Marginal Texas Rangers fans everywhere will remember Dec. 3 as the day the evil GM Jon Daniels traded everyone's favorite role player to the team's most heated rival, and many are saying on social media that they aren't Rangers fans anymore because of it.
Well, OK then.
Here's the deal, though. Yes, Gentry is a likeable player. Our good buddy @tweetgrubes so aptly named him "Kitten Face" a couple of years ago, and it caught on like wildfire. He's lovable like a kitten (I hate cats, personally).
Gentry is a good player and he is great for what he was in Texas, which was nothing more than a very solid role player/fourth outfielder. We saw this year what happens when you try to make a role player/fourth outfielder a starter, and his name was David Murphy.
Gentry does have more offensive weapons than Murphy, minus the power, but he's still not a guy you can plug into your lineup every day for six months and get a good return.
The Rangers received back power-hitting prospect Michael Choice, Mansfield Timberview graduate and a UTA product, and this is exciting news for Rangers fans.
Choice got called up in September for the A's and played in nine games. He hit .278 with a .316 on-base percentage and a double, but he was quite a player for the A's Triple-A club in Sacramento. There, he hit .302 with a .390 on-base, 14 homers, 29 doubles and had 89 RBIs. He hit 30 homers in 2011 with High-A Stockton.
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“I feel great about the trade," Choice said via Twitter. "Growing up here, I’ve been to a ton of Rangers games. So to be here and say I’m going to play in front of this home crowd is an awesome feeling. I’ve always dreamed of playing at home. For it to become a reality is pretty cool.”
Will Gentry be missed? Absolutely. He always put it all on the line for the Rangers and was exciting to watch thanks to his elite speed. But Choice is a younger player with more tools and could very well be an everyday left fielder before all is said and done. And let's face it, Gentry was never going to be that.
