Start of a new week, and once again, the big news today involves Buck Showalter and his future with the Rangers...
Kat O'Brien of the Star-Telegram has a piece today on Buck's future with the Rangers, in which she acknowledges that Showalter has some issues in regards to his dealings with his players.
I definitely recommend reading the whole thing, but here is a key quote:
It is also possible, as Hicks said, to change the players instead of the manager. However, when multiple players have made it known that they are less than enamored with Showalter, it becomes worth asking whether the players have valid reasons for their feelings.
What's interesting about this is that, among a certain segment of the fan base, columnists like Randy Galloway and Gerry Fraley, along with even the DMN beat writers (particularly Evan Grant), are accused of trying to "make" or "create" news, rather than report it.
O'Brien, along with T.R. Sullivan, has generally been pointed to as an unbiased source of Rangers news, someone who just wants to "report" the news, rather than "create" it.
Sullivan is writing for the official Rangers website, which makes the likelihood of him discussing Showalter's job security, and whether or not he should remain on as manager, pretty slim, it seems to me.
But when O'Brien comes out and questions Buck's relationship with the players and whether or not he should stay on...well, I have to wonder if the fans who have so steadfastly continued to defend Buck may start to ask whether it may be time for a change after all.
Or if, instead, she'll simply be lumped in with the evil, rumor-mongering press, someone to ignore...
In other news...O'Brien says that Volquez is going to incorporate a slider into his repertoire in his next start, with the team apparently feeling he may never command his curveball well enough for it to be a viable major league pitch. If he can't get either a curve or a slider going, his future will probably end up being in the pen.
Also, Rod Barajas is apparently having back problems again after starting on Saturday, and is back to day-to-day status.