Well done boys

Twenty games remain in what has been an exciting season in Arlington. The reality is this team far exceeded all expectations this year, and have given us reason to look forward to next season. Ranger are 6 back of the Angels and 4 back of the Red Sox, there is an outside shot of catching one of them, but I don't anticipate it happening.

This offseason should be interesting around here, as the Rangers will more than likely have to let go of at least one outfielder. The question is which one goes? My guess is they will find a way to get Borbon in the lead off spot next season and make him an everyday player, leaving Byrd, Murphy, and Cruz platooning for the other spot. I would prefer to see Cruz gone and let Murphy and Byrd split the time as Byrd will also give Hamilton a day off from time to time in CF. I would like to see this line-up the rest of this season to give us a peak at what's to come next season.

1. Borbon LF
2. Andrus SS
3. Young 3B
4. Hamilton CF
5. Byrd RF
6. Kinsler 2B
7. Davis 1B
8. Murphy DH
9. Saltalamacchia C

Rangers survive the Zoo

The Rangers take 2 of 3 in the Bronx Zoo to keep the pressure on the Red Sox. Jennings has been cut by the Rangers, and the way the bullpen has been throwing of late i'd say add C.J., Eddie, and Frankie to that list. Two games back heading to the Twin cities, this team continues to keep the interest of its fans. 36 games to play and the boys are in the hunt, I'd call that success no matter what the playoffs do or don't hold in store for this team. The youth of this team has truely been a story to this point, Borbon, Andrus, Holland, Feliz and Hunter have been nothing short of extraordinary to now. Borbon appears to be the future lead off hitter for seasons to come, Andrus is as good as advertised, Holland, Hunter, and Feliz are all showing they belong in the big show. My only question is will Feliz be a starter next season or does he become the everyday closer, time will tell but this COULD be a fun group to watch the next few seasons.

Stung by the Rays

After the Red Sox series Rangers fans were on cloud nine. The boys find themselves 2 games back now, and need to right this ship before it heads out to the Bermuda triangle. The Twins series was a huge let down blowing 4 run leads on back to back nights, and now dropping the first two against the Rays. Not to mention we head to the big apple to face the evil empire for the next three, if they can find a way to win 4 of the next 7 they'll be in the hunt, but i'm afraid anything less than that could put October baseball in serious jeopardy.

Welcome back PUDGE

The Rangers aquire Pudge for the final playoff push. Playoffs or not i think its great that he's come back to where he started and intends to retire a Ranger. Rangers look to keep the wins coming with the Twins in town, and i have to admit after the bullpen collapse on Friday i'm a little concerned to say the least. The starting pitching for this team continues to be top notch, one of the best seasons i can remember for Rangers starters. Hamilton is starting to look like the guy from last year, and that is a much needed boost to this line-up. It should be a fun ride from here on out as the Rangers look to clinch their first playoff birth in 7 years. I got a feeling post-season baseball is coming to Arlington this season!!!

Meltdown in Arlington

The Rangers had game in hand ready to take the Wild card lead, and what do you know the old bullpen problems bite them square in the ass. I know they say in baseball that one game doesn't make a season, but losing that game in that situation could take the wind out of the sails of this team. The boys will need to rebound and win the next two from the Sox or this loss could linger in their minds for the rest of this short season.

P.S. Dear Ron Washington, please let Feliz close for the remainder of the season.

Race to the finish for the Wild Card

GAME ON, Rangers and Red Sox are dead even as the Sox seem to be in free fall at the moment. Big week coming up with 3 on the road in Cleveland and then home to see the Red Sox face to face

YIKES!!!

Rangers drop 3 out of 4 to the A's, and the next week could decide the season for this ball club. As bad as the Oakland series was they are only 2 back in the wild card race as the Red Sox are struggling of late, but the surging Rays are only a 1/2 game behind the Rangers now. Big series with the Angels starts tonight and next week the Red Sox are in town for 3 at the ballpark. Fifty-five games remain for the Rangers to make up ground and make one final push for post-season play, all in all i still think this season has been a success. History says if they can go 32-23 over the final 55 they have a great shot of getting to the post-season, only 5 teams have ever won 92 games and not made the playoffs, but of the remaining 55 we have the Angels 10 times, the Rays 6 times, and the Red Sox and Yankees 3 more times each. Should be an interesting finish to a better than expected season from this young team.

A new closer?

Feliz, congrats, your audition last night has led us to put you as our closer for the rest of the season. The debut for Feliz couldn't have gone much better, and although i'm not mailing it in on this season yet, the pitching prospects for next year look promising. Feldman, Hunter, Holland, Feliz, Millwood could shape up to be a good staff and with the exception of Millwood a good staff for many years. Possibly this could be the Rangers beginning of the A's Hudson, Zito, Mulder, and Haren crop. Yes, blowing the game last night has me looking to the future, and for once the future does seem bright in Arlington.

Nice Effort Cruz

The Rangers lose in the ninth, and yes Wilson gave up a big hit, but i'm I the only one that noticed Cruz lolly gagging to the ball. It's not the first time i've noticed him going half-ass to a ball, but game on the line? Maybe the baseball gods turned his ankle for his lack of hustle. Throwing away games in the late innings can't happen for this team to be taken seriously, and handing them away due to laziness is unacceptable. To bad the trade deadline has passed, i'd send him packing. Maybe this is why it took him so long to get on the big league roster, his heart doesn't seem to be in the game at times.

Don't Do It

Rumors swirling about Rangers trade for Roy Halladay. Reportedly the Jays have asked for Holland, Hunter, Smoak, and one more in return. Smoak i can live with because after all he is a prospect with no big league experience, and prospects are like lottery tickets some may win you a couple of bucks but very few hit the big pay off. Hunter and Holland on the other hand are two young pitchers that have gotten real big league experience and shown signs of being solid pieces to a rotation long term. Halladay would only be here for one year, and chances are we would trade him away to a contender before the end of next season. In my opinion, the Rangers would be better off to stay pat with the young hurlers, and should have pursued a veteren bat to add to this line-up.

If you bring in Halladay and give up two guys in your rotation, who fills the spot in the rotation, not just now but you'd have to find three starting pitchers for the rotation by middle of next season.

In short bringing in Roy and losing what we would potentially lose just doesn't make this team stronger, if anything it hurts this team now and long term.

A little help please!!

The Rangers finish the short road trip taking 2 of 3 from K.C., but the big concern will be the health of Millwood. This pitching rotation has been nothing short of remarkable by Rangers standards and losing the ace for any extended period now could hurt the small chance they have of winning the division or sneaking into the wild card. The bats need to get hot and fast with the Tigers coming to town tomorrow, those long slow long ball swings won't do to well with heat the Tigers staff can bring. With the Angels playing the way they are the Rangers can't afford to drop 2 of 3 to Detroit or they might find themselves 5 back by Wed.

Big XII preview updated

updated Big XII SEC blog

A good start

The Rangers dropped the first two out of the all star break, but recovered nicely to win 4 of 6 including a sweep of the Red Sox. Pitching was the key to the homestand, but it still worries me how much this team needs the long ball. The Angels aren't giving the boys any chance to make up room at the moment, KC seemed to just keep giving games away. Rangers head to KC tomorrow and try to keep the mojo going, as they are 3 back from the Angels and 2.5 back of the Red Sox in the wild card race. The pitching continues to be the bright spot on this team, and well honestly that's just never been the case and i'm still not sure i trust this staff. David Murphy continues to swing the hottest bat in the line-up and should remain in the everyday rotation. Red Sox nation is reeling a bit as they have dropped 5 in a row and fallen 2 games back of the evil empire.

Time to seperate the men from the boys

Now that the ASG is behind us, we look to the second half of the season. The Rangers had a great first half in relation to what was expected of this team, but it's a long season and the question is do they have any staying power. If this ball club can get to 90 wins i'd say they had a great year, playoffs or not. What needs to happen for the Rangers to have a chance, the pitching will need to at least repeat the first half ( not easy to do for this staff ), same goes for the defense, but the single most important key to the second half i believe is that the bats don't go MIA for an extended period of time again. Kinsler needs to become a true lead-off hitter and get on base, and the free swingers have got to find a way to put balls in play. Would enjoy nothing more than to watch this team play meaningful baseball for the rest of the season.

All Star game, does anyone care?

I for one do not care about the ASG, and never really have. Sure you get the most popular ( not necessarily the ones having all star years ) players in the league in one stadium for one night playing an almost meaningless baseball game. The process of selecting the teams is a joke, with the exception of the managers picks, for the most part it's about the popular teams and biggest fan bases.

BUT, i'll probably watch parts of it because well there aren't any other sports on to compete with it.

What's your opinion of the ASG, obviously mine is it is a big waste of time.

Hamilton in, Davis out

When the Rangers get to the big "A" tonight, Josh Hamilton (the all-star???) is back and Chris Davis has been sent down to AAA. That leaves this club with six outfielders on the roster. I'm not sure why Borbon is on the roster, because he's not getting AB's or time in the field, and now that Hamilton is back i don't see that changing. Byrd and Murphy are swinging the hottest bats for the Rangers and my guess is Murphy will be designated to playing on days that righties are pitching. I think we are stunting the future of a player like Borbon, at the moment there just isn't a lot of room or situations to get him in the game.

If Chris Davis is going to remain a Ranger long term he has got to shorten his swing, and Hamilton needs to show some signs of last seasons greatness. Ham needs to show that last year wasn't a fluke at the plate, he's a great comeback story but has no business being in the all-star game.

Are we the next Expos?

Star-telegram reports rumors this morning that the Hicks group took out a $15 million dollar loan to make payroll this week. Speculation of late has been that the Rangers are in financial trouble ( Hicks group defaulted on a $525 million loan ) and the possibility looms that MLB could potentially take over operations of the team. John Daniels confirmed in the article that the Rangers will not take on anymore contracts through trades, and that any improvements will have to come from within.

So, what could this mean, well if you remember the Expos were the best farm team in baseball and their best players every season were usually traded away to the highest bidders. Timing could not be worse, the Rangers are in a position to make a real run at playoff baseball this season, but i feel there is still a hole or two that needs to be filled. If MLB takes over this team we would risk losing some of the players that make this team fun to watch. In short, tough times are ahead for this franchise if a buyer doesn't surface quickly.

Fireworks Flying

The long ball returned to the Ballpark last night as the Rangers set off the fireworks 5 times in a 9-5 win. The rubber game tonight features two of the best pitchers in the A.L. with Weaver and Millwood. A win tonight could put the confidence back in this team that has been missing, they've continued to say all the right things of late, but their body language has looked like a beaten down team.

Let us assume that June is as bad as it can get for this team, and if so, surviving last month only 1.5 back of first this could still be the best season this franchise has had since the last playoff run. As a long time Ranger fan i long for meaningfull baseball in August and September, one can only take so much Cowboys pre-season chatter on all the airwaves.

Heating UP

Unfortunately the only thing heating up at the Ballpark is the mercury. The boys of summer were 1 hit last night and dropped 2 of 3 to the Padres. The Angels come to town tonight for 3 followed by 4 with the Mariners, this could be a critical stage in this teams season. If the next 7 games are as ugly as the previous seven, we could find ourselves 5-6 games back in no time.

All i'm hearing on the trade news is that Daniels would like to add bullpen help, and yes we probaby do need another solid arm in the pen. This front office is still refuses to admit this offense is going nowhere right now. If this is the plan stick with the young guns and see where this team is going for the future, then why in the hell don't we trade Millwood, Jones, Padilla and get some more prospects for our young system.

CHRIS

What a night for Chris Davis, 4 for 5 with a double and a HR. I honestly hope this was the beginning of something for him, being that i'm on that bandwagon to send him back down to AAA. His struggles have been the topic of many Ranger blogs and newspaper articles, but i'm sure that all of us critics will gladly eat crow if he continues to show signs of life at the plate.

The Rangers closed out the six game road swing 2-4 and managed to keep a .5 game lead in the AL WEST. It's early in the season, but the next 10 games could lend direction for the rest of the season.

Hellow Win Column

Good to see you again my friend!!! Padilla pitched a great game last night going 7 and allowing 1 run, in fact Padilla has had 4 starts now since clearing waivers in early June. Maybe being put on the waiver wire is what he needed, he's 3-0 and only allowed 6 runs in his last four starts.

I keep hearing that this line-up misses Hamilton and when he gets back things will get going. First of all, i like Josh Hamilton, but if your line-up goes into a talespin because a .240 hitter is missing you've got issues. Hamilton is one of the best defensive center fielders in the game and he had a great offensive year last year, but he has struggled at the plate thus far this season and honestly has no business being 3rd in the all-star voting for the OF. None the less, I will be glad to see him back in the line-up, just not sure him missing has anything to do with the woes.

a little break

lets get a little comic break from the bad baseball

Things could be worse!!

As bad as the hitting has been of late the Rangers still hold on to a slim lead in the west over the Angels and now surging Mariners. The truth is yes the bats are cold, but this team has only been 1 or 2 hits away from winning their last 4 games ( lost the last 4 games by a total of 6 runs) in large part due to the pitching staff which continues to be solid.

This morning in the Star Telegram, Gil Lebreton ( http://www.star-telegram.com/284/story/1445638.html ) argues to leave Chris Davis alone and look at bringing up a couple of more unproven young players to stick in the already struggling line up. If we were 10 games out already at this point I'd say sure, why not, but we're sitting a top of the A.L. West even through the recent struggles. If anything this team needs to add a couple of veteran hitters to the line-up, and that means that yes we would have to move some young talent elsewhere to get what this team desperately needs, solid AB's.

Is it just a funk?

The west coast road trip couldn't have started much worse, getting swept by the Giants after two great starts by Millwood and Holland. I'm really starting to question rather or not this last month of poor hitting is just a slump or something more. Hear me out, very few Rangers are getting quality AB's in this skid, a lot of first pitch swinging pop-outs. It's not unusual for 1 or 2 guys to struggle at any given point, but the whole roster is a bit concerning reguardless of what the players keep saying. The swings in this line-up are looking slow and extremely long. I keep harping on this, but I'm honestly starting to wonder outside of Young ( who gives you 200 hits a season year in year out) if maybe we are just an average team with guys that up to this point in the season were playing better than they are. Shorten those swings boys.



Go Rangers

Looking for the Positives

Tough loss last night, after blowing some chances in the 1st and 2nd inning the Rangers battled back to take a 4-3 lead in the 6th. Feldman found himself in a bad spot in the bottom of the 6th, with runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out, Kinsler made a great play to double off the runner at 1st. The next batter Fred Lewis crushed the hopes of getting out of the inning when he took Feldman yard and the Giants bullpen did the rest.

Now lets look for the positives. Elvis Andrus really seems to be seeing the ball well right now going 2-4 last night. He is showing some patience at the plate that the rest of this team could learn from, he is becoming a tough out and not many Rangers can say that of late. Scott Feldman threw a decent game last night going 6 innings, the go ahead homerun he gave up in the 6th was not a bad pitch, and the Rangers did have plenty of chances in this game to score more runs. Michael Young went yard for the 2nd time in two games, and Byrd came through with a clutch double to give them the lead in the 6th.

I still believe in this team, but have two real concerns looking at the rest of the season. First, can this pitching staff continue to be solid, and more so will the bats wake up in time to make this a season to remember. This is a fun young team to watch and the pitching this far has definately been the big bright spot. Trying to keep it positive this morning, the reality post will probably come later.

Go Rangers

David Murphy swinging a Hot bat

The Rangers finished off a disappointing 4-5 home stand last night falling to the Astros, and now head west for some more interleague play with the Giants, D-backs, and Padres. Chris Davis and Michael Young hit HR's last night, David Murphy had a solid 2-3 outing, but overall the bats are still in hiding for this team. Don't look now the Angels are only a 1.5 back and getting healthier winning 7 of their last 10 including 6 in a row. The next 9 games are against the NL West and need to go 6-3 heading into the big series in Arlington with the Angels.



David Murphy continues to swing a hot bat, and staking his claim for a spot in the everyday line-up after Hamilton returns. Murphy who started the season 3 for 31 (.097 avg.) has since went 35 for 112 for a .313 avg. including a .340 avg. in the month of June.

This Day in Baseball History

A few historical tidbits from this day courtesy of www.nationalpastime.com


1973
Twenty days after pitching his high team to a state championship, Rangers' rookie David Clyde pitches five innings, strikes out eight and allows just one hit in his first major league start as Texas defeats the Twins, 4-3. A crowd of 35,698 fans, the first sellout at Arlington Stadium, to see the debut of the 18-year-old, $125,000 bonus baby.


2001
Citing he wants to spend more time with his family, Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. announces he will retire at the end of the season. The two-time MVP will be best remembered for his streak of playing in consecutive 2,632 games.



2002
In the first major league game to feature four players with 400 career homers, the Cubs beat the Rangers, 4-3, as Alex Gonzalez hits a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning. Sammy Sosa (475), Fred McGriff (459) and Juan Gonzalez (401) watched Rafael Palmerio add his 460th home run to the total.

Chris Davis, and the hitting problem

It's hard for me to say this about someone from my hometown, but Chris Davis it's time to head for waivers. He is an above average first baseman and seems to be well-liked by his team, but if this team is going to make a serious run at October baseball ( i know we haven't even got to the allstar break yet) there is no room in the batting order for a .202 average. This brings me to my bigger problem with this team, hitting. This team needs to learn how to play small ball, Michael Young is the only .300 hitter in this everyday line-up. Outside of Young there don't seem to be any hitters in this order that can or will shorten up there swing and just put the ball in play. David Murphey seems to be getting on track and shows the ability to shorten up when needed, as he did last night, but I don't see him getting a lot of AB's after Hamilton returns. There needs to be some changes starting with Hank becoming the everyday 1st baseman for now, and move Omar into the DH spot hitting .322, who says your designated hitter has to be a power hitter. I would even go so far as to hit Omar lead off and slide Kinsler to the 3rd spot in the order behind Young, but in the end I guess it's easy to manage the team and 2nd guess from the comfort of my couch. You have to admit the line-up change does make sense, why not go for more consistent AB's and possibly better run support for our pitchers.

P.S. John Daniels i'm available if you need me

what needs to be done

For those of us who've been Ranger fans as long as we can remember ( although at times it's been tough to admit ) the season is off to a better than expected start. There seems to be something different about the way this season is going, we seem to have found some stable starting pitching, but there seems to be a lack of hitting. I find myself questioning Ron Washington regularly in close games for his management, mostly his unwillingness to move runners into scoring position late in games. The Rangers may have won in extra innings last night, but Washington's managerial decision in the 9th to let Chris Davis (hitting a crowd pleasing .202 and on pace to break the strike out record) swing away with no outs and a runner on 2nd is beyond me. There had to be somebody on the bench who can get a bunt down, like maybe Elvis Andrus. If this poor decision wasn't enough, with 2 outs and the runner still stuck on 2nd he pinch hits for Omar with Jones. I've never managed a big league team, but it would make sense that when a basehit wins the game you would probably want a guy hitting .320 swinging the bat versus one hitting .250 and prone to strike out, right? All for not, because at the end of the day the sign still flashed "HELLO WIN COLUMN", but one does wonder if Washington would be held accountable had the game been lost.