This Day in LSB History

by Adam J. Morris on Sep 15, 2009 2:30 PM CDT

On this day 4 years ago, we talked about a column from Jim Reeves, in which he said Tom Hicks needs to spend money on the Rangers (which Hicks said were profitable again) or else risk losing fans.

We all know, of course, what Hicks chose to do...

Tweet Comment 22 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

This Thing

lost credibility with the fans after 2005, and we all know why that happened.

by JDT217 on Sep 15, 2009 2:35 PM CDT reply actions

This Thing lost fans when the Rangers decided to shit the bed for the past 10 years.

Show me you care about the fans,instead of handing out salsa bowls. We have a shitty marketing department.

by TooLegitToQuit on Sep 15, 2009 2:43 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

are you kidding?

those salsa bowls are AWESOME!! AND WE HAVE ICE CREAM IN LITTLE HELMETS!!
WE’RE BUILT FOR FUN OUT OF LITTLE PLASTIC SHIT, DAMMIT!!

Grieve: The Yanks have struggled so far. - Lewin: Yeah, cry me a bag of money.
Dykstra has all the money!
ElectricOkra.com

by WhipSmart on Sep 15, 2009 3:04 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

Yep

I got mine last time I was there, and all that had was MFYANKME helmets. After I ate the ice cream, I took a shit in it (figuratively speaking, of course).

Your 2009 Snow Monkey Ambassador

by Parman on Sep 15, 2009 3:22 PM CDT up reply actions

you could use some baseball was a million times better

and had better commercials.

by cashman on Sep 15, 2009 4:55 PM CDT up reply actions

Shitty marketing?

“Built for fun”

Must I say more?

by ncrangerfan on Sep 15, 2009 4:58 PM CDT up reply actions

Which has paid off better in the past

Money spent on Free Agents, or money spent on minor league development?

"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland

by DJCahill on Sep 15, 2009 3:06 PM CDT reply actions

minor leagues

but then again we just started spending our money there in the last few years. our years of taking signable players only and bringing in too many mediocre FA killed our system.

What do voluntary mean?

by JKolar on Sep 15, 2009 3:11 PM CDT up reply actions

I think that league wide

on average, Free Agents have been a bad investment. There are obviously some excellent FAs out there, but overall, the bad seems to outweigh the good.

by DJCahill on Sep 15, 2009 3:31 PM CDT up reply actions

Depends on the type of FA

The only ones that work out positively seem to be the very best and also the zero risk ones(NRI level).

Shopping at the top level is worth it. Shopping at the bottom level is worth it. Shopping in the middle level is usually a waste. Very little performance to results usually.

What do voluntary mean?

by JKolar on Sep 15, 2009 3:33 PM CDT up reply actions

There have also been

some notable failures at the high dollar end. CHP, Zito, Kevin Brown, Andruw Jones, Adrian Beltre, Miguel Tejada, etc.

by DJCahill on Sep 15, 2009 4:32 PM CDT up reply actions

Is ARod currently worth 30 million per year?

by swampdonkey on Sep 15, 2009 4:41 PM CDT up reply actions

He isn't this year, but...

he’s also been injured. Last year, a “down” year for him, saw him miss his salary mark by $900k. The year before that, however, he posted a 9.6 WAR and was worth $39.2M compared to a $22.7M contract.

So, he probably won’t post the numbers from now on that justify his contract, but I’m not sure if anyone outside of Barry Bonds does that. Maybe he will end up performing at that level, though.

by jwiscarson on Sep 15, 2009 5:28 PM CDT up reply actions

That seems a little unfair

The last 3 years for Tejada haven’t been great, but he’s given solid production to the Astros and Orioles (especially the Orioles). In a world where Khalil Greene gets 6.5 mil, Tejada is worth 13.I think Lugo is a much better fit for this list.

Adrian Beltre has raked on the road as a Mariner. Safeco kills him. He doesn’t belong on this list.

I’d even give Zito a chance at redemption. He’s been pretty solid this year after getting back to long toss. He isn’t on the CHoP level either.

by Josh Lile on Sep 15, 2009 5:08 PM CDT up reply actions

Edit

Zito does still prove the point. He’s terribly overpaid for what he is now which is a solid middle of the rotation pitcher.

by Josh Lile on Sep 15, 2009 5:09 PM CDT up reply actions

Saying Beltre rakes on the road

is probably a bit of an overstatement. 2 out of his 5 seasons in Seattle, his OPS has been less than .800 (including this year) and the other 3 years he’s posted a mid-.800’s OPS on the road. Considering that his home line his final year with the Dodgers (not a hitters park) was .342/.404/.645, I think the M’s thought they were going to get more for their $64 million. Actually part of the blame probably lies with the Mariners here as I think it’s up to the club to acquire players whose style of play will be successful in their home park. By example, Ichiro’s home OPS is typically about .50 points higher than on the road every year.

by swampdonkey on Sep 15, 2009 5:47 PM CDT up reply actions

Beltre

According to Fangraphs, 2005 and this year are the only time he hasn’t been worth (or worth more than) his contract with the M’s, and he’s been hurt this year.

The reason though, is because of his defense, not his offense (though the one time he was rated below replacement defensively in the last 3 seasons, he did make up for it with his bat). People tend to forget that about him, that where most of his real value lies in his glove.

Hank is 7 runs below a zombie replacement at first base. Do you realize how terrible that is? Zombie’s can’t think, they’re slow, and they’re often ejected from the game for eating opposing baserunners’ brains. - Ben quantifies Hank Blalock

by LSJ on Sep 15, 2009 5:55 PM CDT up reply actions

Then Fangraphs needs to revamp their tables

if they think a corner infielder who has a single .800 OPS (.802) to show for his last 5 seasons was worth $64 million dollars. Beltre’s glove doesn’t compensate for pathetic offense and he’s as much of a poster child for their overspend/underachieve situation as anyone else that’s played their over the same time span.

by swampdonkey on Sep 15, 2009 6:55 PM CDT up reply actions

Ah yes.

AJM’s lust after Brian Giles. I remember it well.

"I love winning." - rockin_rangers, on May 16, 2009

by ghtd36 on Sep 15, 2009 3:13 PM CDT reply actions

That was still a few months

before I joined LSB. Although I do remember him telling Norm that.

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

by boomer1 on Sep 15, 2009 3:18 PM CDT reply actions