Questions For Jon Daniels?

Who is the toughest gm to negotiate with?

What has changed in the Rangers' scouting department to lead to such recent success? The Rangers now have a top 5 farm system (at least) after years of struggle. And a real shot for a future.

Also, what are the longterm plans for Salty? 1b? C? A bit of both?

With Laird and Salty on the active roster and Teagarden and Ramirez waiting in the wings, what are you plans for your "catching surplus"?

Are the Rangers close to trading Byrd to the Cubs? If so, which players could be involved? Are we looking at a potential blockbuster with players like Young or just a small trade?

You have made a great farm system, when do you see the team making a playoff run?

Who are the Rangers eyeing in the upcoming draft(if he can divulge)

What kind of chance will Jason Botts be getting, and how much do you think he is part of the future?

Cool thing to do.

Do you see the trade with the Cubs getting Marlon Byrd happening?

I think I've heard you mention with Bob and Dan the deals that haven't worked out; Young and Soriano come to mind. What in your mind caused those deals to fail? Was it inexperience on your part, a scouting issue, or just bad luck, and how did you deal with the massive critical backlash that the local media threw at your feet?

(from a Ranger fan...)

Why don't we hear anything about Nate Gold playing 1B in '08? He's basically done all he can do in the minors and deserves a shot. Do you (the GM and scouts) not like him as a player?
We are definitely in a rebuilding year...why not play more of the young guys to give them experience, instead of signing a bunch of retreads?

(something along those lines would be wonderful to read his answer!)

Why didn't you trade for Adam Dunn of the Reds?? He is a Home Run hitter who is from Texas. Is it that you didn't want him or is it that Ca$htellini has a man crush on him and wont let him go?

As a Reds fan, I would MUCH rather have seen Dunn traded to the Rangers than Hamilton.

/\ the same reasons you would rather see Dunn go, are the same reasons TEX wanted Hamilton instead

Jon for those who dream of someday becoming a major league GM or front office employee, what advice would you give to them to get to that level? What did it take to get to where you are now? ex: college major, education, internships, etc.

Texas recently hired Jim Colborn to lead scouting efforts in the Pacific Rim. What types of players is the team looking for over there? Posted players from Japan, or also high school ages signees from Japan, Australia, other countries?

maximum;

I think so too BUT I wanted to hear it from a REAL General Manager of a Major League team. That way, when the Dunn fans say he is SOOOO great because he hits Home Runs, I can respond with what a REAL GM has said about him.

As an Orioles fan, with your offensive upgrades this offseason, do you invision beating us by 30 runs again this year? 40? Maybe 50...?

Dunn is a very productive hitter and walks and hits a lot of home runs, but he strikes out a lot and sucks on defense and can't run. There. Hamilton is an all around very good player and can play center well, and is cheap for a while, but has a bad drug and injury history.

Since Jason Botts is out of options, where do you see him contributing in the near future? Is there a possibility that he could be traded due to the surplus of 1B and DH's

Who did you look up too that made you want to become GM? Was to become one always a goal of yours?

Elvis Andrus (SS acquired from the Braves in the Teixeira deal) had a great
season in the AFL(.353/.411/.471). What are the Ranger's expectations of him going into Spring Training and does he have a shot with the Rangers?

Did you have any inkling of how the rest of Gagne's season would go back in July, and how seriously did you consider re-signing him this off-season?

I wanted to second this question: "Jon for those who dream of someday becoming a major league GM or front office employee, what advice would you give to them to get to that level? What did it take to get to where you are now? ex: college major, education, internships, etc."

Also, where does David Murphy fit into plans for 2008 and beyond?

What are the Ranger's plans with German Duran? He's a very talented middle infielder who looks like he'll be ready for the majors soon - but currently, he's being blocked by Ian Kinsler, who's (hopefully) not going anywhere any time soon. When he does reach the bigs, what position do you see him at? Will you continue to develop him at 2nd base/shortstop, or are you considering moving him to the OF or 3rd base in the future?

The Rangers are the team to beat in the AL West....

Mr. Daniels,
What do you feel the new additions to the team (hamilton, bradley, jennings, guardado, broussard) will add to your franchise?
How will you use Jason Botts this year?
Is there any truth to the Byrd-Cubs rumors? If so, what would the return bring to the team (perhaps Murton)?
What will happen with the back of the bullpen and starting rotation this year? What will Guardado's and Fukumori's roles be? How do you plan to address the seemingly ever-present lack of consistent starting pitching within the organization both now and going forward?

Mr. Daniels,
Considering that Rangers such as C.J. Wilson regularly blog, and he and Brandon McCarthy post somewhat regularly at lonestarball.com, do you have a "blogging" or commenting policy for players?

Thanks,
rangeressary

Are you done dealing this offseason?

Would you trade for Eric Bedard if you were given an ok by ownership?

Are you happy and content with your pitching rotation and staff right now?

Mr. Daniels,

When evaluating a potential trade for a guy like Josh Hamilton who has non baseball-related concerns that somewhat eclipse his professional track record, what kind of due diligence do MLB front offices do in order to lessen the risk of bringing him into the organization? Does it ever involve team employees doing background-check like investigations with non-baseball people that might know more about the mental/psychological/lifestyle condition of the player in question? Or do front offices just defer largely to on-field performance and baseball-insider evaluations of that player?

You went to Cornell and following your time there you began an internship with the Colorado Rockies and then moved on to the Rangers organization.

For someone like myself wanting to pursue a career in baseball operations(scouting, player development, etc) what would you recommend outside of going to the Winter Meetings? Is scouting school beneficial?

Which prospect acquired in the trades during the 2007 season do you see making the largest impact on the future of the Texas Rangers?

What are your expectations for this upcomming season? Do you think the rangers are ready to contend atleast for a playoff sport?

do you think with the additions to the rangers roster that you will be a better team this year? if so what about playoff contention???

If you could build your franchise around 1 player past or present who would it be?

Can you talk about the process of free agents? who decides the players you target, what types of initial conversations with agents, when are terms discussed etc?

JD,

How much influence did Buck Showalter have in the Chris Young trade?

Thanks

Mr Daniels,

I'm a big fan of the job you and your staff have been doing. Please keep up the good work!

My question is where do you see the pitching staff in two years? Given the age of Millwood, and Padilla is it realistic to think Rangers pitching staff of the future is McCarthy, Gabbard, Hurley, Diamond, Beavan?

Once again thanks the continuous improvements, and best of luck this year

What is your opinion of the book, Moneyball, and its influence on baseball philosophy?

Which of your young pitchers (McCarthy, Hurley, Diamond, etc) do you feel will be heading your rotation in a couple years?

Jon,

What do you think it is, if anything, that separates you and your peers (other baseball executives) from all of us baseball geeks out there? In other words, what don't we understand about your job?

Would you entertain offers for Hank Blalock? What would you want in return?

As a young GM coming into the game, with no Pro-Ball experiance, did you feel nervious taking a Big League GM job, and how were you treated by the other GM's as a whole?

Thanks for taking the time JD, I have a multi-part question regarding defense.

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington has a reputation of being a hitters paradise and the team has struggled at times preventing runs. It seems that most of the young players you have recently acquired have been athletic, up the middle types, is this due to a shift in organizational philosophy? Are there defensive metrics that the team employs, or is traditional scouting the primary tool used to evaluate individual defense? When evaluating individual players and the team as a whole, how much emphasis is placed on defense relative to offense? If you felt that a position switch of a veteran player would increase the team's defensive efficiency would you mandate this move, or is that type of decision left up to the manager?

With the excellent job you've done of rebuilding the farm system through trades and recent drafts, who is the prospect that most excites you? Who do you think is the closest to having an impact on your team?

How rewarding is it for you to have committed to a rebuilding phase within your organization, and thus now have one of the most well stocked organizations for future success? Many major publications have rated the Rangers system as a top 5 system which is a major accomplishment.

What is the one team you hate playing against every year, and why?

or

What one team would you like to see on your interleague schedule, and why?

JD,

One of the hallmarks of your tenure as Rangers GM has been your attempt to make smart moves to keep the Rangers competitive in the short term while maintaining a long term vision for the club. You've had mixed success with the former, while your success at rebuilding the team's farm system has been nothing short of impressive. My question is, how do you balance these two strategies? How do you weather the pressures that come from the fans and the media (and Tom Hicks, presumably) to put a winning product on the field each season, while building toward something truly special a few years down the line?

Keep up the great work!

Jon,

With the rise in player salaries in recent years (SP who eat innings receiving mult-year, ten digit salaries, closers getting 10+ million per year, etc.) we have seen teams more willing to part with proven major league talent who are still under team control or arbitration eligible. Clearly the economics of baseball have changed the value of talent teams need to develop to compete on a sustainable basis. At the winter GM meetings, what type of conversations took place regarding the current slotting system in place for the Rule IV draft and do you anticipate more teams to disregard the suggested slotting rates to build stronger from within?

Thank you.

Mr. Daniels,
I'm confused. The White Sox sign Dotel and immediately DFA'd Aardsma. On the other hand, the Rangers' signing of Jason Jennings seems to have placed 41 players on your 40 man roster. Ranger fans are curious what move will be made next, but I'm just wondering how you're allowed to keep 41 players after the signing was made official?

Thanks for taking the time for fans of the great game,
wes

Do you actually think that Marlon Byrd is enough to get Matt Murton? Sorry, but it'd take more than that. If you think you're going to get Sean Gallagher too for just Byrd you're insane. Throw in Michael Young and it'd be close. Marlon Byrd will bat .263/.301 with 3 HR for the Cubs with no steals. Why should the Cubs be interested in that?

What's going on with Bruce Chen? did he leave baseball and do you think another team will give him a shot?

It would be great if you could get players to submit to interviews on this site... There are lots of player blogs out there.

How about setting up an interview with Mr. 38Pitches?

+1 on the Nelson Cruz question about his role in 2008, given the new OF of Byrd, Bradley, and Hamilton, plus Catalanotto at DH/OF. What does Daniels think Cruz can do? And what more does he need to do, he hit .276/.324/.454/.778 in the second half, when he came back to the team, with 6 HR in 163 AB (27 AB/HR; about 25 HR/season pace), which is not bad in part-time play and about what Cantalanotta hit in 2007.