The OFFICIAL 2011 Texas Rangers' Season Thread

[Ninkobei]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

trades like the one they made today make me very, very nervous.

break it down for us murph. I, too, am confused why they traded for a second reliever. did they give up too much.

edit. supposedly the wieland guy threw a no hitter in frisco sunday. man!

[chumdawg]

Anyone see the highlights of the Angels game? I gotta hand it to Guillen. That was as good a job of showing up the pitcher (in this case, Weaver) as you will ever see. Well played.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by Ninkobei

break it down for us murph. I, too, am confused why they traded for a second reliever. did they give up too much.

edit. supposedly the wieland guy threw a no hitter in frisco sunday. man!

Well, the Rangers definitely got alot of talent over the weekend the help out the 'pen. Those two guys will likely step in and be at worst the 2nd and 3rd best relievers on the team (probably step in and be 1-2 or 1 and 3).

But obviously, you have to give something up to get something. I have alot of difficulty getting excited about trading two prospects such as Wieland and Erlin for a reliever. Yes, it helps the big club out alot... but I've had a chance to watch Wieland on a couple of occasions and I absolutely love the guy. Erlin,... well, I've basically only seen video on the internet..but the guy just pounds the strike zone.

Part of the reason why it makes me nervous is that they are the two guys that I kinda noticed well over a year ago and really kept up with. They were my two favorite minor league players in the Rangers organization.

Now, some people see Wieland as a reliever..some see him as a starter. I think the reliever thing has been going more and more by the wayside as he found more and more success as he advanced up the minor league ladder.

I'm not saying that this is a "bad" trade. It just makes me a little uneasy. Another big reason why it makes me uneasy is that I believe the Rangers needed a front of the rotation type pitcher in order to make a serious run at the World Series. I just don't know that I see enough top end pitching in the rotation to get by both the Yankees and the Red Sox. So, making a move to shore up the 'pen is awesome, but still not 100% sure that the Rangers have a World Series caliber rotation. They have one of the best rotations in the history of the club, but I still like to have that horse up at the top. And I suppose you can say that the Rangers have done the next best thing... If you have 5 solid to really good starters, you shorten the game as much as possible by having three lights out relievers (hopefully Neftali can get his act together consistently in the pen).

You shorten the game.. make it a 6 inning game because of the depth in the pen. That's what the Rangers are attempting to do.

I'll just say that I don't think they could have brought in two better relievers than what they did... Just hate to give up Wieland especially...

[jthig32]

Erlin and Wieland, by all accounts, are #3 starts at the very best. In a vacuum it was a high price to pay for "a reliever", but using them as chips is why you build a system like the Rangers have.

I would have been upset if they'd been used for just a rental, but to acquire a guy that's going to be a lights out setup guy and could easily end up closing next year? I'm all for it. Love it.

[Kirobaito]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Erlin and Wieland, by all accounts, are #3 starts at the very best. In a vacuum it was a high price to pay for "a reliever", but using them as chips is why you build a system like the Rangers have.

I would have been upset if they'd been used for just a rental, but to acquire a guy that's going to be a lights out setup guy and could easily end up closing next year? I'm all for it. Love it.

Indeed. Erlin and Wieland will be solid major league pitchers, but they're the kind of prospect you give up to win now. Both of the trades this weekend were win-wins. Everybody should at least be happy, the Rangers ecstatic. No more Arthur Rhodes (we can hope)!

[mavspwnage]

If Feliz can get his shit straightened out, then you have to love our late inning blueprint: Uehara in the 7th, Adams in the 8th, Feliz in the 9th. Just a few days ago, our BP was pretty awful. I'm not saying it's all of a sudden unhittable, but now it has the potential to be a real strength for the remainder of the season.

I love me some Jon Daniels. Sees a weakness and actively seeks to improve that area of the team without creating holes in another area. And most of the time, he's successful. Pretty insane how he will only just be turning 34 later this month.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Erlin and Wieland, by all accounts, are #3 starts at the very best. In a vacuum it was a high price to pay for "a reliever", but using them as chips is why you build a system like the Rangers have.

I would have been upset if they'd been used for just a rental, but to acquire a guy that's going to be a lights out setup guy and could easily end up closing next year? I'm all for it. Love it.

Again, I'm not saying that I don't like the deal..but that it makes me a bit uneasy. In part because I have followed the two guys closely..

If I had to make the decision of whether or not I'd make that deal, I'd make it I'm sure. But I wouldn't be ecstatic by any stretch of the imagination. I'd have a sinking feeling in my gut as soon as the deal was made.

From all accounts, the two kids that the Rangers gave up project to middle of the rotation type players. But, their make-up seems to indicate that they'll have a very, very good chance to reach that level. Giving up two guys that you strongly believe will turn into solid middle of the rotation guys or even solid #4's has got to cause John Daniels a little heart burn.

[DirkFTW]

dang it

[mavspwnage]

Finally got Uehara and Adams in a situation where they can do what they came here to do. Most late inning relievers like to protect a lead. We were tied or behind in all of their previous appearances with us. But we took a lead into the 7th. Uehara came in, then Adams in the 8th, and Feliz looked really good in the 9th.

[mavspwnage]

Young 2 run HR in the 9th ties the game! HE MY TEAM!

[mavspwnage]

Hamilton walk off infield single! YES!

[Male30Dan]

Wow... How many walk off infield singles where the runner scored from 2nd have we had now???

Helluva come back!!!

[chumdawg]

Sexy win!

[mavspwnage]

Game ball goes to the Rangers' bullpen. Excellent work after Holland shit the bed.

[GermanDunk]

Did anyone just see what happened to those 20,30 beer cans @ Fenway ?

[GermanDunk]

Not bad vs. the Tribe.

[GermanDunk]

Boom. This Kinsler guy is good. solid player.

[mavspwnage]

damnit Feliz!!!!

[GermanDunk]

haha

[GermanDunk]

Ah. What a pitty. Bad luck.

[mavspwnage]

Best game of the season for me to attend. Got to see the huge 8th inning comeback to keep us in the division lead. And also got to witness hits #1999 and 2000 of Michael Young's career. Congrats to the face of the franchise!

[alexamenos]

that's twice in 3 night I've bailed too soon.

bad fan, bad bad fan.....

[mavspwnage]

Originally Posted by alexamenos

that's twice in 3 night I've bailed too soon.

bad fan, bad bad fan.....

lol if there was one lesson to learn from the first two games of this series, it was that the game wasn't over until the last out. Glad that Adams came in and let there be absolutely no drama in the 9th.

The Indians could have swept this series. The Rangers could have swept this series. But we pulled off two comebacks to their one.

[mavspwnage]

Walkoff Hamilton!

[dalmations202]

Cardiac Kids...........

[mavspwnage]

Yankees beat the Angels to push our lead back to 2 games. But wow, could Rivera be sucking any worse lately? He came in a immediately gave up a 3 run HR to make the final 6-5.

[mavspwnage]

Rangers taking care of business to open the series vs the Angels. Division lead up to 5 games.

[Kirobaito]

Of course, we should have won these first two games, but getting them now makes me want the third one so much more. Wilson needs to continue getting back on track, because Santana hasn't been bad since, like, May.

[dalmations202]

Texas really needs a sweep.........Seeing what they are doing right now...they just might get it.

[alexamenos]

Hell yeah...thinking sweep now.

[alexamenos]

Make it a 7 game lead and break out your brooms.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by dalmations202

Texas really needs a sweep.........Seeing what they are doing right now...they just might get it.

I'm not sure why they "really need" a sweep, but yeah, it's good stuff right now.

[chumdawg]

Satisfying win.

[dalmations202]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

I'm not sure why they "really need" a sweep, but yeah, it's good stuff right now.

Momentum and stepping on the throat.

[mavspwnage]

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by dalmations202

Momentum and stepping on the throat.

Those are great benefits of sweeping, but "really need" implies (among other things) that the Rangers are in a bad spot if they don't sweep.

Anyway, I'm mincing words. Hope they sweep.

[Kirobaito]

Why can this game not be at 3:05? So fraggin' tired of the west coast.

[alexamenos]

This has been one serious-ass curb stomping. Crazy that the Rangers were barely a game up one week ago. A win tonight would be a big giant humiliating kick in the angel's collective crotch.

[alexamenos]

Damn

[mavspwnage]

you have to be shitting me. One inning away from our first 4 game sweep in Anaheim. ugh