The Rangers have, once again, stepped on their dicks in trade talks. As noted here (and here) and just about everywhere else in the sports press, Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell are headed to Boston, and Hank Blalock and John Danks are, for the moment, still property of the failed Texas Rangers.
Before I go off on a rant, a moment for objectivity: We don't know if the Marlins were just using the Rangers to up the ante w/ Boston. It's entirely possible that Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez were the Marlins' target all along. Objectively, I can see taking two top prospects from the Boston system as opposed to a starting position player and top pitching prospect from the Rangers' system. The Red Sox' top pitching prospects are better than anything the Rangers currently have, major league roster included.
Jon Daniels says that he didn't get the opportunity to counter Boston's proposal. In the interest of fairness, I think we have to believe him. Daniels should not be held responsible for the serious credibility problem the Rangers organization has with the ticket-buying public. At least, not yet. And, I'll give him this: He was on the phone w/ Norm Hitzges on The Ticket almost instantly with less double-speak than we're used to out of Arlington.
It's well within the realm of possibility that the Rangers never really had a chance in this sorry tale.
And, continuing to be fair, the sentiment in Red Sox Nation is not 100% euphoria, either. They think they gave up too much. There would be that same sort of sentiment expressed in some quarters here if the trade had gone through, even just for Blalock and Danks.
OK, objectivity time is over. Now, for how I really feel:
How often is a 25-year-old World Series MVP pitcher dangled in front of you? Answer: Never.
The Rangers hemmed and hawed all weekend about giving up a guy who's made a career out of disappearing after the All Star break (Blalock) and a guy who, though highly touted, has yet to dominate at Double A (Danks).
The Marlins had the hammer (sorry, Hank) in this deal. It was incumbent on the trading partner, the Rangers in this case, to put together an attractive-enough package. Blalock and Danks not doing it for you? How about we throw in Adrian Gonzales as well? No? What about Blalock, Danks, and Thomas Diamond? That's two of our three best pitching prospects, neither of whom has dominated above A ball, but still, two of our top three. That's still not doing it? OK, how about Blalock, Danks, and Soriano?
The point is, the Rangers have some chips. For God's sake, Beckett is a ground ball pitcher, which is CRUCIAL in the launching pad the Rangers call home field, and he won the World Series MVP at 21. Against the Yankees. This is your ACE for the next 10 years, assuming you can get him to stay here. Get a couple of other free-agent pitchers (Matt Morris, for example, or even fellow-former-Marlin Burnett) and why wouldn't he stay?
Maybe Danks and Diamond are Hudson and Mulder. But maybe they're Edwin Correa and Bobby Witt (big shout-out to former Rangers pitching prospects who didn't pan out). We don't know. Beckett has a track record, and it's an impressive one. I know, he's had blister problems and has never pitched a ton of innings, but he's 25 years old. It's a risk, but what isn't?
I'm so frustrated I could eat nails.
Because we like to drive ourselves crazy, we'll be watching Beckett's season as a Red Sock closely. Hell, we'll get to see him probably as the opening day starter.
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