Luvofthegame
09-02-2006, 09:12 PM
By Jim Reeves
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
ARLINGTON - September is a fickle month for baseball lovers. It can arrive full of promise and poetry, as it did Friday in New York and St. Louis, in Detroit and Chicago, in Los Angeles and Minneapolis.
It's a month for dreamers and broken hearts, but for the contenders, it never lacks for passion.
Or it can slip into town like a drifter, shiftless and down and out, thumbing a ride to nowhere. Here today, gone tomorrow, and nobody even notices.
This is the dusty, hopeless September that has come once again to the Texas Rangers.
Protocol forbids that the Rangers run up a white flag or concede anything, even as they begin the month nine games behind the Oakland A's. That's as it should be.
September is for competitors, and if nothing else, the Rangers will saddle up each night and compete the best they can.
"What do I want to accomplish this month?" manager Buck Showalter asked Friday night. "Win the division."
A noble goal, however unrealistic. That's OK. Leave the realism for the journalists and the historians. Cling to the dream until someone with a calculator tells you it's over.
That's why the primary mandate for the Rangers this month is simple: Win as many games as possible. Period. Don't let anyone tell you there's not a huge difference between 80 and 85 wins.
A strong finish matters in how a team views itself and approaches the off-season.
"From a competitive standpoint I do think there's value for the players and for the organization to finish strong," general manager Jon Daniels said. "Without conceding anything, we're very aware of what the reality of the standings is."
The Rangers understand that while catching the A's is highly unlikely, finishing second in the division is still a distinct possibility. And yes, it does matter.
To suggest that the Rangers use September as a tryout camp would be to forget what's already happened this season and is happening as we speak.
Rookie left-handers John Koronka and John Rheinecker combined for 36 starts earlier this season. Rookies Edinson Volquez and Robinson Tejeda are in the rotation right now.
John Danks? Thomas Diamond?
Good questions, but the Rangers have equally good answers for why they won't get September callups and those reasons make sense.
Diamond spent the entire season at Double A Frisco, where the Rangers feel he mastered the level and will be ready for Triple A Oklahoma next year.
Danks finished strong at Oklahoma this season (2-0, 2.00 ERA in five August starts) but still was only 4-4 with a 4.32 ERA in a dozen starts there. Nobody will come out and say it publicly, but clearly they don't believe he's ready for prime-time yet.
"There are two reasons you would call him up," Daniels said. "One, would be if you thought he was ready to give the club a shot in the arm, give us performances that would be better than the guys who are here right now. Two, would be if the timing was such there was something we needed to find out right now.
"He's 21 years old and we feel confident with our evaluation of him at Triple A, and there's as much potential negative to bringing him up as there is something to gain. He's going to go to instructional league and continue to get better."
That doesn't mean that Danks won't have a chance to compete for a spot in the Rangers' rotation next spring. He'll get that opportunity.
Besides, there's nobody in the rotation they want to bump right now. They need to see as much as they can from Volquez, Tejeda and Adam Eaton, and there's no reason to shut down either Kevin Millwood or Vicente Padilla.
Sure, there are secondary objectives for the Rangers this month. Here's my list in order of importance:
1. Re-sign Gary Matthews Jr. Now that the Rangers have found someone who can play center in a difficult ballpark, don't let him get away.
2. With a decision coming up this off-season on Rod Barajas, Gerald Laird should be playing at least five times a week.
3. Consider putting a weight clause in any offer made to Carlos Lee. He's not going to make a very effective left fielder at 275 pounds, and do the Rangers really want to pay $14-$15 million a year for a DH?
4. Plan on trying to keep both Padilla and Eaton, but if they have to choose just one, make sure it's the right one. Unless Eaton has a huge September, that's probably Padilla.
5. This spring the Rangers had Akinori Otsuka as a fallback position if Francisco Cordero went south (or to Milwaukee). Now install a backup plan for Aki by next spring. That means finding a steady, reliable eighth-inning setup guy who can close if Otsuka falters. Audition now.
6. Play Nelson Cruz every day. Forget about Jerry Hairston Jr. and Eric Young, except as role players.
7. Pitching. Pitching. Pitching. Fill four rotation slots with veteran starters next spring. Let the kids battle it out for the fifth spot.
That's how you bring passion to September.
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
ARLINGTON - September is a fickle month for baseball lovers. It can arrive full of promise and poetry, as it did Friday in New York and St. Louis, in Detroit and Chicago, in Los Angeles and Minneapolis.
It's a month for dreamers and broken hearts, but for the contenders, it never lacks for passion.
Or it can slip into town like a drifter, shiftless and down and out, thumbing a ride to nowhere. Here today, gone tomorrow, and nobody even notices.
This is the dusty, hopeless September that has come once again to the Texas Rangers.
Protocol forbids that the Rangers run up a white flag or concede anything, even as they begin the month nine games behind the Oakland A's. That's as it should be.
September is for competitors, and if nothing else, the Rangers will saddle up each night and compete the best they can.
"What do I want to accomplish this month?" manager Buck Showalter asked Friday night. "Win the division."
A noble goal, however unrealistic. That's OK. Leave the realism for the journalists and the historians. Cling to the dream until someone with a calculator tells you it's over.
That's why the primary mandate for the Rangers this month is simple: Win as many games as possible. Period. Don't let anyone tell you there's not a huge difference between 80 and 85 wins.
A strong finish matters in how a team views itself and approaches the off-season.
"From a competitive standpoint I do think there's value for the players and for the organization to finish strong," general manager Jon Daniels said. "Without conceding anything, we're very aware of what the reality of the standings is."
The Rangers understand that while catching the A's is highly unlikely, finishing second in the division is still a distinct possibility. And yes, it does matter.
To suggest that the Rangers use September as a tryout camp would be to forget what's already happened this season and is happening as we speak.
Rookie left-handers John Koronka and John Rheinecker combined for 36 starts earlier this season. Rookies Edinson Volquez and Robinson Tejeda are in the rotation right now.
John Danks? Thomas Diamond?
Good questions, but the Rangers have equally good answers for why they won't get September callups and those reasons make sense.
Diamond spent the entire season at Double A Frisco, where the Rangers feel he mastered the level and will be ready for Triple A Oklahoma next year.
Danks finished strong at Oklahoma this season (2-0, 2.00 ERA in five August starts) but still was only 4-4 with a 4.32 ERA in a dozen starts there. Nobody will come out and say it publicly, but clearly they don't believe he's ready for prime-time yet.
"There are two reasons you would call him up," Daniels said. "One, would be if you thought he was ready to give the club a shot in the arm, give us performances that would be better than the guys who are here right now. Two, would be if the timing was such there was something we needed to find out right now.
"He's 21 years old and we feel confident with our evaluation of him at Triple A, and there's as much potential negative to bringing him up as there is something to gain. He's going to go to instructional league and continue to get better."
That doesn't mean that Danks won't have a chance to compete for a spot in the Rangers' rotation next spring. He'll get that opportunity.
Besides, there's nobody in the rotation they want to bump right now. They need to see as much as they can from Volquez, Tejeda and Adam Eaton, and there's no reason to shut down either Kevin Millwood or Vicente Padilla.
Sure, there are secondary objectives for the Rangers this month. Here's my list in order of importance:
1. Re-sign Gary Matthews Jr. Now that the Rangers have found someone who can play center in a difficult ballpark, don't let him get away.
2. With a decision coming up this off-season on Rod Barajas, Gerald Laird should be playing at least five times a week.
3. Consider putting a weight clause in any offer made to Carlos Lee. He's not going to make a very effective left fielder at 275 pounds, and do the Rangers really want to pay $14-$15 million a year for a DH?
4. Plan on trying to keep both Padilla and Eaton, but if they have to choose just one, make sure it's the right one. Unless Eaton has a huge September, that's probably Padilla.
5. This spring the Rangers had Akinori Otsuka as a fallback position if Francisco Cordero went south (or to Milwaukee). Now install a backup plan for Aki by next spring. That means finding a steady, reliable eighth-inning setup guy who can close if Otsuka falters. Audition now.
6. Play Nelson Cruz every day. Forget about Jerry Hairston Jr. and Eric Young, except as role players.
7. Pitching. Pitching. Pitching. Fill four rotation slots with veteran starters next spring. Let the kids battle it out for the fifth spot.
That's how you bring passion to September.