Rangers lose wildcard game

[Green P1]

I don't necessarily disagree with him but it is also going to be a severe blow if you just get rid of 43 HRs and 130 RBI's out of your lineup. I think his off season will be a fascinating one because I am sure other teams know and realize just what kind of risk they'll be getting into with him.

I think his tired act tore this team apart down the stretch. He's a cancer.

[KRAM1]

How in the world did this epic collapse happen? This is going down in baseball history as the team that simply gave up and didn't care enough to play anywhere near their collective abilities. Man, glad I am not a big baseball/Rangers guy, but I follow it enough to know that this is an epic fail.

Good news is..no complaining about a Rangers playoff game hurting attendance for UNT's Tuesday night game.

[oldguystudent]

Good news is..no complaining about a Rangers playoff game hurting attendance for UNT's Tuesday night game.

They keep playing like it's 2008 tonight, and Rangers games will be the least of our worries.

[mattmartin817]

So just a few thoughts from one of those way to emotionally, and financially (way to many t-shirts, tickets etc) invested Rangers fans. I'll start out by saying I pretty much love this team, this was the team of my childhood, we had season tickets several seasons growing up, and I usually watch at least 100 games a season on t.v. That being said, this collapse was one of the hardest things I've ever watched in my sports fan life. I kept thinking they had to get out of this funk all the way to the end. I thought with the bases loaded in the 9th with Murph up we would pull it out somehow, and all would be well in Rangers land. That didn't happen, I proceeded to get rather intoxicated. This team that has always shown a scrappy attitude basically quit, they had no life left in them for the final two weeks of the season. Needless to say, I think this team needs a shakeup, and I think that starts with letting Josh Hamilton walk in the offseason. Don't even offer him a contract, don't waste the time. He was the posterboy for this breakdown, he only saw 8 pitches in 4 AB's friday night, he hacked and flailed at the plate, and just looked completely hopelessly lost. His issues have become distracting, he's a true 5 tool guy, and could be one of the best in the game, but he's nuts, he's the new Manny Ramirez, he's just "Josh being Josh". I would also really like to see the organization see if they can shop Kinsler, if I have to see one more of his million pop ups and head hangs, I'll start smashing stuff. In a ideal world I would like to see kinsler gone, and Elvis still here. The rangers need to try and sign Elvis to a big deal, and make Profar a starter in the bigs next season. One of them could play second, I think that would be one of the best tandems in the game. I also think it's time to move on from Ron Washington. I think he's done a great job with this team, he's taken the Rangers to places most fans thought we would never reach, but he hasn't been able to get the job done, when we really should have been able to. I've always been a "Warsh" defender, but he has had some really suspect managing decisions this season. One of the most glaring questionable decisions being the fact that Michael Young played pretty much every game even though he was one of the worst players in baseball this season. His decision to pull Darvish in the 7th on Friday night was a really good example of him not really knowing how to handle pitching changes. Yu was only on about 90 pitches, and has shown fairly regularly the ability to go up to about 120 pitches, he got in a few jams, but with 6-7 pitches in his arsenal, I liked the odds of him getting through it and keeping the game in check. Instead he went for a matchup, brought Dutch in, and we imploded (why not bring Koji in, in that sitiuation?). This team needs new blood, they need to do some house cleaning, and that means most likely next season is not going to be fun. Sorry for the rambling, but I needed to rant to get that out of my system. Oh well, maybe the Mean Green will get on track and give us a reason to go to New Orleans at seasons end.

[H-towngreen]

Agree with you Matt.

Wash needed to take out Young, especially when you have Olt and Profar riding the pine. Hamilton needs to move on sadly, no longer worth the headache. Kinz either moves to a corner outfield spot or gets traded to make room for Profar. If he does stay he should no longer bat leadoff. Wash, time is up on you my friend. Thank you for your time.

[Green Mean]

Agree with much of your post Matt.

This is my off season if I'm JD

Offer Josh a 4 year contract at about 25 million a season. Look I know he has some baggage but the is just so damn valuable and a producing machine. He gets money whipped by another team which we know he will then let him walk. But 4 years is max what Texas should offer him.

Keep Elvis at SS and start contract talks of signing him long term. Yes he is worth the 10 year deal. And don't give me the nonsense that Boras is his agent. Elvis is a special player and became a leader when he arrive in 2009 and he's only 24. People forget to mention that Boras is also Beltre's agent.

Profar will be here every day next season so I'd put him at 2B. I know he's a SS but he's only 19 and he'll learn that position just fine. And as a SS Elvis is far superior to Profar even when Elvis was the same as as JP.

Start shopping Kinsler. The guy is locked up for 5 years at a reasonable contract and the line forms to the left for his services. Get some great prospects or maybe get a comparable OF bat for him. I like the idea of going after Justin Upton so Kinsler could easily be a part of a deal like that. He's not a leadoff guy and he's not really an OF either so as weird as it sounds Kinsler is very expendable.

Look into getting a pitcher...Price will be on the market as will Josh Johnson. They could sign Greinke but not sure I wouldn't rather have Price or Johnson. You add one of those guys to Darvish as a 1-2 punch then that is scary.

Wash has made some questionable managerial decisions this season but the man isn't going anywhere. He's just fine.

With Hamilton likely gone I know Nick Swisher is a free agent and while it is likely NY resigns him I think he would be GREAT for this team. He's a guy that has a lot of swagger and while he's arrogant as hell he just has some mojo to him which this team needs.

Looking forward to next season....hopefully they'll get some good rest this off season because I think they're still a playoff team next year regardless what happens this off season.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Green Mean

[Monkeypox]

Josh Hamilton doesn't study pitchers or sequences. He also did most of his damage for about 2 months this season, and most of his late season production was due simply to SLG. He's simply not the player people think he is. For $20-25 million, you'd better get some consistency. Even his defense started to suffer late in the season.

Wash won't sit a veteran, even if that veteran is one of the worst full-time players in the league... at an offense-only position. He rode MY for months when he was playing like an absolute zero.

This team, as a whole, simply wasn't among the top 5 in the league after May-June. They started off the season super-hot, and treaded along at slightly above average while others made adjustments. Losing the pitchers they did hurt, but in the end, it wasn't the pitching that failed them. It was veteran hitters crapping the bed.

The team still needs a TORP, a #1-3. I think you've got 2 for those spots in Harrison and Yu, but it's time to stop thinking of Holland and his potential. I'm not saying to ship him out, but he's not somebody you want to count on. Ogando is a pie-thrower. You don't want him in the rotation long-term, unless you're a fan of slagging important arms.

SO... gotta look for a pitcher and gotta look for a corner OF producer to replace Josh. I think you're still going to be hamstrung by MY and Nellie another year. Gotta hope for a dead cat bounce with one or both of them next year.

[MeanGreenTexan]

It's hard to read all of these Hamilton opinions... seems very short-sighted. The Rangers finish a distant 3rd in the division (maybe last) without him. Even in his slump, he is a feared hitter that opens up a ton of opportunities for Beltre. I'd hate for him to go to Boston (or heaven forbid, another AL West team) and pound Texas every time they play against him.

Could not believe Wash put Profar out there with him running the risk of being the final out. I think it could have possibly messed with his head if he were to have popped or grounded out. Instead, he comes through in the clutch... Get him out there next year!

[mattmartin817]

Possibly short-sided, I'll sort of agree with that. I'm really mad about this season, and I feel like he's the posterboy for how things went down. I know it's a team effort and he wasn't the only one that wasn't very good, but the fact is, he completely quit this season. He had an amazing first 2 months of the season, was mashing the ball, but his last two months of the season were completely, in the words of Galloway, "bat poop". I think that he is/has mentally checked out on this squad (that's hard to come back from). He seeminlgy made no effort to make adjustments at the plate, which I think was fairly evident as the season wore on. I think his whole routine has worn thin, it seems like he wants the team to beg him to play, thats not acceptable at the major league level or really any level. In an ideal world I would offer him a one year contract, for about 9 million, tell him we will sign him to a multi year after that if he gets his crap together and plays like the great player he can be. But of course that's not going to happen, and someone like Boston will sign him to a lengthy contract worth about $25 mill per year, we don't need to sign him for that much. It doesn't make financial sense for us. Let Josh walk, build the team around Beltre going forward.

On another note, can someone explain to me why the Rangers basically quit trying to steal bags this season, at least in the last two months or so of the season. Was it just an issue of other teams being really on top of it, not allowing us to steal? I can't even count how many double plays we hit into the last 10 games or so of the season. Seems like we never tried to steal, or put the hit and run on. I feel like in the two world series runs, our bread and butter was being aggressive on the bases, and really just imposing our will on opposing pitching, I always felt like we had this attitude of, "we are going to steal on you, you can't stop us". We stopped doing that and basically became a one dimensional team.