The Ranger Reporter

The Rangers wrapped up a minor league deal with slugger Sammy Sosa.  It looks like he’ll get a base salary of $500k if he makes the 40 man and I’m sure there’s a bunch of money he can make if he hits certain milestones.

If Sosa makes the team, he’ll primarily be used as a designated hitter although it wouldn’t surprise me if he finds time out in right field as a fifth outfielder.  Sosa is 12 homeruns away from becoming the fifth player in major league history to hit 600 homeruns so that alone should sell some tickets as he gets closer to the milestone.

NBCsports.com recently published their Rangers preseason preview and it’s not that much of a surprise that they get right to the point.  Do the Rangers have enough pitching to finally allow them to leap ahead of the Angels and the A’s?

The bulk of the column is about the pitching staff and the Ranger’s new manager, Ron Washington.  There’s some optimistic words about both Brandon McCarthy and Robinson Tejada possibly having breakout years and then there’s the Eric Gagne signing.  If Gagne is finally over his injuries, having him and Otsuka in the pen may be one of the best one-two punches in baseball.

And another wildcard is Sammy Sosa.  For now, it’s safe to assume it’ll be a big fat nothing but what if…..??

Hello, my name is Bryan Chapman and I’ll be covering the Texas Rangers for the Baseball Historians network of websites.  The Rangers celebrate their 35th anniversary of baseball in Arlington, TX and while the team hasn’t made a World Series, the team still has a fairly rich history.  My favorite player is Hank Blalock although I like this new arm the Rangers traded for, Brandon McCarthy.  I think in a lot of ways, McCarthy is the wild card in what could be the Rangers first playoff appearance in eight years.

The first order of business will be the 2007 season.  Spring training is coming up and I’ll be sure to cover how the team is doing.  When I have time though, I’m going to write up season retrospectives to show you how far the franchise has come.  I’ll start with the eleven seasons that the Rangers were the Washington Senators then move up through the 1970s when baseball came to Arlington.

So I hope you’ll make this a regular stop if you’re a Rangers fan.  And I hope you have as much fun reading about the Rangers as I do writing about them.