Give the Texas Rangers credit. They possess the ability to make news during the playoffs even without participating in them.
On Wednesday we learned that the organization is getting rid of Rudy Jaramillobut hanging onto some of your money. As for Jaramillo, the hitting instructor of the last 15 years chose not to accept a one-year deal. He will be scooped up long before Tom Hicks finds a true buyer that this franchise so desperately needs.
I bring that up because I found out Wednesday that those who had enough faith in the team to buy playoff tickets have been told via e-mail that those refunds won't be coming until sometime in November, possibly not even early November because "the money is tied up with MLB."
Give the employees an "A" for honesty in admitting that this club is run by the league office for now, soon to be the banks if Hicks fails to sell the team.
While I feel for those who are waiting patiently for those refunds – hey, discounted seats for 2010 and Stars vouchers are being offered in exchange! – I don't have any problem with Jaramillo's departure.
He's without question the best coach the team ever had. Production over the course of 15 years proves it. But the free-swingin' Rangers had clearly taken that approach far beyond its reasonable measure in 2009.
It can't hurt to see what happens if the club's best hitters exercise just a little patience in 2010. It would be nice if the next instructor could rein in Ian Kinsler's swing-for-the-sky approach which produced 30 home runs and the league's largest fly ball-to-ground ball ratio this season. Kinsler can be an MVP candidate with minimal fine tuning.
But as you watch these playoffs unfold, doesn't it seem the Rangers are moving further from their date with destiny in 2010 rather than closer?
Ever since Baseball America listed the Rangers as owners of the No. 1 farm system last winter, it became popular in these parts to suggest that the club was just a year away.
The Tampa Bay Rays, listed No. 1 in 2007 and World Series competitors in 2008, served as a fine model.
With the Rangers producing 87 wins this season, they at times appeared to be a year ahead of schedule before those awful hitting failures at home in September left them in the Angels' dust once again.
Some other farm system will be ranked No. 1 this winter because five of the Rangers' players that the magazine ranked in the top 10 – Neftali Feliz (1), Derek Holland(2), Elvis Andrus (4), Taylor Teagarden (6) and Julio Borbon (9) – already are in the majors.
So before 2009's splendid No. 1 ranking becomes as forgettable as, say, Milwaukee's in 2004 (one quick playoff exit in '08 was all the Brewers got for that?), the Rangers must move quickly.
Are they truly capable?
Keep in mind that the Rangers are one of only seven franchises that whiffed on the postseason for the decade of 2000-09.
Of the others, two teams (Baltimore, Toronto) inhabit the AL East in which New York and Boston are nearly impossible to surpass. Another just set a record for consecutive losing seasons (Pittsburgh, 17 and counting).
Cincinnati and Kansas City remain stuck in the "small market with no chance" range. And the other changed countries this decade (Montreal-Washington).
It's a sorry group to be a part of, but you can't say the Rangers haven't earned their way in. As the 40th League Championship Series get underway this week, it's key to remember that the Rangers are the only franchise that has been around the entire time (first three years as the Washington Senators) without ever coming close to competing in one.
The fact that these Rangers won more games than Minnesota and Detroit did over the 162-game season is both encouraging and meaningless. Yes, the Rangers improved in '09 and there are all sorts of young arms and hitters to provide hope for future success.
But as you watch the ALCS, understand that the Angels aren't going away. They fought through one improbable crisis (the death of pitcher Nick Adenhart) and more significant injuries than the Rangers endured this season.
And if the Angels fall short either against the Yankees or the NL champs, it's a good bet that owner Arte Moreno will continue to spend millions to pursue his first personal championship (he bought the team after the '02 World Series).
The Rangers? They don't even have your postseason money to play with. It's in a drawer in the league office somewhere.
All we know for sure is that whatever money can be found for the Rangers to spend this winter, it won't be on big-name free agents or Rudy Jaramillo.
