Baseball Guru
02-24-2005, 08:51 AM
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/10979489.htm
By Jim Reeves
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
SURPRISE, Ariz. - Kiss Chan Ho Park goodbye. He's as good as gone.
The only thing that can save Park's spot in the Rangers' rotation this spring is Chan Ho himself, and we've spent the past three seasons seeing firsthand how unlikely that is.
The Rangers are finally ready to let him pitch his way off the roster. A source close to the club says owner Tom Hicks is prepared to eat the last two years and $26 million of Park's $65 million contract if the Korean right-hander doesn't prove that he's one of the Rangers' top five starters this spring.
It will be the best addition by subtraction in the history of Rangers' pitching and fits in perfectly with an accounting concept called "sunk cost." The money is already spent, and it's gone. Don't compound the problem by trying to make something work that will only result in even more failure.
With the signing of a now healthy Pedro Astacio and the emergence of young right-handers Ricardo Rodriguez and Chris Young, Park is at best sixth in the Rangers' rotation pecking order.
"If Ricardo is as good as we think he is, and Chris Young is as good as we think he is, why let Chan Ho stand in their way?" asked the source rhetorically. "And that's the real answer. You can't let him stand in their way.
"Astacio will be better than Chan Ho. We'll certainly know that coming out of camp."
Hicks remains diplomatic on the issue of Park's future, but there's a look in his eyes that says he's had enough.
"We hope Chan Ho will surprise us," Hicks said Wednesday during the Rangers' morning workout at Surprise Stadium. "We signed Chan Ho because he'd had success. We continue to hope that he'll have the same success again that he once had with the Dodgers."
Fat chance, and the Rangers know it.
"I think Chan Ho is a concern," pitching coach Orel Hershiser admitted. "That could be an issue.
"This is a production level. Players have to produce to stay here."
Park's production is best measured by this mind-boggling stat: He's averaged about $3 million in salary for each of his 14 victories in his three seasons with the Rangers.
None of this is to say that Park hasn't looked impressive during the first week of camp throwing on the sidelines. But the Rangers have seen this before. It's when he's facing someone with a bat that things tend to take an abrupt turn for the worst.
"He's impressed me, but Goose [bullpen coach Mark Conner] burst my bubble by saying, 'he can do that on the side.' " longtime Rangers scout Mel Didier said. "He was keeping the ball down when I was watching him. When he gets the ball up, he gets hurt."
Didier knows Park better than anyone in camp. He was a Dodgers scout when Chan Ho broke in.
"One of the things missing is the fire in his eyes," Didier said. "The competitiveness has not been the same. The inner desire has been missing to the point that it's affected him mentally."
Like most others in camp, Didier has come to the conclusion that the Rangers can no longer afford to continue servicing Park's contract at the expense of failing to service the team.
"We can't allow him not only to stand in the way of some of the young guys, but of us winning," Didier said. "We've got to get some production out of our fifth [starter].
"We can't be changing every week and going down to Double A and Triple A and getting guys, and all that stuff. We're not going to be as fortunate as we were last year when Chris Young came up and pitched as well as he did."
Part of the problem is that Park is stubborn. Hershiser has tried to get him to use his slider more, but he refuses. Even more critical, Chan Ho can't consistently keep his average fastball down in the strike zone, an absolute requirement at The Ballpark in Arlington.
"I think you have to grasp pitching, not only in the American League but in our ballpark," said manager Buck Showalter, who is in wait-and-see mode while the Park situation plays out. "You have to be able to cut your losses. You have to be able to give up single runs instead of multiple run innings.
"I hope he has a great spring and has a great season," Showalter added, then purposely asked a key question. "Has he ever had a great spring here?"
Actually, he's never had much of a great anything here, except a payday.
"It'll go down in history as one of the all-time dumb [ free-agent] signings," the Rangers source said.
The only thing dumber would be to keep running him out there.
By Jim Reeves
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
SURPRISE, Ariz. - Kiss Chan Ho Park goodbye. He's as good as gone.
The only thing that can save Park's spot in the Rangers' rotation this spring is Chan Ho himself, and we've spent the past three seasons seeing firsthand how unlikely that is.
The Rangers are finally ready to let him pitch his way off the roster. A source close to the club says owner Tom Hicks is prepared to eat the last two years and $26 million of Park's $65 million contract if the Korean right-hander doesn't prove that he's one of the Rangers' top five starters this spring.
It will be the best addition by subtraction in the history of Rangers' pitching and fits in perfectly with an accounting concept called "sunk cost." The money is already spent, and it's gone. Don't compound the problem by trying to make something work that will only result in even more failure.
With the signing of a now healthy Pedro Astacio and the emergence of young right-handers Ricardo Rodriguez and Chris Young, Park is at best sixth in the Rangers' rotation pecking order.
"If Ricardo is as good as we think he is, and Chris Young is as good as we think he is, why let Chan Ho stand in their way?" asked the source rhetorically. "And that's the real answer. You can't let him stand in their way.
"Astacio will be better than Chan Ho. We'll certainly know that coming out of camp."
Hicks remains diplomatic on the issue of Park's future, but there's a look in his eyes that says he's had enough.
"We hope Chan Ho will surprise us," Hicks said Wednesday during the Rangers' morning workout at Surprise Stadium. "We signed Chan Ho because he'd had success. We continue to hope that he'll have the same success again that he once had with the Dodgers."
Fat chance, and the Rangers know it.
"I think Chan Ho is a concern," pitching coach Orel Hershiser admitted. "That could be an issue.
"This is a production level. Players have to produce to stay here."
Park's production is best measured by this mind-boggling stat: He's averaged about $3 million in salary for each of his 14 victories in his three seasons with the Rangers.
None of this is to say that Park hasn't looked impressive during the first week of camp throwing on the sidelines. But the Rangers have seen this before. It's when he's facing someone with a bat that things tend to take an abrupt turn for the worst.
"He's impressed me, but Goose [bullpen coach Mark Conner] burst my bubble by saying, 'he can do that on the side.' " longtime Rangers scout Mel Didier said. "He was keeping the ball down when I was watching him. When he gets the ball up, he gets hurt."
Didier knows Park better than anyone in camp. He was a Dodgers scout when Chan Ho broke in.
"One of the things missing is the fire in his eyes," Didier said. "The competitiveness has not been the same. The inner desire has been missing to the point that it's affected him mentally."
Like most others in camp, Didier has come to the conclusion that the Rangers can no longer afford to continue servicing Park's contract at the expense of failing to service the team.
"We can't allow him not only to stand in the way of some of the young guys, but of us winning," Didier said. "We've got to get some production out of our fifth [starter].
"We can't be changing every week and going down to Double A and Triple A and getting guys, and all that stuff. We're not going to be as fortunate as we were last year when Chris Young came up and pitched as well as he did."
Part of the problem is that Park is stubborn. Hershiser has tried to get him to use his slider more, but he refuses. Even more critical, Chan Ho can't consistently keep his average fastball down in the strike zone, an absolute requirement at The Ballpark in Arlington.
"I think you have to grasp pitching, not only in the American League but in our ballpark," said manager Buck Showalter, who is in wait-and-see mode while the Park situation plays out. "You have to be able to cut your losses. You have to be able to give up single runs instead of multiple run innings.
"I hope he has a great spring and has a great season," Showalter added, then purposely asked a key question. "Has he ever had a great spring here?"
Actually, he's never had much of a great anything here, except a payday.
"It'll go down in history as one of the all-time dumb [ free-agent] signings," the Rangers source said.
The only thing dumber would be to keep running him out there.