Since the Rangers moved to Arlington in 1972 we have seen a lot of bad baseball over 42 years mixed with some very good seasons. In the teams first season under the Texas sky the team went 56-106 while drawing only 662k fans to the ballpark. That team was terrible, but had some good players like Frank Howard, Toby Harrah, and Tom Grieve.
In desperation for the 1973 season as the team was going broke, they brought in David Clyde a high school phenom they had just drafted #1 overall and started him in June of 1973. That poor kid was destroyed but the gimmick worked and brought some excitement to the franchise.
Those that have been lifelong Ranger fans can remember those bad days, and we have all lamented the years of bad trades that saw players leave Texas to become stars or key players on other teams. The 2007 season is the one I want to point to. That 2007 team had names most everyone is familiar with on it like Micheal Young, Marlon Byrd, Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz, Sammy Sosa, Mark Texiera, Kenny Lofton, Armando Galarraga, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and David Murphy. The pitchers included Kevin Millwood, Vincente Padilla, Edison Volquez, Robinson Tejeda, Eric Gagne, and Joaqin Benoit, C.J. Wilson, Scott Feldman among others. Some were past their prime, and some were rookies or had not peaked, but the team had a lot of talent but only won 75 games.
What is interesting about that team is how that team provided the nucleus of all the success that eventually saw World Series appearances. Every year after 2007 the team improved, trades were a big part of that, and the development of the young guys mixing with even more veterans the other part.
Even the most optimistic Ranger fan knows this season is a bust, the combination of injuries and traded away youth just kicked this team in the tail. However, the fact is that much like 2007 this team has even more going for it to turn it around quicker. It took until 2010 to turn the team around to a 1st place finish, but if you look at the pitching staff now vs. then there is reason to be optimistic.
The Rangers have an Ace, and they will eventually get Holland back. That is 2-more than the 2007 team had, as a Kevin Millwood would not equate to even a Colby Lewis on this years team. There are trades to be made, and make no mistake changes must come, and we have to find out if the young guys are going to make the adjustments. Michael Choice, Leonys Martin, Rougned Odor, Luis Sardinas, Jerickson Profar have to become more consistent. Tepesch and Nick Martinez need to do the same. The guys down on the farm that we keep hearing about need to grow up too.
Consider that 2007 team and those trades, Edison Volquez, Mark Texiera, Eric Gagne brought a lot of talent to the team, along with depth and those 3-players alone built the foundation of the success from 2010-2013.
Who are the change makers now? Alex Rios, Juoquim Soria, possibly Elvis Andrus, Colby Lewis, Jason Frasor, even Adrian Beltre, and Neal Cotts all could be traded. The prospects from this group could immediately recharge this franchise and reinvent this team. It would hurt to lose these guys, but so did losing Mark Texiera who is probably on his way to Cooperstown, Edison Volquez was going to be our Yu Darvish.
John Daniels did a good job, with no payroll, and a near bankrupt team with no pitching. He has some pitching, more is on the disabled list, some of that he must know he cannot count on to return. Those are hard decisions, but Matt Harrison is probably done, Martin Perez will be out at least 18 months, Feliz may never return to form, who knows what happens with Fielder and his neck, the team has to move on and assume that they are not ever returning and if they do it is a bonus.
Change must happen for us to have hope, and unfortunately some big names and valuable talent must be traded away to do that. Building a team around a Darvish/Holland tandem is a good thing. Daniels wanted to be the big cheese, and head man, well it is his job to make the tough calls and make the trades. It must happen, it will happen, because to sit on all of this will not return the team to championships. The talent level must be improved and to do that you have to grow your own, but that is a topic for another day.