Slow and steady wins the race, but it's not a race it's a marathon?

Well, Rangers fans so far it's been 11 days and 9 games of a young baseball season. Even though we're talking about a little less than 6 percent of a long, long season here, baseball is one of those crazy analytical games that we tend to scrutinize pitch by pitch, at-bat by at-bat, series per series, and month per month. It's just the way it is. In a football season you can always point to 1 or 2 specific games out of 16 you should have won that would be the difference between making or breaking your season. That's what makes every game truly count there...

Half the teams in the NBA make the playoffs so teams take 'unofficial nights' off.

Yeah, I'm talking to you, Popp

Your favorite team is going to give you the occasional clunker in the NBA and if you're lucky enough to be in the Eastern Conference you don't even need to have a winning record or even an impressive record to make it to the playoffs!



What about baseball? After all, as you well know, we're talking about 6 months and 162(+? haha) games. These guys are playing practically every night. Sure some nights you'll have an extra inning game followed by a day game where you might unofficially wave the white flag. That's mostly just due to fatigue though. Or you're taking a 10 run beating in the 4th so you cut your losses and save your bullpen and just take your medicine by sending your long man out there just hoping he gets you to the next night. That's baseball...

It's tough to say that every game counts in the MLB because apparently only the All-Star game counts. Blah. Take a look at the Rangers record of 4-5 right now. Subtract two ninth inning rallies last week and our record looks plenty uglier at 2-7. Again, small sample size. I have a fraternity brother (OPhi!) by the name of Rock that loves to tell me that if the Rangers had just beaten the Astros on opening day last year we would have made the playoffs in 2013. It's true in a ridiculous way. I have, after all, been celebrating the Astros futility on his Facebook timeline for 4 years or so now. So, I humor him. Haha...

This guy here...

Actually you could play that game all day if you really wanted to.You can look back at last season and point out blown saves, big leads that were lost or even the reverse...games you should have lost, crazy comebacks, walk-offs etc. It tends to even out over 162. Sure Joe Nathan blowing a crucial save at Tampa Bay back on September 18, 2013 stands out. As an indirect result, the Rangers had to rally to win 7 straight just to force game 163...







Back to these Rangers though, the patchwork starting rotation has struggled, not surprisingly. We also seem to be trailing 1-0 or 2-0 in every single damn game. The lead-off hitter in every damn inning seems to get on. To say that there has been a prodigious amount of base-runners early on would be an understatement. Specifically, Tanner Scheppers had one bad and one shaky start for an 0-1 record and a 9.00 ERA. Our #4 starter Joe Saunders was predictably terrible. Once we actually saw Saunders on the mound I'm sure Wash was thinking what we all were...

He has since been placed on the 15 day DL with an ankle injury. What few bright spots we've had are Martin Perez' 2 starts with a 1-0 record and a deceptively high 4.50 ERA, Robbie Ross with a 1.74 ERA after 2 starts though not pitching through 6 in either start, and actually for at least one start, the youngster Nick Martinez. Perez and Martinez were the only 2 pitchers that have gone 6 innings other than our Ace whom we welcomed back last Sunday afternoon with open arms...

Our bullpen has actually really struggled as they sit currently with a collective 5.81 ERA. Six Rangers relief pitchers currently own 6+ ERAs. It's safe to speculate that with a healthy starting rotation this probably wouldn't be the case since presumably Scheppers and Ross would still be in the bullpen. I think you have to say that's where you'd prefer them to be at his point. What if we had Tanner ready to go in the bottom of the 8th against the Red Sox on Wednesday instead of sending out Ogando for another inning? What if Tanner goes out for the 8th at Tampa on Saturday? Assuming he'd still be his 2013 self, maybe we win both games. At least a shot. Besides, the bullpen has really been a stronghold for the really good Rangers teams we've seen in recent years....



What we kept telling ourselves after the injuries started piling up was that at least we had plenty of options and available arms. We just had to get by. Well, help certainly appears to be on the way soon with Matt Harrison progressing and Saunders' injury opening the door for an improving Colby Lewis...the greatest pitcher in Rangers postseason history...

Which brings me to Derek Holland. I was watching him do his usual clown routine on Rangers Insider last weekend: answering ridiculous questions (because it's Derek Holland) with ridiculous answers (because he's Derek Holland), twitter questions about his dog, and teasing Emily Jones. Now I fully understand that we tend to crucify athletes when they speak their mind or are TOO truthful/real...

Practice!?

We want them to live and breathe the sport and say all the right things AND live their personal lives the way we want them to. I accept all of this, but Derek Holland doesn't really fall into any of these categories. I know he has plenty of time on his hands right now and he's made a concerted effort to tone down his quirky personality, but I mean you all remember this...

...and this...

Just pitch, Derek. Seriously. Me, you, Wash or someone needs to tell him...

Haha. Having said all that, I still told Jenn I'm ridiculously close to being done with Holland altogether. We both agreed he needs to get punched in the face. That would probably help matters...

SHUT.THE.FUCK.UP!!!

We do need him, for sure. Last season he always seemed to be the one to break a losing streak or get us a win we absolutely needed. All you need to do is focus, Derek. Bottom line...

The pitching isn't all too blame early on though. Remember when I said the Rangers have shifted focus to pitching and defense in recent years? Well you wouldn't know it by looking at the team this year. They're currently dead last in the AL in fielding with 11 errors. They also somehow committed 6 errors in the span of 3 days...

Prince Fielder has been fielder in name only as he's had more errors (2) than HRs (0) in the young season. We knew what we were getting in him, though. It's not like he's known for his glove. Additionally, when you lose a player known for his defensive prowess like Ian Kinsler AND his replacement Jurickson Profar to injury, your defense is unlikely to improve. It hasn't all been bad though. They did turn 5 double plays to help Martin Perez get a win on Tuesday. They also turned 10 in the 3 games against the Red Sox which was 1 shy of the major league record for a 3 game series. So, there's that...


What about that Rangers offense that we for sure thought would be fixed for 2014? Well, that's actually been a mixed bag. Aside from a 10 run barrage on opening day and a 10 run explosion at Fenway Park this week you really have to say the offense is somewhat slumping on the whole when it comes to clutch hitting. They're still hitting .266 as a team with 38 runs, after all. The bottom of the order has actually done its part, although Leonys Martin is mired in a 2-18 slump after a hot start. Alex Rios has played stellar as of yet leading the Rangers in batting average, RBIs, hits, and is tied for the team lead in HRs (a whopping 1 haha). He also hit safely in each of the Rangers first 8 games...

I have to say, though, that when I'm watching games this year I can't wait to see our 1-5 hitters come to bat throughout the game and that's something I haven't been able to say since 2011 and 2012. So far Shin Soo Choo has been as advertised. He continues to live on base via walks; hitting for average while also hitting lefties. All told he has a .475 OBP right now i.e. everything you want from your leadoff man. Elvis Andrus is hitting .306 during his current 9 game hitting streak. He even went yard last Sunday afternoon to lock up a game for the Rangers, which has to be the earliest he's ever hit a HR in a season. Beltre is leading the team in doubles with 3 and has been his usual consistent, clutch self despite leaving Tuesday's game due to a quad issue. Lets cross our fingers there. JD says we should hear something today. Pesky injury bug, I tell you...


No, I haven't forgotten that big guy in the 3 hole. Prince Fielder has gotten off to a slow start to say the least. He's 2 for his last 21. He's hitting .162 with 3 RBIs. It's definitely too soon to panic on Prince, but you have to at least admit that this team would not be sitting at 4-5 if he had gotten off to a hot start this season. Is he pressing? That's tough to say. Are Elvis and Beltre benefiting from his mere presence? Yes. Until he gets it going this will be the narrative surrounding Prince. He may have to take some advice from Don Draper...

Or as a former Hank Aaron award winner, draw some inspiration from the 40th anniversary of 715
 this week...

Maybe a pep talk from his estranged father?

Okay probably a negative on that last one. You would think that a team with Prince Fielder on it wouldn't be ranked next to last in the AL with 3 HRs. I'm sure that won't last. You might be asking yourself what our departed friends from the 2013 Rangers are up to. Did we give up on them too soon, etc. Well, Ian Kinsler is hitting .313 with a homer and 3 RBIs. David freakin' Murphy is swinging a hot bat in Cleveland hitting .320 with a homer and 6 RBIs. Nelly Cruz has also gotten off to a good start hitting .250 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs. As for Nelly's work in the field, you ask?

There's my older brother Cruz again this past weekend...

Not bad. Wait until their inevitable slumps though. Again, we'll be fine. The Rangers have also faced some pretty good pitching so far, not to mention an underachieving Phillies team, a good team in Tampa, and the defending World Series champions. Here's how the AL West stands today before Oakland's day game and Houston's finale at Toronto tonight...

AL West	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	AWAY	L10	STRK
Athletics	5	3	.625	-	3-3	2-0	5-3	W3
Mariners	5	3	.625	-	1-1	4-2	5-3	L1
Angels	4	5	.444	1.5	0-3	4-2	4-5	W1
Rangers	4	5	.444	1.5	2-1	2-4	4-5	L1
Astros	3	6	.333	2.5	3-4	0-2	3-6	L3

No real surprises early on except for maybe the Mariners. After a day off the Rangers will finally come back home for a 10 game homestand. All very winnable games. First up will be Rock's Astros for 3. Yu Darvish will face off against our old friend Scott Feldman who will show up at the Ballpark wielding an impressive 2-0 record and 0.66 ERA. Lest we forget about Yu's near perfect game AND near no-hitter both against the Astros last year. As for Feldman, that 17-win season was a statistical anomaly while he was pitching for us. Maybe he'll revert to that other Scott Feldman we know once he's on the bump in Arlington. Haha...

Send anyone! Just get this clown out of there...

The Astros should show some improvement this year, but lets be honest...if they were to lose 90-95 games that would be a vast improvement.  The Rangers won 17 games against the Astros last season, their most against any single opponent in a season. They're a fairly dominant 36-7 against the Astros since 2009. So, yeah...

Next up will be those aforementioned surprise (I guess) Mariners for 4. We close out the homestand with the White Sox for 3. We'll have a better idea by then of what we're really looking at with this Rangers team. Especially since they'll go on the road for 6 against the hated A's and the M's again before coming back home to play the A's for another 3.


I don't need to remind you that we took care of business in our division in 2013 (53-23) and missed the playoffs, and not so much in the division in 2012 (27-30) and made the playoffs. Go figure. Either way, we really need to get the jump on the West with these 16 division games in April. Lets just try to run furiously through this month and the first half of the season like we have in seasons past...

All in all, there's PLENTY of baseball left to play. I'm definitely not backing off from any predictions or abandoning any optimism THIS early in the season, either. This is just what hardcore baseball fans do...like I said at the outset, we over-analyze. We also listen to people's questions such as: will the Rangers bats come to life? Will the rotation work itself out? Can we still make a run at it in the West? Will we return to the playoffs?

Haha. Maybe it's as simple as listening to Michael Young. He said it best...

Bring on the Astros!

Newsflash...Your Texas Rangers will NOT finish 0-162

SHUT UP IAN!

This guy.  Haha.  It's okay, he just misses us.  And no, this whole post is not going to be about Ian Kinsler, big mouth baseball players, stupid interviews, or any combination therein.  I just like laughing at Kins at this point.  

So, what is this post about you ask?  It's about our (still on the team) 2-1 start and everything that encompasses:  Tanner Scheppers (what was that start?), Martin Perez, and obviously, Shin-Soo Choo's walk-up music (Lil Jon...who knew?)

So...Schepp had a HORRIBLE outing.  He really did.  4 innings, 7 earned runs, 8 hits, and 3 walks were not what he planned to do I wouldn't think.  The question is, do we chalk this up to nerves or his stuff?  I'm sure nerves played a huge role.  He was just SO EXCITED.

And who knows how many caffeine pills he popped?  Kidding.

What we do know is that Scheppers had a good spring.  So good that he catapulted himself into the rotation before anyone else could (anyone that wasn't a regular that is).  I'm sure he'll be fine moving forward if he just attacks the plate and doesn't try to be too fine with his location like he was on Opening Day.  Of course, the other thing to consider is that, with Yu Darvish's return on Sunday (Thank you Baseball Jesus!), and Matt Harrison expected to return at month's end (the earliest would be April 23rd), how long will Wash give Schepp and Robbie Ross to establish themselves before pulling the plug?  Do they even have a shot at staying in the rotation when those guys are back?

Robbie had an okay, if not long, start last night.  3 runs (only 2 were earned) in 5 innings isn't bad at all.  But it's also not even as good as it sounds because Ross gave up 7 hits and 2 walks in there as well.  And that's an awful lot of base runners for only 5 innings.  Granted, he worked out of most of the jams he got himself into.  But, 96 pitches definitely needs to buy you more than 5 innings; if it doesn't, we're gonna have one tired bullpen come July.

But Ross did well enough, especially compared to Scheppers' start.  The funny thing is, Opening Day looked like the 1996 Texas Rangers all over again.

What?  What'd we do?

10 runs scored...and a loss.  BOO.  And then Tuesday's and Wednesday's game looked like last year's offense.

Yeah, I'm talking to y'all.  

Couldn't buy a hit.  But, it's important to note that both AJ Burnett and Kyle Kendrick were throwing good games for the Phillies.  I think Opening Day was a better indication of what's in store for us offensively. Not that we'll score 10 runs most games, but 5 or 6 is definitely doable with the additions we've made.  And 5 or 6 runs were really hard to come by last season.

I'd also like to add that the pitching we've seen early in the season is also probably indicative of what we'll get:  a crap shoot.  At least until we get some guys healthy.  Guys named Yu, Matty, and jackass...er, Holland, of course.

What is great is that Martin Perez seems to have picked up where he left off in his development, and maybe even took a step forward.  He looked really good on Tuesday, holding his own against Burnett with 5.2 innings pitched, 2 earned runs, and NO WALKS (that's my favorite part).

So where does that leave us?  It leaves us with Joe Saunders pitching tomorrow and the youngin' Nick Martinez pitching Saturday; both against the Devil Rays.

But don't freak out just yet.  The bullpen might be able to get us out of one of those.  And we only really need one there to win the series, because Yu is back on the hill on Sunday as we discussed.  And NO, that was not a jinx.

And before you correct me on the "Devil Rays" thing, know that I don't believe in name changes. Just ask Mike Stanton.

So...about Choo's walk-up music. Have you noticed it yet?  If not, it's this:

YEAH!!!  *Lil Jon voice*

And I gotta tell ya, I really thought maybe there was a musical interlude before his at-bat when I was at the game on Tuesday.  I didn't expect that to be Choo's music AT ALL.  But maybe I should have known that he likes to let his hair down occasionally.  

Or should I say "Let his hair OUT"

I'm convinced he let Elvis picked it for him.  He's the one that gave Yu the Soulja Boy to warm up to.  And now, apparently, Choo is Lil Jon.  I'm okay with this.  Just wanted you to be aware.  Haha

Well that's all I got folks.  

Today is an off-day.  ALREADY.  Don't they know we've been waiting for these games for six dang months?

Tomorrow's game is in Tampa Bay; game time is 6:05 PM.

3 down, 159 to go.  

Ryan Expressed?

Well, Rangers fans. It wasn't long ago at all that we were all geared up for the 2014 season. Our starting lineup was shaping up like so...

Our rotation was looking beyond solid. If you had asked me who our 5 starters were going to be going into the season I would have pretty confidently said (ceteris paribus of course):



Yu Darvish, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland, Martin Perez, and/or Alexi Ogando/Colby Lewis



Stout on both sides of the ball, right?


Even though we all eagerly await pitchers and catchers reporting and spring training games, in reality we just need our pitchers to get their work in, get your hitters their at-bats so they're opening day ready, and allow newer players to try and earn a roster spot...

Maybe a celebrity or two.

Sure statistics are kept and wins and losses are recorded, but you really just want to accomplish the above while escaping relatively injury free (oops). I mean, games can end in ties, for the love of god. Not that it matters but the Rangers are currently sitting near the bottom of the Cactus League at 10-15-3. They've averaged 13 wins since 2010 in the Cactus League, which is about average...for what it's worth. Again these are innocuous statistics...

Then, a funny thing happened on the way to opening day 2014...


Derek Holland

Jurickson Profar

Geovany Soto


These were your major injuries, then we lose Yu  for opening day, to boot! At this point, I literally expect there to be a new injury every day when I check on the team. I have since spent many conversations via FB, text or otherwise talking my fellow Rangers fans off the ledge. The conversations go something like this, "Did you hear about ____? We'll be fine, I think. What do you think? Are you still there?

Haha. Meanwhile (LilyAg voice), the rest of the time I'm actually talking myself off the ledge. It's times like these when a team's depth is truly tested. Unfortunately for us it reaches beyond pitching depth into our bench itself right now. Just take a look at how the lineup is shaping up now...

Lineup	Player	POS	AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	FVal
1	Shin-Soo Choo	OF	545	84	18	56	19	0.268	0.399	0.435	$13
2	Elvis Andrus	SS	545	81	3	55	32	0.279	0.343	0.349	$10
3	Prince Fielder	1B	555	87	30	98	1	0.294	0.389	0.512	$33
4	Adrian Beltre	3B	545	82	28	105	1	0.310	0.364	0.519	$32
5	Alex Rios	OF	530	75	16	81	31	0.281	0.326	0.440	$23
6	Mitch Moreland	DH	430	56	20	63	0	0.256	0.325	0.451	$0
7	Leonys Martin	OF	485	70	9	63	38	0.270	0.324	0.404	$13
8	J.P. Arencibia	Catcher	275	30	13	36	0	0.233	0.270	0.415	$-19
9	Adam Rosales	2B	180	20	5	21	0	0.244	0.306	0.361	$-31

(Plug in Michael Choice anywhere after cleanup, by the way. He stands to be a huge factor/difference maker for us)



Our starting rotation now (if I had to guess) will probably consist of:



Tanner Scheppers, Martin Perez, Robbie Ross, Joe Saunders with Yu and Matty hopefully coming back into the fold pretty quickly.



What a difference a couple of months makes!



The lineup is perhaps not as big a worry as the rotation, barring any further injuries (knock on wood). For example, lets speculate what losing Kinsler and AJP for 10-12 weeks in 2013 for the Rangers would have yielded, which is tantamount to losing Profar and Soto this year. That would have been disastrous for last year's offensively challenged team. 



For the time being, we'll have to rely on Adam Rosales to just field his position. If his name never comes up that would fine by me. You don't have to impress me, just don't disappoint me. If only I could think of another infielder whose natural position is second base out there that we could easily sign. Hmm...

I'm waiting...

Haha. We'll make due, I hope. Somewhere Ian Kinsler is laughing...

0-162, baby!

Goooood. Gooood....

We also cannot ignore that the catcher position has to be something of a concern for these next 10-12 weeks. J.P. Arencibia or Robinsin Chirinos? Err, is there a 3rd option? Haha. Here we have a couple of career .200 hitters. J.P. has some pop which I'll take from the catcher position any day e.g. he's good for 20 or so HRs on average. AJP/Soto was a suitable tandem last year for the Rangers, but in reality the catcher position has been in flux for quite some time. I remember asking Jenn at some point during last season if she would take the Salty/Napoli combo (both former Rangers of course) the Red Sox were using over AJP/Soto. Hindsight, I know. AJP joined those same Red Sox this offseason. I die a little bit inside when I remember Salty and Nap have rings now...

Blah. So, when free agency began I knew this team had other needs, but I thought catcher would be a priority. Catcher by committee and stop gaps can only get you by for so long. Even at 30 years old, Brian McCann was immediately on my Rangers wishlist, but not for 5 years and 85 mil...

I don't know that he would have solved all our catching problems, but Soto goes down and boom!

Look what happens. Suddenly we're scrambling. At least the future looks bright with our latest 'can't miss' prospect, 20 year old Jorge Alfaro...

As for that starting rotation of ours I tend to blame myself for not worrying about it for the SECOND year in a row. Injuries have forced relievers Tanner Scheppers (your opening day starter!) and possibly Robbie Ross into the rotation. Alexi Ogando and Nick Tepesch looked TERRIBLE this spring. So did Colby Lewis up until this game. Throw in veteran Joe Saunders and Tommy Hanson for some not-much-better options and you begin to see the conundrum we're currently experiencing. Yu Darvish should be ready to go soon, leaving Martin Perez as our ONLY projected starter that will be ready to go when the season begins. Just think about that without freaking out *just a bit*...
 



Not that the Rangers are strangers to their current plight. Injuries in the rotation have really become something of a trend in recent years. Here's a team that employed 11 different starting pitchers in each of the past 2 seasons. 11! Last season, the 78 win-Angels and 71 win-M's both used 11 as well. The 51-111 Astros used 10 different starters in 2013. Let that sink in for a second. Oh and guess where Joe Saunders and Tommy Hansen pitched last season? Seattle and Anaheim...

Now imagine trying to manage this mess, let alone being the architect of which. Now, I hear people saying this is the "Curse of Nolan Ryan". If I'm going to believe that I might as well also believe C.J. Wilson and Josh Hamilton dabble in voodoo.

Yay! It worked!

As you well know by now (maybe), I've been in JD's corner for the most part as evidenced here (once again)...



http://162plus.blogspot.com/2013/04/wwjdd-haha-getting-to-know-jon-daniels.html




...and here (again)...



http://162plus.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-new-year-prince-and-lots-more-to-choo.html




Despite all this current calamity I still have supreme confidence in JD, Wash, and the team, but that one name just keeps coming to mind...

Do you go to the State Fair to see your Big Tex?

If we take a step back and examine (again) we remember that JD arrived in 2006 and Ryan in 2008, but real success didn't arrive until 2010. In a perfect world, I like to idealize their relationship as a symbiotic one; one's success not existing without the other. What about the culture change Ryan ushered in though? The emphasis was put on pitching and defense. For instance, the Rangers team ERA was 5.37 in 2008 when he arrived, 4.38 in 2009, 3.93 in 2010, 3.79 in 2011, 3.99 in 2012, and 3.62 in 2013. You get the picture. You know the cliches too: The Rangers were never known for their pitching. The team wilts in the Texas heat after the all-star break. They're in a hitter-friendly ballpark etc. and blah blah...

Hitter friendly meaning beautiful...

More specifically though, Ryan (along with pitching coach Mike Maddux) de-emphasized the pitch count.


"I really think that what you have to do if you're gonna ask people to throw more innings and throw more pitches, you have to get them physically prepared to do that and mentally they have to accept that." -Nolan Ryan


Vis-à-vis conditioning and arm strength.


"If we put a pitch count on them, we put a limit on it. We put a ceiling on them. Why don't we just lift the ceiling and let them go as long as they can?" -Mike Maddux





No Limit...

Nolan was 'bout it 'bout it.

So this myth of '100 pitches' was out the window.  The Rangers have had varying results with this philosophy. Derek Holland and Matt Harrison made names for themselves during this time period. More recently you might see Yu Darvish toss 130 pitches on any given night. Then, relievers like C.J Wilson and Alexi Ogando come to mind. What gives us pause is former Rookie of the Year and lights out closer Neftali Feliz and how he may never be the same again after stretching out as a starter. He'll be starting this season at triple A if you hadn't heard. Ogando is back in the bullpen this season. Remind me again about C.J. Wilson's postseason success with the Rangers...



Only time will tell what becomes of Tanner Scheppers and Robbie Ross if they have to be in the rotation for longer than we need them to, or if we even need both in the rotation. Now, this really just begs the question, is this philosophy to blame for our constant injury riddled rotations? Hmm...


The Rangers were also dead last in fielding in the AL in 2008 with 132 errors, by the way. They ranked 4th with 85 errors 4 years later.


In the final analysis, I guess we'll never know what really happened between JD and the Ryan Express. Did he force Ryan out? Was this a power struggle?

Now that Ryan has taken a 'special consultant' position with Houston we'll see how JD fares in his absence and vice-versa. Lets not kid ourselves though. These 2014 Rangers are NOT the 2006 or 2007 Rangers. In any event, the last thing we want is Jimmy Johnson/Jerry Jones comparisons/musings/aphorisms...

What might have been...

What I found interesting was JD being quoted this week as saying the Matt Garza trade has the potential to 'haunt' him. I couldn't say with confidence that it was a good move at the time, much less now. Will anything become of C.J Edwards, Justin Grimm, and Mike Olt with the Cubs? Could they have helped us in our current decimated state? Are there any other assets JD traded away recently that would be nice to have in our pockets right now? Probably not. The Cubs also have Christian Villanueva and Kyle Hendricks which we sent them for renting Ryan Dempster in 2012. JD also picked up Koji Uehara in 2011 for the pennant race in exchange for Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter if you remember...

53 HRs. 53!

I can't really say that Garza, Uehara, or Dempster were worth it in retrospect, but consider the alternative being the Rangers standing pat for the last 4 years in a row at the deadline. We know good and well that wouldn't fly. Nevertheless, none of these players are Rangers at this point and a couple of them (along with Salty and Nap) have World Series rings now...

Who saw this coming?

A sobering thought...



All of a sudden you even hear people calling JD the 'anti-Jerry Jones'. If you're a Cowboys fan you've seen the salary cap hell that Jerry Jones' perceived loyalty to his players has put the Cowboys in. What's the old adage? Better a year too soon than a year too late? Think about some of the players that JD has either let go, traded, or whose offers he didn't match (usually because the price was outrageous), and still others he probably perceived to be on the decline, and still others he just plain decided to moved on from. Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, Vladimir Guererro (kinda), Mike Napoli (twice?), Cliff Lee (I guess?), Nelson Cruz, Josh Hamilton, C.J. Wilson and so on. They weren't all classy exits either. Then, I begin to wonder if there's any credence to Ian's 'sleazeball GM' comments. Even though verisimilitude escapes Ian for most Rangers fans these days...




Should we add Nolan Ryan to that list of spurned Rangers? Not that I'm trying to now paint JD as a tyrant/dictator. Emperor even...

...but maybe his 'New England Patriots'-like approach isn't a bad thing. Just ask Tom Hicks if you can have just ONE 25 million dollar a year player and still field a competitive team...

The genesis of the exorbitant contract.

Really, dawg!?

Hell, you could accumulate players like that if you wanted to, but what kind of team would you have on your hands? A bunch of 30 something has-beens? Not much a team if you ask me. Just look at the Yankees. They have excess of 120 million dollars invested in 8 30-something-year old players! That doesn't even count A-Rod's 29 mil that he's no longer owed due to suspension...

Now we have to ask ourselves another question: will we survive until around mid-season when we are (hopefully) completely healthy again? I'm not typically a glass half full, Mickey Spagnola type, but an above average left handed starting pitcher, a great second baseman, and a serviceable catcher damn sure sound like some welcome additions no matter where we stand.


You can't play the 'woe is me' card in baseball, after all. It's not like we're the only team in the League, or even our own division, dealing with injuries. Maybe not to the point we've experienced, but sometimes it's an inevitability. The Angels are pretty frail/shaky in their rotation after Weaver and Wilson. The A's will be without Jarrod Parker (for the season) and A.J. Griffin (on the DL)...

Not really sure what to make of the M's no matter if they're healthy or not. The Astros? Scott Feldman, guys? Really?

This about sums it up...

So now we have one mere 'Big League' weekend left between us and opening day.

By Big League weekend I mean the Rangers playing 2 exhibitions games against the Little League Astros at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio. JD wants that San Antonio market, I suppose. Not bad for the anti-Jerry Jones.  Speaking of the Astros though, now Nolan Ryan has been quoted as saying the Astros remind him of the Rangers in 2008.

Maybe in the farm system, but big league wise? Now, I'm not kidding myself here, either, that those Rangers and their predecessors weren't bad, but they weren't routine 100-loss bad!



Seriously! Before I forget, though, I made my own recent off season trades in an effort to realign the baseball gods for us, by trading this....

...for these...

...annnnd this bobblehead....

...for a bobblehead to be named later...

Gotta have it!

Haha....





Anyway, whether you're in panic mode or optimistic, Team Daniels or Team Ryan, I know we're all team Rangers, goddammit.





Bring on the Phillies! Bring on Cliff Lee!





4 Days...