After the Texas Rangers defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-2 on Saturday (April 14^th) I found myself listening to the post-game radio show when a fan called in blasting Rangers’ starter Yu Darvish and saying that the 2012 team is not better than the 2011 version which won its second consecutive American League championship.

So all that Darvish did was allow two runs (one earned) through 5 2/3 innings and this guy was ready to give up? Now he is not the only one. I have talked to several fans both in person and via Twitter who actually feel this team is not going to win the division this season. The question is why?

I can think of a few reasons as to why some fans would share that sentiment. The first reason is their skepticism regarding Darvish. I’m not speaking about the true die-hard fans. I am talking about the casual fans of baseball in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex who care more about the Dallas Cowboys but also recognize a winner and have jumped on the bandwagon. If they actually did their homework and understood the transition that takes place between the Japanese to American versions of baseball then they would be more forgiving.

The next factor in these “fan’s” opinions is the fact that they see the lack of action by Texas during the offseason and focus more attention on the signings of Prince Fielder in Detroit and Albert Pujols in Los Angeles. To them there’s no way that Texas will win because they didn’t make the big splash in free agency. So what that the Angels signed Pujols? One player does not make the difference between second and first place. Baseball is a team sport and the Angels are still not as complete a team as the Rangers.

The starting pitching in Texas is better this year. The key to that is experience. They are a young group of guys but they have postseason skins. Matt Harrison and Derek Holland are future aces in the making, Colby Lewis is a work horse, Neftali Feliz is showing flashes of brilliance with his off-speed stuff and Yu Darvish is looking better with each inning and will make fans forget about C.J. Wilson by season’s end.

Then you have the bullpen which is the strongest I have ever seen in Texas. Once again there were the knee-jerk reactions from some fans in regards to Joe Nathan but two strong back-to-back relief appearances seemed to have eased those feelings. Then you have Robbie Ross who is showing early on that he can handle the lefty relief role way better than Arthur Rhodes and Darren Oliver did at this point last year.

The offense is virtually unchanged except for the bench players. Gone are Endy Chavez, Andres Blanco and Esteban German who have been replaced by Brandon Snyder and Alberto Gonzalez. The main point here is that the key offensive players are all back.

So Texas has better starting pitching, a deeper bullpen and the same deadly bats in the lineup and yet some people feel that this team simply isn’t as good as last year’s? And it’s supposedly due to the fact that Pujols and Wilson are Angels while we spent our wad of cash on Darvish? Have these fans even seen the Angels play thus far?

Big names don’t always translate into more wins and I for one am glad that Texas didn’t spend a ton of money on guys like Pujols and Fielder. I’d rather have a complete team on the field than an overpaid, under the microscope, distraction. And, no, Yu Darvish is not a distraction. He’s just another key part to a successful season.

Until next time, I’ll see you in the cheap seats!

James Holland is a lifelong fan of baseball and his hometown Texas Rangers. He is also a contributing writer for shutdowninning.com and the senior writer and founder of clawandantlernation.com as well as a member of SABR. You can follow him on Twitter where he waxes poetic about all things baseball @SDIJamesHolland.

Source:

http://mlb.com

Major League Baseball will investigate the Texas Rangers’ signing of Dominican prospect Jairo Beras for $4.5 million after questions about his age arose. The Rangers believe he is 17 and eligible to sign while MLB and competing executives insist he’s 16 and ineligible until July 2, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The Rangers agreed to the second-highest bonus ever for a Latin American teenager with Beras, a 6-foot-5, 175-pound outfielder who starred during MLB’s showcase in the Dominican Republic less than a month ago. The players who participated in the camp were expected to be the first signed under new guidelines, which restrict the amount of money teams can spend on international free agents.

Jairo Beras of the Dominican Republic sits in the dugout during the MLB talent showcase.
(Victor Calvo)

While the Rangers declined comment Wednesday, a source who had spoken with the team said the Rangers believe they signed Beras legally and expect MLB to validate the contract.

Others around baseball are not so sure. A livid official contacted MLB about the deal, wondering how a player could age one year within one month.

“The birth certificate he provided said he was 16,” an MLB source said.

[Related: Jairo Beras was a showcase standout]

The Beras case is another troublesome hurdle for baseball, which in recent years has tried to clean up the rampant age and identity problems in the D.R. Juan Carlos Oviedo (previously known as Leo Nunez) and Roberto Hernandez (Fausto Carmona) remain in the Dominican Republic after their fake identities were discovered this offseason. If Beras is found to have submitted false information to MLB – at the showcase, a program listed his birth date as Dec. 25, 1995 – the league could suspend him for a year and nullify the contract.

Players have lied about their ages and names to convince teams they are younger, as clubs value projectability and room to grow over polish and maturity. The Beras case, then, is an anomaly: a player actually claiming he’s older than he once was thought to be.

The preference is understandable: Baseball’s new collective-bargaining agreement will limit all 30 teams to a $2.9 million international-spending cap between July 2, 2012, and July 1, 2013. In coming years, international bonus money will be determined by record, with the best teams getting the least money. MLB will allow teams to trade a portion of their international cap.

In anticipation of new rules, the Rangers doled out a record $5 million for outfielder Nomar Mazara and $3.5 million for outfielder Ronald Guzman last July. Asked about the restrictions in an online chat Tuesday with the Dallas Morning News, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said: “It seems to limit teams in those areas, and if it plays out that way, I won’t be a huge fan. Just think clubs should have the freedom/flexibility to make individual decisions in the best interests of their franchise – and we’re all in different situations.”

MLB’s Department of Investigations will start the inquiry into Beras’ age immediately, a league source said.

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