According to TR Sullivan at texasrangers.com, Vladimir Guerrero is telling interested teams that he wants a three-year contract, but he is willing to come back to the Rangers on a two-year deal. Up to this point, the Rangers have not wanted to go past a one-year agreement with Vlad. The report says that Vlad is more concerned about the number of years than the total value of the contract.
Can Guerrero really get a three-year contract from another team? MLB Trade Rumors is saying there are three other teams in on Guerrero, but I haven't seen any team admit to this. Obviously, he's not on top of any team's list at this point in the off-season, and he will likely have to wait until some of the bigger names sign and see which seats are left in this big game of musical chairs.
The Rangers have other options for designated hitter on the free agent market, such as Paul Konerko, Magglio Ordonez, Manny Ramirez, Lance Berkman, Derrek Lee, Jack Cust, Adam LaRoche, Johnny Damon, Russell Branyan, and Jim Thome.
Of that group, only Konerko would cost the Rangers their first round draft choice of 2011. However, they might be more willing to give that up if Cliff Lee signs with another team, since the Rangers will pick up a compensation pick if Lee leaves, which would offset the pick the Rangers would forfeit to the White Sox. Konerko would also cost considerably more than the other options, since he can still play first base often, and he had a monster offensive season in 2010. He's also being courted by the White Sox and Orioles, though it looks like the D-Backs have dropped out of the running for him.
If the Rangers are looking at a first baseman to man the DH role primarily, that will be affected by how much confidence they have in Mitch Moreland, and to a lesser extent, Chris Davis. Both bat left-handed, so the assumption would be a right-handed bat would be more desirable if that player is going to platoon at first. Konerko and Derrek Lee both bat from the right side, and Berkman is a switch hitter that has struggled batting right-handed recently. LaRoche, Branyan, and Thome only bat from the left side, though Thome is probably just a DH at this point. Considering how well Moreland batted against left-handed pitching late in 2010, he might be able to hold down first base without a platoon partner anyhow.
Outfielder options like Guerrero, Ramirez, Ordonez, and Damon really don't have what it takes to play the field on a regular basis, and Jack Cust was never good defensively and should just be a DH. These guys would be solid DHs, but they would limit the team's versitility by only being able to DH, whereas the guys that can play some first base give the Rangers more options.
One player the Rangers could have used at DH that would have done a lot of damage is Adam Dunn, but he signed a four-year, $56 million contract with the White Sox earlier this week. The Sox say that they are still interested in bringing back Konerko and they could share time at first and designated hitter. If that happens, the two of them combined might hit 90 homers next year playing their home games at the tiny US Cellular Field.
I'd love to bring in Konerko, but I don't think that will happen unless we lose Cliff Lee, for reasons listed above. I think the Rangers will continue to offer a one-year contract to Guerrero until he proves he can get a multi-year contract somewhere else, and then they might budge a little bit. If they don't get either of those guys for next year, my next choice would be Ordonez. I'll be disappointed if we don't land one of those three guys. I think Moreland can hold down first base just fine, so any DH they bring in that can play the field capably is just a bonus.
This will all fluctuate soon, as the GM Meetings get started next Monday. Those players I listed as options for the Rangers are all talking to other teams, and lots of deals get done during the GM Meetings every year. If the DH decision is contingent on Cliff Lee's decision, the Rangers might miss out on a few of their top options if Lee doesn't sign next week. But like I said at the beginning, I expect Guerrero to still be on the board and available for Texas after the meetings end, and even after Lee signs somewhere, be it this week or later. If we have to "settle" for him, that's still not a bad thing.
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