It's never a good sign for a team when its catcher has the game's best pitching line. Jeff Mathis' scoreless inning of mop-up work made him the only Blue Jay hurler to not allow a run in the Rangers' 14-3 drubbing of the Jays. Nelson Cruz swung the hottest Texas bat, going 4-for-5 with a home run and eight RBIs.
Here's some more news from around the majors…
- The Angels have "no real interest" in Nate McLouth, reports MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (Twitter link). McLouth was designated for assignment by the Pirates earlier today.
- Major League Baseball has given approval for three ownership groups to review the Padres' financial records as a step towards possibly buying the team, reports MLB.com's Barry M. Bloom. The groups are respectively headed by Thomas Tull, Peter O'Malley and Steve Cohen. Tony Gwynn is affiliated with Tull's group, while O'Malley and Cohen also recently bid to buy the Dodgers.
- Roy Oswalt needs to show some compromise if he really wants to pitch for the Rangers, writes Evan P. Grant for the Dallas Morning News (subscription required).
- The Rangers should be willing to pay Josh Hamilton $180MM+ to keep him from leaving as a free agent, opines Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "You don't let immense talent walk. Immense talent always stays. Even if you overpay, immense talent, the best talent in baseball, stays — warts, demons and all," Galloway says.
- Juan Carlos Oviedo has received his visa and will arrive at the Marlins' minor league headquarters on Monday, reports Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Oviedo and his representatives have not decided if they will appeal Oviedo's eight-week suspension for playing under a false identity as Leo Nunez.
- The week's minor league transactions are recapped by Matt Eddy of Baseball America.
I don’t think any is going to sign MClouth. I hate to say it but after one good year with the bucco’s he hasn’t been the same. When watching him when he was in there this year and just looked lost, at the plate and in the field.
Agreed.
If it’s gonna take 180 million to sign Josh Hamilton, let him walk. Didn’t Texas learn anything from the A-Rod affair?
Even if the club economy is better, such a deal would totally lock up the maneuverability for the club for the next 10 years.
How short memory some people seems to have.
I am a very big fan of Josh Hamilton, but I have no problem if the Texas Rangers lets him walk.
I think Texas should offer him 17 mil a year and 5 years. That’s team friendly, but Josh Hamilton has a very good place in Arlington, and if he moves he doesn’t know what he’s gonna get.
So Texas has a strong position in this negotiation, should use it. And also not be worried about letting the guy leave.
$85 million? Then just say goodbye. Just because the Rangers won’t pay $180 million doesn’t mean some other won’t either.
seems to me like you have the short term memory..
The A rod affair didnt work out, not for any lack of effort of performance on his part, but because he was on a bad team. Hamilton is on a very good team and is the best player on that team. Its a completely different situation.
and 17 mil for 5 years for hamilton is pretty laughable, thats aj burnette and john lackey money.
In February Galloway didn’t want the Rangers to sign Josh to anything longer than a one-year deal. He’s an entertaining curmudgeon but no one takes him seriously.
I agree with you Chewy. Randy Galloway epitomizes the ‘talking head’ role, and his positions fluctuate so much that his ‘gray matter’ musta changed to gray air, and passed along time ago…
There is no way the Rangers will get him at five years, 85 mil and he is worth more than that.
I think Hamilton is worth that much, but the rangers can’t pay it so they should let him walk
The market is becoming loaded with 12+million dollar players, lower attendance in a lot of cities, and a few big market teams. Where are all these high priced players going to play? Texas would really limit themselves by adding Josh at 18+ million for a long term deal..
TV revenues are also increasing rapidly, and many (not all) teams have really nice TV deals and/or the opportunity to sign into huge TV deals soon. the Rangers signed a really lucrative TV deal in the last few years.
You won’t have more teams with the resources of the Yankees/Red Sox/Phillies/Angels, but you’re seeing more teams entering the 100MM payroll range, which can easily sustain one 18+MM AAV player, even on the back end of the contract.
The only (IMO) good thing Selig has done has been massively increase MLB revenues.
Josh Hamilton may have the talent to warrant such a huge deal, but he just hasn’t been reliable enough. He has a long injury and substance abuse history. Of course, any player can get hurt, but when you’re dealing with a guy who gets injured on a yearly basis, you’re asking for trouble.
Any team that gives him more than 5 years is going to regret it, I think.
One also has to wonder if the luxury tax threshold in 2014 will begin to result in major market correction after this season regarding free agents.
why would the Angels have any interest in McLouth? He’s been terrible for 3 years and they already have an overloaded OF.
Can someone please tell me why Tull would want Tony Gwynn to be affiliated with the Padres ownership for reasons other than using him to buy the team? Gwynn is a great person, but I feel like this is a cheesy move that is completely unnecessary.
Symbolism. Fan support.
Even if he wasn’t a majority owner, he’d be the public face of the ownership and is a San Diego favorite.
Exactly, and as the Padres rank 14th in the league in attendance, aren’t those pretty big things?!? I don’t see how Tony’s influence could hurt the team, only help. You go out of your way to keep the good ones around, and none were better the Tony Gwynn.