the rangers are a big mess, and they gave their gm a one year extension?! i'm thinking the rangers are about to have a fire sale and start over.

 

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Rangers general manager Jon Daniels was given a one-year contract extension Tuesday despite a 26-43 start that left Texas with the worst record in the major leagues.

 

The 29-year-old Daniels, who became the youngest GM in major league history when he replaced John Hart in October 2005, now has a contract through the 2009 season.

 

"I take this as a show of confidence in the management team that is here now," Daniels said. "We know we are judged on wins and losses and the standings every day. That doesn't necessarily define all the good work going on in the organization."

 

Going into Tuesday night's game against the Chicago Cubs, the Rangers and rookie manager Ron Washington were 17 1/2 games behind the AL West-leading Los Angeles Angels -- the largest deficit in any division.

 

"I wanted Jon to know he had my confidence, I wanted to express that confidence to the public and get it out of the way so Jon could move forward with his job to build a baseball team," Rangers owner Tom Hicks said.

 

Daniels' extension comes two weeks after the amateur draft in which the Rangers had six of the first 80 picks and selected a pair of standout high school pitchers in the first round.

 

"It's all about confidence and credibility. I think Jon has been real straight with me about things," Hicks said. "Jon has the ability and the skills and I think he's going to get better every year. ... One thing this organization needs is stability. There are a lot of things Jon started two years ago that are going to pay dividends to the organization."

 

The extension for Daniels doesn't immediately affect Washington, whose two-year contract is through 2008 and includes an option for two more seasons. Hicks referred questions about the manager to Daniels.

 

Daniels said Washington, a coach for Oakland the past 11 seasons, is "an integral part" of the organization. Daniels said any discussions concerning Washington's contract "will probably be after the season."

 

Since taking over, Daniels has put an emphasis on the organization's scouting and development, including broadening the organization's presence in Latin America. Last winter, Daniels conducted the Rangers' first organization-wide meeting of coaches, scouts and administrators in several years.

 

"What we tried to do was win and develop at the same time. ... It's the hardest thing to do in professional sports, try to execute two plans at once," Daniels said. "There are a lot of good things going on that I'm proud of that don't get as much publicity, and for good reason."

 

Texas was 80-82 last season, Daniels' first as GM. The Rangers haven't been to the playoffs since 1999, after the last of their only three AL West titles -- all in a four-year span. The Rangers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs each time by the New York Yankees.

 

This year, the Rangers have been hampered by a starting rotation that has a 6.80 ERA with top two pitchers Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla struggling.

 

Millwood (3-6, 7.62) struck out a season-high 10 Sunday in Cincinnati, but that was his first win in eight starts since April -- a stretch that has included two stints on the disabled list. Padilla, given a new $33.75 million, three-year contract after winning 15 games last season in Texas, is 3-8 with a 6.57 ERA.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-r...p&type=lgns

 

i still wonder what happened to this team...

Two years isn't enough time to evaluate a new GM's performance. I don't think a GM can really do his job well if he's fighting to not be fired in four months.

 

If anything, that the extension was only one year suggests that he's on his way out if things don't improve

the rangers are an idiot franchise.

 

 

couldnt happen to a nicer bunch of folks.

To top it off their owner just came out and said that he knew Juan Gonzalez was taking steroids.

To be fair some of the moves Daniels has made were pretty good. They just haven't panned out. Did anyone expect Wilkerson to be as bad as he has been? What happened to Hank Blalock and Mark Texeira? Brandon McCarthy?

McCarthy was a product of hype created by the White Sox. They caught him with his pants down.

I don't care how bad Wilkerson has been, you don't deal him for Soriano.

 

I have no idea what ahppend to Blalock and Texeria. I don't even know what happend to Catalnato (sp?) and Kinsler this year.

McCarthy was a product of hype created by the White Sox. They caught him with his pants down.

I don't care how bad Wilkerson has been, you don't deal him for Soriano.

 

I have no idea what ahppend to Blalock and Texeria. I don't even know what happend to Catalnato (sp?) and Kinsler this year.

 

 

His stats in the minors aren't hype. His stuff isn't hype. The first time I saw him pitch I didn't even know who he was and I came away surprised at how good his stuff was.

 

Wilkerson was putting up good on-base numbers in MON/WSH. He could have easily put up a 500 SLG% in the Ballpark in Arlington. You can't blame the Rangers for wanting to trade him considering he had one year left on his contract and had made it known he wanted to cash in.

Then they should have got something else for A-Rod or trade Soriano for prospects, not Brad freaking Wilkerson.

 

McCarthy has always given up too many homers.

the rangers make stupid signings and have for a very long time. aka signings that are beyond dumb when you factor in their park firstly.

 

 

thats the root of their problem which is largely a scouting issue, secondly just an issue of being stupid.

Then they should have got something else for A-Rod or trade Soriano for prospects, not Brad freaking Wilkerson.

 

McCarthy has always given up too any homers.

 

1) Daniels was not the GM of the Rangers when A-Rod was traded.

 

2) Brad Wilkerson prior to joining Texas was a nice little ballplayer for the Expos/Nationals. He was going into the traditional 'peak' for ballplayers at a relatively cheap price.

 

3) How many teams were seriously in the race for Soriano? The Yankees definitely. But they didn't have any prospects at the time they were willing to deal. Who else was willing to take such a gamble for a player like Soriano who didn't have eye-popping numbers outside Arlington?

Even if he's fired tomorrow, his predecessor doesn't inherit nearly as bad a situation as was left by Hart.

 

With the Rangers now, you at least have a team that was assembled in good faith on a reasonable budget, not nearly the sh*t show they were several years earlier.

 

I think the fair evaluation will be how he handles the trade deadline dismantling as he should be able to get a king's ransom for Gagne, Blalock, Lofton, Otsuka and perhaps Teixeira.

What exactly is wrong with Teixeira? .302/.405/.554. Its his best season statistically so far.

texiera and blalock are both injured.

rooting for the rangers must be like rooting for the cubs...you know year after year after year...you have zero chance of winning the world series