Gonzalez To Return To Rangers

[GaryMrMets]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/0108/1308050.html

Tuesday, January 8
Â*
Source: Gonzalez agrees to return to Rangers
By Jayson Stark
ESPN.com

Juan Gonzalez agreed Tuesday to a two-year, $24-million deal with Texas, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations. The deal contains substantial deferred money but is still contingent on Gonzalez passing a physical.

Despite speculation that the Rangers had offered to include option years that Gonzalez could vest by staying healthy, there are no option years. Just a flat, two-year contract.

Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

[Fullabull]

The Rangers might have the best lineup in baseball.
Jaun Gone is slated to bat cleanup and he's surrounded by talent. At 31 years old his chronic back remains an issue.
Texas has to be taken seriously.

[Baseball Guru]

Yeah, and their pitching still sucks...Now they will lose games 10-9...
There are still 2 good teams in the West: Seattle and Oakland...

[Fullabull]

This off season they have bolstered their staff by adding several new arms. No these arn't Hallafame arms but they might produce.

Rocker, VanPopple, Powell, Pulsipher, Irabu, Ho Park, and Burba. two or three of these guys will help the staff. Oliver and Helling are gone. they got tired of waiting for Justin Thomson to heal up and produce and didnt offer him a contract. That promising career is over.
The Rangers are much improved . The Mariners & A's better look out!

[Baseball Guru]

Hmmmm, I'm not buying it.....
Burba I think will help the staff as will Chan Ho (who hasn't shown he can pitch away from Dodger stadium yet) but Irabu and Pulsipher, Van Poppel and Irabu stink as all 3 are a combined 15 games under .500 for their careers and all have ERA's over 5... Put them in the hitting friendly park in Texas and they will get hit hard......
At least with Oliver and Helling their combined ERA's is below 5 and they are a combined career 21 games over .500 so they know how to win..... Again, I just see Burba and Chan Ho as replacements for Helling and Oliver, possibly a little upgrade but the other 3 stink......I also don't think you will see the same Chan Ho that pitched in the NL....I think he will be hurt by the Texas ballpark and by AL hitting.....
Don't get me wrong, I do see Texas being a little better than their sub .500 season last year but not good enough to win the West....Maybe 3rd.....

[Fullabull]

With Gonzalez's signing, the Rangers have now committed $107.5 million on their five major free-agent signings this winter (Gonzalez, Chan Ho Park, Dave Burba, Jay Powell, Todd Van Poppel). That doesn't even count their free agents on minor-league contracts -- Bill Pulsipher, Hideki Irabu, Anthony Telford, Jeremi Gonzalez and Jason Maxwell. They've also traded for John Rocker, Carl Everett and Herbert Perry. Last year, thanks to Alex Rodriguez, they committed another $267 million to seven free agents.

So the cost to Tom Hicks of keeping that Transactions column in business these last two winters has come to a hair under $375 million.
espn Jayson Stark

[Baseball Guru]

That is an absolute ridiculous amount:angry:

Thanks for the articles....:biggrin:

[RockieBill]

I think you're both right. The Rangers are much improved and will still stink up the joint. I'm going to adopt them as my new AL team - what a bunch of miscreants and malcontents. Rocker, Everett, Juan Gone - at least they should have the most entertaining clubhouse in the league. Hart's no dummy though, maybe he can make it work.

This also from espn: The Rangers' 3-4-5 hitters are expected to be Alex Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro, a trio that combined to hit .305 with 134 home runs and 398 RBI last season. To put that into perspective, the top three hitters for the 1961 Yankees -- Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Moose Skowron -- combined to hit 143 home runs and 359 RBI. So, if nothing else, this will be interesting...

[RockieBill]

...well...here we are nearly two weeks after the first announcement, and Juan Gone hasn't signed yet. He did pass his physical, though, so perhaps they can iron out the details - he's such a flighty little devil, though! :freak:

[Baseball Guru]

Geez, I hadn't even realized that he hadn't signed yet...
What a moron:freak:

[RockieBill]

Oh, happy day. Juan Gone and the Rangers finally make it official. Took 'em long enough. It appears the contract included a $2 million signing bonus with salaries of $10 million in 2002 and $12 million next season, with $10.5 million deferred.

If Hart and Narron can get this outfit hitting on all cylinders, they could slug their way through the Yankees, much less the AL West. I doubt that will happen, though. I-Rod could be the wild card on this team...if he has a huge season, along with the potential of everyone else...I might be liking the Rangers a bit more now than a couple of weeks ago...I wouldn't bet the farm on them, though.

Just for grins, I'd like to see this line-up at Coors Field, minus the attitudes. They'd have to give the fans butterfly nets for every game...

[Baseball Guru]

I kinda agree...The more I think about it the more I think they may do better than I originally gave them credit for....Maybe, just maybe a shot at the WC....I just don't think the pitching can keep them in it...
Unlike the Indians teams that had the great hitters and subpar pitching and won the division, the Rangers do not have the luxary in playing in a fairly weak division....