The Rangers Bullpen

H

hookemcmw

100+ Posts
Is terrible. A couple of years ago, it almost looked like they had completely turned it around. This year, not so much..That and the defense are going to continually kill us. I think I remember the hire of Ron Washington was supposed to assure of being solid in areas like stealing bases, take extra bases when available, hit and run, but most importantly, bullpen and solid defense. That simply has not happened. 5 errors in 6 games is not particularly solid.

Our starters have actually been pretty decent so far outside of Benson. I dont expect him to make too many more starts here, especially if Nolan et al feel comfortable with Perez. Look at the bullpen stats:

CJ Wilson 10.80 ERA
Josh Rupe 13.50 ERA
Warner Madrigal 15.43 ERA
Scott Feldman 15.43 ERA
Eddie Guardado 6.75 ERA

Are you serious? I know it is early but there have to be guys that could outperform these guys. Im tired of waiting on CJ Wilson to be better. He got demoted from closer for a reason--because he sucks. I watched these guys goof off the entire night on Wednesday, as I sat the row behind the bullpen. I thought it was kinda cool how they all have such a great relationship, playing games (mostly Wilson, Rupe, and Feldman) such as seed spitting contest, throw the resin bag at each other, squirt each other with water, chatting with fans about their future mohawks ,and having a pregame toast of red bull. However, I wonder if there is a fine line between jacking around to stay loose (Im sure it can get really boring down there) and not being focused/ready to perform.

It was kinda funny though seeing Eddie kinda sitting away from those guys. They did not mess with him in any way and he kinda stared at them at times like "WTF are you doing?"

Once again, its early. However, I would hate to see these *** clowns screw it up like they always seem to do, even on days where the starters have been pretty good. They gave up a ton of runs on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and Sunday of this week only.

These hitters on the other hand can hit and Millwood has been dominant.
 
This bullpen will be the death of this team. I honestly believe the starting pitching will be adequate. Obviously the offense has a chance to be special for years to come. The bullpen has little talent and gives you little reason to believe it will get better. The only hope is that the farm system has a number of quality relief arms that could be up before the end of the year. Even then you know those guys will take their rookie lumps.

I think we will see improvement in the defense as the season goes on. Remember, Kins is the only guy out there that has more than 2 seasons in the majors at his position. I do think they should go ahead and move Hammy to RF and Cruz to LF.

Also, keep in mind that the org is playing for next year and anything that happens this year is a bonus. Times are about to be very good in Arlington.
 
Hmmm....Rangers lack pitching. Must be baseball season again. Some things in this universe are just a constant.
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Yeah, tonight things are really back to normal for the Rangers. Terrible defense by Cruz and Byrd cost a couple of runs. Horrid pitching by Padilla and Feldman. Still that same good offense--it must be hard to be Hamilton, Kinsler, Young, etc and load up the offense with 7 runs through 6 innings only to be down by 3 still.
 
Where are all these arms in the farm system that everyone is talking about? They cannot be much worse then what is up here now.

(And as I am typing this, A. Jones just goes yard for the 8th and 9th runs).
 
The Rangers have either traded or over looked alot of very talented pitchers in the past. Looks like it isn't any different now.
 
C.J. just went 1 2/3 hitless innings, 2 BB and 2 K's. The difference tonight was after the 2nd walk Wash pulled him. The team can't afford experiments too often.

Hook'em!!!
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The bullpen will indeed be the achilles heel this year. God help us if the starting pitching or the hitting underperform.

I hope they can just make it to 80 wins.

That being said, should the team consider trading Millwood and Padilla during the stretch this year to garner some more prospects from teams competing for the playoffs?

Both could be very valuable as even mediocre starting pitching is at a HUGE premium to teams trying to make a run during the mid to late part of the season. If JD did that what would the rotation look like for next year? Are they even considering letting Millwood and Padilla stick around for next year? I think the club has an option on both years.

Just musing for when the Rangers are out of the race in late June or July.

Hook 'em
 
Absolutely would trade Millwood. Padilla, Guardado (again), or Benson. None of those guys fit in our long term plans. Also, I would try to work out a contract early with Andruw Jones, provided that he maintains a respectable level for the better part of the season and does not revert to his Dodger days. If Boras is out trying to use this year to get Jones say a 1 year, $10 million contract somewhere, we can try and trade him. We still have 3 adequate catchers if you cant Max in the minors.

Marlon Byrd figures to have a some trade value and Blalock might have just a bit of value still left. Im all for trading anyone whose name is not Kinsler, Hamilton, Young, Davis, Andrus, Cruz, or Salty.
 
If Millwood keeps this pace up for the first half of the year, then he will be in pin stripes or playing for the Red Sox. Padilla needs to turn it around and he will also be traded. Both of these guys are very desirable because they are in the last year of their contract so the contender does not have much of a risk past this year. Same with Blalock and Andruw Jones. These guys could have some real trade value if they continue hitting at a respectable level.

Benson has nothing left. Despite his win last night, he just does not seem to have much left in the tank. Guardado appears to be in the same boat.
 
I think if Millwood heads to NY or Boston, then it will most likely by to beantown. Boston simply has more and better prospects in their farm system right now. I know that NY has some arms that appear to be very good, but they were hamstrung trying to make deals over the last couple of years due to having nothing to offer in return.

I think Andruw Jones could be a real find that might turn into some prospect gold. His work with Jaramillo will pay dividends and get him back to a respected if not feared level as a hitter. He'd likely need to got an AL contender because his prowess in the field has really fallen off.

I'm in favor of sending Millwood, Padilla, Blalock, & Jones packing for prospects.

Folks had been talking that this might be the last year of the pre-Rangers for the AL West, but there could be another year in the desert while the young pitching prospects make their bones & become legitimate.

Hook 'em
 
I just hope they don't trade Millwod before Friday Night. I'm going to game and heard they skipped Harrison which is a great move by Wash.

As a side note, I have some tix for 5 rows behind home plate for several games this year at less than Face Value - if anyone's interested, let me know and I'll post them on the Swap Board.

Hook'em!!!
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