...after Hamilton is called up.

Gonna be interesting because Smoak was just recently called up to AAA.

[This message has been edited by FPS Doug (edited 7/5/2009 10:50p).]

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let this be true! He needs to go down and figure his swing out. Sure, we will miss his defense a little, but put Hank at first until Davis gets his bat and head straight at the plate. Then again, Smoak could get called up too.

[This message has been edited by AustinAgChef (edited 7/5/2009 10:52p).]

This move was posted earlier in the week but I don't remember who posted it. It won't be Smoak getting called up. Hank will play 1st most of the time with Andruw Jones taking a day every now and then.

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It won't be Smoak getting called up.

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I know...I was saying it was interesting because Smoak and Davis will both be at AAA together. I'm guessing Davis DH's, and Smoak plays 1st in OKC?

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"It was only a matter of time," he said. "Obviously, I wasn’t making adjustments. You can’t expect them to keep sticking me out there every day, not really being any kind of a threat at the plate. I’m not down about it. You don’t ever want to be sent down, but at the same time it’s kind of a relief to know I can just go get my head straight and kind of take out all the outside influences and just go get back to baseball. Give myself a chance to get back to where I need to be.

"I really appreciate how long they’ve stuck with me, more than they really had to. I think the fact that I was playing really good defense helped a little bit. We’ll go back to square one tomorrow and see what we need to do."

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To me, this confirms what I've been thinking for a while: that Davis realizes that he was broken and actually wanted to be sent back to the minor leagues to work on some things. I think he'll fail in AAA for a while before figuring things out. He seems like a good guy, though, and I hope he turns it around quickly.

You know FPS, that didn't even cross my mind. I am curious to find out how that will play out.

Are we sending Ian down as well?

Smoak does not need to be called up. Just keep to the schedule with him.

Why would Davis DH, given his defensive ability?

Ron Washington said the Rangers messed Davis up by calling him up too early and said he should have stayed in the minors until this season. They aren't going to make the same mistake with Smoak, and I would not be shocked to see Smoak sent back down to AA to get more at-bats. I don't see them splitting time at first.

They have chosen to keep Borbon on the roster to give them some speed, but that info was new to me as the rumor mill was that Davis would stay up to work with Rudy and Borbon would be sent down to make room for Hamilton.

tilfire, I think you're right...move Smoak to AA. Davis and Smoak both need fulltime duties at first base right now.

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Why would Davis DH, given his defensive ability?

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Because he seems to know what he's doing defensively at first, and might not need the defensive work/practice that Smoak does.

[This message has been edited by FPS Doug (edited 7/6/2009 7:58a).]

I understand the move, and I don't necessarily disagree with the thought process given his offensive struggles, but we are going to lose a little something on defense...

Smoak and Crush in the same clubhouse, competing for the same spot with the big club.

If nothing else, it should bring the best out in both of them, although i'd obviously like to see them both succeed at the MLB level.

FINALLY!!!!

Rally killer is gone for awhile. I really like his hustle and defense but the hole in his bat is WAY too big

There is no reason to send Smoak back to AA. We already know Davis is an elite defensive 1B, so he doesn't need to play in the field every day, just focus on hitting. Maybe even work on playing at 3rd as well, just to make him more useful and well rounded. Overall he should just DH down there.

His quote above reflects that he has a pretty good attitude.

Chris Davis has been nothing short of amazing as far as attitude and hustle

I have no ill will against Davis and hope he turns it around and becomes the .280 hitter we saw last year, but he has been just killing this lineup.

And I do not want to see Smoak up here any sooner than a September call up.

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I think he'll fail in AAA for a while before figuring things out. He seems like a good guy, though, and I hope he turns it around quickly.

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I don't see this happening at all. He is going to murder the ball in the minors, just like he always has. It's going to be another Nelson Cruz situation....a AAAA hitter that's stuck in no man's land.

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It's going to be another Nelson Cruz situation....a AAAA hitter that's stuck in no man's land.

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If he becomes a Nelson Cruz, I'll be happy. He may be a Jason Botts however...

He can't be Botts.... He can at least field the ball

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It's going to be another Nelson Cruz situation....a AAAA hitter that's stuck in no man's land.

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How the hell do you figure Cruz is a AAAA hitter?!?!?

Here are his stats for this season to date:

BA: .266
HR: 20 (leads team, 3rd in AL)
RBI: 50
OBP: .330
SLG: .535 (11th in AL)

That is nowhere CLOSE to being a AAAA hitter...

[This message has been edited by FireAg (edited 7/6/2009 9:45a).]

Botts would be an insult. His glove is way too good to be Botts.

I hope he works it out ... maybe this offseason he can move to third and Daniels can tell Michael Young that now we need him to move to catcher.

Why in the world has the hitting coach not made an attempt to shorten Davis's swing? He has the worlds longest swing. Simply shortening up his swing would make a immediate improvement

Because our hitting coach teaches to swing aggressively, just in case you make contact.

I actually like the Cruz comparison. Cruz was the same way at Davis' age...destroyed the minors and couldn't make much contact at the major league level. The major league pitching accuracy is incredibly different than that at the minors. Davis was used to hitting hanging breaking balls that he would see almost every at-bat and wasn't really forced to learn how to hit any other way.

They also changed his swing last year...he used to do a Sheffield/Chipper combo-type approach where he was constantly moving his bat and right leg during the windup. He had been hitting like that since he was a kid and I think the transition has been hard on his timing. Its hard for him to catch up to fastballs from a near standstill and may be better served going back to a more momentum-generating approach.

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I actually like the Cruz comparison. Cruz was the same way at Davis' age...destroyed the minors and couldn't make much contact at the major league level.

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But you agree that TODAY, Cruz is one of the better hitters on the Rangers' team, yes?

I only take issue with someone who thinks Cruz is an AAAA hitter today...

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But you agree that TODAY, Cruz is one of the better hitters on the Rangers' team, yes?

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Yep. And I still think that Davis will end up being a darn good hitter in a few years.

Cruz is 29. Davis is 23.

Nelson Cruz:
At ages 23 and 24, Cruz destroyed minor league pitching.

At age 25, he had 130 at-bats in the big leagues, and was horrible.

At age 26, he once again destroyed the minor league pitching while sucking at the big league level for 300 at-bats.

At age 27, he destroyed minor league pitching again before finally posting some good number in the last month of the big league season.

Now at age 28/29, he seems to have settled in as a pretty solid big league player.

Chris Davis:

At ages 20,21 and 22, destroyed minor league pitching.

At age 22, destroyed major league pitching for 300 at-bats.

At age 23, sucked against major league pitching for 300 at-bats.

I think these are very different situations.






[This message has been edited by Seven Costanza (edited 7/6/2009 1:31p).]

what about smoak's glove...is he anywhere near the caliber of a defensive first baseman as davis or would we have a great lineup with crush at 1B and smoak at DH someday?

here's to hank to get things going and get his bat in the lineup every day...has always been one of my favorite rangers since he came up because of his hustle and being a class act

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Smoak and Crush in the same clubhouse, competing for the same spot with the big club.

If nothing else, it should bring the best out in both of them, although i'd obviously like to see them both succeed at the MLB level.

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It might bring out the best they can muster WHEN they get to play.

They'll never be the best they can be if they're not playing every night.

Actual at-bats and playing time will be much more beneficial to both over the intangible "motivation" of being on the same team.

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I only take issue with someone who thinks Cruz is an AAAA hitter today...

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Where in the hell did I say today in my comparison?? My comparison is regarding the fact that for a while, Cruz was a AAAA hitter (destroying AAA but not able to put it together at the MLB level). Now, he has...it just took time.

The reason I brought it up is because I don't see Davis struggling while he's down there. He's going to kill the ball, and then everyone will be scratching their heads wondering why he can't do it at the MLB level. Just like what happened to Nelson Cruz. Nelson was killing the ball, leading the league in almost every power category.

Here's an excerpt from 2007:

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27-year old righty swinging outfielder Nelson Cruz is dominating in AAA for the Rangers and teams have been calling trying to trade for him. The Rangers would likely require some kind of pitching in return for Cruz. Cruz has played in 80 games in AAA ball this season and he is 99 for 289 (.343 avg, 1.133 OPS) with 76 runs scored, 26 homers, 73 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. But, Cruz has never been that great in the majors. He has played in 145 games in the major leagues in his career and he is 102 for 442 (.231 avg, .667 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 15 homers and 56 RBIs. The Rangers don’t have any room for him so they should try to get some pitching help for him.

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Again, I only posted the comparison to say that Davis is going to put up gaudy numbers in AAA, just like he always has. He won't struggle, he won't be passed by Smoak (as good as he is). It's just a matter of time until he puts it all together.

And Cruz's numbers in 2007 aren't that far off from Davis this year (aside from the k's...I know):

Cruz: 300 AB's, 35 R, 9 HR, 34 rbi, 21 bb, 87 k's (.235, .384, .671)

Davis: 260 AB, 31 R, 15 HR, 33 rbi, 17 bb, 114 k's, (.202 avg, .415, .671)

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They'll never be the best they can be if they're not playing every night.

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They will play every night.

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Why in the world has the hitting coach not made an attempt to shorten Davis's swing? He has the worlds longest swing. Simply shortening up his swing would make a immediate improvement

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Life isn't a video game. Changes aren't always as easy as just doing it. They attempted to make an adjustment in Hamilton's swing before the season but scrapped it shortly into the season because he was struggling some with it. It's not easy to change.

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And Cruz's numbers in 2007 aren't that far off from Davis this year (aside from the k's...I know):

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His K rate is higher and is walk rate is lower than Cruz. Struggling at AAA or continuing to struggle for the Rangers in the future is definitely possible.

[This message has been edited by Fenrir (edited 7/7/2009 11:01a).]

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They will play every night.

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Well, I'd kind of like both to be in the field.

Who is going to play first in Frisco now? 24 year old Chad Tracy who is hitting .250?

I actually wouldn't mind sending Davis to AA if they're really set on taking their time and re-tooling everything.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 7/7/2009 5:41p).]

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Where in the hell did I say today in my comparison?? My comparison is regarding the fact that for a while, Cruz was a AAAA hitter (destroying AAA but not able to put it together at the MLB level). Now, he has...it just took time.

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You simply said "He is going to be another Nelson Cruz...a AAAA hitter stuck in no mans land."

The way you said it did not make a clear distinction at all between the past, present, future, etc...

It certainly sounded like you were talking about the entire future of Chris Davis' career, what he'll be able to develop into, so I'd say it's fair to think you were talking about Nelson Cruz of the past, present and future.


I think we all agree, though, that Cruz has got it figured out now.

Chris will be just fine. He just needs to get a few kinks in his swing leveled out before being sent right back up here in a few weeks.

People have been really hard on the kid and I think most people fail to remember the kid JUST TURNED 23 and already has a full year of MLB experience under his belt.

He's going to be down there with Smoak and both guys will make it somewhere if it's not with the Rangers.