Oh My...

New Rangers, Rich Harden (L) and Chris Ray (R)

What a busy couple of days for the Texas Rangers, and they may not be done yet.

Rumors had floated around Texas for a couple of days, but it seemed like for the most part, they were standing pat due to financial difficulties.

Then came Wednesday. There had been rumblings that the Mets and Orioles had interest in Kevin Millwood, but nothing seemed serious. Then word comes down on mid-Wednesday-morning, that the Orioles and Rangers had agreed on a swap of Kevin Millwood for Chris Ray and the Orioles first pick in the Rule 5 draft (The player ended out being Ben Snyder, a lefty pitcher from the Giants organization)

Huh?

It doesn't make any sense to to trade your staff number 1, a guy who was an inning horse for you all year, and not have anything else in place.

The main guy they're getting back, Chris Ray, was a good pitcher once upon a time. He's a guy who a short time ago (2006 season) saved 33 games, had an ERA under 3 and held opponents to a batting average of .193

He struggled the following season though and had to have Tommy John surgery near the end of the 07 season which caused him to miss all of 08 and pitch horribly in 09. It's always been a generally accepted rule that if a pitcher is coming back from Tommy John surgery, that his first year back will be a bumpy road and if he's ever to return to form, it will be the second season back from the surgery.

Show time, Chris Ray. The Rangers are obviously banking on the hope that Ray will return to dominant form for them and be a cheap, game changing addition.

Still, even if he is excellent this year, you just traded away you're number 1 and have no one to fill the role.

Enter Rich Harden. I've long been a fan of Harden's, and if you'll look at the last post before this one, I mentioned Harden by name as someone that the Rangers should target if they want to win in 2010. Thank you, Jon Daniels.

Harden's always an injury concern, but damn if he doesn't have some of the best stuff in baseball. Solid velocity (Can kick his fastball up to about 97, but hovers more around 93 or 94...think Derek Holland velocity) and has one of the nastiest changeup's in baseball. Maybe the best.

As Dan Plesac said on MLB Network after the signing was made "Rich Harden, when healthy, and that is the trick...keeping him healthy, is as good as any right handed pitcher in the AL or NL"

That's mighty high praise when you think that Plesac is saying Harden is just as good or better than guys like Roy Halladay, Zack Greinke, Tim Lincecum, etc.

So basically what the Rangers did was trade Kevin Millwood for Rich Harden, Chris Ray and Ben Snyder. I'll take that.

Then comes word late Wednesday that the Rangers were close to trading catching prospect Max Ramirez for Red Sox Third Baseman Mike Lowell. If the trade goes down, which it should, then Lowell would be the Rangers' DH and be there to give a night off in the field to Michael Young and Chris Davis.

Lowell is coming off a .290/17 HR season. The Rangers could have desperately used that production in the last month of the 09 season. It was the bats that just killed them down the stretch.

Lowell is closing in on the end of his career, but if he can give the Rangers .285 and 20 home runs while being able to keep guys like Michael Young fresh by giving them the occasional night off, then I'm all for it. Lowell makes 12 million dollars, but the Red Sox are going to eat 9 million of it.

That means Texas traded a fading prospect in Ramirez for a solid run producer in the middle of the lineup and they'll only be paying him 3 million.

All these moves are risky. Ray could blow up, Harden's shoulder could blow up and Lowell could just get REALLY old overnight.

You have to take risks if you want to be successful. And though all of these could end up being significant risks they didn't need to take, if it blows up, they really won't be on the hook for them past this year.

Something fun to look at is that it's completely possible that the Opening Day lineup and rotation will be...

----------Hamilton--------------------Borbon-------------------Cruz---

----------------------Andrus----------------------Kinsler------------------------
Young------------------------------------------------------------------Davis-----


-------------------------------------Teagarden---------------Lowell--------------

1] Rich Harden
2] Scott Feldman
3] Tommy Hunter
4] Derek Holland
5] Neftali Feliz

Were it to break like that, you're looking at a REALLY young team come April. The average age of those 14 Rangers players is 26 years old.

Exciting times for the Rangers. They're still looking for bullpen help (Darren Oliver seems to be the guy they want) and they also need a veteran backup catcher (With the departure of Pudge. /sadness)

After those two things get shored up, Texas will look very scary.

Mavs play tonight. Let's hope Tim Thomas doesn't throw any chairs because he got cold pancakes...or something like that.

They play the Heat at 6:30. Check it out.

I Feel Bad

I have the most sickening feeling that the Mavericks are going to lose to the New Jersey/Brooklyn/Jay-Z Nets tonight.

Josh Howard is still out, so is Ross apparently. And if you heard the "FUCK" exclaimed from Shawn Marion on FoxSports as he walked to the locker room after Monday's game, than you have to wonder about his health too.

Also, teams always seem to play well for the first few games after a coach is fired. New Jersey doesn't want to be the sole owner of this record and with Dallas struggling the last few games with injuries and Barea's general presence on the floor, than you have to be a little concerned about this being a trap game.

Please do not sleep walk through this game, Dallas. You don't get enough respect as it is and it will only get worse if you lose to NJ/BK/JZ tonight. When you get into the playoffs later in the year, what will people use against you as a reason to pick the other team in the series? "Yeah, Dallas is good, but they lost to the Nets. How good can you be when that happens?"

I'd really rather not hear that garbage, so please win tonight. Don't make me embarrassed to be a Mavericks fan tonight. Just...finish them. Kill them. Please. Don't even make it a close game. Beat them by 40 if it's at all possible.

Ugh. I'm scared.

Anyway, Rangers offered arbitration to Marlon Byrd and Pudge yesterday. I still think people need to keep an eye out for Salty or Tea to get traded and Pudge to get re-signed. I may be wrong, but that's what it feels like to me.

Rumors also keep going around about Jermaine Dye, Darren Oliver and other spares. I'm going to cry if the Rangers don't make a significant improvement this off-season. Next year is supposed to be their big year where all the young talent comes together. It won't be possible if you don't get a solid patient hitter (Let's say Nick Johnson) or a good starting pitcher (Rich Harden for example) and thus I will be angry and sad for 5 months.

Oh well. Check out the Mavs and pray they don't lose to the Nets.

MVP! MVP! MVP! (Part 2)

Sitting in section 308 of the American Airlines Center (A section I frequent. I'll be the one with the nosebleed from the altitude...holla!) I tried to get the MVP chant going. No luck. In due time, though.

Last night I saw a fire in Dirk Nowitzki that I haven't seen...maybe ever. I don't know. I don't ever recall him being so pumped and so confident and brash to the point that he walks to the fans in the front row and gives a flex.



Dirk Nowitzki is just too good right now. Everything is going down when the Mavericks need it most. He hasn't been money for all 4 quarters in most games this year, but he's been near 100% shooting when the Mavs most need a bucket and that's what Dallas needs more than anything from him. If he's hovering around 40% shooting on the night and doesn't exactly seem on fire...it doesn't matter. If he's missed 4 or 5 straight shots in a row...doesn't matter. If he is going to the lane, getting to the line and missing free throws...IT DOESN'T MATTER. For the first time in Dirk Nowitzki's career, none of that matters. Because even if all that is happening, he's shown this year that if there's 30 seconds left in the game and the Mavs down by one, he's going to isolate just above the free throw line and drain it every time. Whether he takes it to the rim and finishes or does his trademark fadeaway...either way...we all know it's going down this year.

Dirk is having an MVP season. I know it's only 12 games into the season, but I haven't seen this fire in him before. In past years the team has almost had an attitude of "We're young...we'll get em next year."

This year, Dirk seems to be of the mindset that tomorrow may never come and so it's all about today. Boy...as if Dirk Nowitzki wasn't dangerous enough, the league should be terrified if he's playing with the swagger and fire he has right now.

In addition to Dirk's special season, you're starting to get the feeling that this Mavericks team is special too. They just find ways to win. They're 9-3 and still have yet to play a game with their full compliment of players. If Marion is playing, Howard isn't. If Howard is playing, Tim Thomas isn't. If Tim Thomas is playing, Marion isn't. It's been like that all year for Dallas and they're still 9-3. Can you imagine what's going to happen when they get everyone healthy?

PG - Jason Kidd
SG - Josh Howard
SF - Shawn Marion
PF - Dirk Nowitzki
C - Erick Dampier/Drew Gooden

BENCH

Jason Terry
Roddy Beaubois
JJ Barea
Kris Humphries
Tim Thomas
Quinton Ross

Holy cow...that's a deep roster. With Ross playing MUCH better defense than he was earlier in the year, Humphries becoming more patient with his shot and the emergence of one Roddy Buckets, the Mavs are looking really scary. There's not really a weakness on the roster right now. It was thought to be the Center position, but the combo of Gooden and Dampier starting has been stunningly effective. The Mavericks have gotten an average of 9.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks a game from the starting Center in their games this year. Gooden specifically is averaging 16.6 points, 12 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in games he starts as well as playing the team's tough guy role.

I guess the one real weakness the team might have right now is it's jump shooting. If you can stick Dallas in a half court game and make them knock down contested 18 foot jumpers, you have a real chance. For Dallas to be effective, they need to be running. If they're running, they're impossible to stop due to their athleticism which allows easy buckets and in turn will lead to open transition threes. But if you can make them play half court offense and shoot late into the shot clock, Dallas has been known to struggle on offense.

However, if Beaubois continues his rapid growth and Thomas can come back healthy from his knee problems and Jet can FINALLY start hitting shots we know he can make, then Dallas becomes that much more dangerous since the only thing left to fix is the perimeter game.

Also, on the subject of Terry's jumper not falling, some people complained about Terry taking the final shot in the fourth quarter that sent it into overtime. I've been frustrated with Jet lately, but I have to give Carlisle a break on this one. With two seconds left, Dirk would pretty much have to catch and shoot since his shot creation is usually a slow process. Carlisle went with the guy he knows can get open in a flash, and that's Jet. Had there been 4 seconds left, I have no doubt that Dirk would have taken the shot. I just think with that little time on the clock, Carlisle was looking for someone who could get their look as quick as possible and that was Jet.

Finally, a story was released yesterday that says Tom Hicks is putting together a group to try and save his majority stake in the Rangers. Before you go to sleep tonight and say your prayers, ask God to not let Tom Hicks retain ownership of the Rangers. It's for the best.

MVP! MVP! MVP!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uti8Kz4SYUU

I said it on Twitter, but it deserves saying again...Dirk Nowitzki is an effing man.

With the grit and will of Larry Bird and the swagger of Michael Jordan, Dirk saw his team in need last night and basically said "OK guys...time to get on my back, cuz I'm going to carry you tonight."

Mavericks had been awful all night. They were playing decent defense, but as has been the case all year (Including their wins) the Mavs just couldn't hit jump shots. This is a Dallas team that if you can prevent them from getting a head of steam and running up and down the floor for transition buckets, they're very easy to slow down. Because if they can't run, they're forced to take jumpers and they just don't have a roster that can consistently hit 20 footers.

The Jazz obviously knew this. Whatever happened, Utah was going to make sure first and foremost that Dallas did not get any fast break points. By doing that, they forced Dallas to shoot under 35 percent for most of the first three quarters.

Dallas entered the fourth quarter down by double digits and the Jazz lead got all the way up to 16 at one point. That's when Dirk Nowitzki had enough of it and decided he was just going to ram to the basket, no matter who was in his way. He took it to the hole repeatedly at the start of the 4th and quickly go in the bonus. Dirk scored a monumental 29 points in the 4th quarter...two short of tying the NBA record (Wilt Chamberlain) for most points in a 4th quarter.

I saw something in Dirk last night that I haven't seen since the 05-06 season when the Mavericks made the Finals. It was a will to just not let his team lose that ballgame. It wasn't the same sort of game, but it was Jordan-esque in the way he carried his entire team against a defense that had shut them out for three quarters.

I've seen a lot of greatness from Dirk Nowitzki in his time with the Mavericks, but last night may have been the finest performance I've ever seen from him.

Dirk Nowitzki single-handedly defeated the Utah Jazz last night.

Cowboys Suck Right Now

Cowboys are in so much trouble. Tony Romo had an entire summer to work on this chemistry thing with his receivers. Reports said he and Roy Williams were staying extra late after practice to work on timing and such.

Apparently that timing wasn't enough. Romo is still throwing passes right as his receivers cut left. Could that be a fault of the receivers? Sure. But I highly doubt that Sam Hurd, Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton are all screwing up the route the same way. Seems more likely that one guy, Romo, is screwing things up. Romo is the only constant in passing routes and so blame should fall on him at the moment.

Makes you miss Terrell Owens, doesn't it? T.O. is equally frustrated in Buffalo where Trent Edwards doesn't seem to know what he's doing and has the arm strength of a middle schooler.

Like him or not, T.O. and Romo were always on the same page when it came to routes. Looks like all the critics were correct in their assumption that Romo wasn't a top tier quarterback, because he's been awful this year.

Hopefully these routes will start syncing up soon, otherwise Dallas is looking at a 7-9 season.

Also, now that the Rangers have closed up, here's a little taste of the season...a tribute I made while I was insanely bored. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC0r1kauYbY

Looking to 2010

I don't even want to bother trying to make an argument for the Rangers the rest of the year. Time to look towards the off season and what needs to be done to get better.

Here's a list of things I think need to happen.

* Nelson Cruz, as much as I loved what he's done for us, needs to go. He's been solid in the outfield and he's provided pop at the plate, but there's a log-jam in the outfield and he has an easy to move contract. Plus, it's always a red flag when a player suddenly breaks out at the age of 29. He'll be 30 before the middle of next year and it's completely possible that this will be the best year of his career. Trade him to an offensively starved team like the Giants for Reliever Sergio Romo and Third Base prospect Conor Gillaspie.

* Time to bring back Milton Bradley. Bradley will be available now that he's been sent home by the Cubs for the rest of the year, and the rumor (Per Peter Gammons) is that if the Cubs trade him, they'd be willing to eat a lot of his contract. Money wouldn't be an issue for the Rangers in this instance and they could bring back a bat and a passion that they have sorely missed. Maybe swap one of your catchers and a mid level pitching prospect.

* Something I mentioned about a month ago...trade one of your catchers. I was leaning towards Salty last month, but now I don't know. Either way, Teagarden or Saltalamacchia needs to be traded away and Pudge should be re-signed to split time and be a veteran presence. I think if one gets moved, it may be Tea at this point.

* Let Millwood go. Just let him go...

* With Andruw Jones gone and Omar Vizquel likely to retire, you need to bring in two utility players. Jerry Hairston Jr and Craig Counsell would be two guys that you could play just about anywhere.

* Sign Joe Beimel to be a lefty arm out of the bullpen and Ben Sheets to be apart of your rotation. Sheets' rehab has been quiet, but the feeling is that he will eventually be a Texas Ranger.

* Move Neftali Feliz to the rotation.

* Use all of the coaching staff's hours during the off season to fix two things. 1) Ian Kinsler's uppercut swing...fix the hitch that's making him pop everything up. In 08 he was a line drive hitter who could also hit with some power. In 09, he's just hacking for the fences. 2) Work on fixing Julio Borbon's arm strength. He's too quick and covers too much ground to be a DH. His weak arm makes him a liability in the outfield though, so work hard to make his throwing arm stronger.

* Let Smoak start the year with the big league club.

The Rangers should then bat the lineup like so...

Julio Borbon - LF
Elvis Andrus - SS
Michael Young - 3B
Josh Hamilton - CF
Milton Bradley - RF
Ian Kinsler - 2B
Chris Davis - 1B/DH
Justin Smoak - DH/1B
Pudge/Salty - C

BENCH

David Murphy
Jerry Hairston
Craig Counsell

ROTATION

Scott Feldman
Ben Sheets
Tommy Hunter
Derek Holland
Neftali Feliz

BULLPEN

Dustin Nippert or Brandon McCarthy - Long Reliever
Jason Grilli - Middle Reliever
Sergio Romo - Middle Reliever
Joe Beimel - Middle Reliever
Darren O'Day - Middle Reliever/Setup
CJ Wilson - Setup
Frank Francisco - Closer

Now, the lineup and the reasons for setting it that way.

Borbon and Andrus have to be at the top. Andrus has hit around .290, .295 since the All-Star break. Borbon has shown flashes of being a .315 or so hitter. Two guys who get on base a lot and immediately get in the pitcher's head with their speed. This would start a lot of games with two on, no one out, speed on the bases and the team's best hitter coming up.

Having Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Milton Bradley and Ian Kinsler hitting in consecutive order sets up the team like it did in 08...pitchers can't pitch around any of them. The problem with this year's lineup has been that in between Hamilton and Cruz, was someone like Byrd. Solid hitter, but someone you can pitch too and then throw garbage to the big guns. You can't throw garbage to four hitters in a row.

Davis has his plate issues, Smoak would be a rookie, and our Catcher's aren't the best hitters, but those three at the bottom of the order are solid for their placing.

As for the rotation, if Sheets is healthy, the rotation sets up really nicely. Feldman has shown signs of brilliance, Hunter showed a lot of growth, we've seen Feliz's dominance, and Holland has shown flashes as well. I think Dutch is just going through his rookie lumps like Hunter did in 08. I expect him to be much better in 2010.

So how would you set the lineup? What moves would you make? Leave a comment in the little box below!

Cowboys thoughts coming soon...

All That Needs To Be Said About Sunday's Meltdown

Maybe CJ shouldn't pitch without rest...

CJ Wilson's Stats When Pitching With No Rest

IP: 12
ER: 16
ERA: 12.00
W-L: 0-5
SV: 4/6

CJ Wilson's Stats With Rest

IP: 48
ER: 6
ERA: 1.12
W-L: 4-1
SV: 12/14

OH! So THAT'S What Strike 3 Looks Like.

Irresponsible. Outside of being a Texas Rangers fan, I have to say it's irresponsible for an umpire to call a batter out on that pitch in a 3-2 baseball game. Chris Davis did not strike out last night.

I always hear outsiders of a team where something like that happens say something to the effect of "Well, it they wouldn't have done 'A' then 'B' at the end wouldn't have mattered, so it's your own fault."

Wrong. Missed opportunities earlier in the game is no excuse for a Triple-A umpire up to the big leagues ending a close ball game on what is at best a borderline call and in all reality was ball four. So frustrating.

Tommy Hunter had a rough first inning. The Twins hit the ball hard off of him and scored 3 runs, but he held them to 3 hits and no runs for the next 6. Disappointing that he had to come out on the losing end. Coming in after him was prospect Pedro Strop who looked really good. Struck out Mauer, popped up Morneau and got Kubel to ground out. That's Minnesota's three best hitters right there.

Strop showed a nasty splitter when he got Mauer to strike out. Hopefully he can pitch just half as good as he did the rest of the way...it would go a long way to taking pressure off of Neftali Feliz.

I'm still frustrated with the bats right now. Outside of Young, no one has been consistent. Josh has hit the ball well this month, but he's having a major power outage. 2 home runs in the last two months.

Scotty Feldman is on the hump tonight. Texas could really use six or seven innings from Scott tonight.

Other notes: Tommy Mendonca has been promoted to High-A Bakersfield. Mendonca, a Chris Davis clone if I ever saw one, was shredding pitchers at Spokane, but also struck out at a ridiculous rate. Hopefully he can remedy the swiss cheese in his swing. Still, it's encouraging that the Rangers would think highly enough of him to promote him after only 49 professional games.

Brandon McCarthy pitched well at OKC on Thursday. 6 innings, 2 hits, 3 walks and 7 strikeouts. Nippert and McCarthy should be the two pitchers going for the Rangers in the double-header against Toronto, and it may be a significant test to see who will take hold of the fifth spot in the rotation. Nippert has struggled of late, so BMac may come in and take his rotation spot back after being out since May with a fracture in his shoulder.

Also, Justin Smoak finally homered again for OKC. His combined numbers at all minor league levels this year are .289 avg, .410 OBP, 12 HR, 21 2B, 57 RBI. Averaged out to a 162 game schedule and his numbers are .289/.410/18HR/32 2B/88 RBI. Not a bad year for Smoak. You'd certainly take that every year if he could produce it at the major league level, but the great thing about Smoak is that he projects to be even better than that.

AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

What a terrifying victory for the Rangers on Tuesday night. An odd thing to say for sure, but it's the only thing to say. Flat out, the Texas Rangers are lucky to have won last night's game by the 10-9 final that they did.

To be perfectly honest, the game reminded me of this one we played against the Angels in May.

http://sportsbydallas.blogspot.com/2009/05/and-hits-just-keep-on-coming.html

With what seemed like a sure 10-5 lead, the Rangers came into the 9th with Jason Grilli pitching to get some work in now that he's off the DL. Grilli gave up a walk and a single and was quickly pulled in favor of Frank Francisco.

Of course, thanks to my jinx having posted yesterday that Frankie hadn't walked anyone since July 10th, he walks A-Rod to load the bases with no one out. Matsui singles, one run scores. Bases still loaded and no one out. 10-6. Next batter is Jorge Posada who in his career is 0-9 against Frankie...until tonight. Fluky little infield single scores Tex from third and loads the bases again. No one out, 10-7 the score now. Robinson Cano now up...as the game winning run. Cano, of course, hits a weak single that score two.

Texas is now faced with runners on first and second, no one out, in a 10-9 ball game. Nick Swisher comes up and is bunting. I know why Girardi made the call, but I disagree with it. With no one out, I think you have to let Swisher swing there. Swisher fails on the bunt attempt, popping it up and out. Runners stay put, but Texas is still faced with thy tying run in scoring position and Melkey Cabrera coming up. Melkey lines out to Elvis Andrus, who quickly scampers to second and steps on the bag just ahead of pinch-runner Jerry Hairston's dive. Double play to end the game.

Texas really got lucky here. I'm starting to wonder if maybe Neftali Feliz should take over closer duties for now. Bottom line, Feliz is the most dominant pitcher the Rangers have right now.

The second most dominant pitcher the Rangers have right now is Derek Holland. He'll be on the mound for Texas tonight against Andy Pettite. Texas looks to clinch a series win with a victory tonight. Texas HAS to take two out of three and could really use a sweep in this series.

Couple awesome notes from yesterday's game...Josh Hamilton had four hits...Michael Young went 2-5 with another home run and three RBI...9 of Texas' 10 runs came with two outs and each time the rally started with 2 out and no one on.

Pitching has to be a concern for Texas right now. They've been rocked around a little bit the last couple weeks. Hopefully Holland and Hunter can end that trend these next two nights.

Also, finally, random thought that has been bugging me. After seeing Kinsler getting plunked on a regular basis, I'm really starting to feel like Texas would be well served to charge next time that happens. You don't want to do it, but there comes a point where the club needs to stick up for Kinsler. The next time he gets hit, I say you either charge the mound or drill the opposing team's best player with a Feliz fastball. Either way...Texas needs to back it's All-Star second baseman.

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers...

Josh Hamilton in the month of August is hitting .345 with 9 extra base hits and 12 RBI...

Ian Kinsler is averaging a home run every 11 at-bats since coming off the DL and his OBP is .400...

Derek Holland is 4-2 with a 2.95 ERA since the All-Star Break...

More specifically, since being rocked by the Royals on July 25th, Derek Holland is 4-1 with a 1.85 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched...

Elvis Andrus while also playing superb defense is hitting .292 since the All-Star break which is 30 points higher than the league average for starting shortstops...

Frank Francisco hasn't walked a batter since July 10...

Darren O'Day hasn't allowed a home run in two months...

Josh Hamilton is hitting .320 on the road for the year...

Right handed batters are 1 for 23 with 11 strikeouts and 0 extra base hits or RBIs against Neftal Feliz...

Marlon Byrd is hitting .337 when batting clean up...

Michael Young is on pace to hit .329 with 46 doubles, 28 home runs and 83 RBI...

Batters are 0-12 against Kevin Millwood this year with the bases loaded...

Scott Feldman on the road this year is 9-1 with a 3.15 ERA...

Since joining the starting rotation for good in June, Tommy Hunter is 6-2 with a 2.65 ERA and a .214 opponents batting average...

When hitting leadoff this year, Julio Borbon is batting .468 with 9 runs scored and 6 RBI and a .514 OBP...

Ian Kinsler is hitting .309 with runners in scoring position this year...

Since July 20th, Michael Young is hitting .389 with 26 RBI and 19 extra base hits...

Texas Should (And Ultimately Will) Trade Jarrod Saltalamacchia

I know a lot of people who are afraid to even entertain the idea of letting Jarrod Saltalamacchia go. He's had such great potential and was the supposed center piece of the most lopsided trade that Texas has ever pulled off.

When rising through Atlanta's minor league ranks, he was projected by many scouts as a decent defensive catcher with a big bat. A 30 home run, 100 RBI, .290 hitter seemed to be the consensus projection for Salty. Numbers like that from a SWITCH-HITTING Catcher would make any team go ga-ga, and it's why he was the big chip in the Teixeira trade.

Before I go on with why Saltalamacchia should be traded and why I think the Rangers have already made up their mind on it, let me pass along some notes that go hand in hand with this theory.

August 14th...Jarrod Saltalamacchia is pulled from a game against the Boston Red Sox in the 4th inning with more numbness in his arm.

August 15th...Saltalamacchia is put on the disabled list, Jon Daniels is quoted as saying the Rangers would "explore possible trade options in an effort to upgrade the catching situation"

August 18th...Pudge Rodriguez, all time fan favorite and still a solid catcher, is traded to the Texas Rangers for two minor leaguers. Upon arrival, Pudge is quoted as saying "This would be a great place to finish my career. I'm very excited to be back." as well as saying "Physically and mentally, I feel great. I want to play two or three more years."

Just down the hall in the Rangers clubhouse, Taylor Teagarden tells the media "I grew up watching and he was my idol. I've got the opportunity of a lifetime"

Pudge brings out the lineup card and the crowd goes wild. Pudge appears to feel right at home and the crowd is loving him.

August 19th...Pudge returns to the Rangers lineup and goes 3-4 with two singles, an RBI double and a run scored.

Back to today. I think at this point in time it's clear that the better all-around baseball player between Texas' two young catchers is Taylor Teagarden. I'm not saying Salty can't be better, but RIGHT NOW, it's Teagarden. While Salty has improved his defense, Teagarden is still a vastly better defensive Catcher and calls a better game. Salty's appeal has always been his offense though, so it would be excusable if he had shown that he was a much better offensive player...I haven't seen it yet.

For 2009...

Walks/Plate Appearance

Salty: 22/302 (7.2%)
Tea: 13/145 (8.9%)

Strikeouts/Plate Appearance

Salty: 96/302 (31.7%)
Tea: 47/145 (32.4%)

RBIs (162 Game Average)

Salty: 66
Tea: 81

HRs (162 Game Average)

Salty: 17
Tea: 20

So at this point in time, Teagarden is showing more patience and more pop at the plate than Salty is. The only thing Saltalamacchia really had Taylor soundly beat on is batting average. Looking at the numbers above, logic would seem to say that Taylor Teagarden could use much of the off season to work on his swing and should be able to catch up to Salty by the beginning of next year (In contact that is...Tea has already caught and passed Salty in everything else)

Right now, I think the Rangers focus for the future has to be Taylor Teagarden. Now, about now, you may be saying "Fine...let Taylor be the main guy. Why do we have to trade Salty?"

A number of reasons.

Remember the quotes above from Pudge Rodriguez? He says that he wants to finish things off in Texas. He also says he wants to play two or three more years. By connecting the obvious dots, Pudge wants an extension from Texas at the end of the year.

"OK, but why does Pudge's desire to have an extension trump Salty's youth and potential?"

The focus is Taylor Teagarden. As I quoted above, Taylor is pumped to have Pudge here. Taylor can be the youth and future, with Pudge the veteran that can show him the ropes. And who better to learn the Catcher position from than Pudge? Especially when it's the player you grew up idolizing?

"But Catcher is a premium position"

Exactly why Salty has to go. He hasn't shown any signs over the last three years of being the bat everyone thought he was going to be, and the bat was the reason everyone wanted him. If the bat isn't there, you're left with a good, but not great defensive Catcher who can't hit from either side of the plate.

Look...the Rangers have brought home Pudge to finish his career like they should have, but Pudge has shown signs this year of being able to play an extra season or two and he's expressed a willingness to be a backup. With Taylor as the future, and Pudge being his tutor...the position becomes a little crowded with Salty seemingly standing around and doing nothing.

Jon Daniels is never afraid to make a big move. That's why I think you'll see Salty and Scott Feldman along with a minor leaguer packaged away for another solid starting pitcher or a power outfielder. Why Feldman? Well...while Feldman has been excellent this year, realistically people need to recognize when someone's having a career year...that's Feldman. Feldman and Salty's value are probably as high as they're going to be for the rest of their careers (With Salty, his value days are past his peak, so it's only going down from here)

I don't want to make the same mistake with Jarrod Saltalamacchia that we did with Ruben Mateo in the 90s/00s. You can't hold on to potential forever, and I'm afraid that's a wall we've run into with Saltalamacchia.

To be absolutely clear, let me state...by April of next year, Jarrod Saltalamacchia will no longer be a Texas Ranger.

Welcome Home, Pudge

Argh...what a frustrating loss that caps off a great day for Rangers fans.

He is back. My all time favorite player and the man I feel confident in saying is the single most popular Ranger in team history.

Working overnights as I do, I was sleeping at 1 o'clock this afternoon when I was shaken awake by my brother to tell me that Pudge Rodriguez had been traded to the Rangers. I didn't believe him. Not that it wasn't feasible (I spoke of the possibility on my twitter feed a couple of days ago) but you have to know my brother...he finds it funny to wake me up and tell me random untrue things like he did last week when I was woken up after two hours sleep and told "Ed Norton overdosed on cocaine and he's in the hospital"

I actually had to pull myself out of bed and go to a TV before I would allow myself to be excited. Sure enough...I was allowed to be excited.

As I said earlier, Pudge Rodriguez is my favorite player in the history of baseball. He is what got me into the sport when I was growing up. And while he's not the Pudge of old, he's still putting up better numbers then what we're currently getting out of our players at that position. He always calls good games, and so I'm thinking that aside from Teagarden, he may also help our young pitchers.

It's a good move anyway you look at it. Something that is very interesting is how Pudge commented in his press conference that he felt he could play two or three more years and wanted to retire with Texas. It's interesting because it seems like part of the reason Pudge was brought in was to mentor Tea, who idolizes him. If you have the young/veteran duo at catcher that can get along, and with Teagarden playing better overall baseball than Salty, I have to wonder if it's possible that Pudge isn't just a quarter year rental and if he's actually being brought in to give the Rangers some flexibility should they choose to move Saltalamacchia. Not saying it will happen, but just telling you to keep an eye on that.

Now as for the game...my excitement was so much that I had to buy tickets to Tuesday's game. Got a ball from CJ and had it signed by Kid Miracle (Derek Holland)...awesome.

The game itself was not awesome, however. While Borbon continued to get on and swipe bases, and Kinsler is still swinging the bat well after coming off the DL, and Hamilton had another RBI double, they still managed to blow a 5-0 lead...it's their biggest blown lead of the year. Quite depressing, especially on a night in which Boston and LAA won their ball games.

This game was lost (9-6) due to Feldman's fatigue and Jennings' inability to throw any pitch that was worth a damn. I loved what Jennings did earlier in the season, but he looks burned out right now. Rattled. We can't have that in the middle of a playoff chase. We can't have a pitcher who doesn't have any command on his fastball. Or a guy who has no break to pitches that are supposed to break. That's Jason Jennings right now.

With the loss and the Boston victory, Texas is now tied in the wild card lead and faces a brutal stretch of games. They need to perform and it starts by taking these next two against Minnesota.

Millwood will take the hill on Wednesday and will be caught by Pudge Rodriguez...I'm interested to see the ovation he receives.

Checking In!

Been away for awhile...here are some quick hits followed by some thoughts on the Rangers.

* That Neftali Feliz kid that I was pumping up and keeping track of in OKC early in the season...impressive, no?

* Glad Padilla is gone, hoping Smoltz will be added to the bullpen

* Disappointed that we couldn't bring in Roy Halladay, but I didn't want to give up Feliz, Smoak or Holland...anyone else in our minors was up for grabs in my eyes.

* Cowboys first preseason game was major yuck. Only the first team offense looked even semi-good, and they were just barely there.

* Shawn Marion and Tim Thomas get a thumbs up from me. Drew Gooden and no Rashad McCants get a thumbs down from me.

OK, now on to the Rangers who had the Twins on Monday night. Texas coming off of a big time series win over the Red Sox (Should have been a sweep were it not for Frankie Francisco pitching horrendously) had to look out for a lull, but they were pretty much on their game offensively.

Pitching? Eh...not so much. They struggled a tad, especially when compared to the dominance they've displayed at times since the All Star break.

Hunter went 5 2/3 and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5. I'm not sure what Hunter's deal was tonight. He had a fairly dominant stretch for a couple of innings, but most of the night Hunter struggled with his control. Just wasn't able to locate his pitches for strikes. On the evening he threw 101 pitches and 39 of them were balls. Not the best ratio, especially considering the ridiculous level that Hunter has been pitching at for the last two months or so.

Darren O'Day, the most consistent pitcher on the club this year, came in to get the last out of the sixth inning, faced three batters and failed to get any of them out. Walked two and gave up a single to the other. That cut a lead that was once 7-2, to 7-5 with two on.

Wash made the call to the bullpen and in came Neftali Feliz. Feliz has just been dominant since getting the call to the bigs. Coming in to tonight, Feliz had faced 28 batters, retired 26 of them and struck out 16 while walking 0. It doesn't get much more dominant than that.

Oddly enough, Feliz's stuff wasn't really on tonight. His velocity was curiously low, and his breaking stuff didn't quite have the bite that it had since he had been called up.

Still, Feliz came in and stopped the bleeding by getting the final out of the 6th and then allowing no runs in the 7th. Still, Feliz failed to strike a batter out for the first time since he was called up and went to a three ball count on Joe Mauer before he finally socked a single into center field. I think the game against Minnesota should be a telling sign that Neftali Feliz is a starting pitcher and not a reliever like some seem to think he will be. Feliz seemed fatigued. I think his velocity and arm health in general would be better suited to pitching 8 innings all at once instead of pitching 8 accumulated innings over the course of 8 games.

Neftali has gotten steadily slower with his fastball in recent games, and I think it's because his young arm just can't hold up under dialing up 100 miles per hour, being off a day, and then having to do it again two days later. He's not built like that. Feliz is a starter...not a doubt in my mind.

In the meantime, the Rangers are looking great. Hamilton is smoking the ball, as is Kinsler. I can't wait for Nelson Cruz to get back to full strength to see how he'll bolster this offense that seems to be gelling for the first time all year. The team as a whole seems to be putting it together, and that should scare the rest of the AL.

Texas leads the wild card by 1 game over Boston and just started what is sure to be a brutal schedule. Three more against Minnesota in Texas, and then a 9 game road trip that features three game stops in Tampa, New York, and back to face Minnesota to close it out. If Texas wants to show the world they're for real, I think they need to go 8-4/9-3 over these next 12.

Hopefully the pitching can keep up their stellar play and the bats will continue to come around.

Tonight is game two against the Twins. Scott Feldman on the hill. With the bullpen drained due to overuse in recent games, the Rangers could really use 7 or 8 innings from Scooter.

Rangers Take 3 out of 4 Against Oakland

3-1 isn't bad, but Rangers fans are probably feeling like we missed a really great opportunity to sweep the A's.

The one loss brought some of the more saddening news of the season...Frankie's scoreless streak is over. He gave up a ninth inning upper deck home run to Adam Kennedy in a 4-4 ball game. So after giving up his first run in 30 innings, he takes the loss. 5-4.

Something quite frustrating happened in the bottom of the 9th in that game. Vizquel on first (Pinch running for Josh Hamilton who was pinch hitting for Andrus) and Kinsler with a 2-0 count, swung at a bad pitch and grounded into a double play. Young would ground out the very next at-bat.

Why did Kinsler swing? Much has been made about Chris Davis' struggles at the plate (Deservedly so) but people need to start holding Ian Kinsler accountable. He has been flat out awful in the last month or so. His batting average has dropped 47 points in the last 17 games, going 11 for 63 in that span. That's a .174 average.

He needs to be watching film and working with Rudy.

Also in that loss to Oakland, Holland struggled once again. Giving up two runs in the 7th, which extended the Oakland lead to 4-0. A deficit that proved too much for the Rangers.

It wasn't all bad in the series. In fact, it was mostly good. The Rangers snatched both games of a double header on Friday and did it using nothing but sound, fundamental baseball.

Saturday's game was just a destruction of the Athletics. 14-1 victory in which every starter had a hit and an RBI except Andruw Jones (Odd considering how well he's played this year)

Sunday was just a really lame way to end the series. Probably wouldn't have dampened things so much had it been on Friday. Just the fact that it ended the series like that was a little disappointing.

Vicente Padilla is back on the hill Tuesday. The Rangers will make their first trip to the new Yankee Stadium where our hitters should feel very comfortable with that short porch in right.

Also, a quick Mavericks note...

There are reports leaking out from international outlets that Japanese point guard Yuta Tabuse will be invited to the Mavericks' summer camp.

LINK

Don't know much about the guy. He's 5'9" though...we already have a short point guard who struggles with bigger players (Barea) and he's 3 inches taller than Tabuse.

Here's some video of him...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nuc1iBqe3Z4

Still Best in the West

Interesting little stretch that the Rangers are going through right now.

After being swept by the Tigers, the Rangers went on the road and swept the Astros.

Some things of note about that series.

Kid Miracle (Derek Holland) got his first major league start against the Astros in the first game of the series. He really was excellent for 5 and two thirds, but he just had a problem with the next three hitters. Two fluky singles and then he left on hanging to Berkman.

Should have been a shoutout, but instead it was a 3 run day. Rangers were up 5-0 before the three run homer and the bullpen gave it up. Ended out having to finish it in extra innings thanks to Nelly Cruz's solo shot to right field.

Really wish Holland would have gotten the victory, but I like what he showed. He had a really nice fastball and his changeup was nice. He desperately needs a strong third pitch though. More on that later.

Frankie came back for that same game and got the save.

Scott Feldman put his 2-0 record up against the Astros in a Saturday game the next day. A very odd start to that game when Miggy Tejada was credited with a home run that didn't appear to be a home run. It looked to bounce off the top of the wall, but even after review was ruled a homer.

Feldman was good though. Again. He ended out dropping his ERA 4.04 after going 6.2 innings allowing just three runs. The second victory of the sweep brought his record to 3-0.

Nelly Cruz continued swinging the bat well that game going 2-4 with 4 RBI and 2 home runs.

And big hand for B-Mac! Brandon McCarthy with the first complete game of his career, scattering nine hits and allowing no runs. McCarthy looks MUCH better in his last few starts than he ever has as a Texas Ranger. Struck out 6 and thankfully only walked 1.

Big sweep and then the Yankees. Lost two out of three.

The first game I was in attendance for all of 4 innings. It was an ugly 6-0 game at that point, the Rangers couldn't hit anything, and it was hot. Really hot. I left early.

Matt Harrison got shelled and the Ranger bats could do nothing. Nelly Cruz hit a 9th inning homer (Continuing his hot streak) to end the shutout, but 11-1 is bad. Bleh.

With as good as New York is playing, I was happy to even get 1, which was Tuesday night's game. Kevin Millwood was on the hill and had his shortest outing of the year.

He had been hit in the finger with a baseball in the second (I think) inning of the game. I wonder if that messed with him at all. 5.2 innings, 9 hits, 4 walks, 3 runs.

He left in a 3-3 game and the Rangers went on to score 4 unanswered. Big 7-3 win for the Rangers. Frankie Francisco came in the game in the ninth, another scoreless outing. That's 29 consecutive innings without allowing a run. Simply amazing.

And me being the jinx that I am, I went to Wednesday night's game. Rangers lose 9-2.

Two cool things coming out of the evening.

1) I met Larry Brown, former Cowboys corner, in left field. I shook his hand, told him thank you for Super Bowl 30 and got him to sign some stuff. Best part of a rather lame evening.

2) I mentioned a little bit ago that Holland was working on another pitch. It's a curve. I had heard he was trying it out, but I didn't expect to see it in game.

Sure enough, there he was throwing it. Small sample size, as he only threw it three times that I could tell, but the first two times I saw it, it had one hell of a break to it. I mean a really, nasty, sharp cut. Looked like a 12-6 curve, but I was in the bleachers. Either way, I'm really hoping Maddux helps him out with it, because it looked to have real potential.

Two other quick notes in this very fast edition of the blog (Not much time, just wanted to update since it had been a couple days)

Feliz pitched in OKC again on Tuesday. Not a great outing. 3.2 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. Obvious control issues. Neftali needs to work on that.

The other note is a quick, but thoroughly interesting one.

The Rangers appear to be poised to sign a latin ball player by the name of Guillermo Pimentel.

Per Lone Star Ball...

Pimentel's tools had some international scouts giddy... He has a smooth stroke from the left side with plenty of leverage and enough raw power to launch balls over the wall... From looking at the video, you may see a resemblance in hitting mechanics to a young Barry Bonds. Again, we're talking tools and profile, not overall projection, but given the position, height, and skill set, that isn't a bad parallel to draw...

Young Barry Bonds? Exciting comparison.

Talk to you later, Dallas sports fans!

Rangers Limp Out of Detroit

Just some quick thoughts for today.

Rangers were swept in Detroit and now move on to Houston.

Disappointing series, especially yesterday when Millwood was simply left in the game too long and Michael Young wasn't able to come up with the ninth inning RBI with a man on third. 4-3 loss and a hard one to swallow.

More bad news on the injury front...Vicente Padilla, who's pitching really well right now, is headed to the DL. One interesting thing to come from this, is that Derek Holland will be getting his first start in his young career. Kid Miracle will debut in a big hitters park...just missed Detroit's roomy 26,341 foot outfield.

I'll be extremely interested to see what he can do.

Also, some other notes...

Neftali Feliz went 6 innings for OKC and gave up 1 run while striking out 4. Not a bad outing for Feliz...we may see him soon.

Angels took two out of three from Seattle and now close the gap between themselves and the Rangers to 2 games.

Jake Peavy is on the trade block and while he wants to stay in the National League, I think Texas has to at least place a phone call. Remember me mentioning a possible trade involving Kris Davis? This may be the deal that you can justify moving Davis out of town and bringing Smoak up to the Majors.

That's all for today. I'll update you Monday...possibly sometime over the weekend.

Update on the FIRST PLACE Texas Rangers

OK, dear reader, let's get caught up on the Rangers.



Sunday afternoon was a nice day for Rangers pitchers. Scott Feldman turned out another excellent pitching performance on Sunday when he went 6 innings, allowing 4 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts and a big goose egg on the scoreboard.

Unfortunately for Scott Feldman, the Rangers offense had similar numbers through 6 to the ones that he allowed. 7th inning, with Jennings in for Feldman, the Rangers finally got on the scoreboard with a sac fly from David Murphy off the nearly unhittable Jered Weaver.

With Jennings, Guardado, and O'Day keeping thing quiet on the pitching side, the Rangers were able to tack on a couple more runs with RBI doubles from Kinsler and Byrd.

SWEEP! The Rangers swept the Angels and moved a full 4½ games ahead of LA.

One disappointing note from the game is that Josh Hamilton injured his groin on a superb, run-saving, wall-climbing grab in Right-Center. He finished the inning, but would come out after that. Not considered too serious, but the Rangers aren't completely sure when he'll be back for good.

Following the sweep, the Rangers had a day off and then it was time to take on the Tigers in Detroit. Site of a lot of Rangers trouble in recent history. That most recent of history was early April when the Rangers were swept out of Comerica.

Tuesday wasn't exactly a great showing either.

After Michael Young hit a two-out first inning double, the Rangers' bats fell silent. They didn't even manage to get a hit for the rest of the game. From the second inning on, Dontrelle Willis, Brandon Lyon, Bobby Seay, Joel Zumaya, and Fernando Rodney combined for a no-hitter. Wasted in all of this was Brandon McCarthy's best effort of the season. 7 innings, 4 runs allowed. That's where the score would end up. 4-3 Detroit.

Looking to bounce back and find some luck in Detroit, the Rangers led by Matt Harrison faced off against Tigers' ace Justin Verlander.

Not much success once more.

Despite a triple play turned by Kinsler and Andrus, and Harrison pitching solidly, the Rangers still trailed 1-0 heading into the 5th. In fact, through 4, Verlander has a perfect game.

After scratching together something that sort of resembled an offensive output, the Rangers tied it up at 1.

That wasn't enough though. One inning later, the Rangers allowed two home runs and 4 runs to fall behind 4 with 3 innings to play. That is not a position the Rangers want to be in when playing at a pitchers park like Comerica and a team they've struggled against like Detroit.

Texas would try their hardest in spite of that.

Heading into the 8th, the Rangers trailed by 3, thanks to a 7th inning homer from Nelson Cruz. Murphy, Young, and Blalock all three reached to start the 8th. Bases loaded, no one out, Byrd, Cruz, and Davis coming up. Perfect setup, eh? Nope.

After Byrd grounded into a fielder's choice (Blalock out at second, Murphy scoring) Cruz and Davis struck out. There is no excuse for scoring just one run when you load the bases with nobody out.

The 9th inning would see similar failures, going 1-2-3 and losing the game 5-3. The second out of that ninth inning was a pinch hit appearance by Josh Hamilton. Popped out to shallow right-center. It's good that he showed up, bad that the Rangers let a couple of opportunities slip away.

The Rangers need to get Francisco and Hamilton back and get over this mental hurdle they have in Detroit.

Additionally, as a random note, I was discussing the possibility of some moves by the Rangers with another user on Twitter the other day. With Justin Smoak coming up fast through the minors and Chris Davis struggling at the plate as much as he is with his boom or bust style hitting, don't you have to consider moving Chris Davis for some pitching?

Texas could really use a dominant bullpen arm. Middle reliever. Or, just a reliable number 3 starter. I'd be willing to part with Davis for such a pitcher. Something to think about.

Millwood is on the hill this afternoon at 12:05 and the Rangers look to avoid the sweep and end their 10 game losing streak in Detroit. Angels loom 3 games back.

And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

The "Hello Win Column!" sign that flashes after every Rangers home win is becoming a regular occurrence in Arlington.

Rangers headed into Friday night with a 1½ game lead over the Angels, perennial contenders in the AL West.

It seemed like another breeze victory for the Rangers. Kinsler had homered twice, Andruw Jones had pounded a two run home run, and while the Angels were churning out hits, they weren't able to capitalize against Millwood and Holland for the most part. When the Rangers came up to bat in the bottom of the 8th, their 8-3 lead seemed like a sure victory. But Josh Hamilton decided to make sure they won the game when he absolutely crushed a pitch into the upper deck in right field. 468 feet, the second longest home run in the 15 year history of the ballpark. It was a two run shot and the Rangers led 10-3.

Holland came back for his third inning of work and got Kendrick to ground out and Quinlan to fly out. 2 outs, 7 run lead, no problem, right? Wrong. Oh so wrong.

Something odd happened in that ninth inning. Figgins, facing 2 outs and 2 strikes, singled. Erick Aybar, facing the game's final strike, doubled and moved Figgins to third. Abreu came up, and like the previous two hitters, faced the final strike of the game and was able to double them both home. 10-5, Abreu at second.

Holland walked the next batter on 5 pitches. In came Darren O'Day. O'Day faced Kendry Morales and left a 1-1 pitch hanging. Morales blasted the ball to center field and cut the lead to 10-8. Uh-oh.

For the fourth time in the inning, an Angels hitter faced the final strike of the game, but Mike Napoli was able to get a single off of O'Day.

In comes CJ Wilson. Yikes. The game is really over now, and not in a good way.

Wilson walked Juan Rivera. Really!? It was 10-3, 2 outs, 2 strikes on Chone Figgins, and now the go-ahead run in Howie Kendrick was coming up. The Rangers escape though when Ian Kinsler made a nice backhanded scoop and pitched for the force out to Andrus on second, ending the game, 10-8.

This was not a happy win though. The team seemed very subdued when it was done and very disappointed. They should be. Josh Hamilton's batting practice home run in the 8th inning was supposed to be something to marvel at for fun...not supposed to be the game winning hit.

Rangers win, but it may have been the least enthusiastic win the team has ever gotten. They know they almost blew it and maybe should have blown it the way they played in the 9th.

Would it mess with their heads on Saturday when they'd be featured on national television?

This game was odd. Both teams scored a run in the first inning, and yet neither team had a hit. John Lackey, back pitching for the first time all season, was tossed after two pitches. He threw behind Kinsler with the first pitch and drilled him in the ribs with the second pitch. It's obvious what Lackey was doing, he was just hoping that the umpire would not toss him out and buy the excuse that he hadn't pitched in forever and thus didn't have proper control over his pitches. Yeah right.

Padilla actually struggled for a lot of the day, but he toughed through it. He went 8 innings today, allowing three runs and 10 hits. He also walked 3. Not great stuff, but gutsy stuff for sure.

And the Rangers played small ball for the afternoon. They had 5 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks, but only one of those hits went for extra bases and that was a double in the 8th by Nelly Cruz that didn't knock in a run or lead to a run being scored.

All of their runs today were off of singles and sac fly's.

Rangers led 5-3 going into the 9th and CJ Wilson was brought in to close it out. He did, thank goodness.

Rangers win! That's 6 in a row now! 13-6 at home, 3½ ahead of the Angels, 5½ ahead of the Mariners and a full 7½ ahead of the A's. WOW! If the Rangers are able to get the sweep tomorrow night, that would put them in complete control of the division very early in the season.

An exciting time to be a Rangers fan. Also a bit of a depressing time as news comes out that Frankie Francisco is going on the DL. The move is retroactive to the 7th of May, so he'll be off the DL on May 22nd.

All reports say it shouldn't be too big a deal and he should be ready on the 22nd.

Jered Weaver against Scott Feldman at 1:05 on Sunday. The Rangers go for their first sweep of the Angels since September 2007.

Mavs Season Ends, Rangers Sweep Mariners

Well, you could see it coming. After using so much of their energy on Monday and dealing with the crushing defeat of Saturday, you just had to no there wasn't much left in the tank.



Dallas really didn't play an awful game. They had some defensive issues, but mostly, this was just Denver taking it to the Mavericks. They were down for most of the game by 8-12 points. Never really more than that, never really less than that.

Dallas would make a 3, then Denver would make a shot and hit the free throw that would follow the whistle. Dallas would hit a nice 18 foot jumper, Melo would hit a fall-a-way jumper with the shot clock buzzing.

Too much Melo. Too much of that punk JR Smith. Too much Chauncey Billups.

It wasn't for lack of trying on Dallas' end. Jason Kidd caught fire from 3 in the third quarter knocking down 3 in the span of 3 or 4 minutes. But even in that, Dallas couldn't get the defecit down to anything smaller than 7.

Dirk also toughed things out again with 32 points and 10 rebounds. Sad that his Herculean effort over these 5 games was wasted. People should recognize just how unbelievable a series he had.

34.4 points per game, 11.6 rebounds, 4 assists, a block a game, 53.4 percent shooting and 91.9 percent from the free throw line. If those numbers were put up in a 7 game series in the Western Conference Finals, Dirk would be labeled a playoff monster. He is one, but can't fully be recognized as such considering they lost in 5 games in the semi-finals.

Time for the off season now. You will undoubtedly hear the names Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Bosh and Chris Paul a LOT this off season. Mavericks are rumored to be interested in all 3. Shouldn't be a dull moment this summer.

Also, Dallas has a first round draft pick again. Their first since the 2006 draft. Hopefully that will result in getting a nice, athletic, 3pt artist shooting guard.

I'll have some off season thoughts and possibilities in the coming weeks. Until then, cheer like crazy for the Rockets to take out the Lakers and Thuggets.

Now on to the red hot Texas Rangers.



Starting out we had Thursday's return of both Josh Hamilton and Michael Young.

Started out as a tough pitcher's duel. Going into the bottom of the 7th, it was 1-1. Feldman had really done a good job in his 6 and a third innings of pitching. I'm really becoming impressed with Feldman. This is 3 really strong outings in a row.

This good pitching thing is becoming quite the nasty habit for our Rangers, isn't it?

Well, after almost no offense, the Rangers exploded in the 7th inning when Mariners reliever Mark Lowe came on. With one out, following a Michael Young single, Josh Hamilton was back. An opposite field fly ball JUST snuck over the left field scoreboard. 3-1 lead. Hamilton received high fives all around. But the Rangers weren't done.

After Andruw Jones and Marlon Byrd reached, the Rangers scored on 4 consecutive at-bats.

A Cruz sac fly, Davis reaching on an error, Salty double to right and an Andrus single had the Rangers rolling, up 7-1.

That's the way it would stay thanks to the once more solid work of the bullpen. Holland went an inning and two thirds and Guardado closed out the game in the ninth. Neither Holland or Eddie allowed a baserunner.

More good news came later in the evening when the Angels lost to Boston, allowing Texas to extend their division lead to a game and a half over the Angels.

Wednesday night it was Brandon McCarthy on the hill. He's really the only Rangers starter who has yet to find a groove. McCarthy put them in a hole early when he gave up a solo home run to Adrian Beltre in the second inning.

It got worse from there as the Ranger bats were unable to awaken against Jarrod Washburn through 3 innings. In the 4th, B-Mac allowed a two run shot to Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima. 3-0 headed to the bottom half of the 4th.

Texas got one of them back when Kris Davis singled home Josh Hamilton. Unfortunately, Texas left the bases loaded and still trailed 3-1.

Hamilton continued his come back in the 5th inning when he hit a game tying two run shot to the second deck in right. Josh Hamilton for the second night in a row was responsible for the very important second and third runs.

Enter Brandon McCarthy. He ONCE AGAIN allowed a home run. A solo shot to Russell Branyan the very inning after Hamilton had tied it up. 4-3 Seattle.

But if there's anything we've learned about this Rangers team, it's that they refuse to give up. After Marlon Byrd led off the inning with a single, Davis and Salty struck out back to back and left it up to Elvis Andrus. Andrus has been playing far and away his best baseball, offensively and defensively, in the last week or so. He kept it up with a two out triple to right-center, scoring Byrd and tying the game up. It's Andrus' third triple of the season.

McCarthy got through the 7th without any more damage. His first 7 inning outing since being acquired in the awful deal that sent John Danks to Chicago.

It would stay 4-4 all the way through the 9th and into extra innings. CJ Wilson was brought in to pitch the 10th inning. Yay? I think Texas fans are just about tired of watching Wilson blow game after game...I know I am.

Well, he did nothing to change that Wednesday as he ended out allowing a 1 out RBI double to Wladimir Balentien. That's all he'd give up, but it still led to a 5-4 Mariners lead heading into the bottom of the 11th.

Brandon Morrow came on in the 11th. He's the last kind of pitcher you want to see late in a ball game when you're fatigued. Morrow consistently throws 98-99 mph and can sometimes touch 100 on the radar gun.

No problem for Michael Young as he snuck a single into right field. Josh Hamilton followed by drawing a walk on an at-bat that seemed to last about 30 minutes.

After an Andruw Jones fly out, Hank Blalock came up and whacked a fastball into deep right-center. It fell and Hamilton and Young came home. Rangers win!

Then we come to Thursday. An afternoon for the Rangers, and a nice crowd considering it was a middle of the week day game. 21,000 turned out. I guess word is getting out that this Texas Rangers team is pretty good.

Felix Hernandez, aka King Felix, was on the mound for Seattle. Matt Harrison and his 19 consecutive scoreless innings were on the hill for Texas. It was a pitcher's duel as you would expect.

Harrison's scoreless streak ended at 22 and two thirds as he allowed a 1 out RBI groundout to Branyan. It was followed by an RBI double from Balentien.

He would escape any more trouble, but trailing 2-0.

It would stay that way until the 9th inning. Morrow was called on again, and again Hank Blalock burned him. Hammer tattooed a fastball to the upper deck in right field cutting the lead to 2-1.

After Nelson Cruz popped out, David Murphy was able to overcome his hitting woes and double to right. Next up was Kris Davis. Davis, in the clutch, delivered. He smoke a ball to the bleachers in right-center and got the walk off win, 3-2.

Thanks to that home run and going an entire game without striking out, I've decided to drop the K for now. He will now be known as Chris Davis again!

The Angels won both of their games after losing the first to Boston. Texas is still a game and a half up on the Angels and they get them for three this weekend. At best, Texas can be up 4 and a half games when it's over. At worst, Texas can be in a reverse position and be down a game and a half when it's all done.

Millwood will pitch Friday night for the first place Rangers.

Also, in other news, Neftali Feliz made his return to the hill for Oklahome City. No problems this time around. The control issues were not there as he went 5 innings, allowing 1 run, 1 hit, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts! That's what the Rangers like to see!

Hopefully I'll be blogging about a big Rangers victory on Saturday. We shall see!

Mavs Get Jobbed, Come Back Angry

Spent the weekend away as I usually will. Let's get caught up on your Mavericks and Rangers games.

First up is the Mavs. I don't want to talk too much about the Mavericks game 3. It really comes down to a final few moments. The rest of the game is background noise with the way it ended.



Here's the deal. 6 seconds left, Antoine Wright is instructed to intentionally foul the ball handler when some time runs off so that the Nuggets have ball out of bounds with a shorter amount of time left, thus not giving them time to give a good look.

Wright bumps Melo once. No call. That one was iffy though.

Wright waits for him to turn the corner and when he does, he basically karate chops Melo's arm. No call. Wright had already stopped on the play and it gave Melo an open look at the 3 ball.

Should Wright have quit on the play? No. Should he have thrown his hands up as if to say "I didn't foul"? No.

Is that relevant to whether or not the whistle should have been blown? NO! It's not! All silly arguments aside about what Wright should have done, the fact is the referee messed up. The league office said as much.

That call really deflated the Mavericks. As you can see in the video, things got quite testy after the game was over. It set up what was inevitably going to be a nasty game Monday.

I think the thing I was most frustrated with outside of the foul was the inability to get a good look on the final shot. There's 1 second left...in basketball, that's enough time to catch, spin and shoot. The fact that we didn't get that, is pretty annoying. Poor coaching and execution.

Down 3-0, I completely expected the Mavericks to fold like a lawn chair tonight and just allow the season to end.



Color me surprised. They showed the fight I've asked of them for the entire series.

The Mavericks allowed the Nuggets to shoot over 70 percent in the first quarter and allowed a horrendous 5 of 6 from 3 point land. That's simply not acceptable.

The Nuggets also were able to extend their lead to as much as 14 in the second quarter when they were up 49-35. It appeared that the season was over.

Not so fast says Dirk Nowitzki. Having not led since an early 6-5 first quarter lead, the Mavericks clawed back from an 8 point fourth quarter deficit to tie the ball game multiple times. They weren't able to get in front though until there was a little over a minute left in the game and Dirk knocked down one of the highest arcing shots you'll ever see in your life to give Dallas a 112-110 lead. It's a lead they would not give back unlike Saturday.

Dirk scored 19 of his 44 in the fourth quarter while going 4 of 5 from the floor and 11 of 11 at the line. He was simply spectacular this evening. Putting all the turmoil of his personal life behind him to just go out and play basketball.

A few players have failed to show up in this series. Dirk Nowitzki is certainly not one of them.

He's averaged an outstanding 35 points and 12 boards a game in this draining four game series.

Josh Howard should also be commended for his job in this game. No, he wasn't the normal Josh Howard, but on two bad ankle, Howard managed to overcome an absolutely awful start and finish with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Howard went 6 of 12 after his troubling start and made two crucial free throws in the final minute to extend the Mavericks lead to 116-112.

Aside from the actual play in-game, there were some very tense moments. 7 technicals and 2 flagrants were called and Carmelo Anthony's girlfriend had to be removed from the arena due to unruly fans shouting insults and throwing things at her. Kenyon Martin's mother also needed extra security after a controversy erupted in which Mark Cuban told her that her son was a thug. Fans also were shouting at her and Art Gracia of NBA.com reported that K-Mart had to be restrained by teammates when he saw the verbal berating his mother was receiving.

I imagine the Mavericks will lose on Wednesday night in Denver. It will be an ugly, hostile game and crowd. But for one more night, Dirk got to carry his team. Hopefully next season will be his year, because the man deserves a title.

If Dallas, by some miracle, is able to pull out a win in Denver, I don't think they lose game 6. The crowd was too rowdy and volatile for the Mavs not to feed off of it and take the momentum from back to back wins only to lose game 6 to a team they hate. That's not happening.

If it were to get to game 7...who knows. It's all a dream though. I imagine the Nuggets take care of business on Wednesday night by double digits.



DAL 119, DEN 117

Now, briefly, let's discuss what the Rangers have done recently.

When we last left you, the Rangers were 15-12, on a 5 game winning streak and had taken control of the AL West.

5 days later, the Rangers are still in first place...barely.

A half game ahead of the Angels, 1 and a half over the Mariners and a full 5 on the A's.

Texas split their last 4 games since we left, losing 9-4 in the finale against Oakland and taking 2 out of 3 from the White Sox, 6-0, 2-3 and 7-1.

This pitching is starting to pick up and that's very encouraging. Also, Josh Hamilton and Michael Young should both be back in the lineup Tuesday as the Rangers kick off an absolutely VITAL 6 game homestand against the Mariners and Angels.

I could see Texas sweeping Seattle and taking 2 out of 3 from Los Angeles. If that were to happen, take into consideration that the Angels are playing Boston for three games before they swing into Texas. Obviously Rangers fans would like a sweep, but could you imagine if Boston were to take two out of three from LA and than we were to go 5-1 in that quick homestand?

Let's play out the other games for fun just so we could see what the standings have a potential of looking like after these two series'.

Seattle would get Boston at home. Let's say Boston 2 out of 3. Oakland, while the division is playing itself, gets Kansas City for two on the road and Detroit for 3 on the road. I think the struggling A's are lucky to win 2. I'll predict 1-4.

The standings have the realistic potential to look a little something like this when we wake up next Monday...

* Texas 22-15
* Los Angeles 18-18
* Seattle 17-21
* Oakland 12-22

Obviously a lot of things would have to fall exactly as I want, but it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that the Rangers are 4 games up in the AL West come next Monday morning.

Let's hope...let's hope...

Mavs in 0-2 Hole, Rangers Lead AL West

Rangers are on a roll! 5 in a row for the Texas boys. Let's get caught up on these last two games.

The Rangers looked to sweep a two game series against the AL West leading Mariners and close within a half game of the top spot.

Vicente Padilla did all he could to make sure that happened. Padilla went 8 strong innings allowing only 1 hit and 1 unearned run. During that 8 inning span, the Rangers tagged Erik Bedard and Mark Lowe for 9 hits, but frustratingly so only had 1 run.

9 innings of baseball and it was still 1-1.

Going into the 10th inning, Texas started to capitalize on their opportunities. After Andrus and Young flied out to right to begin the 10th, Jones, Blalock, Byrd and Cruz hit 4 consecutive singles to extend the lead to 3-1. After Chris Davis walked, Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Who has been fantastic at the plate lately) smashed a grand slam to righ-center giving Texas a 7-1 lead.

They would hold on to that lead after giving up a 10th inning run, giving them a 7-2 win.

Padilla's performance was especially comforting as it was the 7th consecutive really solid outing by a Rangers starting pitcher.



Rangers went up against the A's this past evening going into the game knowing that if they won, they'd be in first place as the Mariners were thumped by Kansas City.

Elvis Andrus did his part early. Andrus socked one that left no doubt into the empty left field stands to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. He also made some nice defensive plays...something he's been doing more and more of lately.

Scott Feldman had his second straight solid outing and ended out getting the win this time around in a 3-2 Rangers victory.

Andrus (Obviously) Feldman and Holland all deserve major credit in this game.

Holland came into the game in the 7th inning and pitched two scoreless frames to set up Frankie Francisco for the close (Who once more tried to make the game more interesting then it needed to be)

Holland allowed 1 hit, but kept his count low for two innings (16) and threw 13 strikes. Holland also had a 2-1 ratio of ground ball outs to fly ball outs. That's something a Rangers pitcher HAS to do in Arlington where the ball zooms out of the park on most nights.

Holland has now pitched 8.1 innings and has only allowed 2 runs. His ERA rests at a nice 2.16

Your Texas Rangers are in first place and they've done it without Josh Hamilton. Wow.

Now on to the Mavericks who once again folded like a gymnasium chair in the fourth quarter.



This Mavericks team can't go far without Josh Howard. They were without Josh Howard for all but 6 minutes on Tuesday night and they were still in striking distance after 3 quarters. They trailed by just a possession early in the 4th and actually held the lead late in the 3rd.

Stop me if this sounds familiar.

Denver played the game out just like it was game 1. The Nuggets went on another ridiculous run in the 4th quarter starting things off by outscoring the over-matched Dallas Mavericks 16-2. Yikes.

Rick Carlisle really deserves some heat for starting the 4th quarter of a playoff game on the road well within their grasp with the lineup of Singleton, Bass, Kidd, Barea and Wright. REALLY!? That may be the most inept scoring offense the Mavericks could possibly put out there and he put it out there in a high scoring game.

Dirk once again gave it his absolute all. Fighting for every bucket and turning in a 35 point, 9 rebound, 4 assist performance. It simply wasn't enough when no one else was putting up respectable numbers.

Howard was out halfway through the first quarter, but shot 0-3 in the game. Jet found his stroke a bit in the 3rd quarter, but had another rough night shooting from the field going 7-18. Part of that may be due to the report that Jet jammed his left index finger in the first quarter. That's actually better news than originally thought as the Mavs were thinking Terry had broken his finger.

Jason Kidd went 1 for 6. Another bad night for him, although he kept his turnovers down.

Ryan Hollins had a nice little outing as he shot 4 of 4 from the field and had 4 rebounds in limited time. Why was his time limited you ask? That happens when you average a foul more than every 3 minutes like Hollins did. He has the ability to be a factor for the Mavs, but he gets into foul trouble too quickly.

*sigh* Where can the Mavericks go from here?

DEN 117, DAL 105



Game 3 is Saturday afternoon and make no mistake...both Games 3 and 4 are must win games. If Dallas loses even one of them, they shouldn't even bother going back to Denver.

Dallas needs to slow these games down and start getting nasty. It's their only shot.

Rangers Above .500 and Mavs Lose Game 1

A little behind, so let's get caught up starting with the Rangers.



Boy have the Rangers looked good these last few games as they've knocked out three consecutive wins.

The second of the three was Sunday night at the Ballpark on ESPN. A rare national appearance by the Rangers. They decided to make the most of it.

The Rangers staff gave up some hits, but for the most part, they were solid. Matt Harrison went 5 strong innings without giving up a run and all they allowed was a 7th inning sac fly in a 5-1 win.

I was most pleased that the bats didn't have to rely completely on the long ball in this game. Yes, Kinsler hit a homer to lead off the first, but the other 4 runs came on solid hitting against John Danks, who is a very good pitcher. The Rangers were able to get 10 hits and 5 runs off of Danks in just over 5 innings. Really some opportunistic play from the Rangers lineup. Andrus had a 2 hit game and continued to raise his average which was at .274 after the game. If he continues to grow with his glove and stays hitting around .275, he'll be a huge success.

Now for tonight in which Texas ace Kevin Millwood took the hill against the AL West leading Seattle Mariners. Millwood entered the game with 5 straight 7+ inning outings. He would continue the streak tonight in a solid 6-5 victory.

An odd win, however. There were also some really shaky moments from the Rangers' two best pitchers, Francisco and Millwood.

After extending an early lead to 4-0 thanks to a Michael Young 5th inning home run, his 7th of the season, Millwood came into the 5th having set down all 12 Mariners batters. He gave up a leadoff home run in the 5th and then proceeded to allow a single, double, 3-run homer and a triple before finally leaving the ending having tied the game at 4.

Wash stuck with Millwood.

Chris Davis sent a two-run shot into the right field stands the very next inning to make it 6-4. Millwood entered the 7th inning with the 6-4 lead and Millwood once more flirted with trouble giving up a run off of an Ichiro fielder's choice and then facing a man in scoring position with Chavez at the plate. Chavez grounded out to short and Millwood worked out of the jam once more.

For the rest of the way, the bats fell asleep a bit and the combo of Francisco, Wilson and Millwood kept the Mariners at bay.

One scare came in the ninth inning when with two outs, Francisco allowed a single, a walk and was now facing .300 hitter Ichiro Suzuki. Frankie was able to get out of the jam though by having Suzuki fly out to center.

If the Rangers can sweep the short two game series tomorrow evening, that will pull them to a half game out of the division lead. If Hamilton can come back strong and some of the pitchers can find their stride a bit, the Rangers could really contend in the AL West.

Now on to those Mavericks. Yikes.



There were plenty of problems in this game for the Mavericks. If they can limit just one or two of the problems they had in this game, Dallas could win this game. All the talk of Denver "Dominating" has been a little ridiculous to me. This was a 2 point game in the 4th quarter. It just blew up from there.

DEN 109, DAL 95

Numerous issues in this game, and here they are.

- Josh Howard hurting his good ankle. Good and ankle in the same sentence in context to Josh Howard is kind of ironic, but he hurt his right ankle which is his better ankle in the second quarter while Dallas led. He went back to the locker room and was on the bench for a good amount of time and wasn't playing at a consistent level when he came back. That's worrisome. Dallas has no shot in this series if Howard can't produce. There are not enough weapons to hang with Denver if Howard isn't playing at the top of his game. J-Ho did play 33 minutes, but they were largely ineffective from the time he returned into the ball game. Josh Howard took 5 shots the rest of the ball game after returning from his ankle injury, shooting 2 of 5 the rest of the way after starting 5 of 11.

Howard needs to be at the very least serviceable for Dallas to contend.

- Jason Kidd was downright awful with his ball control. His shot was falling nicely there in the third quarter, but his passing was just horrendous as was his dribble/ball control. Jason Kidd had his worst game of this decade when it came to his assist to turnover ratio. From every stat I've looked through, this was the only time this decade that Kidd had twice as many turnovers as he did assists. 8 turnovers and 4 assists. It felt like he turned the ball over 12 times. That HAS to stop. It's what fueled the Denver run in the 4th. Dallas had 8 of their 20 turnovers come in the 4th quarter. Unacceptable. That starts with Kidd and needs to be remedied.

- Foul discrepancy. As a Mavericks fan who witnessed the most heart breaking display of fixed officiating in NBA history (The 2006 NBA Finals) I'm hyper-sensitive to refs. I didn't want Dallas to get more calls in Game 1...I wanted to see less fouls called. Chippy foul, after chippy foul, after chippy foul was called against the Mavs. Dallas ended out shooting 13 free throws and Denver shot 36. Either let them play on both ends or call it tough on both ends. Don't be inconsistent. The refs were inconsistent on Sunday. It's like I said on the Twitter feed: if they're going to whistle you for the foul anyway, earn the damn thing. Plant them on their heads every time they get in the paint. If the referees won't let you breathe without blowing the whistle, make it so Denver won't want to get inside of there.

- Not enough penetration for Dallas. It may have been due to the fact that the refs weren't giving them foul calls, but Dallas needs to drive more if for no other reason than to kick out to the perimeter so that Dirk or Jet or anyone can do something off the dish. Whether that be spot up or pump and move inside. I need to see something.

Other general issues were Dallas' inability to adjust to Chris Andersen. All of them need to make a note (One that should have been made well before game 1) that you DO NOT hang in the air when Chris Andersen is around. I'm talking to you Jason Terry. Get off a quicker shot. Don't let Andersen get up behind you.

Also, Dirk cooled off EXTREMELY after starting a blistering 6 for 6 in the first 6 minutes of the game. 6 for 16 the rest of the way. 28 points, 10 rebounds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmgtzCkLNkI

Game 2 is tonight. After Houston beat the LA Kobe's in Los Angeles last night, that gave me some real hope if Dallas is able to get out of the second round. The Mavericks can hang with Houston. I'm not sure they can hang with the Kobe's. If Dallas can get their act together and win, they would beat Houston, in my opinion. So cheer for the Rockets just like you did for the Spurs. We've seen Dallas handle Houston. We haven't seen them handle LA.