Coming off an unprecedented year of success, it looked like the Texas Rangers would go about their business quietly in the 2010 off-season, with the exception of chasing Cliff Lee at all costs.
The Rangers did end up doing all they could to keep Cliff Lee in Texas, making multiple trips to his home in Arkansas, but that pursuit came up short. Even though they missed out on the biggest piece of the off-season and the piece they focused all their attention on, Jon Daniels and company did make some pretty good additions to a team that was going to make the playoffs even before they traded for Cliff Lee last July.
That's not to say everything else went smoothly this off-season. Michael Young made sure of that. But we'll get to that mess later. Let's start with the biggest story of the off-season: the failure to sign Cliff Lee.
1. Missing out on Cliff Lee
32-year old ace Cliff Lee was the prized target of the off-season for any team needing an absolute stud for the top of their rotation (that's every single team in baseball, right?). The Rangers made a deal for him in July and significantly increased their chances of re-signing him by making an improbable run to the World Series. Still, after an extended battle with the Yankees for his services, the Phillies came in at the last minute and screwed it all up by bringing him back only a year after trading him away for Roy Halladay.
When looking at this move, it's an obvious disappointment that the Rangers couldn't re-sign the first true ace they have had since Kevin Brown in 1992, but let's look at the big picture of this deal. The Phillies signed Lee to a 5-year, $107.5 million with a $27.5 million dollar option for a 6th year or a $12.5 million buyout.
I know the Rangers have a newfound financial prowess under new owner Chuck Greenberg, but giving a 32-year old finesse pitcher 6 years and at least $120 million could look like a pretty dumb idea in 4 or 5 years. Cliff Lee is great and will probably be himself for at least the next 2 or 3 years, but when he reaches his decline phase at about age 34 or 35, what will he be then? It would have been a risky contract and the Rangers may look back at it and smile in a couple of years.
That's not to say I was relieved when I heard Lee was headed to Philadelphia. I was livid. The Rangers finally had a bona fide ace but they could only keep him for 4 months. If the Rangers re-signed Lee and he led them to a World Championship in the next couple of seasons, it would have been much easier to swallow the last 2 or 3 years of his large contract. The risk was worth the potential reward, so I would have preferred to overpay for a much better shot at a championship.
Still, missing out on Lee isn't entirely bad, so let's try and keep a level head. The Rangers saved some cash and were able to improve their team in other ways this off-season. Let's take a look at the moves Texas did make.
2. Signed C Yorvit Torreabla to a 2 year, $6.25 million deal
The first semi-major move that Texas made this winter was the signing of 32-year old catcher Yorvit Torreabla. The catching position gave the Rangers a lot of fits last year to say the least, so it was a good idea to bring in a fairly proven catcher in to produce 80-100 games better than the combo of Bengie Molina, Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez did in 2010.
Jon Daniels said that he would like to see Torreabla catch 100 games for the defending AL champs this year, something he has never done before. Coming off a 2010 where he hit .271/.343/.378 (somewhat inflated by a .321 BABIP), the Rangers could do a lot worse at catcher for next year.
Don’t expect Torreabla to excite many fans headed into the 2011 season, but I’m actually very happy with this signing. He’s got a fairly good defensive reputation and has shown he can hit in any ballpark in baseball (Colorado and San Diego). You aren’t going to find many catchers who are going to set the world on fire with their bats, and considering how bad the catchers were for the Rangers last year, this is a solid move from Jon Daniels and co.
3. Signed SP Brandon Webb to a 1 year, $3 million, incentive-laden deal
This is a move I had been in favor of since the beginning of the 2009 off-season. Coming off a shoulder injury that has cost him almost all of the last two seasons, Webb was looking for an incentive-laden deal and the Rangers smartly provided one for him.
I don’t know if the Rangers are counting on Webb re-gaining his Cy Young winning stuff, but if he is even at 80% of his old self, he will be a really big piece to a rotation searching for top end talent. It also helps that Webb doesn’t really rely on velocity to succeed. I know he can’t throw meatballs up there and expect success, but if he has a fair amount of sink remaining on his sinker, he will be able to get ground balls and let his new, spectacular infield defense #dowork.
It hasn’t been said if Webb has been promised a rotation spot by anyone in upper management, but I imagine if he doesn’t get blown up in Spring Training, he’ll enter the season as the #3 pitcher, slotted behind C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis. I’ll leave you with this quote he had a couple of weeks ago on ESPN 103.3.
“I've made some dramatic strides," said Webb. "If anybody had been around me for the past month or so since I've been throwing, it's been awesome. I don't think they have to be too patient. I think I should be totally ready to go in spring training, jumping right in with the guys and just carrying on like a normal spring training for myself."
4. Signed LHP Arthur Rhodes to a 1 year, $3.9 million deal with a vesting option for a 2nd year
Another move that kind of came out of nowhere this off-season was the signing of the ageless wonder, Arthur Rhodes. An All-Star in 2010, Rhodes faded down the stretch last season, but could be good in a tandem with fellow ageless wonder Darren Oliver. Oliver had the same problems that Rhodes had late in the season last year, so if they can be used in the same situations but not as frequently (both appeared in about 65 games last year), it could preserve them for another playoff run.
5. Made pitching depth signings (RP Yoshinori Tateyama and SP Dave Bush)
These moves might not end up meaning anything, but who thought the trade for Matt Treanor would be worth anything last year? Tateyama has never pitched in the MLB and has a bit of a funky, ¾ delivery, so he could be a good novelty pitcher for a limited number of appearances this year (or he could develop into someone like Darren O’Day).
The best off-season moves made by Jon Daniels in 2009 were depth signings that gave the Rangers a lot of stability in the case of injury. Dave Bush is a good example of this same kind of thing in the 2010 off-season. He’s definitely not going to ever pitch like a top of the rotation guy, but he could be used in an injury pinch or some situation like that this year. Not a bad guy to have around.
So even with missing out on Cliff Lee, the Rangers had a pretty solid start to the off-season. In my next baseball post, I’ll look at how the Rangers made a signing and a trade that has sent many positive and negative ripples around the organization and the MLB as a whole.
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