The column begins with silence and darkness. Slowly, vaguely spooky noises atop an askew theremin melody fade in and a slight warm glow emanates from the bottom of the screen, seemingly from a just-off-screen campfire. A low voice poorly mimics an indistinct eastern European accent.
Welcome, everyone, to the Halloween edition of the Cleaver Wire!
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[stage lightning flashes to reveal me, Vile Weaver, wearing a cape and laughing theatrically while inexplicably holding my hands as if I am carrying two invisible grapefruits, because that’s the universally-accepted scary-hands pose]
Remember 1990s sitcom Halloween episodes? Some shows only slightly acknowledged the holiday, writing a typical episode but with costumes or trick-or-treating. Others would veer into a seemingly different reality — out-of-character heel turns, abject disasters, horror and mayhem — only to come back the following week with no consequences or acknowledgment, as if the previous episode had been nothing but a fever dream.
It would be fun to really lean into the premise this week, but this is (ostensibly) a column about the Texas Rangers, so leaning into the artificially gruesome seems unnecessary. “OoooOOooOOo listen, children, as I tell you a tale of a devastating alternate reality! Lower your expectations as we learn of a team that lost 103 games! Muahaha!”
Nah, no thanks. If you’re still reading about the Rangers while the 2021 World Series soldiers on, you’re already too grizzled for me to say anything that would rattle you. We’ll sprinkle some pumpkin spice on the intro, respectfully leave a bowl of candy on the porch and call it a holiday. Welcome back, ya freaks.
Topics of the week
1. Let’s check in on Adolis García awards szn
Way back on the first of this month, I brought this question up — could García be a finalist for more than one end-of-season award? We got some partial answers on Thursday when García won the Sporting News Rookie of the Year award. That’s not the big one — the BBWAA Award finalists will be announced on Nov. 8, with the official award announcement coming on Nov. 15 — but the Sporting News award has been around since 1946.
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Players who have won the Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year have gone on to win the BBWAA Rookie of the Year 17 of the last 20 years, so while it’s not a slam dunk that García will outpace the field next month, it’s an indicator that he should be a finalist.
But “should” might not mean much, given how the list of AL Gold Glove finalists shook out. García was not on the list, despite being tied for the league lead in outfield assists (16, Hunter Renfroe), second in all of baseball in FanGraphs’ Ultimate Zone Rating at 12.0 (trailing only Michael A. Taylor at 13.3), second in FanGraphs’ ARM rating, at 8.6 (trailing only Adam Duvall at 8.8) and tied for fourth in MLB (third in the AL) in Baseball Savant’s Outs Above Average, at 12 (tied with Kevin Kiermaier).
So why wasn’t he a finalist?
The most logical conclusion is that he was too versatile. He mainly played center field until Joey Gallo was traded to the Yankees. Then he was shifted to primarily right field to minimize the wear and tear on his body. By season’s end, he had played 79 games in center field, 51 in right field, and nine in left field. It would be tricky for them to select him as a finalist at one position when others had accomplished more at that one specific position over the course of the year.
Still, if a system allows for someone who was clearly one of the top five defensive outfielders in the entire game to not even be listed as a finalist, that’s a system in need of tweaking.
2. The Instructional League tour rolls on
I made it out to Dallas Baptist University on Tuesday night to see the Instructional League team take on the DBU Patriots. This was my first time seeing most, if not all, of the Rangers’ prospects. I’m not a scout, so take all of this with a grain of salt, but here are a few notes from the night:
• Before we get to the Rangers’ prospects, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that DBU looks like they’re going to be very good. Every time I looked up, another pitcher was throwing 95 and snapping off breaking pitches with real bite. I was most impressed by RHP Chandler Arnold, who was sitting 94, touching 96, and had a nasty slider. A quick look at Arnold’s stats suggests he had a bit of trouble with command last season, walking 23 (against 33 strikeouts) in 29 2/3 innings. Maybe he was just having a good night on Tuesday, but I was impressed. On the offensive side, I’m sure this week was not the last time I’ll hear Andrew Benefield’s name. The third baseman had two home runs and made an impressive play coming in on a slow roller at third base. He and catcher Nate Rombach both looked like future big-leaguers to me.
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• Aaron Zavala (second round, 2021) didn’t get much to hit in the four plate appearances I saw. He struck out looking at an off-speed pitch, grounded out, was hit by a pitch and walked. Here’s where I should probably point out that the team had left Lubbock on a bus at 11 p.m.the night before, so it’s possible I was catching these guys on minimal sleep.
• Ian Moller (fourth round, 2021) was likewise not super impressive at the plate, striking out three times (though twice were on called third strikes that looked to be outside). His defense, however, was more polished than I expected to see from a kid who was just drafted earlier this year. He has quiet hands, a still body, and was flexible enough to go into a half-split from one knee on a couple of occasions. The book on Moller is that he has big power, so I’m not going to write him off after one game, not when the defense looked that good.
• Junior Paniagua (J2 signing, 2018) was a name I wasn’t super familiar with before last night. Understandable, when I learned that the 20-year-old Dominican shortstop hasn’t played above rookie ball yet. I was impressed with his first at-bat; he showed good strike zone recognition and fouled off some tough borderline pitches before working a walk. He’s listed at 5-10, 160 pounds, and reminds me a bit of Yonny Hernández. I texted one member of the Rangers org and asked if that was a fair comparison. The reply: “Maybe a bit. Pani’s got a little more juice than Yonny.” In his second at-bat, Paniagua homered to left field.
• Also homering — twice — was JoJo Blackmon (11th round, 2021). Blackmon didn’t hit any home runs in 55 at-bats in his first year in rookie ball, so it’s not unfair to suggest that the wind might have helped him a bit on Tuesday, but Blackmon is still just 18. If there is some pop coming in addition to his blazing speed — he stole eight bases in 18 games — that would be a welcome development
• Last but not least, LHP Larson Kindreich looked great on the mound. He allowed just one baserunner in two innings, striking out two. His fastball wasn’t overpowering at 92-94, but his secondary offerings all looked deceptive — not just to me, but to hitters as well, judging from the uncomfortable DBU swings. Kindreich only pitched eight innings in six rookie ball games this year, but he struck out 18 hitters, walking three, and allowing just five hits, posting a 1.13 ERA. He’s 22, drafted out of Biola University, so if he is able to keep that level of success up, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him hit Double-A Frisco next season.
If you want some videos, friend of the show Tepid Participation was operating his camera. If you’re in or near Tarrant county, the team is playing TCU on Friday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. and admission is free.
3. There sure are a lot of Rangers ties in Atlanta
If you’re a Rangers fan looking for a rooting interest in the World Series and somehow “the Astros are playing a team that is not the Astros” didn’t do it for you, maybe you would prefer to root for Rangers connections. In that case, here’s a list I curated for Twitter this week:
Braves: Ron Washington, Chris Martin, Jesse Chavez, Luke Jackson, Drew Smyly, Ronald Acuña Jr. (his brother Luisangel is in the Rangers’ system, and on the traveling instructs team), Travis d’Arnaud (his brother Chase was with the Rangers org in 2019), Ian Anderson (his brother Ben is in the Rangers’ system) and Dansby Swanson (he just looks like Charlie Culberson).
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Astros: Rafael Montero, Gary Pettis (third-base coach).
4. The Rangers have hired a farm director…
For a while, it seemed like the Rangers were destined for a reunion with Jayce Tingler — recently ousted as manager of the San Diego Padres — for the role of farm director.
Right idea, wrong name.
Josh Bonifay was with the Rangers as their field coordinator under Jeff Banister in 2017, primarily focusing on baserunning and outfield offense. He was not brought back as part of the coaching staff after that season, and after the 2018 season, the Philadelphia Phillies hired him as their director of player development, where he’s been ever since. He’ll take over the farm director role, one that had been a bit of a revolving door over the last five years. At one point, Tingler oversaw it; for a brief time, it was Matt Blood in charge of the department, and for a while, it was under the purview of former assistant GM Mike Daly, who departed for a job with the Padres earlier this month,
Speaking of earlier this month, GM Chris Young outlined what the organization was looking for in a farm director:
“First and foremost, someone who meets our culture and values who can implement some of our systems and processes in a manner that connects with both players and staff,” Young said at the time. “The ability to lead, manage a lot of different personalities, and have continuity — top to bottom, bottom to top — within the organization of how we are developing players, how we are maximizing their true potential, and also our staff’s potential.”
The Rangers still have four openings on the coaching staff: a bench coach, two hitting coaches, and one run production coordinator (though for the latter two, the door was left open for Callix Crabbe and Alex Burg to return, depending on what the new hitting coach decides).
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Baseball Card of the Week — 2021 Topps Heritage Rookie Stars Anderson Tejeda and Leody Taveras
I’ve mentioned before how the 1972 Topps design is one of my favorites. Topps Heritage started in 2001 when they put modern players on cards with the design from 1952. Each year, they’ve advanced, so that this year is the year when they printed cards with the 1972 design. It’s a fun throwback to see new players on an old design and makes me wonder if that’s what it felt like to open a pack nearly 50 years ago, with those crisp, sharp corners on a design I’m used to seeing with fuzzy corners.
This isn’t Taveras’ “official” rookie card, but who cares? It looks neat, and we get a bonus Anderson Tejeda appearance.
Song of the Week — “Cynicism” by Nana Grizol
During spring training in 2019, I ventured into downtown Phoenix to find something interesting to do and happened upon a music festival. It was winding down, and I was not going to pay $150 to StubHub just to see Toro Y Moi and Odezsa, so I chatted up a security guard at a side gate for about 20 minutes in hopes he would let me in. He politely refused, but when I convinced a departing attendee to give me his wristband, the guard shrugged and said that was good enough for him. I only got inside in time to have a steak gyro and see Odesza (Fort Worth’s own Leon Bridges made a guest appearance), but both of those things were great.
A mom and son struck up a conversation with me on the way out, asking if I had seen this act or that. I hadn’t, but we were walking in the same direction, so I listened to their review of the day’s performances. The kid eventually suggested Nana Grizol to me. I was intrigued by the name, but a first listen on the drive home didn’t grab my attention.
So it was a nice surprise earlier this month when I heard the lyrics: “Cynicism isn’t wisdom / It’s a lazy way to say that you’ve been burned / It seems, if anything / You’d be less certain after everything you ever learned” and looked it up to see who was singing it. Turns out, the kid was right — Nana Grizol is pretty good. I just wasn’t ready yet.
Since last we spoke…
- I finally wrote up my conversations with three Frisco pitchers: Tai Tiedemann, Chase Lee and Daniel Robert.
- The Rangers yet again refuse to acknowledge their LGBTQ+ fanbase, even when the bar is something as low as participating in a league-wide partnership against bullying of LGBTQ+ youth. Given the texts I got from high-ranking officials, that decision can really only come from one place.
- We started a four-part series on the star free-agent shortstops. Part one: Corey Seager.
(Photo of Adolis García: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
