Talking a little hypothetical here.  Bare with me and play along.

Let's say you wake up on the trading deadline which is July 31st.  It's 8 am, it's already 100 degrees outside, my boy will be 1 month and 12 days old, the Rangers are 10 games over .500 and tied with the Angels of North America/California/Los Angeles and last but not least Anaheim.

See, the scenario isn't that big a stretch is it?  Ok, let's say they're 2 games back of the Angels and tied for the Wild Card.....

So.....are we buyers, or are we sellers?

Now, back to reality...

See the dude in the picture with the "ARB 056" hanging from his neck......that better be Jon Daniels and he better be selling hard, selling like Blake from "Glengarry Glen Ross".

If we did find ourselves in this hypothetical position it would be tough not pulling the trigger.  Scores of fans would be crying for us to buy, radio shows would be screaming to buy, columnists and beat writers alike would be shouting to buy.

But this is what "the plan" is all about, right?.  Sitting on your prospects and nurturing them into anything from serviceable major leaguers to all stars.  It is what baseball is about now.  The frivolous spending of yesterday is long gone (besides the bigmarket boys, you know who they are) as small to mid market teams must develop their own in order to compete year in and year out. 

A byproduct of "the plan" is taking some lumps and criticism.  I don't know about you but I could deal with some short term pain in order to achieve long term success.  We haven't won in almost a decade, so what's one or two more years, right? 

Will we be in that position?  Not sure, but it scares me that some in the local media have suggested we become deadline spenders.  They reason this by saying our minor league system is deep enough that we could put a nice package together and not deplete our system.

Having a stockpile of minor league talent is a great position to be in isn't it?  I don't remember ever having that luxury before, and with time, it will only get deeper and deeper.  So why ruin it? 

Now is not the time to package up prospects for a 3rd or 4th starter who will be gone a year after his service, one who has the distinct possibility of withering away in the moronic heat we have in Texas.  We don't buy because I don't have the faith in our organization right now, particularly in the way they judge young talent, mainly the way they judge young PITCHING talent.

So, in this short post I beg the Rangers to Sell, Sell, Sell.....if they don't know how just call this guy.

Be good.

Ryan A

Josh Hamilton is in the top five when speaking of best players in the game.

I am proclaiming that he has the best tools of ANYONE today.

The sky is the limit for our young Hammer (Hank Blalock officially lost this nomenclature the minute Hamilton started taking BP during Spring Training.)

Click here to see his monster night.

It doesn't show his first at bat which is the one I was most impressed with.  He lined a ball the opposite way for a single.  Nothing real impressive, but for someone with his power and size, to be able to stay on the ball serving them into left field, is something else.

Then watch his at bat when he beats out a close-to-routine grounder.

Oh, and check out around 55 seconds, right when the ball leaves the bat, the sound the crowd makes, this is what it's all about, the "Buzz" he creates.

His natural, God-given talents are beyond ridiculous.  Don't forget he's 6'4" hovering around 240.

For the record, and I"ve said this a million times, I don't care if Volquez wins 15-18 games, I make that trade 10 times out of 10.....just to emphasize it a little more, I make it 10,000,000 times out of 10,000,000. 

Hamilton will win more games by being out there everyday.  Hamilton is a special player, one that doesn't come around all too often.

I'm going to the game tonight and I am actually beyond excited, this is the first time I"ve felt this way in a looooong time folks.

I haven't even talked about his defense yet.  I'll save that for another time, I don't want people thinking I have some sort of mancrush on the Hammer or anything..........

Be good-

Ryan A
 

BASEBALL FACTS:

Pitching wins ballgames.

Pitching wins championships.

Pitching will beat good hitting 9 times out of 10.

and

No Free Agent Pitchers want to pitch in Arlington, TX so we have to raise our own.

These are all pretty well known facts.  I know them, you know them and well, I guess Jon Daniels doesn't know them....

Armando Galarraga, John Danks, Edinson (Edison, Jose Reyes) Volquez, and Chris Young.

Having a pretty good year collectively huh?

All of the above were traded by Jon Daniels since JD got here.

This is not an entry aimed at slamming JD, it's more of a therapeutic entry.  Seeing these guys nightly on Sportscenter grows tiresome.

Now, I'll make the Volquez for Hamilton deal ten times out of ten.  Josh Hamilton is a freak, we had no studs coming up in the minors who were outfielders, our OF depth on the farm is pretty weak from what I understand.

But, we sure did a good job of righting Edinson Volquez after a dismal 2006.  Mark Connor sent him all the way to High A ball just as he did Roy Holladay in 2001. 

So, props to the coaching staff in righting a 4-pitch maestro whose nickname is Pedrito (Little Pedro). 

I'm trying to be a glass half-full guy here.

Armando Galarraga is 2-1 with a 3.07 ERA in 5 starts.  In 29.1 innings he has 21 strikeouts and has held opponents to a paltry (favorite baseball adjective) .187 batting average.

I'll take that.

I don't even know why we got rid of him.  I'm thinking it was some sort of log jam on the 40-man (mismanagement???) that caused us to try and have him clear waivers.  I think Detroit scooped him up on the cheap, like Chris Shelton cheap.  OINTMENT PLEASE!!!!

Next is John Danks, aka the lefthanded guy we drafted with our number one pick (#9 overall) in 2003....and who we traded to the Chicago White Sox for Brandon McCarthy, who may be made of glass.

Danks is 3-3 with a 2.74 ERA in 8 starts holding hitters to a .236 clip.

McCarthy, well, google him.  Actually, just click on his name, but you won't find any 2008 numbers for him....

I can picture Kenny Williams (White Sox General Manager) running to the phone to accept that call from JD that eve of Christmas Eve 2006.  The same way I see George Costanza running over those women and kids as he evacuated that apartment after the fire alarm went off.

And finally, Chris Young.

I think this was JD's first trade while manning the ship.  Not a good way to start out is being kind. 

You get my point here.

There are lots of prospects in our system that are supposed to be coming up the next few years, however, I don't know that they can equate to the above guys we've lost. 

In order to find out and keep them here, Nolan Ryan may have to cut JD's trigger finger off to keep this from happening again. 

Let me know Big Tex, I've got the chloroform-soaked rag ready.

Next up:  Brandon Boggs, maybe....

Alright, I apologize for the last post, apparently I jinxed the staff as they gave up 24 runs in 18 innings.....hardly close to anything they showed the previous two weeks, so I'm willing to take the blame. 

Some rapidfire thoughts below.

• The "game face" Kason Gabbard sports is hardly what you'd expect to see after watching him fold like a lawn chair as Richard Sexson charged him last week.  I think Kason finally got out of the fetal position an hour before warmups tonight.  But, he does look mean out there, as mean as a soft tossing leftie can look that is...

• Gerald Laird sure is making it tough for Wash to pencil in Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

• Apparently Chris Shelton is a good bunter as he laid down two PERFECT sacs in last nights 5-2 win over Seattle, problem is he's a firstbaseman.  When's the last time Big Papi put down two in one game?  Or one for that matter. 

• To build on the above comment, if they're not willing to put Saltalamacchia at firstbase to get him some extra atbats why not put Nelson Cruz at first base starting tonight in Oklahoma (Texas Rangers AAA-affiliate), hit him 10000 fungos after the game and bring him up tomorrow giving him one last shot.  He is mutilating AAA pitching (proj .336/56/162/1.179 ops) and he's added a couple of dimensions to his game which the big club wanted him to work on, his patience at the plate (28 bb vs. 22 k) and baserunning (11 sb vs. 3 cs).  He's got quick hands and maybe he's finally learned how to sit back on the offspeed stuff, I say, what do you have to lose, stranger things have happened...

• Rupe vultured win from Kason Gabbard, Rupe has nothing to fear.

• I'm not as worried about David Murphy as I was two days ago.  After strking out 4 times Sunday and starting the game Monday on the bench Murph got two hits in last night's game.  The league seems to have a book on Murph now.  Soft stuff away.....he knows it, let's see if he really is an everyday outfielder and makes the adjustment....last night he did.

• Brandon Boggs is fun to watch, he brought a revitalized feeling to the club upon arrival, shoulda traded Marlon Byrd when we had the chance.

• I will still bare Josh Hamilton's second child if he so chooses.

• I'm sure we'll start hearing chants to trade Hank Blalock if Ramon Vasquez keeps playing like a maniac.  Blalock is signed through the end of this year and if he's healthy and productive from now til deadline he could haul in a couple of good prospects.  To be honest I say trade Vasquez, he's too good looking for this team.  He looks like Enrique Iglesias sans mole (my cousin pointed that out to me, swear)

• Finally, Everyday Eddie Guardado made an appearance last night.  He was Yesterday Eddie (sorry) because he came in throwing the way he did in the past.  3 batters, 9 pitches, 9 strikes, 3 outs.  Coming right at hitters with unintimidating stuff, an ultimate bulldog is Eddie.  He was fired up after the game, he fired the team up and boy oh boy did he fire me up.

Alright boys, 1 game under .500 after 41 games.  Keep learning how to win, keep getting better.

Over and out-

Ryan A

As a lifelong baseball fan I've always heard this phrase, as a Ranger-lifer, I've rarely if ever seen it executed.

It was so foreign to me and the rest of the Ranger faithful.  Even during the runs of the late 90's our staff was below average, what got them to the postseason were some pitchers that would go into the mid innings backed by a defense that did not kick many balls...oh yeah, and an offense that massacred those standing 60' 6" away.

May rolls around and all we can do is forget about April.  Which by all accounts was worse than brutal...I actually can't come up with a descriptive word to describe April...

Staff ERA is 1.84...really?  Goodness.

Batting Average Against is .197....uhhhh, what?

We've won the last 5 and are 8-2 for the month correcting our overall record to 18-20 putting us 4 games behind Oakland and Los Angeles Anaheim California whatever.....

Any coincidence?  Darn tootin' there is.

People were calling for Wash's head on a plater.  I was about to become one of them.  It's amazing what some wins will do.  I think he's learning on the job, just as JD has.  Have they been perfect?  By all means, a big hearty "No." 

But given what Wash had to work with at the beginning of the year was unfair, now they've called up some kids who have energized both the team and the fans.

This is what it was supposed to be about....rebuild.

It didn't look like it when we had Frank the Cat, Marlon Byrd and Ben Broussard out there every day.

Now we can call it rebuilding. 

It is fun to watch the kids, but most importantly, it's fun to watch these kids win.

Next Up:  Brandon Boggs...promise.

The 2-seamed fastball, aka "sinker", isn't as sexy as it's flat, 4-seamed brother but they are just as, if not more, effective.

The 4-seamer is a pitch of power, a pitch that challenges hitters, if you've got a good one, you use it and you don't care if they know it's coming, ala Curt Schilling in the beginning of this century.  He'd stand up there and would basically tip the hitter as he would his catcher during pre-inning warmups.  Here it is meat, hit it if you can......

A good hard 2-seamer can sometimes look like one of those seen on Intellivision Baseball, moving everywhere, hard to control.  Although not as "manly" as the 4-seamer, it is deadlier because the pitch bores in and down on hitters only allowing the batter to beat the ball in the ground.  (Righty vs. Righty or Lefty vs. Lefty)

If you play in Texas, and want to be successful, a sinker is a must.  Thanks to the jet stream at the Ballpark you can fart on one and put it in the seats.

Ground balls aren't cooler than Strikeouts, but they're more economical and keep the team in the game.  The more ground balls the better chance for a double play.

The Rangers' starting rotation is heavy on sinker-ball pitchers. 

Crazy Eyes Padilla has a nasty, nasty 4-seamer and an even nastier sinker.  If Padilla used it more and stopped relying on his offspeed stuff he would be more effective and more economical with his pitch count, getting further into games and resting the bullpen.

Lefty Kason Gabbard, the guy with the batting helmet lodged between his vertebrae, is a guy I love, he is the typical "crafty" leftie, but he isn't a thumber.  He will come at righties and put fastballs right under their fists.  His sinker is good, not overpowering, but when located the way he knows how it is devastating.  I worry about his toughness, especially after the Sexson tussle his injury was listed as, "Bruised Knees" in some media outlets.

Scott Feldman, you know the guy that threw laredo-style last year.  Well, Mark Conner worked with him moving him into a 3/4 arm slot.  The results have been good thus far, take out his early season work out of the bullpen and he's got some great numbers.  This guy's sinker is crazy, it is hard for him to control at times.  If you look at his numbers from the windup vs. the stretch there is no doubt that he needs to move to the stretch exclusively.  It quiets his body and allows him to corral that wicked 2-seamer.

Sir Sidney Ponson, who is 2-0 in 3 starts with a 1.33 ERA, has a great sinker and hopefully can keep this up.  This is no doubt his last shot in the bigleagues and he knows it.  He works fast and he uses his sinker almost exclusively, more importantly he's keeping that sinker down where it needs to be.  Ponson was suprised after learning that he received a fine after the Rangers - Mariners fracas.  Below is from Dallas Morning News blog:

"Ponson said he was fined for "being too aggressive" while tangling with Ranger-plunking Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez. Ponson said he simply challenged Hernandez to punch him if he wanted to take a shot at somebody.

Ponson declined to say how much he was fined (UPDATE: $500), but he vowed to get his money's worth the next time the benches clear.

"The next time I get off the bench I will whip somebody's ***," said Ponson, who let a much worse word fly a few times during his chat with the media in the Rangers' clubhouse.""

I love this guy!!!

Okay, so I'm not expecting anything here.  But, it is fun to watch a team pitch and play good D.  This is all I ever wanted from this club, was to play like pros and rebuild for a better future. 

Next Up:  Bradon Boggs

Well, whodathunkit?  Sidney Ponson is back.  And I"m really trying not to overreact.....but, could we have found "lighting in a bottle?"

Certainly I, nor anyone I know expected such a resurgence from this big time perfromer of yesterday gone.

Sir Sidney (he was made a knight by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands) is only 31 and not far removed from a really good year....in 2003 he went 14-6 with a 3.77 E.R.A.  This was during the backend of the steroid era, which are impressive numbers given the amount of bull semen the hitters were ingesting back then.

It, of course, was his contract year and he hasn't done much of anything in baseball worth noting.  However, off the field he's been much more noticable, racking up a couple of DWI's (both in 2005) and I think he knocked out an Aruban judge as well.

Seems as though Sidney has put down the bottle for a little while after realizing....."Man, I'm kinda pissing this away here.....time to put down the Jack and Little Debbie variety pack and get my big butt in gear."

I wonder if he's approached Josh Hamilton or anything like that, Josh knows a thing or two of tying one on, maybe this is Josh's first reclaimation project?  Or maybe I'm being a little tabloidish.....either way, welcome back Sidney Ponson.