Texas Rangers Hot Stove Recap

First, here’s the short version:

• The Rangers didn’t sign Torii Hunter.

• They non-tendered Akinori Otsuka, who still doesn’t know where he’s playing.
• The word around the campfire is that Jon Daniels is building for 2009.

With those points in mind, I’m reminded of the off-season the Rangers had leading up to the 2004 season. I’ll get to that in a bit. Let’s look at who the Rangers did pick up, and quit focusing on the negative:

Kazuo Fukumori
Looks to step into the eighth-inning role Otsuka formerly occupied. Last year, for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Kaz was 4-2 with 17 saves and a 4.75 ERA in 34 games. His season was cut short when he had surgery to take out elbow bone chips. JD says the surgery was minor, and he’s made a full recovery.

One thing I like about Ron Washington is his reluctance to slot anyone in a role until after he sees ‘em in Spring Training action. Kaz has repeatedly said he wants the ball in the ninth inning, but that role goes to Zen warrior C.J. Wilson until further notice.

Milton Bradley
It’s never a good sign when writers use the term “ill-mannered” about anyone, especially baseball players.

Bradley’s had issues with anger management in the past, so it shouldn’t have surprised anyone when he got into a pissing match with an umpire at the end of the 2007 season. Padres Manager Bud Black spun Bradley to the ground to keep him from going after Mike Winters, and tore his Bradley’s ACL in the process.

When he’s healthy (and not being benched or suspended), Bradley’s got serviceable numbers — .273/.358/.439 in eight years of big-league work. He’s had a great rapport with Ron Washington, and that goes a long way with “troubled” players. More importantly (at least to me), Bradley’s got a lot of competitive fire — something a lot of people think is missing from the Rangers clubhouse.

Bradley insists he’ll be available to play on Opening Day. We don’t know if that will be as a DH or in center field.

Edgardo Alfonzo
It’s a minor league contract. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.

Alfonzo’s 36 years old, and spent last year with the indie league Long Island Ducks. He’s been in the bigs for twelve years, and was an All-Star with the New York Mets in 2000. Last year he hit .266 with 56 RBIs in 105 games. For his career, he’s .284/.357/.425.

If you see him at the big league level for an extended period of time, it’s not because the Rangers have thrown in the towel.

…
So, there’s the Rangers’ off-season (so far). Not a lot to get you to run to the Ballpark’s ticket office in February… and that’s fine. If you don’t want to think this team will do anything to distinguish itself from the rest of the American League, fine.

But every time I look at this roster, I think back to the build-up for the 2004 season. Our ace was Kenny Rogers; we had an unproven infield; we had just traded Alex Rodriguez to the Evil Empire. Everyone thought there was good reason to look forward to 2005, but ‘04 was a “rebuilding” year. Instead, they went 89-73, and might have made more noise had Frankie Francisco not launched a folding chair into Jennifer Bueno’s schnozz.

You never know what will happen from year to year (unless you’re a Devil Rays fan)… but I’m at least intrigued by the Rangers in 2008.