do you think the Texas Rangers will make it in the Play-offs in the next 5 years let alone get to the WS?

Answer 1

You get a star for this one, my friend.

The only times we've made the playoffs have been under Johnny Oates. The team has potential. I hope the management doesn't make any more bad decisions. What this team needs is consistancy. They pitching staff has hope. IF we can keep them and help them improve AND if the offense stays healthy, then yes, we will make the playoffs in the next 5 years. Can't be so hopeful for the World Series. Not yet.

Answer 2

First things first. The Rangers have to win a playoff game. Remember 1999? Swept by the Yankees, things in Arilington have not been the same since. Even with Sosa, they still might not make it this year. It will take them at least 2 years to get back to post season and at least 3 to win the whole enchilada. I don't think bringing Toby Harrah out of retirement will help them, either.

Answer 3

I really think we will get to the playoffs in 5 years. We just need everyone to stay healthy. They need to work on their starting pitching Marlon Byrd is one of our leaders this year. I can't tell you how many games he has saved or home many rallies he has started by a big swing of the bat.

Our bullpen has been better this season. Aki, Gagne & CJ Wilson have been pitching great. CJ has gotten himself in trouble a few games but other then that, he's bounced back and pitched well. Benoit has been great at getting us out of jams.

The bullpen & hot hitters aren't going to carry the whole team. Kam Loe & Milwood have been strong. Even Wright pitched a hell of a game the other night! I was very impressed with him. They need better starting pitching and that has never been one of our strong points for as long as I can remember.

I haven't thought of us going to the WS just yet- getting up to 500, not finishing last, & for a chance to go post season is what is on the agenda.

Great question! I'm happy to find more & more Rangers fans! =]

Answer 4

Not if they keep mismanaging their team the way they have the last 5 (or 10 or 15) years.

Probably get A-Rods contract off their hands after this year. They need to start spending it more wisely to help them build a team. They've added pieces in the past, but either don't maintain them, or ignore other aspects of the game. Don't know if it's GM or owner, or both, but something has to change.

Answer 5

In a league that only lets 8 teams make the playoffs, I'd have to say your odds are slim to none. But ask any Tiger fan. You never know what will happen.

Answer 6

Get to the World Series? No.

Make it to the playoffs? Maybe.

They've been so bad for so long though. I hope they make it to the playoffs in the near future... but i'll cheer for them either way.

Answer 7

maybe the playoffs but i dont think they will get to a world series for a long time

Answer 8

no the Rangers are never good.

Answer 9

Yes, I think it's possible. Very possible. I'm a Detroit Tigers fan and have been all my life. So, I think I can offer a unique perspective as to what you're going through.

The Tigers stunk in the '90s. Until last year, the Tigers were under .500 for 12 straight years and compiled the worst record in baseball during that time, finishing last in 1996, 2002, and 2003. (I think other years too during that span but I'm not sure). In 2003, they were one game away from tying the 1962 Mets for the worst record in baseball history, losing 119 games. They only avoided it by winning the last five of six games. They were terrible for years and years. I also remember growing up in the '70s and how bad they were in the mid to late '70s. They won in '84 but the seeds for their successful '80s run was due to their good drafting and player development done in the mid '70s to the early '80s. People forget but the Tigers had the best record in all of baseball during the '80s and its seeds were planted by the drafts of '77, '78, '79, and '80. Lance Parrish, Alan Trammell, Jack Morris, Dan Petry, Lou Whitaker, and Kirk Gibson were all drafted and developed internally and they were all key components of that '84 championship year. (They finished one game out in 1983 behind the Brewers.)

The key is upper management, namely the GM. He must have a good organizational plan that incorporates good drafting, strategic free agency acquisition, and good player development. Every team that has sustained success has had the same things in common: they drafted well, they developed those players well and built the organization from within. To draft well and develop players within your farm system takes time but is the wise choice. To do that, you need savvy scouts and good instructors in your system. Dave Dombrowski is the Tigers' GM. He replaced Randy Smith, a terrible GM who made numerous abominable decisions. Smith didn't draft well and signed players past their prime to bad contracts that saddled the Tigers for years. Texas needs to follow the same process the Tigers followed.

When Dombrowski came on board in Nov. 2001, he analyzed the organization from top to bottom. Player development was abysmal with a dearth of prospects in the system, which are needed to constantly refresh the 40-man and 25-man roster. The Tigers also had a consecutive string of woeful number one draft picks that went nowhere. From 1991 to 2001, they only had I think one guy play fairly well who made the majors, Jeff Weaver? Bad scouting was the watchword of the Smith administration. When the Tigers started the 2002 season 0-6, Dombrowski fired the GM Smith and the on-field manager Phil Garner, naming Luis Pujols as the interim manager. (He was simply a stopgap measure.) Dombrowski then assumed the GM responsibilities.

He then hired a guy named David Chadd as the Director of Scouting. Chadd had worked for the Red Sox and is real savvy at evaluating talent. He then re-organized the player development business unit and the result has been the following. For two years now, the Tigers have had their Triple-A affiliate Toledo win consecutive International League crowns. Their lowest Class A affiliate, W. Michigan, won a championship last year too.

They are now having a fresh infusion of talent coming in to refresh the roster and to be used as trade bait for filling holes on the 25-man roster. Example: They traded three pitchers to the Yankees for Gary Sheffield. Sheffield has been just what the doctor ordered and has hit like gangbusters. Yes, they traded away a good prospect in Humberto Sanchez, but it was worth it as they could afford to. Why? Because their system is now stockpiled with fresh young talent and good arms. They've also now drafted well.

A couple of players on their team have come from the farm system, Joel Zumaya, Justin Verlander, Curtis Granderson. Their amateur scouting and professional player scouting is drammatically better. They've signed a lot of players that others gave up on as they saw something there like Craig Monroe (a Rangers reject who hit 28 homers last year for the Tigers) and Marcus Thames. He's also traded smartly too getting Carlos Guillen for a song.

And, as the owner sanctioned the signing of expensive free agents, he's signed superb players like Pudge Rodriguez (I'm sure you've heard of him), Magglio Ordonez, Kenny Rogers, and Sean Casey. It's a multi-pronged approach but it's worked well. The missing piece before the 2006 season started was signing Jim Leyland as the manager.

Leyland is a great manager that gets th most out of his players. That is key. Once the players are in place, you need good on-field coaching and managing. The Tigers' staff has two former managers on it in addition to Leyland's years of experience.

There you have it:
*Good scouting on the amateur and professional level
*Get a good director of scouting like David Chadd so you can...
*Draft well
*Sign strategic free agents if the budget will allow
*Trade for missing pieces using the surplus you have in your farm system. This, of course, leads back to good scouting.
*Leverage your trades. Trade one very good player or even a superstar for many players thus filling many holes. Example: Dombrowski traded Jeff Weaver, who was then many thought on the cusp of many great seasons as a pitcher, to the Yankees and A's in a three-player swap. The Yankees got Weaver of whom GM Brian Cashman introduced to George Steinbrenner as "our next great superstar" -- well, that didn't turn out, did it? The A's got Ted Lilly, a serviceable left-hander and the Tigers got Carlos Pena, a good first baseman who is now flourishing with Tampa Bay (and is a Rangers, Tigers, Red Sox, and Yankees castoff), Franklyn German a big reliever and Jeremy Bonderman. Bonderman has twice been on the cusp of being an All-Star and is a very good pitcher who is getting better and better. He's now 10-2 I believe.

Sorry to be so long. Yes, the Rangers can turn it around. They should build from the ground up with good scouting and player development. Yes, the Tigers signed key free agents -- the biggest coup in getting Pudge Rodriguez after his championship season of 2003. It was a great move allowing the team to put a face on the team and to gain some credibility. The tipping point was reached in 2006 but only because of the groundwork laid in 2002 and 2003 and now the Tigers will be good for a couple of years at least.

If you look at the best teams of the past 10 years, or even 15 years, they did it all the same way, e.g., the A's, the Twins, the Yankees (yes, they sign a lot of free agents but people forget Jeter, Posada, Williams, and Rivera were all drafted and developed by the team), the Red Sox, and the Braves. I could tell you more about other teams on how they've done it like the A's (I Iive in the Bay Area) who have a great GM in Billy Bean. Bean finds good talent and doesn't spend a lot of money. Plus, he drafts well.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Forget the trade rumors of Gagne and Texira (not sure how to spell his last name). Look instead at what the front office is doing. Who is in place in scouting and development. Oftentimes those moves are ignored but are absolutely key to producing a winner. The day the Tigers brought on board Dombrowski and David Chadd was the day the Tigers fortunes began to change. It can be the same for the Rangers too.

Best,
GR
http://www.homeloanlendinginfo.com

Answer 10

Possible, but not likely.