Well, with the offseason approaching, we already are starting to see ideas on bad offseason moves for the Rangers to make.
Such as a possible Kevin Mench trade, discussed in today's S-T.
Why does this not make any sense? Well, as Sullivan says...
If the Rangers traded Mench to the Royals for left-hander Jeremy Affeldt, they would be left with an outfield of David Dellucci, who has had his best year, Gary Matthews Jr. and Laynce Nix, who is coming off a shoulder injury. Jason Botts is a candidate, but he's limited defensively.
There are some areas where the Rangers have enough depth to make some moves. The outfield is not one of them.
An outfield of Dellucci, Matthews, and Nix is, quite simply, not a good outfield. Going with that trio would essentially neutralize the great offense that the Rangers get from their infield (although the offense they've gotten from Soriano and, in particular, Hank Blalock this year hasn't really been all that great).
I don't understand how you can justify moving the one reliable outfielder you have. Particularly to get someone like Jeremy Affeldt, a pretty mediocre reliever.
Hopefully, there's nothing to this...although the more paranoid side of me wonders if the extended playing time Mark DeRosa has been getting the second half of the season is with an eye at having him take over for Mench, or at least platoon with Dellucci or Nix in a corner outfield spot next year.
Surely, the Rangers wouldn't do something so dumb, right?
Yeah, they gave away two of the top 2005 A.L. MVP candidates, and got very little in return...but they've learned their lesson, haven't they?