I Told You So...

Do you guys remember a couple months ago when everybody was in huge state of panic about our Texas Rangers?  Yeah, me either...

Kidding...of course I remember.  I wrote this, didn't I?  Thank goodness for the quality baseball minds here at 162+ who told you guys to pull yourselves together...the season is long...we'll be okay..NOBODY FREAK OUT, etc.  You remember it now, right?

And at that point, which was July 8th, our Texas Rangers were 14 games OVER and in 2nd place in the West by only HALF A GAME.  Tsk, tsk, spoiled fans (including me...I was in a mini-panic..but don't tell anyone).

Well now I am here to do what any self-respecting baseball blogger would do: say I TOLD YOU SO. Haha.  Okay...not exactly "I told you so".  But let's just reinforce the "Nobody Freak Out" blog post by looking at this:

Now that's a good lookin' ball club as of 8/27/13.

So what do we have here?  We are looking at TWENTY ONE games over .500 and a 2.5 game lead over the Oakland Athletics my friends.  And that is sounding pretty good to me.

And while we have still have had plenty of injuries and re-injuries (can guys quit getting hurt rehabbing?  I'm looking at you Matty & Colby), we have also had some guys get healthy. Joakim Soria was finally ready to go in early July.  Martin Perez has come roaring back from the DL with some pretty stellar games.  And Jeff Baker managed to fight back from an extremely vigorous high-five.

That DL stint due to high-five actually did happen, btw.  That's why the guys do this after hits now.

Of course, we obviously can't talk about this team and how they might finish the season without mentioning who we've lost.  But, so far, we seem to have overcome those obstacles.  First on the Man Down list:  Nelson Cruz.  MLB suspended Nelly for 50 games on August 5th as you probably know.  50 games means he's done for the season.  However, he is eligible to come back for the playoffs.  The rumor is he's playing ball in the Dominican trying to stay fresh until then.  We'll see.

Not the best defensive outfielder that ever was, but we'll definitely miss his boomstick.

Alexi Ogando managed to land himself back on the DL after a brief return to the rotation (shoulder inflammation).  But, based on the starts he had in that return, we ain't missin' much.  Old Man Berkman also managed to injure himself...AGAIN.  Of course, this is what most of us expected of the 37-year old DH.  I mean...he's on the DL with a hip problem.  Literally.  I'm not even making that up.  And because he wasn't producing much either before his latest injury, he's in the same boat with Ogando; not even sure we want them to come back. Young Nick Tepesch has also found himself on the on the DL.  But I'm not even sure he's hurt.  I think that's Wash finding a way to not have to start him again.  But, as I've said before, he did as much as we could have expected him to do in the position the team threw him in.  So, we'll see you again, kid!  (FYI, they are calling it 'elbow inflammation')

The team has also added a couple of new faces too though, before and after the trade deadline.  

Dat's right...

Ready for your intros?  

One strikeout...ah, ah, ah...

At least 75% of Rangers fans think Matt Garza looks like The Count.  I am one of them.  Since joining the team at the end of July, Garza has had bouts of pitching brilliance, Twitter ignorance, and a few bad starts as well.  As of now, his Rangers ERA sits at 4.44; not so hot.  But only time will tell how this acquisition will pan out.  Here's to hoping he starts pitching like hid did in his first two starts as a Ranger again soon.

Lucky for me, nobody reads your little TIME magazine.  Or whatever it's called.

So...it has come to my attention that Alex Rios is really, really ridiculously good looking. Unfortunately, he thinks so too.  So all I can think of is the movie Zoolander.  Derek Zoolander..."A Model Idiot".  Anyway, Our male model is hitting .279 as a Texas Ranger.  And some of those hits have been of the clutch variety. I've never been a huge fan of this guy, I always thought he was overrated (I'm still not convinced otherwise). But he's playing well for us thus far, and we really needed offense prior to his arrival. As with Garza, I guess we'll have to wait and see how this one pans out.

Utility guys don't get funny pictures or even nicknames really.  Poor guy.

Adam Rosales was picked up, DFA'd, picked up again, and now he's actually on the team. Alright! He adds a nice glove on the bench and isn't expected to do too much other than that. But, he's a new Ranger nonetheless.

So none of these guys seem like team saviors, do they?  Well..they're not.  They're not big bat Mike Stanton like I was hoping for.  And they're not big ace Cliff Lee of a couple years ago.  The truth is, there wasn't too much on the trading block this year to choose from, even for JD, Jedi that he is.  But as we've already read, this team didn't really need a savior per se.  They just needed to patch some holes here and there.  So, I'm still hopeful for a lengthy playoff run, even if not a full on world championship.  Why, you ask?  Two very good reasons:

1.  Harry Caray:

He's such a clown, but he's been dealin'.

2.  And The International Man of Mystery:

What a ridiculous photo this is.  And an organized team photo no less!

Well, that's all for now.  Feeling pretty confident in this team.  But we're in the midst of the dog days of summer and September will prove to be very important, just like last year.  Sorry if I brought on any Josh Hamilton flashbacks.

Dutch is throwing on the West Coast tonight.  Stupid 9PM start.  

131 down, 31 to go.