The Legend of Nolan Ryan: High and Tight

[royals19]

Former President George W. Bush Recalled by President Obama to Save TPP.

October 31st, 2015


WASHINGTON D.C. In what many analysts have deemed as a shocking move, President Obama has appointed his predecessor, George W. Bush to head the latest push at negotiating the controversial TPP.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, as it is formally known, is a controversial trade agreement in the works between the United States, Canada and several nations that are located in the Asia-Pacific region. The TPP has long been a staple of the Obama Administration's trade agenda after it inherited the framework of such a deal from the Bush Administration.

In a Press Conference held with White House Correspondents, President Obama issued the following statement:

"After consulting with my advisors in the State Department and our diplomats already engaged in pursuing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, I decided that it was in the best interest of this Administration and the United States to place former President George W. Bush at the forefront of our efforts. Mr. Bush has extensive experience in dealing with the countries involved and is intimate with the minuscule details of the proposed agreement. Through this appointment, it is hoped that President Bush can usher in a new era of understanding and bipartisanship that will be crucial to the negotiations as they continue and develop."

The move came as a surprise to Bush, now the Principal Owner of the Texas Rangers Baseball Organization.

"I'll be the first to admit that I was blind-sided by this appointment. While I'm not involved in Politics as much as when I was in office, I've kept up with the TPP and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to once again serve my country."

When asked how the move will affect his Ownership with the Rangers, one of baseball's most valuable Franchises according to Forbes Magazine who estimated the worth of the Franchise at 1.22 Billion, Mr. Bush issued the following statement.

"Today, it is with a heavy heart that I have decided to abdicate my position as owner of the Texas Rangers in favor of an opportunity to work in the Department of State. While Baseball is my passion, my country is my love and it is under that belief that I have decided to leave the organization to aid America."

When asked when he would return to his post as Owner of the Rangers, Mr. Bush candidly answered with the following:

"I have no idea."


The views expressed in this post do not reflect the views of the individuals mentioned nor the views of the Wall Street Journal. This was a fictional piece written for the purposes of this story.

[royals19]

October 31, 2015
Somewhere in Texas

Quote: Originally Posted by ??? 1

It's been done. Our man got the President on board and he's going to make an announcement today. Bush will be out of our way and we'll have a clear path at our 'ol friend Nolan.

Quote: Originally Posted by ??? 2

That's good... Get [CENSORED] on the phone and tell him it's time to start making preparations. He'll know what I mean. When we're finished with Nolan Ryan, he'll never be able to do so much as set foot in the great state of Texas again...

***

FLASHBACK...

October 13th, 2015.
Cleveland, Ohio

Quote: Originally Posted by George W. Bush

Nolan, there's something going on. The State Department wants me to help them negotiate a trade agreement.

Quote: Originally Posted by Nolan Ryan

Tell them you can't do it or you don't want to do it.

Quote: Originally Posted by George W. Bush

Can't. They already said if I tell 'em no they'll tax the living hell out of my presidential pension. I can't afford that Nolan.

Quote: Originally Posted by Nolan Ryan

Hmm... Well George.... It looks like they finally caught up to us. It looks like they weren't kiddin' around when they said they'd come after us if we didn't deliver a World Series victory. Sigh... If I was a bettin' man, I'd say they're sending you away to get at me. That's who they're really after. You're just a victim of the circumstances.

Quote: Originally Posted by George W. Bush

This is insane! If I accept this job, I'll have to leave the Rangers. They aren't gonna let someone making millions in the private sector conduct diplomacy! Congress would have a heyday! If I leave the Rangers, there won't an owner. No owner means MLB is gonna hand the team off to the highest bidder or someone is going to be put in position to take them away from you.

Quote: Originally Posted by Nolan Ryan

Heh... Damned if we do I guess and Damned if we don't... Gotta love those odds...

[royals19]

Well folks, it's about that time again. Yes folks, it's time to dust off the PS3 and the 'ol controller and get back at it. Not gonna lie, the PS3 didn't get any plays in the interval between posts. I was too busy watching the College World Series, the Red Sox fall apart and the NBA Draft. When you combine that with the fact that I just read "Washington's Revolution" in the midst of Charles' Dickens "Great Expectations" and anxiously awaiting the arrival of my copy of "Make Gentle the Life of this World" by Bobby Kennedy (basically), I've been quite the busy gentleman and scholar.

With that being said, it is now time for me to update you on the glorious rise to power by the unlikely duo of former President George W. Bush and Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.

2014

Spoiler

After being ousted at the end of 2013 by his fellow business partners, Nolan Ryan spent the 2013-2014 offseason devising a brilliant plan to reestablish himself with the Texas Rangers. He initially made a promise to some old friends of his to win the World Series in exchange for offing the current ownership of the Rangers. Despite this initial success, his plan nearly failed but thanks to his good friend and former president George W. Bush, Nolan found himself back in the saddle as President of the organization with General Manager responsibilities. Upon his arrival, incumbent GM Jon Daniels was fired to make way for Ryan to fulfill his responsibilities; much to the disdain of Daniels. Nolan ultimately took over much too late to have any sort of impact on the roster so his role was rather limited. For his trouble, Nolan was nearly killed at the end of the season during a parking lot altercation but thanks to the intervention of a security guard, our hero lived to tell the tale.

On the field, the Rangers were absolutely terrible as injuries, inexperience and ineffectiveness defined the 2014 roster. Key players such as Prince Fielder, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, Martin Perez, Tanner Scheppers and Jurickson Profar missed the entirety of the 2014 season. In addition to that, the key players who did play on the roster where defined by either a lack of experience or a lack of ability.

Even though things didn’t work out like their were supposed to in 2014, the Rangers appeared geared for a 2015 reemergence.

2015

In 2015, the Texas Rangers sought to reclaim their spot at the top of the AL West. Their young players had a year of experience under their belt and were bolstered by the return of top talents such as Prince Fielder, Jurickson Profar, Alexi Ogando, Derek Holland and others. Additionally, Nolan Ryan and George W. Bush handed Jon Lester a massive 6 year, 150 million dollar contract and placed him at the front of their rotation.

Before the season even began, the Rangers looked like an entirely different team.

They rode incredible performances by Jon Lester, Prince Fielder, Shin-Soo Choo and steps forward by Jurickson Profar, Leonys Martin and Rougned Odor alongside the dominant Cy Young and MVP caliber performance of Yu Darvish to a 118 win season and a trip to the postseason.

Behind the scenes however, things reached a head after a mystical power elite sought revenge upon Nolan Ryan for failing to deliver on his promise of winning the World Series in 2014. They gave him another chance in 2015 with a stern warning that this was his last chance.

The Rangers struggled through the playoffs and their youth and overall inexperience proved to be their Achilles Heal. Jon Lester, the big offseason singing turned in a dominant performance while Yu Darvish and the rest of the rotation struggled.

The Rangers managed to make it to the ALCS however before being tossed aside by the Cleveland Indians in an embarrassing 5 game series. In addition to the loss, the Nolan Ryan and George W. Bush ran out their luck with the power elite and braced themselves to pay the awful consequences of such an action...

After winning 118 games but losing out on the World Series ring, Nolan Ryan gears up for what could ultimately be his last run in Texas...

[royals19]

Where Did Texas Go Wrong?
Texas Rangers Postseason collapse attributed to lack of experience, depth, managing.

Peter Gammons [MLB.com Special Columnist]
October 23rd, 2015

When the Texas Rangers lost that fateful Game 5 at Progressive Field, Prince Fielder, Tomas Telis, Rougned Odor and Michael Taylor were sitting on the bench. Between the 4 of them, they had 3 hits total in the postseason. In the regular season however, they were fixtures in the everyday lineup and key components of a powerful Texas Rangers offense. Fielder had nearly won the Triple Crown, Telis was swinging a hot bat, Odor slugged over .600 and Michael Taylor had finally delivered on the promise that scouts attributed to him when he was first drafted.

In the postseason however, the all went cold and taking their respective places were Ryan Rua, Lane Adams, David Ross and Luis Sardinas. Rua had slumped and seen his average plummet nearly 40 points over the course of September, Adams didn't get called up until late August, Ross is a shell of his former self and Sardinas had seen limited playing time behind Odor and Profar. By no stretch of the imagination are Ryan Rua, Lane Adams, David Ross and Luis Sardinas bad players. Each of them is very valuable in their own particular way. But don't get it twisted folks, they should not be starting an elimination game in the American League Championship series; let alone be starting in any playoff game.

This problem does not fall on Nolan Ryan, the team's General Manager nor the owner George Bush. The blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the inexperienced manager Ryne Sandberg. Bush allowed Nolan to spend his money on good role players such as Lane Adams and David Ross in free agency. Nolan Ryan in turn bequeathed these players to Sandberg who did not use them properly. Adams is a speedy, off the bench type base stealer; not a starting center fielder. David Ross is a great game caller and solid defensively but he is certainly not going to ward off potential base stealers. The fact of the matter is Ryne Sandberg had the pieces to win the postseason. He just didn't use them effectively. While you can hardly blame Sandberg for the failings of Fielder, Odor, Telis and Taylor, you can blame him for the solution that he found. Instead of sticking with the players who formed the core of his offensive unit, he was quick with the hook and pulled them from the lineup and replaced them with players who were much worse on a talent level.

The problem is deeper than just the offense however. Ryne Sandberg ineffectively used his pitching staff throughout the Rangers' postseason run and paid dearly for it. He pushed Lester too far his first start out against LA in the Divisional Series and did the same with Darvish. By not keeping them to a strict pitch count, they were limited on their appearances in the series and were not available when needed most. Additionally, Sandberg's bullpen management is befuddling. It is hard for anyone who understands baseball to understand why Ryne Sandberg continually turned to Alexi Ogando and Koji Uehara in high leverage situations after they continually got the Rangers into trouble.

What happened to the Rangers in October is apparent and it alludes to the simple fact that Ranger manager Ryne Sandberg was overwhelmed in his first postseason appearance and looked the part of a flustered rookie leading an inexperienced bunch. In effect, it was a classic case of the blind leading the blind. The good news for Rangers fans is that the players and most importantly, Ryne Sandberg, now have this experience under their belts and are in great position to learn from their mistakes and be even better in 2016.

[Gronk4M13]

Great writeups, so glad this is back.

[royals19]

Rangers' Offseason Blueprint
By Jeff Todd [November 1, 2015 at 3:45 PM CDT]

This offseason, the Texas Rangers find themselves in a peculiar place. On one hand, they were able to win an astonishing 118 games behind the MVP caliber efforts of Yu Darvish, Jon Lester and Prince Fielder. On the other hand however, the postseason exposed some holes on the roster and left fans of the game scratching their heads and wondering where things went awry.

According to Nolan Ryan, President and General Manager of the Texas Rangers, the problem lied with the pitching staff and defense.

"I think when you look back on each of the games, you'll find that our pitching and defense was really shaky. Outside of Lester, none of our pitchers really gave us quality innings and I think that was especially true of our bullpen. Then, when you look at how terrible we were defensively, it's not surprising that we had an early exit.

The comments from Ryan, while somewhat harsh, really underscore the Rangers offseason needs. The bullpen will obviously be an area the Rangers will target heavily but with the market thin in that area, it's really unclear whether the Rangers will walk away with anything considerably.

The other area in which the Rangers could upgrade is right field. While Michael Taylor was otherworldly in close to 200 ABs last season after being a career minor leaguer, he still leaves a lot to be desired in right field defensively and looks the part of a solid DH with his poor throwing arm and average to below average speed. Luckily for Texas, this year's free agent market is loaded with right fielders of various skill sets. If the Rangers want an upgrade defensively while adding right handed power to replace Adrian Beltre, they could pursue Justin Upton, who they have long coveted. If they want to go with an elite defensive option albeit at a hefty price, they could pursue Jason Heyward. If neither of those players fulfill their desires, there are also plenty of middle range options such as Gerardo Parra and Dexter Fowler.

Lastly, the Rangers are also known to be looking for an upgrade at catcher. The original thought was that Jorge Alfaro would be ready to take over the reigns sometime in 2015 but after hitting a dismal .179/.389/.657 across AAA and AA, it appears that Alfaro is now a bit of a wild card and more of an unsure thing than ever before. In the meantime, the Rangers appear set to deploy some sort of platoon with Tomas Telis and David Ross.

[royals19]

With George W. Bush effectively out of the fold for the foreseeable future, Nolan Ryan geared up to deal with the arduous tasks that the offseason presented. For Nolan it was slightly refreshing to have the reigns to the team all to himself. He wouldn't have Bush breathing down his neck, demanding moves or dealing behind his back. Nolan finally had the opportunity to build the team that he had wanted from Day 1 of accepting this job.

The day after the Indians lost to the Atlanta Braves in the World Series, there was a conspicuous message from "ownership" in the mailbox titled "Budget Increase."



Those veterans of the Show know that when you usually get an increase in budget, it's roughly between 5-20 percent. Not this time though folks, no... MLB 14 The Show would have none of that and decided to throw the Texas Rangers a 61% increase.

While we'll never be sure, it's generally accepted that at this time, Nolan Ryan soiled himself.

And with that card on the table, here's what the offseason budget now totals up to:

With virtually all of our core players locked down for the next 3-4 years, we would only need to spend about 10 Million of this to tie down the players whose contracts expired.



Now I'm not going to lie. The urge to *ahem* ... make it rain... was certainly present but, as we saw last offseason, Nolan Ryan likes to remain fiscally responsible. Instead of flushing his new found wealth down the toilet by handing everyone Pujols money, Nolan went about installing house rules left and right.

Quote:

The Nolan Ryan Rules -Rangers are limited to 1 top 3 free agent signing per offseason. -Rangers are limited to 5 MLB Free Agent signings. -Extensions must reflect market value. -Rangers may sign up to 5 minor league free agents per offseason. -Rangers may have 1 Rule V pick each offseason. -There must be 20 million in the bank at all times to cover emergency expenses, trades, draft picks etc...

The purpose of installing these rules is to ensure that there will be no insane spending sprees (ala George McGovern in San Diego) and so that Texas won't win 120 games every year for the next decade. 118 wins every once in a while is fine but from a writer's perspective, it isn't really fun writing about how a team steamrolls its way though the league every year. Trails and Tribulations are a writers best friend in sports.

[Gronk4M13]

I like those houserules, I think I'll use those. Sounds like you have an exciting offseason coming up.