The Texas Rangers are the best team in the AL West. Even though it’s just by half a game and despite the fact that they play in Texas which is not even close to being in the West, that is the case.
Lead by the best home run hitting team in the majors – they have 127 compared to the 126 of the Yankees, who play in an even bigger hitter’s park – Texas has a good enough offense to make-up for their mediocre pitching staff. At least that may be the case for the regular season. Come playoff time, that will most likely change.
Sure Kevin Millwood is doing a pretty good job this season (8-6, 3.34 ERA) because of the help that Nolan Ryan has given him – he’s given up beer completely and started working out on a regular basis – but can you really count on him for a no-brain win in the first game of a series? Not a chance.
Vincente Padilla would be the second option, and you can’t be excited about that either.
It’s possible that surprise Scott Feldman could step up and steal a game, but his track record does not support the 7-2 record and 3.91 ERA he has. Then again, he is just 26, so he could be arriving.
Other than stealing a game because your offense scores eight runs while the opponent only scores seven, is there any reason to believe Texas can win a playoff series, or even a game, if their bats are cold or getting shut down (They are the third worst team in the league in terms of striking out. A by-product of swinging for the fences? I’d say so.)?
No. Your solution?
Enter Roy Halladay into the trading market.
Toronto is a team that needs to look towards the future, prefering a stud arm prospect with a couple of young bats thrown into the offer, which are two needs the Rangers can meet to land themselves an ace.
The first two players that Toronto Blue Jay’s GM J. P. Ricciardi will throw out there will be Neftali Feliz and Derek Holland.
Holland is a 22-year old left-hander that has already made his way to the majors, though it may have been a bit premature. In 17 games, and seven starts, Holland is 3-5 with a 5.97 ERA. In a relatively short stay in Double-A last season, Derek made four starts, going 3-0 with an invisible 0.69 ERA. During that strech, Holland hit 98 mph on the gun, and added some sink to his fastball.
Neftali Feliz is a 21-year old flamethrower who is currently doing work in Triple-A. Feliz sits comfortably at 97mph and can touch 99. In 18 games, Feliz is 4-5 with a 3.56 ERA so far this season. His 61 strikeouts in 68.1 innings, are also impressive.
I suppose Texas would rather see Feliz go because Holland is a lefty, but both show a lot of promise, so that can’t lose by getting an ace and keeping one of them.
So starting off the package with Feliz, Toronto would also ask for a bat or two from the Rangers.
Luckily, the Rangers have a surplus amount of talent in their farm system, the best in the majors. Most of their depth comes at the C/1B position.
Max Ramirez, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, Chris Davis and Justin Smoak are all atractive options, and all of them either play catcher or first place. All of these pieces would be attractive to Toronto because right now they are aging at those two positions – 32-year old Lyle Overbay at first and 33-year old Rod Barajas catching.
Texas would be most likely to deal Ramirez while the Blue Jays would likely ask for Salty Dog (.247/6/29 this season), but again, it wouldn’t make that big of a difference considering who they are getting back.
In the event that Toronto would rather have Smoak or Davis, I am sure the Rangers could compensate. Both have very very bright futures in my opinion, so a Feliz and Smoak/Davis deal could work for both sides. I love Davis and he is my favorite player in the American League, but his strikeout total is beyong awful, 88ks compared to 84 hits (though Mark Reynolds is even worse with 117ks and 82 hits, but at least he has 24 homers and 62 RBIs). Davis wasn’t producing at the level he was last season, batting just .205 with 15 homers and 33 RBIs in 77 games. Last season in 80 second half games, Davis had 17 jacks and 55 RBIs. If Davis were to get his form back from last year, Texas could lock up the division quickly. Problem is, Davis’ problems may be something that takes a while to figure out. Was he just not seeing the ball? Was he behind on studying the opposing pitchers? We may never know what has caused his slump, and with his strikeout numbers, Texas waiting on him to return may be too risky with the Angels breathing down their necks.
On the other hand, the 22-year old Justin Smoak is tearing up Double-A, hitting .328 with six homers and 29 RBIs. Smoak and Davis have good upside with power, but it seems more likely that Smoak will develop the knack to hit for average.
Even with all of the negatives for Davis and positives for Smoak, if I am the Rangers, I’m dealing Smoak first. Would you rather have Ryan Howard or Todd Helton (present day)? Davis has the power to hit 40-50 jacks, while racking up 150+ ks and floating around .250 with his average. Smoak on the other hand, has a ceiling that will rival Todd Helton’s present day numbers of .320/25/100.
Chicks dig the long ball, so keep Davis in Arlington.
To finish off the deal, the Rangers can throw in 25-year old center fielder Craig Gentry. He is basically a solid minor league player, but his current .300 average may be a sign of a contact hitter coming to life – he has 96 hits in 81 games. Gentry also has amazing speed and base running ability, stealing 32 bases while only being caught three times.
At the end of this imaginary negotiation process, we have a Craig Gentry, Neftali Feliz and Jarrod Saltalamachia or Justin Smoak for Roy Halladay offer.
Which side says no to that?
Toronto gets three very nice pieces for a team with little or no chance in a division with the Rays, Red Sox and Yankees, at least in the foreseeable future and Texas gets a much needed ace that can lead the team. I mean really, which match-up does Texas have a better chance of winning: Millwood vs Sabathia or Halladay vs Sabathia. In my opinion, unless the Giants make the World Series, setting up an epic Halladay/Lincecum battle, noone would beat Halladay with that Texas offense behind him.
