Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 09:27:07 -0600
Reply-To: Texas Rangers MLB Discussion <RANGERS@TAMU.EDU>
Sender: Texas Rangers MLB Discussion <RANGERS@TAMU.EDU>
From: Beau Sharbrough <beau@CONNECT.NET>
Subject: Is the experiment working?

Hello to the list!

Thanks, GaryP and GJ, for a look at the many possible futures for Rangers fans. Thinking about it led me to a number of almost related thoughts...

* Geez those guys don't walk much.
* Is there any statistic that shows an area of general improvement in Texas minor leaguers during the Melvin/Oates era?
* What is the correlation between the kind of "program" that they claim to want to build, and the one that they are building?
* Is there any reason to believe that they are on the road to contention?

I've only taken a cursory look at the statistics, but my impression is that this group still doesn't make pitchers, and makes hitters that lack plate discipline. Let a guy come along who doesn't fit that description, and some other flaw will lead them to get off him, and he won't blossom here. I'm still waiting for Tatis to hit.

It seems like this group managed to sign some spectacular players (Gonzalez, Rodriguez) and a few good ones (Palmer, Helling) and correct me if I'm wrong, but all that was before the crew we've got now. I know that you have to give a new coach a chance to recruit and develop his own players, but I can't believe that there weren't any major leaguers in our system besides Patterson when those guys got here.

I still don't know how Al Levine gets so many people out. I wonder what the papers would be saying about him if he was Jonathan Johnson. I think that his play is better than his reputation, that he's undervalued.

I wonder if it isn't like that old first division-second division thing in the 50s: The KC A's develop all the players for the good teams, and trade them for more prospects that they can develop into good players, and on and on. It looks to me like the Twins, Pirates and Expos do a really good job bringing up ballplayers, and I would probably add the A's to that list.

With the financial muscle that Hicks brings, maybe the strategy is to draft players with tools, and trade them to good development programs for expensive major leaguers. I don't see bright prospects for this program outside of that. 

On the other hand, if someone could show me that the kids we draft do better in on base percentage every year, that they get better defensively every year, and that they throw strikes better, I'll just shut up and wait for the oven buzzer to go off.

Happy New Year, everyone
--
Beau Sharbrough      | The 4 stages of scientific acceptance:
Grapevine, Texas     | (1) this is worthless nonsense; (2) this is an
<beau@connect.net>   | interesting, but perverse, point of view;
www.connect.net/beau | (3) this is true, but quite unimportant;
GT99-SLC-1/22/99     | (4) I always said so. --- J. B. S. Haldane