Beltre to the Rangers? The Giants Angle

Rumors are swirling that Adrian Beltre, aka the best free agent hitter left on the market, is close to signing with the Rangers. The interesting factor here is that the Rangers already have a 3rd baseman. Of course he can play 2nd base. But they already have a 2nd baseman too. One of them could play DH, but then Vlad wouldn't have a spot on the team, and THEN who would play right field in interleague games? See the problem? It's a complicated web they're spinning down in Arlington, Texas, home to the 2010 World Series runners-up.

The rumor that persists is that if Beltre is a Ranger, then Michael Young will be traded to the Rockies, and hence the possible impact on the Giants.

It's doubtful Michael Young would play 3b for the Rockies.
After all:
2010 OPS
Michael Young: 744
Ian Stewart: 781

But remember, Young is not just a 3b. He can also play 2b.

2010 OPS
Michael Young: 744
Jonathan Herrera: 694

So yes, that's an upgrade.

But now Nolan Ryan is vouching for Young and ESPN is talking about a possible DH/Infield rotation of Kinsler, Young, Vlad, Andrus....etc. So maybe Beltre signing with the Rangers doesn't mean Young is going anywhere after all.

So by reading this post, you have now saved yourself needless further reading of any Adrian Beltre/Michael Young related material and can now focus your attention on something important, such as global warming or horcruxes. You're welcome.

The bottom line as far as I'm concerned is that the teams the Giants beat to win the title continue to improve areas that were already strong and get weaker in areas that needed help.

The Phillies had sensational pitching last year but an underperforming offense. So they lost Jayson Werth and signed Cliff Lee.

The Rangers had a great offense but not enough pitching, so they lost Cliff Lee and are trying to get Adrian Beltre.

The Padres had fantastic pitching and terrible hitting, so they kept all their pitchers and traded their best hitter.

The Dodgers had ok pitching and a bad offense, so they added a pitcher and lost their catcher and added nothing else offensively.

The Rockies had a whole lot of Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitski and not much else, and they now have the same amount of Carlos Gonzalez and a lot more of Troy Tulowitski and not much else.

This should not make us feel arrogant or smug. After all, we didn't add much either. Oh but we won the World Series. Hmmm. We did add Jonathan Herrera, er, Miguel Tejada. They have the same OPS. So that's good.

Hey, did you know there is zero interesting baseball news out there?
Yeah, don't bother checking any websites or anything. There's nothing.
So now that you know that, you can focus your attention on more important things, like the fact that our new governor has never made a decent action film. Not one. No word yet on whether or not he's ever made a horcrux.