So, the buzz today is from Ken Rosenthal's story that the Rangers are interested in free agent outfielder Vlad Guerrero.
Everyone knows Guerrero, and the initial reaction would probably be, great, bring him here, particularly at a one year, $3-4 million deal, which is what Rosenthal suggests will be Guerrero's price.
That said, Guerrero is terrible in the outfield now, and had just a .262 EQA in 2009. Guerrero had a .290 EQA in 2008, and prior to that, hadn't been below a .300 EQA since his rookie year.
Guerrero is going to be 35 next year, and be all reports looked like he was breaking down last year. On the other hand, prior to 2009, he was a potent righty bat, the kind of guy who would be a perfect fit in the cleanup spot for the Rangers, hitting behind Josh Hamilton.
I go back and forth on Guerrero...I think, he can't be as bad as he was last year again, and if he can hit like in 2008, he'd be a great pickup for $3-4 million as a DH. On the other hand, he's exactly the sort of hacktastic hitter we are claiming we want the team to move away from, and it may very well be he's simply done.
The problem here is that I don't know that the Rangers have the luxury to pay him a few million, bring him to Surprise, and see how things go. The Rangers need a potent middle of the order bat, and if they decide that guy is Guerrero and Guerrero is done, you're looking at having David Murphy or Max Ramirez or someone as your DH, and you're looking at an offense that has a big hole in the middle of it.
I don't have the answer here. I've compared 2009 to 2004, and I don't want to see the Rangers' big offseason move to be the new Richard Hidalgo, which Vlad may very well be. It comes down to whether you believe last year was an aberration, and that he's due for a bounceback, or whether you think that any bounce would be of the dead cat variety.
There's a piece up in the DMN on John Wetteland being hospitalized, although information still appears to be scarce.
And everyone's favorite polarizing prospect, Marcus Lemon, had a grand slam in the first inning of yesterday's AFL game, and is hitting .346 overall this fall.