Don’t do it.
That’s my advice.
Don’t drink the April Kool-Aid. Don’t buy the Danny Santana for President T-shirt. Don’t look at the wild-card standings.
The Texas Rangers are an optical illusion, not a juggernaut blossoming before our very eyes. Their March/April record was a desert mirage, daring us to drink.
Don’t do it.
That was never the plan of ownership and Jon Daniels, who all but said as much over the winter months. The new factory model Rangers are supposed to hit the showroom floor next year, not this one.
The idea this season, I thought, was to turn the kids loose, hope a few of them have grown a few inches, maybe identify and tag a real major league pitcher or two, and then turn the stage over to Jason Aldean and Billy Joel.
Instead, Elvis Andrus is hitting .348, Joey Gallo is launching baseballs long into the night, Mike Minor is pitching like a left-handed Justin Verlander, and you’re all wondering what it means.
Quick answer: It means nothing.
Check back in July, when Santana, a career backup who’s batting .355, is back in Nashville and when the buffet-line bullpen that Daniels has assembled for new manager Chris Woodward has dimmed the enthusiasm.
That’s my approach, at least. Which is why I couldn’t inspire myself this week to post fiery dispatches about Jose Leclerc’s apparent implosion or why a giant red flag shouldn’t be flying over the head of Rougned Odor.
You see, there’s no need to call and ask for the manager. Didn’t you read the season’s menu?
No meat, just potatoes. This is just the appetizer for the daily specials planned for 2020-21.
Indeed, Leclerc has lost control of his fastball and, for now, his closing job. His 8.44 earned run average speaks volumes. He hasn’t pitched a full, clean inning (no base runners) since April 3.
But this isn’t like the Sam Dyson episode in 2017. That Texas team had playoff aspirations and was coming off back-to-back AL West first-place seasons. Dyson was 1-6 with four blown saves and a 10.80 ERA when the club jettisoned him in June.
Leclerc, let us note, may not have hit rock bottom yet. Command issues have plagued almost his entire career. He’s 25, and maybe he’ll figure it out. Or maybe not.
“I have full confidence that he’ll rebound at some point,” new manager Woodward said after Leclerc had torched a three-run lead.
“You don’t want to kill the kid’s confidence. He’s a great kid and he’s going to work out of it at some point.”
Or maybe not.
True, general manager Daniels decided in March that Leclerc was a keeper and gave him a four-year, $14.75-million contract. But while it may be true that the newfound cash has Leclerc’s heart thumping on the mound, the deal remains publicly justifiable.
Leclerc’s salaries for this and the next two seasons would be $1 million, $2.25 million and $4 million. It locks up Leclerc – for bargain prices — for all three arbitration-eligible seasons plus his first two free agent seasons.
He was good last season, when opponents only batted .128 against him.
But when you take a financial flyer on a player who’s shown only a relative glimmer of success, the deal can come back to bite you.
Which brings up Odor and his .136 batting average.
After Odor hit .271 and 33 home runs in 2016, Daniels and the club gave him a six-year, $49.5-million contract. His salary is only $3 million this season, but it rises rapidly in coming years when Odor’s full contract makes him the seventh-highest paid second baseman in baseball.
Odor has started a season poorly before. In fact, that has been his annual path. Over the last four seasons, his batting averages on May 4 have been .156, .271, .181 and now .136. He has rebounded in most of those seasons, finishing with a .765 OPS and 41 extra-base hits a year ago.
Is there a chance Odor isn’t the starting second baseman when the team moves into the new ballpark next year? Yes, he seems quite capable of making that a reality.
In the meantime, though, Odor is likely to remain a lineup fixture for the rest of this season, though he needs to be removed from the No. 2 spot and penciled in eighth or ninth.
Forget the Santana movement. This season was never going to be about dashing for the wild card.
It’s an evaluation season. An appetizer, for when the kids get to move indoors next season to the adults table.
For now, enjoy that countdown to Billy Joel.
