. It's about 2016. Hear me out...
I've mentioned before that the Rangers' true target year is 2016 and then the subsequent seasons to follow. While no one was throwing in the towel on 2015, smart money tells you their odds are better next season, especially with injuries to key players like Yu Darvish and Derek Holland.
So when you're building your team for 2016, you now have another option...and a remarkably cheap option. If he turns out to be better than your other options--Ryan Rua, Jake Smolinski, and whoever else--then you have come away with your starting left fielder for cheap. If he fits into a platoon, you've come away with a productive platoon outfielder, still for cheap. And if he doesn't fit in at all, you can now part ways with a guy and not hesitate because of a steep financial commitment.
The Rangers have committed a lot of money to Elvis Andrus and Shin-Soo Choo. It's no secret that these two have under-performed their contracts. Their expensive price tag makes it tough to trade them. If you release them, you are paying them not to play, which doesn't seem practical. So all you really can do is keep trotting them out there, hoping they turn things around.
You aren't handcuffed like that with Josh.
In its simplest form: if he works out, you play him. If he doesn't, you don't. And if it becomes a distraction, you part ways.
Low-risk. High-reward. Not much of a mystery there.
Playing Pepper (Random Rangers thoughts)
*Leonys Martin belongs as this team's leadoff hitter and he might very well be developing into a damn good one.
*Nick Martinez doesn't have the best stuff or the best upside, but he is definitely strong between the ears. Put Nick Martinez in a big spot, and I'll have no fear that the moment will become too big for him. It's so impressive how he got his ass kicked time in and time out last year, continuing to come back and, ultimately, showing great improvement in September and into this season.
*Adrian Beltre's offensive struggles concern me. I'm hopeful they'll turn around and that this is just a slow start. But it's tough to watch one of the best defensive third baseman of his era--probably, the best, to be honest--look ordinary more and more.
*With all that said, Beltre remains one of my favorite players of all-time. He plays the game with a rare combination of competitive intensity and youthful joy and levity, something demonstrated with his response to having Angels SP, Garrett Richards, break three of his bats on Friday night.
*I'm a huge Rougned Odor fan and think he's going to be a special player, but he's gotten off to a dastardly slow start and they really need him to turn things around.
*Here are Josh Hamilton's five best plays as a Ranger, according to TR Sullivan.
Quotes of the Week
"I would probably be working on Wall Street with the rest of my Fordham teammates."
-- Rangers SP, Nick Martinez, on where he would be if his father, Nick, didn't "badger" him into taking pitching lessons in high school. Martinez, who was reluctant to oblige, barely pitched in high school and delivered fewer than 30 collegiate innings on the mound. For anyone with those peripherals, reaching the Majors would be quite an accomplishment, but to consider that Martinez has performed as well as anyone on the mound this year, albeit a small sample, is even more impressive. You can learn more about Martinez's path in the T.R. Sullivan article, listed below in our "Good Reads."
"There's true baseball fans in Texas, but it's not a true baseball town."
-- Former Rangers OF, Josh Hamilton, from a year ago about the metroplex baseball fans. It was a comment that, in reality, isn't too inaccurate, but was unnecessary and one for which he needs to acknowledge if and when he returns to the Rangers. I don't expect Hamilton to apologize, but he at least needs to offer some sort of a remark to try and reach out to those fans who are still mad at him for this comment and some other parting shots.
Stat of the Week: 4
That's not only the amount of outfield assists for Leonys Martin, a figure that ties him for the Major League lead, but it is also the amount of infield hits for Prince Fielder, which is the most on the team.
Stock Up/Stock Down
Here's a weekly look at performances of Rangers players.
UP: Leonys Martin
Leonys Martin's slash line over the team's most recent eight-game road trip: .343/.395/.514. Do the math and that's a .909 OPS. Still want to give up on him?
DOWN: Rougned Odor
The young, promising second baseman has had a rough start to the season, punctuated by a rough road trip, in which he went 2-for-22 (.091). While Shin-Soo Choo only collected one hit (1-for-22), he also had a .276 on-base percentage, while Odor's was .167, compiling a paltry .258 OPS.
Elsewhere In Baseball...
Earlier in the week, Reds manager, Bryan Price, went on a profanity-laced tirade directed towards the media's dissemination of information he didn't feel was valuable to the fans. Price later apologized for the profanity, but not for his message, directed towards the respected beat writer, C. Trent Rosecrans, of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Sadly, Price, who is regarded as a good guy, missed the boat. Buster Olney explained why very well with his piece listed below on our "Good Reads" section.
Good Reads
-- T.R. Sullivan on the member of the Rangers' scouting department and his wife, both of whom played prominent roles in landing Keone Kela.
-- Jeff Wilson answers a lot of questions by sharing how the Rangers examined their own training/medical procedures.
ESPN's Buster Olney on how Reds manager, Bryan Price, is simply missing the boat.
Pedro Moura (OC Register) on how Angels owner, Arte Moreno, "mangled" the Josh Hamilton situation.
Good Listens
Hello, Win Column! Podcast with Mike Bacsik and me!
Baseball Talk with Ben Rogers
Song
A lot of people compared Josh Hamilton to Roy Hobbs back in his greats years with the Rangers. Josh is also known for his memorable home runs. The home run song at Globe Life Park? The theme song from the movie Roy Hobbs is featured, The Natural. So, naturally (pun intended), this week's song is that beautiful score we hear on Globe Life Park longballs.
