The Rangers really good with Shin Soo Choo!

The Rangers' great off season continues with the addition of Shin-Soo Choo, a guy with a .389 lifetime OBP over 853 MLB games. 

In other words, this guy is on base almost 40% of the time.   How do you think that Prince Fielder feels about coming to Texas?  or Elvis Andrus who will now hit behind this OBP machine.

I agree with Richard Justice that Texas is very improved and a favorite to win the AL pennant again:

"There's a case to be made for at least 15 clubs being good enough to win the World Series in 2014. With the talent level spread so evenly among the top teams, it's getting more and more difficult to identify a true favorite.

Still, no team is better positioned to get to the World Series than the Rangers. If they're not at the top of the American League power rankings after adding two impact hitters -- Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo -- they're close.

Best of all, they did this without touching the core of one of baseball's best pitching staffs. So almost two months after a 2013 season ended badly, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels has his fans rightfully awash in optimism and expectations.

This offseason began with the Rangers missing the playoffs for the first time in four years. They were the first team in eight years to win 91 games and miss the playoffs, but that was small consolation for their fans."

What happens with Mitch Moreland, the first baseman, and Michael Choice, the young outfielder.  Where do they fit in this new plan?  I think that Moreland will play first behind Fielder and start a few games in the outfield.  Choice is a very promising player so I expect him to play a little outfield too.

This is a very good team that the Rangers will put on the field in 2014.      

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Tags: Texas Rangers 2013 off season moves  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!

5,000 reasons not to shake Raul Castro's hand

(My new American Thinker post)

The Obama-Castro handshake happened last week and we saw examples of hardcore repression on the island.

Our friends at Babalu brought this terrible fact to our attention:  Political arrests in Cuba surpassed 5,000 for 2013

Just yesterday, the Castro regime arrested another 30 ladies of "The Ladies of White" movement, a group of women who march on Sundays after mass calling for reforms and often freedom for their husbands in political prisons.

To our knowledge, Raul Castro did not return to Cuba and make any statement about the handshake with President Obama.  More importantly, there are no signs that "the handshake" will have any impact on political reforms in the island.

More of the same, handshake or no handshake.

We should add that "the handshake" did have a profound impact on Tom Hayden, the 1960s activist. He wrote this about what is happening in the island:   

"The Cubans are moving toward market socialism, with a strong state protecting its widely admired health care, education and social programs. "

We are not sure what "market socialism" is.  Maybe it's that economic system that my professor discussed that one day that I skipped Econ.  

I would remind Mr Hayden that no one has ever held a referendum in Cuba asking the Cuban people if they really want "a strong state" protecting their social programs. 

We hear this often from leftists like Mr Hayden or Mr Moore's film who don't live in Cuba and get their medical care somewhere else.    

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.

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Tags: Cuba, the Castro-Obama handshake  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!