2008 Texas Rangers Thread

[Five-ofan]

Originally Posted by jthig32

That last few nights have been a terrible time to tune in. That is not the Rangers rotation that's been out there the last few nights.

Last night you had Ponson pitching on three days rest, and then then the only two relievers avaialable at all were pitchers that just don't belong in the majors, and were called up because no one else was going to be available last night.

Has Harrison really been called up? I can't check my email that gets Newberg's updates from work. That would be pretty interesting.

sorry i just reread the update. it said harrison up on the flasher at newbergreport.com. so i thought it meant up up. but he just moved from frisco to okc. Still a good deal because it makes him closer but not as big a deal. and jason botts is gone. hes going to japan.

[jthig32]

Ok, I thought that was weird. Although I'm sure we'll see Harrison in September.

Following the draft 5-0? Have any preferences?

[Flacolaco]

I assume the Rangers will draft pitching, right,...right?

Ohhhh.....

[sike]

We have the 11th pick....any thoughts, baseball heads?

[jthig32]

While I would prepare for plenty of "what are the Rangers doing drafting hitting" questions, just know that the Rangers just got, by all accounts, an absolute steal at the 11th pick. Justin Smoak, college First Baseman who projects to a huge middle of the order bat and should be within striking range of the big club in two seasons.

To Flac's question, in baseball you just can't draft for the needs of your big league club. It's just projecting way too far into the future. And believe it or not, the Rangers strength in the minors right now is in pitching. A lot of it is still a ways away, but it's there.

[sike]

Originally Posted by jthig32

the Rangers just got, by all accounts, an absolute steal at the 11th pick. Justin Smoak, college First Baseman who projects to a huge middle of the order bat and should be within striking range of the big club in two seasons.

A huge bat, huh?
maybe you need this...

[sike]

thiggy, any reason you know why the kid fell to the Rangers at 11?

[Kidd Karma]

A's fan here, when Smoak started to drop, there was a count down to our pick at 12. After every pick I was getting excited that he'd be around when the A's drafted. He in my mind will be one of the top 4 or 5 players in this draft when it's all said and done. why this low, I'm thinking money.

[sike]

Originally Posted by Kidd Karma

why this low, I'm thinking money.

as in he has too much and it slows him around the bases?

[jthig32]

Everything I've read has said that he's not asking for huge money.

[Kidd Karma]

check out mlbtraderumors.com

There's supposed to be a draft blog running right now.

[Scoobay]

any recaps on how the rangers did in the draft? thoughts/insights from those in the know? thanks

[bgarrett]

Anyone know if the rumors about the Indians being interested in Kevin Millwood are true? What could the RAngers get outta that another bat :l. Also theres rumor of Indians shopping CC Sabathia...

[jthig32]

Wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for the Indians to be interested in attaining Millwood and trading Sabathia at the same time. Either they're going for it this season or not.

[bgarrett]

THats what im thinking but I saw it on espn insider... It may still be up there.

[jthig32]

Crazy things going on with the Rangers today.

First of all, they DFA'd Ponson today. Completely out of the blue for someone that had been pitching well. Apparantly he really offended someone in the clubhouse. He got real pissy after the defense made a few errors behind him the other night. JD's quotes are pretty interesting.

And to top that off, Mike Young is suddenly out for tonight with a bruised thumb. This normally wouldn't be a big deal, but our bullpen has been stretched so thin lately that we sent our only backup infielder down to bring up a pitcher the other day. What does this mean? Gerald freaking Laird is your starting 3B tonight.

Alright then.

[bgarrett]

Haaha and It was a laugher tonight, again! I love to watch the offense man, but I watch theses games DVR in about an hour-ish delay and I am addicted to fast forwarding thru the Defense, esp when the relievers come in. I'll be damned i spend 2 1/2 hrs to watch them blow it. In a way, It's kinda like the Mavs when we had jamison,walker, nash fin etc...

[mkat]

long game today...pretty fun though. murphy is looking bar impressive.

[jthig32]

The Eric Hurley era is starting.

It would really boost morale if he could hit the ground running.

[Flacolaco]

Anyone who has been following Dans (BaD Radio on The Ticket) commentary on David Murphy should be pretty amused at tonights game.

That guy is ridiculous...and there's Hamilton going like what...3 for 6 tonight again?

The Rangers would be so awesome if they didn't suck so much (what?)

[alby]

we have a better record than the stros
that's all i care about right now =]

the angels are just too good, we're not catching up to them

[Flacolaco]

suck it houston.

[mkat]

Originally Posted by alby

the angels are just too good, we're not catching up to them

we weren't/aren't expected to. i think we should just be happy they're at .500. i certainly didn't expect them to be.

[bgarrett]

We could have a chance to do something like get a Wild Card, if as soon as the starters left we didn't bring in the BP pitchers!

[jthig32]

Max Ramirez has been called up. Very excited to see him play a bit.

[mkat]

Padilla is really playing solid.

[jthig32]

You know, Hamilton's great story is overshadowing Ian Kinsler's emergence as an elite second baseman. After Utley, Ian's in the discussion for best 2B in baseball right now.

[Five-ofan]

Originally Posted by jthig32

You know, Hamilton's great story is overshadowing Ian Kinsler's emergence as an elite second baseman. After Utley, Ian's in the discussion for best 2B in baseball right now.

i dont really think there is much discussion. Utley and uggla are 1 and 2. Ians clearly the best in the AL and 3rd best overall. and despite leading the majors in errors, he gets to so many balls hes actually a good defender too.

[Five-ofan]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Ok, I thought that was weird. Although I'm sure we'll see Harrison in September.

Following the draft 5-0? Have any preferences?

i dont get on here as much as i would like these days(been moving) i was hoping hosmer would fall to us somehow but that was only because i didnt think there was any prayer of smoak falling. I am absolutely thrilled we got him. imo we have gone from having a gigantic hole at 1b in the system to having 1b being a huge strength in about a year with davis' emergence and the drafting of smoak. speaking of davis, how long do you think we leave him in the minors? He has been absolutely destroying the baseball. as has mayberry.

As to the talk of the angels just being too good, the angels have actually just been insanely lucky. Theyve only outscored their opponents by 12 runs for the entire season. and krods arm will fall off by the end of the season. All of that said id deal both padilla and bradley if i could get the right kind of return. (id deal millwood too but hed get alot less)

flaco, as thiggy said, the rangers have a TON of pitching in the minors. Considering feldman and hurley are already up and harrison will be soon plus beaven, main, hunter(i love that guy) ramirez, reed, feliz, font, perez, kiker.... i mean the list is nearly endless and diamond was the best of dvd before he got hurt and we still have him too. we have about 20 guys who all have monster arms. I didnt even mention derek holland or omar poveda.

also on the all star stuff, you have to start seriously considering ramon vazquez at this point. he only has 40 less abs than arod and he has a 924 ops and a great glove. i know a 500 team isnt getting 6 all stars but man this offense is sick.

this is the time to become a rangers fan. This team is going to be absolutely sick for the next 10 years.

[Five-ofan]

also for those of you that dont follow the minors, remeber the name neftali feliz. what he is doing in A ball right now is absolutely sickeningly good. in his last 10 starts hes got 67 ks in 53 ips and 6 ers allowed for a 1.02 era and an .889 whip. ACE

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Five-ofan

i dont really think there is much discussion. Utley and uggla are 1 and 2. Ians clearly the best in the AL and 3rd best overall. and despite leading the majors in errors, he gets to so many balls hes actually a good defender too.

And Ian's four years younger than Utley and two years younger than Uggla. And I believe he's already signed a contract to eat up his arbitration years at a very reasonable rate.

[Five-ofan]

Originally Posted by jthig32

And Ian's four years younger than Utley and two years younger than Uggla. And I believe he's already signed a contract to eat up his arbitration years at a very reasonable rate.

yeah, hes signed. he signed a 5 year deal this offseason for about 25 mil if memory serves. just glancing at the stats, there is now way uggla keeps up his numbers if he keeps striking out this much. he has 86 strikeouts in 272 abs. thats ridiculous.

[alby]

time to beat up the other team that resides in Texas again =]

[Flacolaco]

So...how about that Hurley kid?

Norm is excited.

[alby]

Currently we are 39-39

9 games out of the division title
6 games out of the wildcard

I know... I know... it's a stretch, but can you guys imagine playoff baseball in North Texas. It's been a long time.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

So...how about that Hurley kid?

Norm is excited.

He looked alot better in his second and third games than he did in his first. He left way too many pitches up and over the middle part of the plate in his first game. Luckily, KC didn't do much with it when they got the chance. But, since then, he's looked good.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by alby

Currently we are 39-39

9 games out of the division title
6 games out of the wildcard

I know... I know... it's a stretch, but can you guys imagine playoff baseball in North Texas. It's been a long time.

Not gonna happen this season. Just enjoy the young guys contributing for now.

[jthig32]

Max Ramirez with his first dinger. May it be the first of many.

Off Oswalt no less. and he CRUSHED it.

[mary]

C.J. Wilson sucks!

[mary]

okay, the game should be over, but he still sucks....tejada down 0-2...here comes the grand slam