Insert random Hall of Fame insult here...

Well...the Hall of Fame vote has come and gone, as well as that shining jewel on the Rangers' pitching mound which was supposed to be one of the best rotations in baseball this year.

Damnit, Holland...

So, let's talk Rangers, the A.L. West, and baseball in general, in no particular order...


Jean-Jacques Taylor says the acquisition of Choo and Fielder puts the Rangers in World Series contention for at least 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Matt Ellis at LookoutLanding tackles the idea of Wait 'till next year:

And this is one of my favorite things about baseball, and all sports for that matter, because it's not only about the Mariners. Every team builds in different ways, but for the most part, rosters are quite similar year-by-year, and even though we knew that the Marlins and the Texans and the Bucks were going to be terrible, we didn't know the Indians and the Saints and the Blazers were going to be great.

There are a few good Rangers links in this Morning Update from LoneStarBall, but the important part is all of the gifs and videos showing why Rangers fans can be genuinely excited about a full season of Jurickson Profar.

David Coleman tackles the Ken Gurnick HoF ballot fiasco:

That's right. On this ridiculously stacked ballot, with potentially 14 Hall of Fame caliber players on it, Gurnick went with just one player. What's worse, he went with the guy who has the least legitimate qualifications on that ballot (apologies to Mike Timlin and all the rest who won't get 5 percent). What's even worse, he used as his justifications things like Pitching Wins and subjective voting.

Ugh.

What's worse than the worst stuff from the worse part above is that last line. It's the line that has drawn the internet's ire and roused Gurnick's defenders. It's so completely wrong-headed, I'll not go into the details. But, suffice it to say, trying to draw a hard and fast line in history is a lesson in short-sightedness.

Here's what Keith Olbermann had to say:


And Rob Neyer...

baseballgirl at AthleticsNation asks "So, we're ignoring an entire multi-decade period of baseball?"

Jim Margalus at SouthSideSox explains, perfectly, why throwing out the "PED era" of baseball is an incredibly bad idea.

Rafael Palmeiro, the most significant Rangers inductee in years (and one of only a few overall), has now fallen off the ballot by failing to receive the mandatory 5% support.

"I wasn’t expecting a miracle, but I also wasn’t really expecting to be left off the ballot all together,” Palmeiro said. "I’m a little bit surprised at that. I knew there was a chance because of the guys coming on this year, but I didn’t think it would happen.”

Palmeiro is a guy that would probably have been a first- or second-ballot inductee due to incredible numbers: "...one of only four players with 3,000 hits and 500 homers. The other three in that exclusive club were first-ballot Hall of Famers." The only knock he had against him in the vote was that he had a pretty long career with which to achieve these numbers...until he lectured a congressional panel on their steroid investigation, claiming repeatedly to not have taken steroids, a week before the disclosure that he had tested positive for steroid use that year. That performance was, needless to say, akin to sending your mistress to accept a Husband-of-the-Year award. Of course, the accusations would, according to a majority of BBWAA members, be enough to keep him out of the Hall for now, but Palmeiro would probably still be on the ballot if he hadn't made a complete ass of himself and baseball on a national stage.

Marc Normandin writes that the Gurnick vote and the PED controversy is exactly why the Hall of Fame doesn't matter anymore.

Jon Heyman is still butthurt over Jack Morris not getting into the Hall. You know what? I can argue why Morris should be in the Hall. He was one of the most dominant pitchers in the late '80s. There is a collective memory that he was a feared and dominating starting pitcher for a decade. His numbers don't say so, and you're not gonna convince any stat-head that the numbers are lying, so quit trying. The Hall of Fame is about perception and reputation as much as performance.

Beyond the Box Score plots out what kind of team you could construct from Hall of Fame nominees who received one vote. It turns out, a pretty good one.

In the wake of the Hall of Fame election, the guy who gave his vote to DeadSpin has permanently lost his vote. AstrosCounty points out (as does Richard Justice) that a Houston member of the BBWAA has effectively done the same thing repeatedly, and hasn't been punished.

The Mariners are considering Tony La Russa for team president.

And finally, Rangers' left-hander Derek Holland fell down the stairs while playing with his dog, tore a ligament, and will miss probably half the season. This apparently has the Rangers talking with LAAA cast-off Jerome Williams. Williams has been solidly mediocre at the Major League level, but had Halos fans excited about his future not too long in the past.

Posted by: Ben at 01:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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