Some things to check out...

"I think Morriss' blog is much more impartial, although certainly pessimistically slanted."

... in the link.  Has it been removed or something?

Spending money for the sake of spending money is not a wise idea.  The course of action for this past offseason would be more prudent for the upcoming offseason, as there are not that many great players.  The bigger problem lies in the fact that Young and Tex both went on record as saying they were not satified with the team's commitment to winning.  They may not be alone in this thinking, and if this is the case, how does this affect players about to enter free agency (Tex most notably)?  The recent proclaimations of Hicks and Co. send the message of a team more interested in profits.  They raised ticket prices, slashed payroll, tied payroll to attendance, and then complained about attendance.  Though the Rangers are playing well, the are beneficiaries of a weak division.  If they go to the playoffs, they will be quickly eliminated.  For all the talk of Dellucci (and it is certainly deserved), if the Rangers play the White Sox, Twins, or Yankees (I am sure there are others), then he will have to sit on the bench for two games because he can't hit left handed pitching.  So who will take his place?  Chad Allen?  Dellucci is a pleasant surprise, but he does not solve the problem of an unproductive DH (the Rangers now have a partiallly unproductive DH).  In short, there are many things that this team has done poorly.  The payroll fiasco is just one aspect, but certainly indicative of what is wrong with this team.

There were lots of players who could have helped the club.  We may speculate that players would not have signed here, but the thing is, management made little effort to sign anybody.  Perhaps the Rangers would have found an interested party, but we will never know for sure.  Here are a list of players who could have provided some improvement:

Jose Valentin - .945 OPS vs. lefties in 2005
Derek Lowe - try to get a short-term deal
Pedro Martinez - try to get a short-term deal
Doug Mirabelli - better than Barajas
Jason Varitek - try to get a 1 yr. deal
Scott Williamson - better than Brocail
Brad Radke - pretty obvious
Orlando Hernandez - short-term deal
Estaban Loiza - short-term deal
Jon Lieber - short-term deal
Carlos Delgado - pretty obvious
Gregg Zaun - better than Barajas
Matt Mantei - a gamble, but comes cheap
Paul Byrd - 1 yr. deal
Moises Alou - 1 yr. deal
Matt Clement - pretty obvious
Todd Walker - trade Soriano/short-term deal
Carlos Beltran - pretty obvious
Roger Clemens - pretty obvious
Jeff Kent - trade Soriano/short-term deal
Rheal Cormier - better than Brocail
Todd Jones - better than Brocail
Kevin Millwood - 1 yr. deal like the Tribe
Placido Polanco - trade Soriano, possibly Kinsler
Steve Kline - better than Brocail
Matt Morris - pretty obvious
David Wells - incentive laden deal like Boston
Dustin Hermanson - better than Brocail
Woody Williams - short-term deal

I understand that this list is long, and that not every player was a feasable target.  However, the Rangers should have been active.  If nobody wanted to sign, that's fine.  At least management is making an effort.  Some of these players are only marginally better than their hypothetical replacement, but any improvement is better than no improvement.  Perhaps the Rangers could have been creative with the contracts to bring in a questionable player.  Contracts like these include Millwood, Woody Williams, and Wells.  All I ask is that management try to improve the club and take advantage of this newfound success.  Hicks and Hart can't make a free agent sign or another team trade a player, but need to be active.

No one here knows what they were doing in the off season. But you all know what they didn't do. I'd bet they made a lot of phone calls for those players that were available. How many of their agents do you think actually called back?

Most of those FA starting pitchers, want no part of Texas, unless they ridiculously over-pay for their services. The other's have no trade clauses, that they all use against Texas. Of the position players, they also don't want to go to a club that has no pitching to support the offence. So what the hell are they supposed to do? Do you suppose that there are players that wouldn't want to be on a team managed by Buck Showalter? I'm sure there are a few... There are way too many variables that come into play here.

It's easy to sit back and say, "Why didn't they go after this guy?". Well, how do you know they didn't try? Not everything makes it to the local media. When it does, sometimes it's dismissed as a rumor. They made a good run for Carlos Beltran, but I think they did the right thing, and didn't over pay. Enough is enough. The same can be said for Delgado. Everyone assumes the Rangers front office was playing games with him. How do we know it wasn't the other way around?

Things are looking up right now. People are starting to take notice what they did last year, and what they're doing this year. I think we'll start to see different trends, with regards to acquiring the needed pieces to compete beyond the regular season. They're ohhhhh-so close...

When management says that they can't afford most players out there, that does not inspire a lot of confidence that they doing their best to be active in free agency.  A lot of names get leaked in the press as people being pursued (Dye, Todd Walker, Delgado, Jose Valentin, etc), so why not leak some more big names?  Let the fans and players know that they are really trying.  Scott S, you are right, it is wise to not overpay, even if it is Beltran.  Signing or not signing players is not the mark of a successful offseason.  The right players need to be signed at the right price.  I just did not feel as if Hicks/Hart were active enough.  I also don't think Delgado ever had any intention of playing here.  I want to see management put forth the effort, and if the Rangers keep playing well, then the right players will want to be here.  However, I am not seeing the effort.