Rangers to sign Joe Saunders

[WallyWorld]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/03/04/rangers-expected-to-sign-joe-saunders/

 

 

[jshep]

 

Joel Sherman ‏@Joelsherman1

Can confirm @Evan_P_Grant #Rangers have signed Joe Saunders. Told it is a non-guaranteed MLB deal.

 

NICE.

[AngelsFaninGA]

Cool, another guy with a chip on his shoulder that will dominate us and suck against everyone else. 

[WallyWorld]

Jerry Dipoto is ALL IN on the Santiago/Richards/Skaggs trio and he doesn't care what anybody thinks.

[jshep]

From now on, I'm going to assume the Angels just keep forgetting to pay their phone bill and can't call the agents for any FA pitchers.

 

That seems preferable to them being absolute morons and comfortable with what they have now.

[jshep]

Jerry Dipoto is ALL IN on the Santiago/Richards/Skaggs trio and he doesn't care what anybody thinks.

 

Pretty incredible how stubborn that man is. One of these years his paper thin pitching staffs won't blow up, right?

Edited March 4, 2014 by jshep

[WallyWorld]

Pretty incredible how stubborn that man is. One of these years his paper thin pitching staffs won't blow up, right?

 

It's bizarre.  Let's say - and god I hope he didn't- he thought Mulder might actually be able to contribute this year as depth.  After his injury, wouldn't he look for more guys to take a flier on?  Like a veteran lefty with ties to the organization who would accept a non-guaranteed MLB deal??? 

[KingJustinian]

Too lazy to find a source, but when SportsCenter toured the Angels spring training camp they said that Dipoto has been looking at pitching options and will do so into the season in case a move needs to be made. Just because they haven't signed someone doesn't mean they are oblivious to the potential issue.

[jshep]

Yeahhh, I really don't get it.

 

It did seem like he bought into the Mulder hype HARD, which is pretty absurd for a guy whose job is reliant on this roster succeeding.

 

I can't even fathom an explanation for what has(or really, hasn't) happened since Mulder's injury though.

[mtangelsfan]

Saunders was awful last season.  I'm not crying about missing out on him. 

[jshep]

Well I don't think anyone is crying about missing out on Saunders based on Joe Saunders being awesome.

 

Just the fact that Dipoto has completely neglected to build up anything resembling pitching depth, even when there are options signing for like half of what we're gladly paying 1 inning relievers, or for the same type of contract we happily handed Mark freaking Mulder.

 

And the fact that it's the exact same flaw every roster he's built as GM of the Angels has had. He just doesn't seem to get it.

Edited March 4, 2014 by jshep

[WallyWorld]

Saunders was awful last season.  I'm not crying about missing out on him. 

 

I'm not crying about missing out on any specific pitcher who signed in the last month or so. but given the Angels' situation, to not have signed ANY of them seems incredibly risky and/or foolish. 

[mtangelsfan]

I agree about the staff, but I am going to look at each one of these signings on their own.  I'm not going to diss Dipoto because he didn't sign Joe Saunders because Joe Saunders sucks.

 

I'll diss Dipoto because he clearly didn't have a solid plan to provide the kind of depth the pitching staff needed this season.  He may luck out and have everyone stay healthy for the most part but that will just be luck.

[WallyWorld]

Too lazy to find a source, but when SportsCenter toured the Angels spring training camp they said that Dipoto has been looking at pitching options and will do so into the season in case a move needs to be made. Just because they haven't signed someone doesn't mean they are oblivious to the potential issue.

 

my response to that is, when you look at Boston - who signed Capuano last month - and Texas - who signed Saunders today, both those teams already had more SP depth than the Angels do now, and both teams have more trade assets to acquire SP in the future.  They both saw fit to add a SP that the Angels could have easily afforded, and would have filled a bigger need on the Angels.  It just makes you wonder what the hell Dipoto is thinking.

[Guest]

It's disconcerting to see other teams in this division acquire depth while the Angels dilly dally with Blanton and Mark Mulder's corpse.

Edited March 4, 2014 by failos

[jshep]

It's disconcerting to see other teams in this division acquire depth while the Angels dilly dally with Blanton and Mark Mulder's corpse.

 

Well at least there is still plenty left out there:

 

Odrisamer Despaigne (27)

Jon Garland (34)

Jair Jurrjens (28)

Jeff Karstens (31)

Jason Marquis (35)

Jeff Niemann (31)

Clayton Richard (30)

Ervin Santana (31)

Barry Zito (36)

 

I mean one of those guys will cost a bunch of money and a draft pick, 2 aren't pitching in 2014, and 2 are hurt!

 

But look, we've got our choice of Jeff Karstens(who I think might be healthy, maybe, possibly), Clayton Richard, whatever is left of Jair Jurrjens, and Odrisamer Despaigne!

Edited March 4, 2014 by jshep

[tdawg87]

could have been a decent signing. Won't get my panties in a bunch over it.

[Hollyw00d]

it really seems like they're trying to save money.  I think the 250 and 150 million pound anchors are affecting the ship a little more than arte originally thought they would

 

the FO and arte probably deep down figure this season will be a crapshoot anyway.  Why spend more money on a team that is basically a dice roll to make the playoffs.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Hollyw00d

[WallyWorld]

could have been a decent signing. Won't get my panties in a bunch over it.

 

that's basically been my reaction to all the SP signings by other teams in the last month.  But at a certain point, when your team desperately needs more SP depth and you watch every marginal halfway could-be decent SP sign with other teams, you gotta bunch them panties, son.

[bloodbrother]

Missing on Capuano was worse. Boston with a smart signing while Halos sit on their hands

 

I like the upside of this staff, but 3/5 of the rotation are young arms who have never pitched over 160 innings. Can we expect them to hold up and not tire down the stretch? What if the team makes the playoffs? More innings for these young arms that aren't accustomed to it.I worry about them and their stuff fading down the stretch. Even with all that said, you know a starter or 2 is going to miss time....you just don't go an entire year with the same 5 guys(more often than not). So we'll be looking at Shoemaker/Blanton definitely logging some big innings

[Brent Maguire]

Man, it's bizarre that Dipoto hasn't even signed one of these guys in the past few weeks. Like others have said, I'm not going to cry over not getting Saunders but at some point they need to address the depth. 

 

They must really like the young guys and Matt Shoemaker as the 6th starter. 

[jshep]

Missing on Capuano was worse. Boston with a smart signing while Halos sit on their hands

 

I like the upside of this staff, but 3/5 of the rotation are young arms who have never pitched over 160 innings. Can we expect them to hold up and not tire down the stretch? What if the team makes the playoffs? More innings for these young arms that aren't accustomed to it.I worry about them and their stuff fading down the stretch. Even with all that said, you know a starter or 2 is going to miss time....you just don't go an entire year with the same 5 guys(more often than not). So we'll be looking at Shoemaker/Blanton definitely logging some big innings

 

Welp, that might be the scariest phrase in the English language right there.

[Sherlock31]

Well, if you ask JD face to face about pitching depth, he's gonna say "Depth? We got Joe the 8.5MIL Blanton, who else do you need?"

Edited March 4, 2014 by Sherlock31

[Homebrewer]

Odrisamer Despaigne

 

Reminds me how much I miss Harry Caray.

[fan_since79]

Let's get Garland and Ervin back just for kicks.