Well, my series predictions haven’t got off to a good start. One (this one) would assume that the Rangers would be more motivated than ever to win after losing 4 in a row to the BoSox. Maybe they were. Maybe I just need to come to the realization that this team isn’t good enough to win yet.
Here’s why being a RangersFan sucks…just when you think a player or the team as a whole is progressing or about to progress, they regress. They take one step forward and then take two steps back. Case in point: Vicente Padilla.
I went to see the Rangers and Padilla pitch against Toronto during the last homestand. For about three innings, he was pitching lights out…I believe he had a no-hitter going. All of a sudden, he lost it. I don’t know if the Toronto hitters had figured out his “stuff” after one at bat each or what, but he gave up runs left and right. Since that game, he had two decent starts, and his ERA had went down to a respectable 3.12. One step forward.
Then last night, he allows 7 runs in 3 freakin’ innings. Two steps back.
I’m starting to agree with what Jon in California says here:
“I’d be a lot happier if the Rangers would start the housecleaning now – get rid of the guys like Ben Broussard and Adam Melhuse, bench Laird and Catalanotto, get Jarrod Saltalamacchia, up here now, and as they become ready, guys like Eric Hurley and Brandon Boggs too.”
Gerald Laird definitely needs to go. The only way I can justify Gerald over Salty is that Gerald has more experience calling pitches than Salty, but what exactly is that experience worth? Salty isn’t going to learn how to call major league games by catching in the minors. Gerald is not the future. Salty is. Rebuilding is about building the future. If you’re afraid Salty’s going to struggle in the majors, let him struggle for a while. Better now than later. I could be way off…if someone knows the reasons why we have Laird up instead of Salty, please comment and let me know.
It’s going to be another tough one tonight as Mendoza takes the hill against a Tigers team that seems to be getting its bats going. I’ll try to keep a level head…it’s a long season.
A very long season.
April 23, 2008 at 9:18 pm |
Thank’s for the linkback, RangersFan. It’s much appreciated – I’ll be adding you to my blogroll posthaste.
As far as I can tell, the reason we have Gerald Laird over Salty is Jon Daniels likes Laird, and thinks he can pump up his trade value if he makes him the starter for the first half of the season. Unfortunately, Laird has been just as bad as he was last season, and has not helped his trade value at all – in fact, he might have decreased it from what it was at the end of Spring Training.
At the end of Spring Training, we had the Reds, Rays, Brewers, and Padres all asking about trading him – the Reds in particular. But JD apparently wanted a starting catchers value then, and none of those four teams where willing to give that up for Laird – with the way he’s perfromed so far, there’s no way they’d give that up for him now. And so, thanks to JD’s overestimation of him, Gerry stays on the team, and keeps blocking Salty. I don’t know when it will end, but Salty’s ready for the Majors right now – Daniels needs to wake up, and realize Laird sucks, before Salty sits in AAA too long, and starts to atrophy. We’ve seen what happens to guys like Jason Botts who sit in AAA for too long – we don’t need that to happen with Salty.