Mark Teixeira told ESPN.com’s Buster Olney that new Rangers reliever Mike Gonzalez has improved over the course of the season and now looks like a different pitcher than he did early on. Here’s Olney’s latest, including a note on Gonzalez…
- The Rangers may have obtained Gonzalez at the right time, Olney writes. Great left-handed hitters such as Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano and Adrian Gonzalez will figure prominently into the playoffs and the Rangers’ newest reliever can help limit their impact late in games.
- One MLB official told Olney that Yu Darvish will sign with an MLB team this winter. Earlier this morning, I listed the teams that have been publicly linked to the Japanese right-hander.
- MLB executives are coming to believe that White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf won’t retain both GM Kenny Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen in 2012, according to Olney. Alternatively, Reinsdorf could replace both and hire former White Sox skipper Tony La Russa to manage and promote assistant GM Rick Hahn to run baseball operations.
Blue Jays will probably get Darvish.
Although I hope the Yankees make at least a serious bid.
Awesome. Nobody bats their pitcher 8th in the AL. Can’t wait.
You do realize he started his managing career with the white sox(al) then went to tr A’s ( also al) the the cards. Right?
La Russa needs to retire to be honest. He’s gotten a little crazy of late and doesn’t seem to be making the best baseball decisions.
That came out of nowere
That means he would fit in perfectly with the White Sox. If he would use Adam Dunn as a pinch hitter in the 9th, he’s got the job.
Oh haha wow
As a Jays fan, I am intriged by the idea of getting Darvish but it seems to me (and I dont know the stats) that most ‘top rated pitchers’ out of Japan always flunk in the MLB. Am I wrong? Is this guy really worth the $$ its gonna cost to get him?
Probably. He is younger and better than Dice-K with a different delivery and a very unique background. I’m hoping the Angels try to include Vernon Wells as part of their bid for him.
Just in the Gonzalez part, how do you not list Ortiz, I am a Yankees fan and that is just disrespectful, that guy has done more in the playoffs than the other guys combine… I still hate Big Papi
Who cares what Mark Teixiera thinks about Mike Gonzalez. Since when is his opinion newsworthy.
Why does that bother you? It’s not like he talked trash about him. And it’s not like this is the first time a quote from one ball player about another was put on this site. I don’t know what team you’re a fan of, but it doesn’t sound like you like Teixeira so I assume you don’t like the Yankees.
Irabu, Nomo, Matsuzaka all had ERA in Japan of 3 +, when they came to US their ERA jumped about 1 run per game
Darvish is below 2 and even one more run per game he will still be better then previous players. I think he could end up being the best.
I would be shocked to see BOTH kenny williams and ozzie guillen fired. The more likely scenario would be a manager replacement (this has been brewing for years now) with kenny still running the show. If Adam Dunn had played even remotely better, the White Sox would be winning the AL Central going away. The manager is to blame for keeping him in the lineup and hitting him 4th for WAY WAY to long. I understand that hitters need to hit to get out of slumps but Guillen’s handling of Dunn was a collossal failure and he should be held accountable!
Not Ozzie’s fault, orders came from upstairs. See why he wants out. KW has to go.
the gm supplies the players the MANAGER writes the lie up cards…after the all star break Kenny was very public about telling ozzie to not worry about contracts and play who gives them the best chance to win, ozzie still put Adam and Rios out there every day..thanks for 05 Oz but its time to go
I agree. Kenny does not order Ozzie to bat Rios 4th, and he sure did not call down to the dugout to order Ozzie to have Dunn pinch hit for Lillebridge.
Considering the year that Dunn has had, coupled with the fact that Lillebridge homered earlier in the game and homered off Nathan a couple weeks ago, that may have been the worst managerial move in the last 20 years of White Sox baseball.
oh my god, we agree on something!
2012 Chicago Baseball
Cubs – Gillick -Pres, Hahn- GM, Sandberg -Mgr
Sox – La Russa – Pres, Buddy Bell- GM, Cora – Mgr
Please no. All of your Sox personnel are terrible, and Hahn on the north side? Good luck getting Gillick.
Sounds like Hahn is the favorite at this point.
If anything its like this for the sox…Pres-Kenny GM Hahn Manager-cooper ot TLR
KW and Ozzie: two lunatics too many
Nobody said anything about MVP. The original post lists 3 “great left-handed hitters that will figure prominently in the postseason”. Money Mike just took exception to Ortiz not being in that list as he is a left-handed hitter that should also figure prominently in the postseason.
The article makes no mention of MVP, it’s referencing “great left handed hitters.” Ortiz is actually outOPS’ing Gonzalez right now.
maybe it’s because ortiz is sending left-handed pitching straight to hell this season. his crazy reverse split features a .449 wOBA against lefties and a modest .407 against RHP
i was in the camp this offseason that wanted to see him more or less platooned with someone who could handle left-handed pitching. but that was before adrian gonzalez taught him how to hit
Jeez. Generally I only bother with splits to prove a point and considering the season he’s had, there really haven’t been many points one need make with Ortiz. But now that I’m looking at them, wow. The lefties thing is nuts, but some of the other stuff:
His numbers on the last month are hilarious in that half of his hits, literally down the middle half, have been for extra bases. One might chalk up his .500 BAbip to luck if not for the fact it’s more than likely just inflated because it’s hard to field moon shots. His OPS for the last 28 days is 1.489. 1.489!
Something else that seems to be helping him, I’m really curious if he got laser surgery in the offseason or something: In 494 plate appearances this season, Ortiz has taken it to a full count 84 times (More than any other count) and in that count, he’s OPS’ing 1.135 so not only is he taking tons of pitches, he’s making said PAs count.
I don’t think anyone expected this kind of season out of him.
if you ask him (and a few have), he attributes it primarily to his constant conversations with gonzalez about his at-bats before and after they happen
i’d love to know if adrian had any direct affect on ellsbury, too, as he has also transformed his approach at the dish this season