You know the drill -- bullet points now, analysis forthcoming shortly:
- The Rangers have outrighted infielder Esteban German and right-handers Brandon McCarthy and Doug Mathis from their 40-man roster (which now comprises 31 players), rendering all three free agents; in addition, playoff-exiled sinkerballer Scott Feldman underwent successful microfracture surgery on his right knee today, and is expected to be physically limited at the beginning of spring training (T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com)
[The biggest highlight here is McCarthy, or the departure thereof -- this effectively closes the book on one of the more controversial/disastrous trades in recent franchise history, a trade that dealt considerable damage to the Rangers' rebuilding timeline. Since the trade's consummation in December 2006, Danks has produced 13.3 wins above replacement for the White Sox; McCarthy, on the other hand, has furnished just 2.8 wins in three injury-shortened seasons (excluding a 2010 campaign spent entirely at Triple-A Oklahoma City), and has amassed a whopping 287 disabled-list days since his acquisition. Just to put that into proper perspective, a full year of major league service time is only 172 days.
If McCarthy ever proved himself physically capable of pitching a 180- to 200-inning campaign, there's a good chance he'd embody a solid No. 4 starter on a first-division ballclub, but the Rangers are no longer in a position where they can offer a total question mark a guaranteed spot, and McCarthy seems like a decent change-of-scenery candidate, so this is likely the end of the line. German's a viable major league utility infielder candidate in theory, but Texas seems perfectly happy with Andres Blanco. Doug Mathis is mediocrity personified, but you could do worse if you needed an emergency call-up. Feldman's situation will be worth keeping an eye on, as any delays in his rehab could take him completely out of the running for an Opening Day rotation spot.]
- Two items of varying degrees of interest that preceded Thursday's option-finalizing deadline: the Rangers declined their end of Vladimir Guerrero's $9 million mutual option for 2011 on Wednesday afternoon, and Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre declined to exercise his $10 million player option for 2011 (T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com; Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)
[It has been explained in multiple formats that neither the Rangers nor Guerrero ever had any intention of exercising the 2011 mutual option, and that the option itself was a mechanism designed to defer $1 million of the total $6.5 million guaranteed to next year's budget, so ... there's that. Guerrero evidently wants to return, and the Rangers want to keep the lines of communication open, and I expect this is something we'll be hearing about for the next few weeks at the very least. Since my earlier analysis of the situation presupposed prices in the $7-9 million range, I may be forced to revise my thinking if Guerrero is amenable to a $4-5 million deal -- but is he really going to want to take a pay cut?]
The problem is that even if you believe Guerrero can furnish a couple of wins above replacement, I still think we're talking about a difference of one win -- or less -- relative to an ensemble cast being employed in the DH spot, and you're forgoing roster flexibility in the process, and you're not fully accounting for the injury risk associated with Guerrero. Even if he were to be re-signed at an identical $6.5 million, I think there's sufficient reason to believe that this front office, intelligent and creative as it is, could put together a better overall solution for the same amount of money that Guerrero might require.]
Original Story:
http://www.bbtia.com/home/2010/11/5/f...
