Washington Quits Rangers

In a surprising move Friday, Texas Rangers' manager Ron Washington stepped down as skipper of the ball club. Washington cited a "personal matter" for his departure after 140 games had been played this season. Texas has had an awful year, posting just 53 wins after five straight 90-win seasons. The team missed much of its manpower this season, including three starting pitchers (Derek Holland, Martin Perez, Matt Harrison) due to injuries.

The first thing that came to mind when I heard the news was that Washington might be having a drug related issue - he admitted to cocaine use in 2009 - but club GM Jon Daniels vehemently denied that was the case.

Washington was hired as Rangers manager prior to the 2007 season after a successful run as an Oakland A's coach. The team finished 75-87, but two years later was 87-75. They won the American League pennant in 2010 and 2011, losing in the World Series to San Francisco and St. Louis. The Rangers were eliminated by Baltimore in the one game wild card playoff in 2012, and failed to make the post-season last year despite a 91-win campaign.

Washington's in-game strategy has always been a curious one, but he was popular with his players and leaves with a 664-611 (.521) lifetime record at the helm. Bench coach Tim Bogar will take over as interim manager for the remainder of the season.

Hot Stove Started to Blaze With Fielder-Kinsler Swap

@MiguelCabrera: Recordando a un buen amigo,todo el exito del Mundo en su Nuevo equipo......recordar es vivir!!! Q momentos inolvidables mi Hermano.. (Remembering a good friend, [wish you] all the success in the world [with your] new team. "To remember is to live ... What unforgettable moments, my brother." (translations courtesy of @jonmorosi)

The St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Angels completed a four player swap on Friday that sends third baseman David Freese to the west coast and outfielder Peter Bourjos to the midwest. It wasn't a huge deal, but it's got the fire roaring pretty well on the MLB Hot Stove.

By comparison the deal is overshadowed by the Prince Fielder - Ian Kinsler blockbuster that took place on Wednesday. The Tigers had signed Fielder to a 9-year, $214MM deal prior to the 2012 season and he responded with a robust .940 OPS, 30 HR, 108 RBI, and 83 runs scored in his first year in Motown.

Fielder, who is listed at 5'11", 275 lbs, saw his production slip considerably this past season. He had career lows in OPS (.819 OPS) and home runs (25) and slumped from May through July. It didn't help that Miguel Cabrera wracked up most of the RBI opportunities before Fielder could get into the batter's box. Things got even worse in the post-season when Fielder was virtually invisible.

It didn't hepl that pitchers could work around Fielder while number five hitter Victor Martinez struggled through the end of June. Though the Tigers play in pitcher friendly Comerica Park, Fielder's numbers were actually better at home than on the road. His new home, the Ballpark at Arlington, is much friendlier to hitters. Fielder has a .965 OPS in 49 at-bats against Rangers' home pitching, with 4 HR and a .592 slugging pct. He'll fill the void in the lineup created when then free agent Josh Hamilton signed with the Angels prior to the 2013 season.

Critics lambasted Fielder for his physique, but he missed just one game in the last four seasons. Perhaps his numbers would be better if they rested the big man's frame a little more often.

Kinsler, who is two years older than the 29-year old Fielder, had spent his entire seven year career with Texas. He signed a five-year contract extension in April, 2012 that will pay him at least $75MM through the 2018 season. (The contract has a $12MM option in 2018 with a $5MM buyout.) The deal made him the highest paid second baseman in baseball, a title he'll no longer hold once Robinson Cano puts some ink on the dotted line.

Kinsler's game is one of speed and power; he's got the ability to hit 25 home runs and steal 25 bases. He'll replace outgoing free agent second baseman Omar Infante in the Detroit lineup. The Tucson, AZ native had an average 2012 campaign - a .749 OPS, 19 home runs and 21 stolen bases in 30 attempts. He also knocked in 72 runs and scored 105 in a powerful Texas lineup.

Though he was an All-Star in '12, Kinsler's numbers fell off drastically from the 2011 season when he finished 11th in the AL MVP voting. Kinsler started like a house afire in the first month of 2013 with a .900+ OPS, 5 HR, 16 RBI, and 3 steals. It was all downhill from there, with a .559 OPS in 15 June games the worst of it.

The second baseman also struggled in the theft department this past season. He had previously stolen bases at a remarkable 83.5% clip, but was thrown out 11 times in 26 stolen bases attempts in 2013. An early season intercostal strain may have been partially to blame for Kinsler's year long struggles.

The trade doesn't just effect the two players involved. Barring another trade or free agent deal, phenom Jurickson Profar will start the season as the Rangers second baseman. The Rangers could also become players for Cano, which would enable them to deal Profar or shortstop Elvis Andrus with Profar than sliding over to replace Andrus.

The deal will enable Detroit to move Cabrera back to first base and may open third base up for top prospect Nick Castellanos. The Tigers may have to do something to cheer up Cabrera, however, after the slugger took to Twitter to show how sad he was about his buddy Fielder being dealt away.

The Texas Rangers Gift to the American League

Adrian Beltre is one of the few Rangers who can still intimidate the opposition

Texas is a big, brash, bold, braggadocios state. Apparently they are benevolent now as well. At least when it comes to the American League wild card race.

The Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays began a series Monday evening in Florida.  The two teams entered play tied for the two wild card positions. However, the two are headed in two different directions. The Rays have won four of five after they took the first game of the series 6-2. Texas has dropped seven straight and 10 of 11.

The Rangers represented the American League in the World Series in 2010 and 2011, and made it to the wild card game last year, where they lost to the Baltimore Orioles. Texas got off to a good start in 2013 and led the AL West by seven games after 41 contests. Since then the Rangers have been a .500 team over their last 108 games (54-54). and entered Monday's play 6.5 games behind the first place Oakland A's.

Texas' poor play has enabled the Yankees, KC Royals, Orioles, and Cleveland Indians to all remain in the hunt for a wild card spot. There have been a number of reasons for the Rangers' demise. Injuries - Matt Harrison was lost for the year after just two starts, endured two back surgeries within nine days of each other in May and recently underwent surgery for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. (Debilitating compression is relieved through removal of a rib and surrounding tissue.) The left-hander won 18 games in 2012.

Colby Lewis missed the entire season after undergoing elbow surgery in July, 2012. Then last month he had a hip resurfacing procedure to avoid complete hip replacement. Neftali Feliz was recently activated after he completed rehab from last season's Tommy John surgery. He's still not at full strength and has to be used cautiously. Swing man Alexi Ogando has been on the disabled list three times with shoulder inflammation and bicep tendinitis. #2 starter Derek Holland is healthy as far as anyone can tell, but has been awful in September with three losses and an ERA above 8.

Inept offense - The lineuptook a big hit when Josh Hamilton left for LA as a free agent after last season's 43 home runs and 128 RBI. He's struggled mightily with the Angels (.734 OPS, 20 HR, 68 RBI), but those numbers may have been different had he stayed in Arlington. Free agent acquisition Lance Berkman has played just 71 games due to injuries.

Nelson Cruz had 27 HR and 76 RBI when he was suspended for the remainder of the season for violation of the league's substance abuse policy.  Though he has 40 stolen bases, Elvis Andrus took a step back offensively (.652 OPS). Ian Kinsler started the year like a house afire - .919 OPS 5 HR 16 RBI in April - but he's hit just .256 since then with 6 HR and has been caught eight times in 19 stolen base attempts.

The Rangers were also counting on rookie Jurickson Profar to make a major contribution, but the top prospect has only produced a slash line .237/.310/.330 and has been thrown out on four of six stolen base attempts.

The combination of all the above have spelled disaster for Texas and it will come as no shock if the Rangers continue to slide right out of a playoff spot and into an early vacation.

Video Killed the Radio Star and TV and Interleague Play Did in the All-Star Game

Everyone in the media continually tries to to figure out why the interest in Major League Baseball’s All-Star game has dwindled to the point that you wonder if it might not exist one day. The reasons why the ratings are at an all-time low are very apparent if you simply look at a few simple facts.

First though, let’s take a look at the ratings since 1967, as amassed by Baseball Almanac. From 1967-1980, the game averaged a 46.7 share of the television audience. The game averaged a 24.5 rating with the 1969 game the only time the share dipped below 20 during the period, and that occurred because the game was rained out the night before and was played the following afternoon.

Ratings began to decline over the next decade, though the share was still decent (36.8 avg) from 1981-1988. The ’81 All-Star game was the first game after a two month player’s strike interrupted the season. After the 1989 game, which had an 18.2 rating and 33 share, the game’s viewership steadily declined. The 2002 season saw the ratings drop below 10% for the first time. Last season saw an all-time lows of 6.8%, a 12 share, and 10.9 million viewers.

If you were a baseball fan in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the All-Star game and the post-season were the only times that you saw players like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, and Jim Palmer unless they were on your team. Fans were also fans of the league their team was in-if you liked the Yankees or Mets, you rooted for the American or National League in the All-Star game and in the World Series.

The All-Star game was a happening that you looked forward to. When else could you see so many future Hall of Fame players, especially at one time. When I was growing up the NL dominated the game, so I was really into, hoping the AL would finally beat the hated NL. In 1971 it finally happened in Detroit when the AL's sluggers pounded the NL pitchers. The most memorable shot being Reggie Jackson's home run blast off the tower atop Tiger Stadium. The AL wouldn't win again until Fred Lynn's grand slam catupulted the junior circuit to a 13-3 win. 

The AL finally exacted vengance with 18 wins over the period from 1988-2009, but something had changed and the excitement was gone.

A Change in the Air

Perhaps the All-Star game television ratings might have leveled off had the player’s strike not occurred in August, 1994. The regular season was wiped out and the entire post-season was canceled in one fell swoop by MLB commissioner Bud Selig.  Baseball didn’t start up again until April 2, 1995. Some fans would never return to the ball park, others slowly made their way back. (The last game I attended before the strike was August 9, 1994 and I did not return to the ball park until July 30, 1998.) Either way the game was badly damaged.

From that moment on, viewership (slightly) increased  from one year to the next just four times to date. One rise (13%) occurred in 1998 when everyone was caught up in the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa steroid fueled chase of Roger Maris’ single season home run record.  The next increase came in 2001 (10%) when Barry Bonds was in a steroid fueled chase of McGwire’s 1998 home run record.

The third rise in the ratings was in the 2006 game in Pittsburgh (15%), presumably because of the ceremony that was held mid-game in memory of Roberto Clemente. The final increase in ratings came in 2008 when the Yankees held their final All-Star game in the old Yankee Stadium. Ratings (11%) had to be helped by Josh Hamilton’s monsterous home run derby performance the night before.

Television’s Role in Dimishing the All-Star Game's Draw

With no cable TV and teams not broadcasting all 162 regular season games, any time you could watch a game it felt like you won a prize. There was a weekly nationally televised game, but that was it.  Then cable television began to appear and the landscape of televised baseball changed forever.

More regular season out of market games started to be televised in the late 1970’s and then ESPN came into existence in 1979 with highlights and replays of baseball games like you had never seen before. The Connecticut based station started televising baseball games in 1990, so you no longer had to wait for the one national game of the week to be shown. 

Over the next two decades, the MLB Network would be launched, other cable outlets (e.g. TBS) began to broadcast games, you could add the MLB Extra Innings package to your cable or dish plan, and the official MLB site provided video and audio broadcasts.

Baseball games can be found all around the dial or the internet now, which means you can watch Miguel Cabrera or Mike Trout just about any time you want.

The Death Blow

One of the ideas Selig came up with to increase fan interest was the implementation of interleague play. While most fans seem to love it, or least like it, it was a tremendous blow to the All-Star game. What started out quietly in 1997 with opponents playing 15-18 games against the other league is now an every day occurrence in the Major Leagues. Why bother watching an All-Star game when you can see players from both leagues on any day or night on a number of different television stations.

Selig impacted the game again after the AL and NL played to a 7-7 tie in 2002.  To make the game more important, he decreed that home field advantage for the World Series would be determined by the league that won the All-Star game. Fans have laughed at the notion ever since. Selig basically kicked a man when he was already down.

Until someone figures out another way to bring excitement to the game, don't look for the ratings to be anything spectacular in the future. That is if the game still exists.

UPDATE - The 2013 game got an 8.1 national rating, which means there was increase from the prior year for just the fifth time since 1998. It was about a 20% boost from last year's game primarily due to Mariano Rivera and it being the first game at the Mets home field since 1964.

All-Star Game Television Ratings Television Analysis & Ratings Breakdown
Year	Network	Rating	Share	Households	Viewers
1967	NBC	25.6	50	14,050,000	Not Available
1968	NBC	25.8	49	14,450,000	Not Available
1969	NBC	15.1	42	8,610,000	Not Available
1970	NBC	28.5	54	16,670,000	Not Available
1971	NBC	27.0	50	16,230,000	Not Available
1972	NBC	22.9	43	14,220,000	26,300,000
1973	NBC	23.8	45	15,420,000	27,600,000
1974	NBC	23.4	44	15,490,000	Not Available
1975	NBC	21.5	41	14,730,000	28,170,000
1976	ABC	27.1	53	18,680,000	36,330,000
1977	NBC	24.5	45	17,440,000	31,000,000
1978	ABC	26.1	47	19,030,000	35,529,000
1979	NBC	24.4	45	18,180,000	31,980,000
1980	ABC	26.8	46	20,450,000	36,270,000
1981	NBC	20.1	36	15,640,000	Not Available
1982	ABC	25.0	44	20,380,000	34,120,000
1983	NBC	21.5	39	17,910,000	27,190,000
1984	ABC	20.1	35	16,840,000	28,500,000
1985	NBC	20.5	36	17,400,000	28,210,000
1986	ABC	20.3	35	17,440,000	28,375,000
1987	NBC	18.2	37	15,910,000	24,295,000
1988	ABC	20.4	33	18,070,000	29,526,000
1989	NBC	18.2	33	16,450,000	25,840,000
1990	CBS	16.2	33	14,940,000	24,365,000
1991	CBS	17.4	32	16,200,000	24,670,000
1992	CBS	14.9	27	13,720,000	21,981,000
1993	CBS	15.6	28	14,550,000	22,306,000
1994	NBC	15.7	28	14,790,000	22,015,000
1995	ABC	13.9	25	13,260,000	20,163,000
1996	NBC	13.2	23	12,690,000	18,479,000
1997	FOX	11.8	21	11,420,000	16,723,000
1998	NBC	13.3	25	13,026,000	18,970,000
1999	FOX	12.0	22	11,890,000	17,640,000
2000	NBC	10.1	18	10,167,000	14,714,000
2001	FOX	11.0	19	11,198,000	16,029,000
2002	FOX	9.5	17	10,046,000	14,653,000
2003	FOX	9.5	17	10,156,000	13,810,000
2004	FOX	8.8	15	9,573,000	13,995,000
2005	FOX	8.1	14	8,884,000	12,330,000
2006	FOX	9.3	16	10,301,000	14,424,000
2007	FOX	8.4	15	9,343,000	12,530,000
2008	FOX	9.3	16	10,441,000	14,540,000
2009	FOX	8.9	15	10,754,230	14,610,000
2010	FOX	7.5	13	8,692,500	12,100,000
2011	FOX	6.9	12	7,712,000	11,000,000
2012	FOX	6.8	12	6,743,724	10,900,000

Yankees Fans Need to Make Up Their Minds and Stop Whining: A Semi-Rant

We know how you feel El Capitan

The year 2008 was very memorable in the history of the New York Yankees. The team was playing its last season on the site of the original and renovated versions of Yankee Stadium. There was a new manager, Joe Girardi, for the first time since 1996. Most of all, the team stunk by the Yankees and George Steinbrenner's standards - 89-73, 3rd place in the AL East, eight games behind the division winning Tampa Bay Rays. The Boston Red Sox took the AL wild card, six games ahead of the Yankees. The fans were livid.

The battle cry was shouted from the rooftops around the metropolitan area. Sign great players!!! Bring in All-Stars!!! We have to win now!!! The Yankees did just that giving deals to CC Sabathia (7 years, $161MM), Mark Teixeira (8 years, $180MM), and A.J. Burnett (5 years, $82.5MM). They traded for Nick Swisher (originally to play 1st base before Teixeira's signing), who became integral after Xavier Nady was lost early in the season. And of course there was still Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada.

The Yankees immediately won their first World Series in nine years and Yankees fans were figuratively fat and happy heading into the winter. Then something happened over the next four years. Players got older, some retired, some skills deteriorated, some didn't heal as quickly as they once did. The 2013 version of the Yankees is the fan base's nightmare. An old, injury riddled team that is currently filled with players who don't have the bat speed or the fastball they once did, and youngsters who aren't ready to be playing regularly in the Major Leagues.

So what's being shouted out now? Why can't we be more like the Pittsburgh Pirates? Say What? You know how the Pittsburgh Pirates got the way they did? By losing and losing some more and losing even more. It's not hard to build a good squad when you are perennially in the bottom of the division and have draft picks in the first five picks every year. Throw in a couple of key free agents (e.g. Russell Martin) and have a bona fide home grown star (Andrew McCutchen) and suddenly life is grand.

Then when the Pirates stars are ready for big money, they'll get dispatched to other teams around the league. Just the same way the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals do. Do you think for one nanosecond, any Yankees fan is going to put up with the seasons it would take to build a team of young talent like that? Not one, not a single one!

89 wins in 2008 and the first non-playoff team in 13 years proved that. Not a team that barely won 70 games, but a team that almost won 90 drove people crazy. It's hard to argue with the Yankees haters when they say the fans are spoiled, because, for the most part, it's true. The younger fans didn't go through the rotten years when there were no championships like the late 1960s and early 1970s, and most of the 1980's and the early 1990s.

You want to talk about bad teams? You did't have to watch guys like Jerry Kenny, Dooley Womack, and Horace Clarke. (Ever see a guy get over 680 at-bats with an OPS less than .600?) Please don't let me tell you about the 1982 "speed team".  The 1996-2000 squads gave many of today's fans a sense of entitlement. The championship is ours or the complete season is a waste. Really? And you claim to love baseball?

Many fans were ready to riot after the team lost in the 2012 playoffs...the American League Championship Series no less. Four wins from reaching the World Series, but the reaction sounded as though the Yankees finished in last place in the AL East.

Of course, the fans are right about some things, it just takes losing to set them straight. The Yankees front office did this to themselves. We all know that. They knew there were rumors about A-Rod's steroid use, but they went ahead and bid against themselves to re-sign him to a ridiculous 10-year, $275MM deal when he opted out of his current contract after the 2008 season. (Just like they knew Giambi in all likelihood was a user before they signed him to a large deal prior to the 2002 season.)

CC Sabathia's a much better person on and off the field than A-Rod could ever hope to be, but re-working his deal through 2017 wasn't a great idea. No, the Yankees didn't want to lose him when he opted out of his deal after the 2011 season, but perhaps they should have let the free agent market help decide the length and amount of the deal.  The big man has a lot of innings and pitches in his left arm and last year his elbow complained loudly about it. Sabathia has looked ordinary and has lost velocity this season. He's guaranteed $71MM over the next three seasons and can get $25MM in the final year of the deal if he stays healthy.

Teixeira has gotten beat up, pull happy, and still has three years and $67.5MM on his contract. Now, you can't count on bad things happening, but when players are on the other side of 30-years of age, things happen more often. Unfortunately, a lot of them occurred this year. But fans can't bash the same contracts they applauded before the last two seasons. (Many of these same fans wanted the Yankees to sign Josh Hamilton this past off-season - 28 RBI and a .665 OPS in 77 games so far for the Angels.)

The worst part about all those contracts combined with Hal Steinbrenner's quest to get the salary to $189MM? The Yankees are not going to be able to sign Robinson Cano. They might even be wise to deal him at this year's trade deadline. Rumor has it that Cano wants a 10 year deal. If the Yankees are dumb enough to give it to him (or for that matter if anyone is) you can expect more 2013's in the future. I love Cano, he's one of my favorite players to watch bat and field, but the insanity has to stop somewhere.

Fans are going to have to learn to live with whatever happens this year. There are no teams like the LA Dodgers to take all the bad contracts away like those idiots did last year with the Red Sox. (It's laughable that people give Boston credit for that move.) Not only aren't there teams like that, but somehow Bud Selig would find a way to not allow the Yankees to salary dump. (He shouldn't allow it either, just like he shouldn't have allowed Florida and Boston to do so last year.)

Most of all, all of us want a competitive, interesting team to watch. If the Yankees front office doesn't wise up, and I question if the current group can, attendance will continue to dwindle, ratings will continue to drop, and the Yankees will not make the playoffs, let alone win a championship, for a very long time.

Then you will really hear some whining.

Swisher, Soriano Among the Bigger Names Left in FA Market

When Nick Swisher and Rafael Soriano turned down one year, $13.3MM qualifying offers from the Yankees, it was obvious there time in New York was officially over. The two are among the handful of valuable players that are still available via the free agent market.

It's no surprise that Swisher had not signed up until now given the market had to be set first by Josh Hamilton, the biggest prize among every day players. In the case of Soriano, I suspect  agent Scott Boras have overvalued the market. (Boras blames players of a lesser value - he specifically mentioned Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino - for getting too much money and throwing things off. Wait, what? Boras said someone is overpaid?!)

It came as no surprise when Soriano opted out of the three year, $35MM deal he had with the Yankees with one year remaining. Soriano took advantage of closer Mariano Rivera's misfortune in 2012 to save 42 games in 46 attempts. With Jose Valverde being the only other closer on the market who has had recent success (2011, he stunk this past season), one would think there would be plenty of teams willing to sign Soriano to a three or four year big money deal. Boras pushed the Tigers hard to replace Valverde with Soriano but has been rebuffed in his attempts thus far.

Swisher put together a steady regular season resume with the Yankees from 2009 - 2012.  Swisher's .850 OPS was accompanied by an average of 26 HR and 83 RBI. He also walked more than 90 times in a season in half of his career in the Bronx.

As steady as he was during the regular season, Swisher was just as unreliable during the post-season. His 5-30 (.167) showing in two playoff series this past Fall left him with a career split of .169/.283/.305 in 181 post-season plate appearances.

The Cleveland Indians have been the team most mentioned when Swisher's names comes up. The switch-hitting outfielder is said to be looking for a four year deal in his first entree into the free agent extravaganza. He earned $10.25MM last season and recently turned 32-years old.

Other outfielders still available include Michael Bourn, Scott Hairston, and Cody Ross. The Yankees have reportedly shown some interest in the soon-to-be 30-year old Bourn. The Yankees are hopeful they'll get a new two-year deal done soon with Ichiro Suzuki, who with Curtis Granderson, and Brett Gardner, would split outfield time with a right-handed bat.

The left-handed hitting Bourn would not fit that bill and is a similar type of player to Gardner, who made about a third of Bourn's salary last year. If the Yankees were to deal Curtis Granderson, it would relieve them of $15MM in salary, but leave a substantial power hole in the lineup. Considering he becomes a free agent after the 2013 season, it makes no sense to deal Granderson, especially if he can recapture his 2011 swing.

Hairston would be a decent fit for the Yankees if he can approach the .803 OPS he compiled with the Mets last season. Hairston has battled injuries often in his career, but played in 134 games last season and hit 20 home runs for the first time.

This is the second consecutive season as a free agent for Ross, who signed a one year deal with Boston for just $3MM prior to the 2012 season. It was less than half the amount he had earned with the San Francisco Giants the year before. The righty hitting outfielder hit 22 HR and drove in 81 runs for the Red Sox and added an .807 OPS. But there was a wide chasm between his Fenway Park numbers and those he put together on the road. (.921 OPS at home; .684 on the road) The Phillies are said to be interested in bringing Ross back to the National League, where he had played the previous seven years.

First baseman Adam LaRoche appears set to cash in on his 2012 season in which he hit a career high 33 home runs for the Washington Nationals and matched his career high of 100 RBI. The Nats would like to retain LaRoche's services, but so far the two sides have not been able to agree on the length and amount of a contract.

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski will be 36-years old before the calendar changes to 2013, but one of the game's lightning rods is still in demand. It's largely due Pierzynski's 27 HR, 77 RBI campaign last season and his ability to handle a pitching staff. Yankees fans would love to see Pierzysnki brought in with a two-year deal to bolster the current group of catchers as well as to mentor guys like Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez.