Manager Johnny Oates was on borrowed time since the Rangers signed shortstop Alex Rodriguez. Without an improved pitching staff, there was little chance owner Tom Hicks would get the instant gratification he demands.
And what about catcher Ivan Rodriguez? How long would he be happy making $13 million less than A-Rod? Is there any way one franchise can keep baseball’s two most complete players happy?
These are the issues that begged to be asked after the grandstanding Hicks signed Rodriguez to a deal that is guaranteed to pay him $171 million over the next seven years.
It will leave Hicks and an unfortunate insurance company paying $252 million over 10 years if Rodriguez decides not to void the three years remaining after 2007.
So guess what? The Rangers went into Saturday’s games 11-17 despite having scored the second most runs in the American League.
Their staff ERA is up from 5.52 last year, which was the highest in the majors, to 6.65. And Hicks isn’t real happy.
Oates knew it too. That’s why he walked away from a job that he had had since 1995, bringing three division titles to a franchise that had gone 24 years without one.
Hicks, who bought the Rangers from a group George W. Bush headed, was scheduled to meet with Oates and general manager Doug Melvin, whose authority he has usurped, before the series against the White Sox. But Oates surrendered after reading Hicks’ assessment of the situation in Thursday’s Dallas Morning News.
“We should play better than we’ve been playing,” Hicks said. “I think we will. If we don’t, the manager is one of the factors you eventually have to look at in why that’s not happening. . . . Johnny’s the first to tell you he should be held accountable, and he will be.”
Oates is tense by nature, which didn’t help him get the most from his pitchers. Detroit’s Danny Patterson, a former Ranger, said Texas pitchers seldom get comfortable.
“It seemed like every time I came into a game, I was looking over my shoulder,” Patterson said. “I’d be coming out of the bullpen and hear the phone ringing before I was out of earshot of it. When that happens, you know you have no room for error.”
Oates managed 983 games in Texas, more than anybody except Bobby Valentine. As much as the three American League West titles, his legacy will be a 1-9 record in the playoffs.
Yet it’s hard to see how he was the one who should have been held accountable.
It was Melvin who went against his instincts in a variety of ways when his owner became infatuated with the idea of signing Rodriguez.
Melvin doesn’t believe in committing a large percentage of the payroll into one salary. After hiring Oates his first move as the Rangers’ GM was to trade Jose Canseco and invest his salary into workhorses such as Bob Tewksbury, Roger McDowell, Mark McLemore and Otis Nixon. Plus he’s a pitching-and-defense guy, not a devotee of the big-boom theory. Given the collapse of an aging pitching staff, he knew last winter was the time to rebuild with young players.
Instead he got Hicks a second Rodriguez. Now he must consider trading the original one, who exacerbated the current crisis by going on the disabled list for the second time in two years.
Alex Rodriguez is having a great season (.308 average, 9 home runs, 24 runs batted in). It’s too bad he has been turned into a sideshow even before the Cowboys break out the blocking sleds. Perhaps new manager Jerry Narron can work miracles. But the Rangers’ problems aren’t the kind solved with a quick fix.
Ain’t no sunshine: Baseball is on life support in Florida. Both the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are stuck with stadiums that may be their undoing.
Owner John Henry brought much-needed enthusiasm when he bought the Marlins from Wayne Huizenga in 1999, but he has been frustrated in his efforts to get a stadium. The latest session of the Florida Legislature adjourned Friday without a financing bill even reaching the floor. It was blocked by Senate President John McKay, perhaps as a protest for all those tacky flags that were attached to car antennas during the 1997 World Series.
Then there are the Devil Rays, who are last in the AL in attendance. They play at Tropicana Field, a quirky dome that is near downtown St. Petersburg and far from the population center in the area.
“We overestimated the strength of the market, frankly,” said Bill Bunker, who was executive director of the Pinellas Sports Authority when it sought a franchise. “We thought there were a lot more baseball fans in this market than there are and we may have overestimated the financial abilities of the market.”
Yikes.
Slow going: Mark McGwire is eligible to be activated, but the Cardinals still don’t have a timetable for his return. He didn’t accompany his team on its current trip, remaining in St. Louis to continue rehabilitation on his surgically repaired knee.
“He’s proceeding–impatiently,” manager Tony La Russa said. “I know he’s getting his work in. In the meantime we have to stay alive while he’s gone.”
Jim Edmonds and rookie Albert Pujols are certainly doing their part. Edmonds hit .400 in April. Pujols, who was in the Midwest League at this time a year ago, went into the weekend hitting .366 with eight homers and 27 RBIs.
Turnaround: It probably didn’t boost the confidence of Phillies fans to see 19-game loser Omar Daal get the Opening Day start. But the former Diamondbacks lefty was a key in Philadelphia’s fast start.
With the Phillies having lost four in a row, Daal held powerful Colorado to one run in eight innings Tuesday, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
“We needed that win,” catcher Mike Lieberthal said. “He’s our ace right now.”
The victory raised Daal’s record to 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA. Philadelphia is 5-1 in his starts.
Daal credited manager Larry Bowa for entrusting him with the Opening Day start.
“That surprised me, but it made me feel good and gave me confidence,” he said. “I like that pressure. They told me I was going to be the first pitcher and I liked that. . . . I feel like I’m at the best part of my career. I think I can throw all my pitches, at any time, any count.”
About time: Brooks Kieschnick’s grand slam in Colorado’s 6-2 victory on Wednesday was his first big-league hit since Sept. 28, 1997, when he was still with the Cubs.
“It has been awhile,” said Kieschnick, a first-round draft pick in 1993 who spent the last three years in the Tampa Bay, Anaheim and Cincinnati systems. “It’s a great feeling. To be honest, I didn’t even realize the bases were loaded.”
Whispers: While the Twins maintain their lead in the American League Central, the Indians are building steam that could carry them a long way. They had won 14 of their last 18 entering the weekend and are beginning to get cautiously optimistic about Jaret Wright, who retired 17 consecutive hitters in one stretch of a rehab start at Triple A Wednesday night. . . . Texan Colt Griffin recently became the first high school pitcher known to have a fastball clocked at 100 m.p.h. He figures to be a first-round pick in next month’s draft. . . . Third baseman Adrian Beltre is recovering well from his botched appendectomy and could join the Dodgers by the end of the week. His return should provide a boost as L.A. third basemen were hitting .222 entering the weekend. . . . Lots of teams would love to have Phil Nevin, but the Padres aren’t likely to trade him until Sean Burroughs recovers from surgery to repair a cartilage tear in his knee. . . . The Astros are considering a major shakeup of their pitching staff, with Octavio Dotel and Jose Lima the prime candidates for a reduced role. Mundelein’s Kyle Kessel is among the candidates for promotion. The 24-year-old lefty went from the Mets to Houston in the Mike Hampton trade. Roy Oswalt and Tony McKnight head the list of starters at Triple-A New Orleans.
The last word: “It’s getting embarrassing. I’m not a home-run hitter.”–Arizona’s Luis Gonzalez, tied for the major-league lead with 14 homers.
