Congrats to A-Rod

[Steak]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/columnis...04_110722_3964

Great piece on John Hart's excellence.

[Taylor]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/columnis...04_110722_3964

Great piece on John Hart's excellence.

Yes, let's talk aboot this Canadian's great article on Hart's greatness.

"In December of 2001, Hart and owner Tom Hicks landed the game's biggest fish with a $252-million lure."

Mistake #1: A-Rod signed in December 2000, Doug Melvin was the GM then and this signing was purely Hicks who went against Melvin's wishes of building the team back up slowly.

Hart sent A-Rod upstream to swim in the Big Apple.

Mistake #2:In a trade that had Texas laughed at by the entire league, which was only a step above the public relations disaster of Hicks trying to push him off on Boston for an even worse trade. Ask a true Rangers fan about the Valentine's Day Massacre and they won't mention Capone, rather they'll talk about how A-Rod was traded on Feb 13th and our misses had to cheer us up. BTW - This trade in rumors had Hicks behind the controls with Hart and Buck in the mix.

Rodriguez' biggest accomplishment as a Ranger was not the MVP award or all-star appearances, the gifted shortstop showed the world individual players do not win championships. Case precedent need only travel back a handful of years to Wayne Gretzky leaving behind a gaggle of Stanley Cups to finish his career south of the border - and trophyless.

I agree with the first sentence, as A-Rod doesn't pitch and can't affect how others around him bat. However to base this on a comparison to a team that's 5 on 5 where the star can be in the action 100% of the time is to me a poor example.

Hart renewed the assembling opportunity in Texas - and the blueprint is obvious. It runs through A-Rod trade bait Alfonso Soriano, cuts across recent recipient of a five-year, $15-million contract Hank Blalock, and concludes at the Next Big Thing Mark Teixeira.

Mistake #3:I'm not going to waste my time on explaining who assembled the pieces - anyone who read this thread knows that. Blalock's contract BTW was done by Blalock who went against his agent and signed for less money (Nevermind Hart's bogus news conference). Considering some of them are now openly questioning management, Hicks had better be careful - this may be the last hometown discount he'll see for some time.

Soriano was an absolute steal in the swap with New York

Mistake #4:Tsk tsk Steak, you should have stopped reading the article the minute you saw this. Soriano aged 2 years in a day, refused to switch positions and continues to show bad defense, his trade value is a shell of what it was then. Shame shame. Yet you still read on...

Hart's decision to lay the future in Blalock's hands must have solidified itself when the slugger secured home-field advantage for the Yankees by homering off Eric Gagne in last season's Midsummer Classic. To note, it was the only blemish on Gagne's Cy Young season of 2003.

Mistake #5: What laying down the future? Blalock was a stud in the minors, Hart wanted to put him at 2nd and dump Michael Young. Buck gets credit for this one, not Hart. Buck coddled Hank by keeping him out of games where a lefty was pitching, only inserting him in during the 03 season. Buck has also done the same with Laynce Nix last year.

By signing Blalock to a modest five-year deal, Hart sent a message to the young Rangers' club, one that displays commitment to assembling a core of talent while highlighting a philosophy of rewarding results financially. Teixeira will be next in line for a Texas-sized raise.

See bogus news conference, Blalock willing to take less. Tex is represented by the Great Satan, so far the Great Satan is undefeated against Hicks and Hart hates doing business with him. Rumor here has it that Hicks is squeezing a quarter and using Tex as an excuse for saving now.

The re-built Rangers are already paying dividends. Hart's assembly fired a warning shot over baseball's bow by sweeping the mighty Red Sox to open the month of May.

This must have been written last year, Red Sox kicked our tail this year

The Soriano-Blalock-Teixeira triumvirate, mixed with fellow Hart brainchilds Brad Fullmer and Lance Nix, miniaturized the AL's best pitching staff and temporarily took the mantle of the game's fiercest bats.

Mistake #6,7,8: Nix was drafted by Melvin (Please tell the writer it would help if he spelled Laynce's name correctly), Fullmer was a Buck player (Who was since traded in July), yup - those Ranger arms, fiercesome eh?

Sounds to me like this writer was enjoying some of that legalized medical weed while typing away....

[Steak]

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Taylor again."

I wanted to give you a rep, but I got this message instead. I still give you a + rep for breaking that writer's article down.

Fullmer was signed by Hart. C'mon. Hart has to be involved in some decision-making. Hart was the guy that spoke out to Hicks about trading Pay-Rod and it has worked out well for Texas. Hicks wanted to keep him despite Buck's wishes. Fortunately, Hart was able to change Hicks's mind. That took courage. Besides everyone is not laughing anymore about this deal. I rip this deal for Texas, but now I change my mind.

Peter Gammons is a huge Hart fan so that should clarify Hart's greatness.

[joek]

Not everyone ripped Texas for the Arod deal. I was first in line to say it would make the Rangers a contender, and it did so instantly.