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Look like any GM's you know?  :- )

If you want to see 85 seconds that capture the essence of Dr. D's complaint with the "win 85-90 games with efficient dollars" approach -- as Dr. D sees it, anyway --  this Lombardi video will give you a feel for it.

Dr. D watches this as part of his pre-lifting routine.  Ideas like these make the difference on the 12th rep, as well as in life generally.  ... for the kiddies who just joined us, Vince Lombardi was a legitimate sports genius, a geniunely great leader.  Just for example, he took a 1-10 Packers team to a 7-5 record first year, doing very little other than inspiring his players and teaching them correct playing technique.  He went on to win 5 championships in 7 years.  He didn't win championships by spending money.  He won championships because he was a champion.

Granted, our bloggy sparring amigos could reply that they define "winning" differently:  that winning is wins per $, or making the playoffs, or filling the stands, or whatever.  Fair enough; winning can be defined by each person for themselves.  But Dr. D's response?  Go tell Vince Lombardi that you're redefining "winning" as finishing second?

You can't take the passion out of sports and have anything worthwhile left over.  You can't play "to make the playoffs" and accomplish anything that will last.

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=== Texas 2013 ===

The Rangers are one and done, and as they say in golf, a putt is a stroke you can't get back.  The 2011-13 Rangers never won.  Three years ago, there was the possibility of a dynasty.  That possibility is slipping through their fingers.

I'm not saying they've done nothing, of course.  But for those of us who pay attention to championships, the 2013 season becomes a wasted one for them.  I love the Wild Card; it devalues second place and thereby weights first place the way it should be weighted.  Sportswriters complain that the divisional races aren't worth much.  Tell that to the 2013 Rangers; if they'd won one or two more games, they'd have won the AL West and been able to bring their pitching to bear on a long series.  They traded a top-100* prospect for Ryan Dempster, trying to win that extra game.  They lost.  They lost despite their best efforts.

There's a sentiment out there that says the 2011-14 Rangers are exactly where they want to be.  Hey, the playoffs are a crapshoot anyway; we don't care about those.  They're one of the contenders, and that's the highest target that an intelligent man can really aim at.

See the video.  Contending?  That's not why the Angels traded for Greinke or the Rangers for Dempster.  There are a lot of GM's who, in Texas' shoes, would feel like they just ... um... what's the word.  Oh:  the Rangers just "Lost."

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=== Wild Card ===

Texas and Baltimore would have been in the playoffs with 91 victories.  The Mariners don't have to amass more talent than New York and Texas.  They have to put together a 90-win team.

Oakland did it with a bunch of rookie pitching.  The 2012 season was an encouraging one for fans in Seattle, Oakland, and places like that.  For years, we've been seeing blog posts about how unpossible it is to catch Texas, talent-wise, so we might as well punt [fill in next three years] and rebuild properly.

I doubt there are many people on SSI who doubt that the Mariners' appropriate 2013 goal is to try to make the playoffs.  Yes, there are situations wherein there's nothing to do but to detonate the roster and start over.  This isn't one of them.  Geoff Baker is pushing hard for a "splash" signing and if the 2013 M's roll Josh Hamilton out there, great.  If they don't, it's not over.  Michael Saunders is still packing those 74 dingers next season....

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=== Texas 2014-15 ===

The caveat emptor, first.  Nobody is saying that the Rangers are about to complete a series of 90-loss seasons.  That's not what is about to occur.  But they have to wonder whether their best shot at a dynasty has come and gone.  

• Josh Hamilton is a free agent; WITH his 139 OPS+ this year, their team OPS+ was only 102.
• Mike Napoli is a free agent.
• Ryan Dempster and Roy Oswalt are free agents.
• Colby Lewis is injured and Neftali Feliz just underwent Tommy John.
• Mike Adams and Mark Lowe are free agents.
• Michael Young is 35, just had a 78 OPS+, and is owed $16M next year.
• Mitch Moreland just had a 104 OPS+ at first base, Kinsler and Andrus were below average, Nelson Cruz had a 100 OPS+ and is a free agent next year.
• David Murphy is their returning offensive star.  Him and Beltre, I guess.  Everybody has those two guys.

Without Josh Hamilton, the Rangers' offense looks extremely ordinary.  Their pitching staff is deep, especially in the bullpen, but that makes them 2013 Tampa Bay or 2013 Oakland, as opposed to making them the 1996-2001 Yankees.

The future's so bright that Texas can ... take off their shades now.