06:26 PM CST on Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Surprise, Surprise. Back for Rangers spring training again. It seems like nothing has changed. There is still plenty of traffic on Bell Road, which is the main artery from Surprise to say anywhere. There is still a lot of construction going on around the Rangers’ spring training facility and most of it appears to be chain restaurants. The only thing that seems different out here are the Rangers. This is a different team. After years and years of trying to win by pounding opponents into submission, we’re finally going to see a commitment to pitching. The Rangers added three significant starters and two relievers over the winter that is officially over Thursday with the first workout for pitchers and catchers. The starting rotation that enters the 2006 season won’t include any of the starters that began the 2005 season. It will go one step farther than that. It won’t include the sixth starter (Ricardo Rodriguez) the Rangers used last year, either. Will this work? Who knows. It’s impossible to predict pitching success in Arlington. That won’t be determined until April at the earliest, but more likely during the summer months of July and August. How will Kevin Millwood hold up? Can Adam Eaton keep the ball out of the jet stream to right center? Will Vicente Padilla remain an enigma or will he have a breakout season? All are questions that are a long way from being answered. For the first time in a long time, though, it appears the Rangers might actually have the wherewithal to answer them. Usually, the real start to spring training occurs when the full squad works out for the first time. That’s still a week away. But this is a different camp. For a change, there is some buzz about pitching. Well, enough rambling. It’s time for the weekly return of Inside the Rangers newsletter. In case, you are a bit rusty from the winter, here’s a list of questions I most often received from Rangers fans this winter, along with my answer. From here on in, though, you are on your own to pepper me with inquiries. Hope to hear from you often. Just drop me a question at Rangers@dallasnews.com. Q: Will Roger Clemens be a Ranger this year? GRANT: I really don’t think so. That is no reflection on the Rangers or their attempts to lure Clemens here for at least one season. It just seems that either Roger pitches in Houston or not at all. The Rangers’ biggest advantage would have been had Clemens felt spurned by the Astros’ decision not to offer salary arbitration in December. I don’t get that Roger is all that upset. He has, after all, worked out with the Astros’ pitchers. He’s donned Astros colors for his workouts. There doesn’t seem to be any hint of animosity there. Most likely scenario: Clemens sees how his legs feel during the World Baseball Classic. If they feel OK, he takes a week or two off, hits the conditioning regimen again and gets himself in shape to play May 1. And then the Astros are on the exact same playing field as everybody else. • • • Q: Why did Orel Hershiser leave his positions with the Rangers? GRANT: Orel Hershiser may have set a Rangers’ club record for most resignations in a year. He quit as pitching coach in November, then moved into an executive director’s role on the business side. He didn’t make it through January in that role. There were factions in the Rangers’ front office that weren’t happy with the way Hershiser pursued various positions with the Los Angeles Dodgers. To some, it came off as if he was campaigning for a job. In baseball’s world of etiquette, it’s one thing to be flattered by a club’s interest in you; it’s another to pursue a job like it’s your first chance out of college. The second method suggests maybe you aren’t happy with your current role. As for the second position, this was to be largely an ambassadorship. Hershiser wants more meat. He wants to be a manager, GM or president. He wasn’t going to get that role in Texas anytime soon, if it all. By taking his leave and going to ESPN, Hershiser can position himself much the way Buck Showalter and Bobby Valentine have in recent years. He can use his sharp mind and articulate voice to analyze all 30 teams for a year or two and make himself a very hot commodity to some club (in Valentine’s case, a Japanese club) in the process. • • • Q: I don’t understand why the Rangers traded Chris Young. They finally developed one of their own pitchers, and they trade him. What’s up with that? GRANT: I’ve maintained all along that the Young trade was a matter of best allocating resources. Understand these circumstances. In late December, the Rangers had become painfully aware they were not going to fill the hole they had for an eighth-inning pitcher through free agency. Talks with players went nowhere. The market was going crazy. The Rangers still needed to find a solution. Second, the Rangers had two players who ended up in the San Diego – Adrian Gonzalez and Terrmel Sledge – who had no place to play in Texas and, in a lot of ways, that made their worth minimal. Other teams knew that the Rangers weren’t giving up essential parts of their team, so they weren’t going to give up big pieces to Texas in exchange for those players. The best way for Texas to get maximum value for them was to include them in a package deal. By making the San Diego deal, the Rangers were able to turn Gonzalez and Sledge into a pretty good setup man in Akinori Otsuka. The Young-for-Adam Eaton portion of the deal was, in effect, the secondary aspect. San Diego got cheaper, allowing them to keep free agent Trevor Hoffman. The Rangers got a bit more experience for the rotation by adding Eaton. • • • Q: What’s up with Hank Blalock? GRANT: Blalock has kept a low profile all winter. He was perhaps the unhappiest Ranger at the end of last season. His play tailed off badly in the second half. He had an awful problem hitting left-handers. And this winter, the Rangers nearly traded him to Florida for Josh Beckett. Well, here’s the deal: It’s time for Blalock to make another set of adjustments. Pitchers have caught up to him and found the holes in his swing. After a very poor experience in 2002, he made adjustments and came back to hit .300 in 2003. He can make them. His feelings should not be a concern. Blalock understands the business of baseball. He’s practical. He knows no player is entitled to pick his club. I’m certain the November flirtation with Florida will have no impact on his play. Blalock simply must take the next step in his growth as a hitter. • • • Q: Can anything be done to make the park a more attractive place for pitchers? GRANT: The best thing the Rangers can do is win. Free-agent pitchers tend to overlook little things like ugly ERAs and stuff if they can pitch for a real contender. Short of that, any changes still to be made will be minor. The Rangers have engaged a company to do a study on the wind patterns at Ameriquest Field. They are also trying to ascertain how the construction of the Gold Club in 2000 affected those wind patterns. But once you’ve built something and it makes money, it’s hard to demolish it. The Rangers may be able to reposition some wind screens around the park that may make the wind a little kinder and gentler, but not much. It does not appear that moving fences or anything major like that are feasible options. The Rangers have done some things, such as grow the infield grass longer, to keep more balls from rolling through for hits. • • • Q: Is Juan Dominguez hopelessly in the doghouse? GRANT: When you have the kind of arm that Dominguez does, which is to say he’s got a great arm, your ability to climb back into an organization’s good graces are only as far away as your next outing. Dominguez has irritated the Rangers a number of times in the last three years. But he hasn’t yet worn out his welcome. Most recently, he missed a flight from the Dominican Republic to minicamp, showed up heavy and his work ethic was a bit lacking. He still goes to training camp as no worse than an even-money candidate to land the fifth spot in the rotation. If Dominguez matures off the field and produces on it, the doghouse will be reserved only for a family pet. Right now, the Rangers’ big issue with him is dependability. • • • Q: So will Dominguez be the fifth starter this year? If not him, whom? GRANT: Honestly, the fifth starter’s job will come down to a “pitch off’’ in spring between Dominguez, Josh Rupe and C.J. Wilson. R.A. Dickey could also figure in the mix. Right now, Rupe has the most buzz. But buzz might last as long as it takes to make one spring training start. Wilson’s role, I think, will end up being in the bullpen this year. He may be the Rangers’ best option for a “long’’ lefty. The Rangers would like Dominguez or Rupe to win the spot with a strong spring. They don’t want to have to be choosing between merely adequate performances. • • • Q: Speaking of young pitchers, who is the best of the Diamond-Volquez-Danks trio we’ve heard so much about? GRANT: Depends on the scout you talk to. I’ve had guys tell me Volquez will be a great closer, but won’t be a starter. I’ve had other guys tell me Danks is the best of the closely grouped bunch because he’s left-handed, and lefties are more likely to be successful in Arlington. I’ve had guys say they love Diamond’s makeup and that he can will himself into being a good major league pitcher, even if his stuff isn’t overpowering. Right now, I think Volquez is the most advanced, but only by a hair over Diamond. Volquez got exposed to the big leagues briefly last season and learned the hard way what he’d have to do to pitch successfully in the majors. The Rangers believe Volquez is mature enough to properly process that experience and make the necessary adjustments. The Rangers are liable to give Diamond a longer look this spring than most young nonroster pitchers would normally get. Diamond could put himself in position to be an in-season addition if another pitcher fails or is injured. The consensus is that Danks is still more “raw’’ than the other two. He should be. He’s two years younger than both Diamond and Volquez. • • • Q: Got a prediction for this team? GRANT: Yep, and it’s typically political. On paper, this is still only the third-best team in the AL West, but paper is thin, and so is the margin that separates the three top teams in the division. The Angels seem to have the most balanced pitching, which has been a huge asset for them for most of the last four seasons. The A’s have great young starting pitching, an improving bullpen and more potential offensive weapons than in the past. The Rangers have improved both their rotation and bullpen, but it falls short of the other two clubs. That’s the paper part. In reality, the Angels have a lot of older, injury-prone players. One significant injury to Vladimir Guerrero or Bartolo Colon, both of whom were hurting at the end of last year, could change the dynamic of the team dramatically. The A’s are betting their offense will be more prolific because of the additions of Frank Thomas and Milton Bradley. Both could be significant offensive additions. Both could be injured or turn into complete flakes. And the ifs go for the Rangers as well. What if Kevin Millwood gets hurt? What if Adam Eaton or Vicente Padilla can’t adjust to the AL. What if one of the core infielders goes down? Right now, I envision a repeat of the 2004 season, with a tight pennant race and perhaps as little as three games separating first and third place. How it all shakes out, well, that’s what the season is for. • • • Q: When are they going to bring the red hats back? GRANT: OK, nobody really asked this question this winter, but it is, along with whatever happened to Justin Thompson, perhaps the most popular question in Inside the Rangers history. For the record, red is coming back no time soon. The Rangers are adding a sleeveless road top to their ever-expanding fashion closet for this season. And, as for Justin Thompson, who made a brief return to the majors last year after languishing for most of five seasons with various shoulder and elbow problems, he’s signed a minor league deal with Milwaukee and will try to pitch again this year. E-mail egrant@dallasnews.com