Evan Grant on the ownership situation
by Adam J. Morris on Dec 16, 2009 9:53 AM CST
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PrintEvan Grant has a piece up with some questions and answers about what this deal means as far as the Rangers go.
In particular, Grant suggests that Nolan Ryan's role will actually increase with Chuck Greenberg taking over...he indicates that Ryan wasn't as aggressive or forceful in imposing his will last year, because of the organization being in flux, but now that he's part of an ownership group and is secure in his position, Ryan will be more likely to "assert his stances."
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I thought he already implemented massive change to This Thing.
"He will not coddle them. Nolan Ryan doesn’t coddle." - Jeff Passan
When the front office dumbassery stopped on February 6, 2008
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
Internet greatness http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/11/10/1125340/will-carroll-calls-out-josey-wales
The LSB opinion of Nolan Ryan has certainly changed
since February 6, 2008. The majority of the LSB community, led by AJM, were opposed to Ryan, citing his lack of business and baseball acumen. Funny, but it was Josey and LBrooks that correctly assessed the addition, accompanied by a handful of rebels.
All you have to do is revisit the archives.
I wasn't posting on LSB at that point, but I'm one of the biggest JD fans alive and I was super-excited about the addition of Nolan
My arguments with Josey, and feel free to look them up, have NEVER said anything negative about Nolan. My complaints are with your BFF Josey and his assertions that Nolan is some sort of be-all, end-all who saved the club from certain destruction. I don’t even think Nolan himself would take Josey’s pro-Nolan contentions seriously.
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
Internet greatness http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/11/10/1125340/will-carroll-calls-out-josey-wales
Hmmmm, Nolan didn't come aboard that year until a week before Spring Training began.
2008 was the year that Nolan said he was going to observe, evaluate and suggest but for the most part let people do their jobs. He said after evaluating the team he would implement massive change where needed.
How did 2008 work out?
The Rangers went 79-83 (7th year of 8 they were below .500), led MLB in errors and saw their attendance fall to a 20 year low, nearly 600,000 below where attendance was before JD took over after 2005.
Then Nolan went to work after 2008. How’d that massive change that was implemented work out last year?
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Ranger players, especially veterans, weren’t surprised that Daniels couldn’t find a deal"
"Business as usual." - Tom Hicks on the Ranger off-season 11/19/09
by Josey Wales on Dec 16, 2009 12:16 PM CST up reply actions
You're the one who set Feb. 6, 2008 as the The Day the Dumbassery Died
So did Nolan actually stop it on February 6 or did he spent 2008 observing and not actually stopping any dumbassery?
You’ve managed to change your story.
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
Internet greatness http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/11/10/1125340/will-carroll-calls-out-josey-wales
What dumbass trades or signings were made
from February 6, 2008 thru this past season?
Nothing blatant that I can remember but the dumbassery was alive and well a month earlier when Little Boy Donuts spent $ 8 million on Broussard & JJennings.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Ranger players, especially veterans, weren’t surprised that Daniels couldn’t find a deal"
"Business as usual." - Tom Hicks on the Ranger off-season 11/19/09
And yet
You’ve bitched and moaned about nearly everything JD’s done this off-season.
So how do you reconcile that with your assertion that the “front-office dumbassery” magically stopped on February 6, 2008?
Or the fact that JD made a trade considered the gold standard of prospect hauls (by other GM’s in the game) without Nolan’s Jesus-presence hovering over This Thing, magically preventing any and all front-office miscues?
"Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol' storm right square in the eye and he says, "Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it."
I believe that Nolan allowed JD to weave his magic
this off-season. These are very typical JD moves.
I said the dumbassery went from Feb 6 2008 thru this past season for a reason.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Ranger players, especially veterans, weren’t surprised that Daniels couldn’t find a deal"
"Business as usual." - Tom Hicks on the Ranger off-season 11/19/09
OK
And when JD makes a move you like this off-season, it’s going to be because Nolan decided to start chaperoning JD again.
And then there’s going to be that one day in June, when JD makes another move you hate, and it just so happens that Nolan was at his ranch that day, dealing with a snow monkey problem.
But then he’ll come back, and the Rangers will make a great deal at the deadline that helps them win the division, and it’ll all be because of Nolan’s Jesus-presence overshadowing JD’s stupidity.
At this point, I don’t know why I bother trying to engage you; the responses are so predictable that I could write them myself, and just save you the time of answering.
"Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol' storm right square in the eye and he says, "Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it."
Who knows for sure
but I get the feeling Nolan turned JD loose this off-season and gave him back the baseball dick that Tom Hicks chopped off.
Make no mistake, these are all JD-esque moves that have been made this off-season and if they don’t work out it’s gonna be his ass.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Ranger players, especially veterans, weren’t surprised that Daniels couldn’t find a deal"
"Business as usual." - Tom Hicks on the Ranger off-season 11/19/09
The other day I was wondering
where can I get some of that Nolan Ryan beef we keep hearing about?
By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
"I am one of the biggest Texas Ranger fans out there but I'm also one of the smartest. Deal with it."
-The Outlaw
Follow Him, the power of beef compells you!
http://twitter.com/nolanryanbeef
"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"When you have a weapon on your shoulder like he has, you can be cool." RW on Perez
And the little bastard threw it for a swinging strike three in a 3-2 count. He’s blessed. And ballsy.
Have any interest in any Nolan Ryan Bull?
I’m sure the Outlaw could hook ya up
So who's todays mistress? They're coming out of the Woodswork!
x
The majority of the LSB community, led by AJM, were opposed to Ryan, citing his lack of business and baseball acumen.
Wrong.
by Adam J. Morris on Dec 16, 2009 12:12 PM CST up reply actions
From the retiree gallery
Too much invective is spent on who said what, when, or what impression was left by an article or a posted comment. In fact most fans who post here were enthused by Nolan Ryan coming aboard the Rangers, and a lot of the back and forth was speculative about how well he’d run the business of baseball in an executive capacity. There is no need to snipe one another on the merits or demerits of commentary given. The world is full of “what if” opinions, and sometimes a hard and fast position on any argument turns out to be not quite accurate. We learn.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912) also -
"Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance."
~Ambrose Bierce
by Ed Coffin on Dec 16, 2009 2:14 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Ryan is
about to “assert his stances” ???
Hey now!!!
Be still my beating heart…those are my baseball pants you see running around the room.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Ranger players, especially veterans, weren’t surprised that Daniels couldn’t find a deal"
"Business as usual." - Tom Hicks on the Ranger off-season 11/19/09
I thought it was you running around
looking for a paper to throw paper boy.
2009 Texas Rangers: Why The Hell Not Us?--ghtd36 on May 13, 2009
In the interest of quicker games Ron should just tell the ump he's pulling the Feliz card and the ump should rule the inning over.--Sherman McCoy on Sept. 4, 2009
So...
…he didn’t have anything to do with the 87 wins last year?
Hm. Then who did?
What do tigers dream of when they take a little tiger snooze? Do they dream of mauling zebras, or Halle Berry in her Catwoman suit?
Let's Hope....
The first stance he needs to assert is to show JD and Wash the unemployment line. Get a quality GM and manager in here and things will start looking up. When I say looking up I mean actually being a competitive ballclub at the major league level. Not the one we rolled out last season that everyone was so pleased with…you know, the one that would have ended up in third place in the AL West if the season had gone on another week. I’d like to live long enough to see another division pennant flag flying at the ballpark rather than the current flag that says “Baseball America’s #1 farm system.”
Foolish consistency is the hobgobblin of little minds - Emerson
So you can harvest a crop
Without plowing and planting seeds? Possibly the most self-entitled post in blog history. JD isn’t a magician, but has done what it takes to build a foundation, and without a Yankee budget.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912) also -
"Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance."
~Ambrose Bierce
by Ed Coffin on Dec 16, 2009 3:52 PM CST up reply actions
"assert his stances"... as in Hicks had some organization ideas that Ryan didn't agree with?
as in Ryan will become more vocal in player acquisition? or all of the above and more?
Pro baseball has always been a dream, so this is pretty freakin’ cool out here. -- Tim Steggall, undrafted Rangers minor leaguer.
This is what I'm wondering...
what the heck does this mean? What is Ryan about to unleash?
by ncrangerfan on Dec 16, 2009 10:04 AM CST up reply actions
I'm legitimately scared
That Ryan ‘asserting his stances’ involves what we were so frightened of when he took over- prospects pitching 200 innings, Scott Feldman throwing 150 pitches a game, etc.
This
Ryan kept talking about it. The organization talked about it like it was happening. But in reality, it didn’t happen. Not even close.
by Oracle Galvez on Dec 16, 2009 10:21 AM CST up reply actions
synopsis
- how important was including Hicks in the future in CG getting the selection
pretty important – owner emeritus is what Hicks is now
- any red flags to MLB blocking the CG groups bid?
possibly the Hicks inclusion, little bit of league bitternes towards Hicks, Reinsdorf won’t like it but probably won’t vote against them, money/investment is solid, should go thru
- how many people in the ownership group – any probs with too many cooks?
many owners won’t hamper power structure – see Bush ownership as example
- what is timetable for approval process?
won’t go to owners until spring training, approval by opening day if all goes well
- any immediate positive effect on payroll?
not until approval is EG’s hunch, first impact will be at the trade deadline
- what kind of spending patterns might CG bring to the club?
2010 success will dictate spending – payroll should be around $80M with this new group if you want to run it properly, too much spending will just get them into the debt probs Hicks’ accrued, need to grow revenue to increase spending
- Will MLB disguise the real puchase price to mask the value/debt situation?
MLB was not going to let the Rangers get sold for less than the Padres in order to protect league franchise values
EG and Norm with big hugs about the 1310/DMN partnership
Evan also talked about the Astros
I learned yesterday that the Jim Crane backing out on the Astros happened just last year. Evans says Richard Justice thinks McLane will put the team up for sale once this deal is completed, using this deal to price the Astros, at a much higher price.
In that Pittsburgh Live article about CG linked yesterday
it said CG applied for the Team President position with the Pirates a coupla years ago. This would seem to indicate that he’ll be a pretty in-the-mix owner. Nolan’s ‘assertiveness’ will have to swim upstream against that, IMO.
Nolan
will be the face of this organization. You can bet on that.
Definitely
But I think CG will be omnipresent in the decision-making even if it’s sitting quietly in the corner for a few months – that does have an effect – and considering CG’s success elsewhere, I’m not sure it’s that terrible a situation – all three – JD, Nolan, CG – seem to have a decent clue about doing the right thing.
What I have to wonder is...
…if Greenberg being more involved in the business side means Nolan getting more involved on the baseball side, since up to now, Nolan’s involvement has been more corporate than field.
by Adam J. Morris on Dec 16, 2009 10:34 AM CST up reply actions
Agree, shroomer
Having an involved owner is not necessarily a bad thing and CG is on record as liking what the baseball folks have done up until now.
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
Internet greatness http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/11/10/1125340/will-carroll-calls-out-josey-wales
TR also said Greenberg would be moving his family to DFW to be closer to his team
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
Internet greatness http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/11/10/1125340/will-carroll-calls-out-josey-wales
I liked that...
I want my owner to have an emotional stake in the team (ala Cuban)… though probably not to the extent that Jerry Jones has
Well, Jerry's emotional stake as owner is great
It’s the emotional stake that drove him to become his own GM that’s the problem.
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
Internet greatness http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/11/10/1125340/will-carroll-calls-out-josey-wales
DFW relocation
Greenberg indicated he would move to DFW if he got the club.
Evan
With Nolan having a more prominent role, is there a greater sense of urgency with This Thing?
Do JD & Wash need to improve the team (defined as 90+ wins) to make it past next year?
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Ranger players, especially veterans, weren’t surprised that Daniels couldn’t find a deal"
"Business as usual." - Tom Hicks on the Ranger off-season 11/19/09
by Josey Wales on Dec 16, 2009 11:33 AM CST up reply actions
I think there would have been
a greater sense of urgency even without a sale. Do you really think Daniels and Washington don’t want to win? It’s funny that you think only people you like are competitive.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
Re: Urgency
Josey: I think you should have an answer from a previous post I made, but I think everyone should have a sense that it’s time to take another step forward. Does that mean the playoffs, still don’t know because this offseason has crippled team and its growth in a lot of ways. But I think there needs to be improvement shown on offense and growth of young pitchers. If that happens and Rangers win only 84 (because Mariners and Angels have both kept pace) I don’t know that it would be considered regression. You can get better without necessarily improving the record.
I agree, I felt that was pretty indicative of him as an owner.
I guess we’ll find out, but that was my first impression atleast. But beware I’m a fairly gullible fella, I get bent over regularly at car lots.
"Sometimes you just want to sit back and watch somebody throw 100." - Jeff Passan on Neftali Feliz
"The purpose of life is to have a fucking good time." - Albert Ellis
by Cecilio's Guante on Dec 16, 2009 11:31 AM CST up reply actions
So one way this makes sense is that
if Nolan wants a free agent, he might demand that ownership go after it
but, the real question is what kind of effect he’ll have on our prospects. I wonder, for instance, if Nolan might have wanted to do some of the Halladay deals for either Smoak and Holland (or whatever the iteration was) and Daniels and Hicks sort of trumped him.
I could very well see the latter being the case
Re: Nolan asserting his "stances"
Don’t read too much into anything related to Hicks or Greenberg on that. Don’t expect to see Scott Feldman throw 150 pitches either. Just think that if Ryan feels there is a tweak on personnel front to be made, he’ll feel more empowered to go ahead and do it. But I also think the advantage of having Ryan in the seat is his practical baseball experience combined with his off-the-field experience of managing businesses. He may have strong opinions, but this is a guy who is also willing to be swayed by reason.
what do you think about Maury Brown's twitter comment?
Think Hicks staying on could save Daniels’ from getting canned. Personality differences with Ryan, more than anything.
Nolan vs JD
Never heard any differences of opinion between those two? anyone else hear anything?
Did Ryan push to trade prospects that JD didn’t want to give up?
I'm not freaked out by this
…Nolan Ryan has always seemed like a reasonable man to me.
by Black Francis on Dec 16, 2009 5:45 PM CST up reply actions
Differences
Sure there are differences, but I think relationship has grown considerably in the last couple of month. Again, they’ve both been in difficult positions since Hicks kind of threw them together, but success on the field this year, the fast movement at the meetings and the potential stabilization of ownership should help make their situation more comfortable than ever before.
But Daniels will be entering his fifth season as GM in 2010. Rare is the GM who gets a lot more time than that to get a team into contention. Dan O’Dowd being the exception. But I do think Ryan is more willing to grade on progress in the team’s overall ability than on actual wins and losses. This team could improve this season and win fewer than 87 games. That doesn’t necessarily constitute going backwards and I believer Ryan can sort out what constitutes progress and what constitutes regression.
This team could improve this season and win fewer than 87 games.
Very true statement. This is still a young team. Mostly the SPs.
|Space for Rent|
very, very young team
I believe FFace, Frankie, and Stevie German are the only players older than 30 on the 40 man roster.
Ranger fans say "NO! NO!" to Go Go.
Keep Reinsdorf's chub from ruining my club.
Saw this 30-yr-old observation from Bill James today at Neyer's blog ...
Based on James’ research, it appears these declines adhered to a pattern. He found that a team averaging 25 years of age has a 75 percent chance for improvement the following year, as against a 13 percent chance for a serious decline (10 games or more). A team averaging 30 years of age has only a 39 percent chance of improving. It has a 27 percent chance of a serious drop.
…
A James conclusion: “If you have a team that averages 26 years or younger, you can rather confidently expect it to improve. If it averages 29 or more, be prepared to add some young blood or accept a decline.”
Don't you love it when the stats can just back up the logic
Teams filled with young talent often get better while teams with older players aren’t.
By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
"I am one of the biggest Texas Ranger fans out there but I'm also one of the smartest. Deal with it."
-The Outlaw
I wonder what thier avg age would have been last year without
Guardado and Vizquel? OK, I’ll go calculate it. Not counting Eddie, Omar and Pudge, their avg age last year was 25.4.
|Space for Rent|
According to EG, the NHL has no say in the buying process
40 creditors in line do, but not the NHL. Also, the dumb soccer team has no say either.
- This is a newsflash, I think -
"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"When you have a weapon on your shoulder like he has, you can be cool." RW on Perez
And the little bastard threw it for a swinging strike three in a 3-2 count. He’s blessed. And ballsy.
Well why in the hell have we heard otherwise this whole time?
Oh well, just one less roadblock to worry about I suppose.
"BIg whoop, wanna fight about it?"
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
by lost in space on Dec 16, 2009 6:35 PM CST up reply actions
Evan admitted/said on the Hardline that was
The impression he (and everyone else) was under, but he has since learned otherwise.
That’s why I thought it was pretty important.
"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"When you have a weapon on your shoulder like he has, you can be cool." RW on Perez
And the little bastard threw it for a swinging strike three in a 3-2 count. He’s blessed. And ballsy.
seriously question Rodney....are you Rodney Anderson?
where’ve you been btw?
"Sometimes you just want to sit back and watch somebody throw 100." - Jeff Passan on Neftali Feliz
"The purpose of life is to have a fucking good time." - Albert Ellis
by Cecilio's Guante on Dec 16, 2009 10:26 PM CST up reply actions
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