Jason Botts gets his chance
by Jacob JacksonAugust 01, 2007
Today the Rangers called up Triple-A masher Jason Botts and promptly inserted him into the lineup at DH, batting fourth. The Rangers had hoped to move Sammy Sosa before the deadline and did not want to call up Botts until they could give him everyday at-bats. Even though Sosa remains on the roster, it appears that Botts will now get his opportunity anyway. After an extensive search, I believe Botts is the journeyman minor league player most capable of replicating Jack Cust's surprising success. If he could conceivably post an .850 OPS as the Rangers' DH for the next two years while making 400K, it makes a lot of sense for the team to start playing him instead of the declining Sosa, whom the club has no control over in '08. If they hadn't discussed it already, I'm sure Jon Daniels mentioned that to Ron Washington today after flying to Cleveland.
Jacob Jackson is a high school English teacher and basketball coach in Santa Clara, California. He regularly bores the fine readers of AthleticsNation.com with 40-man roster analysis and service-time seminars, and nothing short of an unexpected phone call from David Forst or Billy Beane will put them out of their misery. He welcomes comments at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).