Die Hard Rangers Fan is looking to add ten more Rangers Bloggers during the 2008 Regular Season.  Die Hard Sports Fan is trying to create the world’s greatest Texas Rangers Blog/Fansite, and we need more creative Rangers Bloggers to join Die Hard Rangers Fan to achieve our objective.  We are looking for one Lead Blogger to ensure that everything is covered and nothing is duplicated and nine Rangers Bloggers.  For a more extensive overview of the position, click on the “Write for Us” link in the “Menu” section of the left sidebar.  If you have any questions then feel free to contact me by clicking on the “Contact Us” link in the “Menu” section of the left sidebar.

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Never hurts to look.

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Ben (Wash, DC): Coco Crisp for Gerald Laird? Does it have legs?

Jim Callis: Seems like Crisp would command more.

I think so, too.

Tom (Austin, TX): The Rangers should trade Michael Young, no? They won’t contend for a couple years and should restock with prospects, right?

Jim Callis: Yep.

Maybe. But the time to do it would not be now, I don’t think. Maybe at the deadline next year, if Young can net an impact return.

Mike (Atlanta): Has your opinion on Elvis Andrus changed with his performance in the AFL?

Jim Callis: Still would like to see him do more in the minors, and AFL stats don’t do a lot for me, but the more people I talk to, the more it seems like I’m light on Andrus.

I’m getting pumped about Andrus. We’re going to talk about this kid in the coming weeks.

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Catcher is certainly a position of strength in the organization. The Rangers have Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 22, and Gerald Laird, 28, at the big league level. Saltalamacchia needs to catch as much as possible in ‘08, which moves Laird into a reserve role.

I’m not in favor of moving Salty to first base. At all. You do not move players out of middle-of-the-diamond positions, until it becomes absolutely necessary to do so. And I’m sorry, and this may offend some Rangers fans, but clearing room for Gerald Laird to play does not qualify as “absolutely necessary” to me. Laird is a reserve for the Rangers in ‘08, unless he gets traded, hence the interest.

In addition to Salty and Laird, the Rangers are very well-stocked at the catcher postion down on the farm. Taylor Teagarden will be ready sometime in ‘08 or spring training ‘09 at the latest. And I believe Teagarden is going to be a better big leaguer than Salty. No, I’m not down on our prized acquisition in the Tex deal. I just believe Teagarden is that good. I have all winter to tell you why I feel this way. Max Ramirez may be ready as early as spring training ‘09. Ramirez is a hitting machine, whose catching skills are improving. And after those two, Cristian Santana has tremendous ability, but he’s at least three years away.

This is a good situation to have. Barring a trade, either Salty or Teagarden, and possibly Ramirez, will have to change positions. Eventually. Not now. Because Salty has more value to the organization - and to the lineup - at catcher right now.

Coco Crisp, 28, hit .268/.330/.382 with Boston last season. He has some speed, and a little pop. He is not, however, the answer to our centerfield situation. But I am all for bringing Crisp on board, especially if Laird is the price. Crisp can be a productive reserve in ‘08, filling in at multiple outfield positions. Gerald Laird has little value to the team anymore. And I can’t see how the market for Laird will net any better return than Crisp. (I’ll be surprised if he nets Crisp, actually.)

And acquiring Coco Crisp, or another outfielder like him, does not in any way limit the pursuit of Torii Hunter and/or Aaron Rowand. Both of those players won Gold Gloves yesterday, by the way. It was a foregone conclusion with Hunter, of course.

Also in Grant’s article, the Rangers announced promising righthander Jason Brigham will undergo Tommy John surgery, which will knock him out for all of 2008.

T.R. Sullivan has a mailbag up on the Rangers site. Mostly ridiculous trade questions, but there are a few good ones in there.

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It’s the day the worst trade in the history of professional sports happened. I challenge anyone out there to find a more ignorant, gut-wrenching deal than the one Tom Hicks, John Hart and the Texas Rangers made on this day.

The Rangers sent Alex Rodriguez and his whopping contract to the New York Yankees for Alfonso Soriano and prospect Joaquin Arias. Soriano is since long gone, and Arias has yet to pan out. Rodriguez, of course, is one of the best hitters of our generation.

You know the rest of the story. This deal wasn’t simply a matter of the three players involved. Far from it. In addition to trading one of the best hitters of our generation, Tom Hicks, somehow, agreed to give the Yankees $67 million in future years, just for the privilege of doing business with them.

I had no problem shipping A-Rod out of town. After three last-place finishes since he arrived, I was all for it. But $67 million on top of it? Extending in some form or fashion all the way out to 2025? I wasn’t that desperate to see him go. And it felt like a punch in the gut when I saw the details of the trade.

(Technically the money went to A-Rod, not the Yankees. But the Rangers were paying a significant part of his contract, and he played for the Yankees. So…)

You know the saying “a fool and his money are easily parted?”

Well, guess what? The fool got a reprieve. Sort of. With A-Rod opting out of his deal with the Yankees, the Rangers are off the hook for the final $21 million, which will go back in Tom Hicks’ pockets.

And some of that $21 million is going to go back into his baseball team.

Oh, outside of a centerfielder, I don’t expect the Rangers to make much of a splash in free agency this offseason. If they do much, it will be via trades, I suspect. But it does impact what they can do in future years, when the current group of young players develop and they are ready to make a push.

And G.M. Jon Daniels did bring in some young talent this year. The Rangers, in one season, transformed their farm system from being ranked by Baseball America 28th in baseball, to what I expect to be a top 10 ranking as we enter spring training.

To be fair, it wasn’t just the trades Daniels made. It was the bevy of first round draft choices in 2007, five of them in all. It was the re-focusing in Latin America two years ago, which is starting to pay dividends. And it was some young players already in the system, like RHP Eric Hurley, C Taylor Teagarden and 2B German Duran, and plenty of others, making positive strides in their development. But the trades sure helped stock the talent level.

I’m not sad at all to see the A-Rod chapter finally closed.

We’ll get into free agency next time.

I don’t have the stomach for it right now.

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To understand why it was imperative the Rangers keep Jaramillo under contract, you just have to look at his results. He took over as hitting coach for Texas in 1995, and in his 13 seasons, Jaramillo has produced 4 A.L. MVP’s, 16 Silver Slugger Awards, 3 HR titles, 2 RBI titles and a batting average title.

A few years ago, Mark Teixeira had this to say: “He doesn’t try to cookie-cut your swing. He learns your swing and adapts his philosophies to your swing. At this point, Rudy knows my swing better than I do. Whenever something is not right, he’s able to adjust me mentally and physically very quickly because everything is so easy to understand.”

This from Michael Young: “Whenever I do something at the plate, I don’t feel so much that I did it, but that ‘we’ did it. He is the best and most loyal coach I’ve ever been around. He has an innate ability to know what makes players go. Having Rudy in my corner was huge. As much as I believed in myself and thought I had confidence, knowing that he believed in me too really helped. He always told me what I could do. Now it’s to the point of being second nature. But he’s still the first guy I see in the clubhouse every day and we go over my approach. We’re so much on the same page. It’s a lot of help.”

That is the type of belief that players have in Jaramillo. He has a long history of success, from superstars like Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez and Jeff Bagwell to reclamation projects like Mickey Tettleton and Lee Stevens. Even players who have been around the league with limited success, have sometimes turned into players under Jaramillo. The Rangers signed Gary Matthews Jr. to a minor league deal in 2004, and two years later Matthews was an all-star and signed a $50-million contract with the Anaheim Angels. David Dellucci, Marlon Byrd, Rod Barajas, there are plenty of examples, but players just generally hit better after spending time with Rudy Jaramillo.

I can’t begin to explain how Jaramillo does what he does, but I know he has five essential keys to help hitters: (1) rhythm, (2) see the ball, (3) separate your hands (4) stay square and (5) shift weight.

“All it is about is timing and improving your odds,” Jaramillo said. “If you put the work in and develop the muscle memory, you don’t have to think up there. You are in a good position to hit whatever is thrown. You work hard and when the game begins, it’s there for you.”

However he does it, he is going to keep doing it for the Texas Rangers. And this news should be a relief to all Rangers fans because the team came very close to losing him last week.

We are currently in the two week period following the World Series, where MLB teams can only negotitate with their own free agents. They can, however, express interest in other teams’ free agents, and the Rangers have already expressed interest in CF’s Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand.

Tomorrow we will get into free agency and how A-Rod leaving the Yankees impacts the Texas Rangers. It does. Believe me it does. And he isn’t coming to Texas.

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