Texas received: SP Cliff Lee, RP Mike Lowe, and $2.5 million
Other Offers:
Minnesota: Wilson Ramos and Aaron Hicks
Yankees: Jesus Montero, David Adams, and Zach McAllister
Rays: Wade Davis and Desmond Jennings
Phillies: Domonic Brown
White Sox: Gordon Beckham
March 5, 2010, Texas Rangers legend Nolan Ryan made a bold prediction. Ryan predicted that the Texas Rangers, who haven’t been a factor since Alex Rodriguez left town, would win the division and at least 92 games.
"I just feel like that's a number that this ballclub should be able to reach. It's hard to sit here before we play a spring game and predict, but I feel like we have the depth and talent and we're capable of doing that.”As of July 20, 2010, the Texas Rangers are on pace to win about 95 games and lead the division over the Los Angeles Angles by five games. Rewind time to July 9th, and you can notice the change that the Ranger management feels about this team, as they add superstar pitcher Cliff Lee. The Rangers pushed this season ‘all-in‘ as they parted ways with top prospect Justin Smoak. The Rangers once considered Smoak an untouchable prospect, but this move shows that they are going in a different direction than the past and hoping to make a strong playoff run. Surprising move by the Mariners turning down one of the best hitting catcher prospects in baseball in Jesus Montero, but I predict the main concern was that Montero is unable to be a Major League catcher for the next couple of years as he works on his defense. The Minnesota Twins made an interesting offer, as they usually don’t trade their prospects for middle of the season deals. Ramos hasn’t been the same hitter since his first two games in the Majors, and Aaron Hicks is still developing but isn’t ready for the Majors right away, as the Mariners were asking for. The Rays made an intriguing offer but Jennings is only a couple of years removed from an injury and the Mariners didn’t see that one stack up against the Yankees and Rangers very well. The Phillies quickly took their offer off the table as they now search for a trade partner to take Jayson Werth off their hands to promote Domonic Brown to the Majors. Brown has a lot of potential and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as the next Jason Heyward as he shows tremendous power and speed. Overall, the Mariners made a smart decision by trading Lee to the Ranges, as they lost all their bargaining chips as the season progressed. The Mariners were in last place and have a zero percent chance of signing him in the offseason anyways. Props to the Mariners GM for making the most out of a horrible situation, and the Rangers GM did a great job-hunting the main prize on the trading block.
Now the big question is whether Cliff Lee provides a significant enough upgrade to help the Rangers jump from division title contenders to World Series contenders. The answer has to be no, because Cliff Lee can’t pitch every single game in the postseason. Count me as one of the skeptics of the Rangers pitching staff that includes: Tommy Hunter, CJ Wilson, Colby Lewis, and Scott Feldman. None of those pitchers scare another team so much that they go into the game thinking that they better get a couple of hits to win. Although the Rangers have a dangerous lineup, when the weather becomes cold in October, the bats always seem to die down, and that’s where pitching becomes one of the most important factors in the playoffs. This becomes even more important because their first round matchup will most likely be against the AL wild-card winner which looks to be the Tampa Bay Rays or Boston Red Sox at this point, two teams with strong pitching staffs and lineups that I would put over the Rangers with Cliff Lee. It was a good move by the Rangers to put them in the playoffs but no way I see this team advancing to the World Series.
All the prospects:
Justin Smoak
Smoak was drafted eleventh in the 2008 draft, and could have been drafted higher if not for high salary demands. One of baseball’s top magazines wrote that Smoak had “Gold Glove-caliber actions and soft hands", as well as "advanced footwork and instincts at first base.” Smoak’s high potential enabled him to receive a $3.5 million signing bonus. Also, Smoak was a Texas Mid-season All-Star in 2009, as well as showing strong power at the plate in the Majors this season, ten home runs with 38 RBIs, but he is struggling with plate discipline 38 walks to 71 strikeouts, but that is expected with many young power hitters.
Blake Beavan
Beavan was drafted in the first round in the 2007 draft out of high school. Beavan finished his senior year with a 9-2 record, 0.19 ERA and 139 strikeouts. Beavan’s first minor league campaign went fairly successful going 10-6 with a 2.37 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 121.2 innings. He only did decent in 2009 but was dominating this season going 10-5 with a 2.78 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 110 innings before the trade.
Josh Lueke
Lueke has been a player that hasn’t found much success in the minor leagues until this season. Lueke had three career wins in his 69 appearances entering the season but already has accumulated four this year. Also, Lueke suffered an injury last season that limited him to only four appearances. Leuke is a hard-throwing pitcher that relies on a lot of strikeouts but he may find it tougher to find success as he moves up the rank to the eventual goal of the Major Leagues.
Matthew Lawson
Lawson is never going to put up the power numbers of the top second basemen in the Majors right now, but Lawson has the potential to be a strong serviceable second baseman in a couple of years. Lawson made a minor league All-Star team last year, but hasn’t had the same success at the plate this year, mostly due to a strong focus on plate discipline as he struck out 127 times in 478 at-bats in 2009.
Houston Astros SP Roy Oswalt is now the most coveted player on the trading block before the deadline on July 31. Adrian Gonzalez was suppose to be the top player before the Padres decided to become a great ballclub this year due to fantastic pitching. Looking at Oswalt’s statistics, you don’t see a number one pitcher: 6-11 and a 3.12 ERA. The key for Oswalt’s new team is to keep him in the NL because he probably won’t have the same success in the AL, but Oswalt is a dominating pitcher, but doesn’t have the run support to show it. Take away three of his 19 starts, and you have a pitcher who hasn’t given up more than three runs in a game, earned or unearned. Also, Oswalt has thrown 117 strikeouts in 124 innings, so he has taken it in his own hands to get outs that have to be something in the minds of teams trying to acquire him. The top two teams in the Oswalt race are the Philadelphia Phillies, who traded Cliff Lee in the offseason, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Oswalt prefers the Cardinals but the big twist is that he demands any team that acquires him to pick up his $16 million option for next season. Both the Cardinals and the Phillies already have high payrolls and don’t want to put on another $16 million, especially if Oswalt falters at the end of this season. Oswalt is worth then number one rotation money, but the Cardinals and Phillies have already used their top pitching money on their own aces. Especially the Phillies who traded Cliff Lee away so they wouldn’t lose him or have to pay his expected enormous contract next season. Also, the Phillies talks are based on the fact that they can trade away OF Jayson Werth to another team to open up some more money for Oswalt. Oswalt’s demands are going to force the Astros to throw in some money for a team to take Oswalt off their hands, but that takes away the leverage that Oswalt wanted to force his way to St. Louis. If I had a prediction for what is going to happen by July 31, I would have to say that Oswalt will remain an Astro, and that the Cardinals and Phillies will fight over Dan Haren, who will garner more interest thanks to Roy Oswalt wanting more money. However, according to mlbtraderumors.com (great website), the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers are exchanging prospect names for a possible trade, but with the pending divorce case of the McCourts, I can’t foresee the Dodgers making any big splashes before the deadline. Also from mlbtraderumors.com, the Minnesota Twins are out of the running on Oswalt, and Dan Haren has Minnesota on his no-trade list, so don’t expect the Twins to attempt for any big name pitchers at the break after losing out on Cliff Lee.
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