It’s funny how sometimes life can get in the way of the things that you really want to do or the things you love to do. I have not had any time to write in the last month plus because, ever since I have switched careers, my time is spent either preparing for the classes I teach or getting certified to teach those classes. I love what I do, but the cost has been that the Ranger Report has suffered. I would really like to thank all of you all for always checking in with our twitter and our Facebook. We now have over 500 likes on Facebook and over 1000 followers on Twitter, something I never thought would happen when I started the site.
The Texas Rangers have a brilliantly successful season seeing where they finished up in 2014 and looking at the fact that they were missing Yu Darvish and Derek Holland for most of the season. The Rangers finished 2015 with 88 wins and the AL West championship. They almost knocked off the Blue Jays to earn a trip to the ALCS, but just couldn’t finish the job. I was very happy with the season, and I will lead with news I know you all already know: Jeff Banister is well deserving of the AL Manager of the year. He turned the team around from worst to first in just his first season managing. The team really seemed to take on his persona of “Never Ever Quit”, and it showed. I feel like he is going to do a good job for the team for years to come.
Today the Rangers announced that Delino Deshields was the winner of the Rangers rookie of the year award. There is no surprise there, Delino had a really good season for the Rangers and was a great rule 5 pickup. He has cemented himself in center field so much that the Rangers dealt Leonys Martin away just a week or so ago.
Mike Maddux is now the pitching coach for the Washington Nationals, and that one came as quite a surprise to me. I don’t really understand why the Rangers decided to part ways with the pitching coach that had the most success in franchise history, and a guy that was a part of 4 post season teams in the last 6 years. Mike wanted to stay, and I know all of the Rangers fans that I have talked to wanted him to stay, but he is now gone. Sometimes I do not understand Jon Daniels decisions, but I do trust him for the most part. It will be interesting to see how the pitchers react to a new voice in their ear this next season.
Yovani Gallardo rejected the Rangers qualifying offer and is now a free agent. This was not too big of a surprise, but I would have liked to have seen him stay. He was a solid pitcher for Texas last season, and he seemed to like being here. There is still a chance that the Rangers could bring him back, but I would be surprised if that actually happened.
The Rangers sured up their 40 man roster today by adding 4 players to it, they were Yohander Mendez, Jose Leclerc and Connor Sadzeck, and outfielder Nomar Mazara. That will protect those players from the Rule 5 draft.
The hot stove will be cooking all winter long, and I will be posting on Facebook, Twitter and Fancred all winter long when I am not writing something about it. Thanks for reading and be sure to follow us if you don’t!
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