Tuesday morning stuff
by Adam J. Morris on Jun 24, 2008 7:11 AM CDT
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PrintQuiet day today, after the off day yesterday.
Richard Durrett talks about Nolan Ryan coming back to Houston as president of the Rangers, with his team facing the Astros...Durrett also mentions that Brandon McCarthy threw off a mound for the first time since early April yesterday...
Jeff Wilson reports that Hank Blalock bruised his wrist Sunday, and won't be back in the lineup for the Rangers today, as had originally been hoped. He also says the MRI on Gerald Laird reflects a pulled hamstring that will keep Laird out from 4-6 weeks.
And Anthony Andro compares this Ranger outfield to some of the best outfields in the Rangers history...
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Best outfields in Ranger history?
Surely it cant stack up with Kevin Reimer, Pete Incaviglia, and Cecil Espy.
Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes - Shaq
OR
Whiffy, Nellie Cruz and Bottsy
The "Electrician" was born 7/16/07 11:53 PM EDT
http://www.lonestarball.com/2007/7/16/213154/893
WoW,
good morning sunshine! What seems to be the occasion for such a early morning start?
Hank tanks once again. Let MaxRam and Davis get the rest of the reps at first and third.
The bloggerformelyknownasBigBaddBubbaJ
who plays third?
Go Vote for Kinsler, Young, Hamilton, Bradley and write in Murphy. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2008/ballot_reg.html - Vote up to 25 times on as many email accounts as you can think of!
Duran and Vasquez,
at least until Hank CAN return. I wouldn’t mind seeing Davis there maybe a couple times, just to see how terrible he really is. MaxRam can get reps at DH/1B/C.
Ideally, my infield for the next four years would look like this:
C-Salts, backup-a combo of MaxRam/Tea/possibly Laird(I do like him, he just doesn’t fit long term)
1BDavis, backup MaxRam, Salts as an emergency backup
2nd-Kins, backup-Duran
SS-Mike Young, backup-Vasquez/Arias
3rd Possible free agent on a two year contract/with an option for three,Vasquez who I wouldn’t mind as a short term fix, backup Duran, Davis as an emergency backup
The bloggerformelyknownasBigBaddBubbaJ
thoughts
is anyone else a little anxious to see Luis Mendoza pitch again? He looked pretty good in that last outing, and I would love for him to make me forget all about Galarraga.
Also, Nelson Cruz simply continues to wreck shop in OKC. I hate to be so myopic as to lump him in with Botts as a 4A player simply because they share ‘80 birthdays. He could have more in common with Ludwick than Botts, and I would like to find out.
So,
do you give Hank Blalock his $6.2 million option or buy it out for .25 million.
Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes - Shaq
when healthy
this guy can hit .300 and slug 25 home runs. I would prefer he do that here, and we can trade him when his value is highest. There is no way we should simply cut him loose, unless we feel, as with the case with Aki, that he may simply never be the same player again.
The desire on this forum to cut players lose or trade them at their lowest value is a constant source of entertainment for me.
Concur...
but he better get is ass on the field and produce and stay healthy in the second half. All these injuries have to make JD seriously consider not picking up that option. I think it all depends on what he does in the second half.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
i could be wrong
but before last year, he had never been an injury prone player. he went through some slumps, but he had always stayed on the field. and now, for the past two years, his bat has returned, but a series of strange injuries are keeping him off the field. Here’s the thing…the new Moneyball -esque “value buy” in baseball, or at least for the Rangers, is the player coming off an injury plagued year (or years). The Rangers have hit on many of these guys of late (Gagne, Bradley, Guardado) making a guy like Jennings easier to overlook. The A’s have taken a similar route (Chris Snelling comes to mind). It is a risky area, but if you can get one of these guys on a one year deal, you can really maximize value. Think of Blalock next year as one of those guys.
In 2006...
...he was relegated to DH duties the last month or two because of his shoulder…
by Adam J. Morris on Jun 24, 2008 9:33 AM CDT up reply actions
Plus...
...many have speculated that his always reliable late season decline has been due to his thorassic outlet injury. Was that repaired? Who knows!
Hank
$6.2m just isn’t very much cash in today’s game.
Get through 2008, and if he achieves a couple hundred consistent ABs, you execute that option.
We don’t know if Young’s at 3B next year because we don’t know if Elvis or even Arias can handle SS by then. And we don’t need the clutter of an Adam Everett.
So give 3B back to Hank, and keep the status quo.
Then, sometime in 2009, we’ll have Young at 3B, Blalock DHing some, and a very young SS, with Kinsler and Davis rounding things out.
It’s just not that much money.
Go Strangers.
by hightowersmith on Jun 24, 2008 9:39 AM CDT up reply actions
That's why...
I advocate buying him out. But, I guess I only think we should buy him out if he fails to return and/or do anything of any significance in 2008. If he can return in another couple of weeks and put together a solid 1/2 of a season, I would pick up the option. At the moment, I’m not real encouraged about Glass Hank Blalock. It’s a shame, really – he was having a nice season this April when he got shut down.
by FuturePants on Jun 24, 2008 10:38 AM CDT up reply actions
guys, come on
This guy has shown that he has legitimate talent. he is no more made of glass than Milton Bradley, or the 2007 version of Josh Hamilton. Chris Davis and Max Ramirez are not sure things to come up and contribute right away, or at least not any more than Nelson Cruz is. There is no sense in hastily escorting Hank out of town because of a bit of bad luck.
OKC video
I went back and watched the OKC video to see if I could find when Blalock got hurt, see him flinch or shake his arm in pain or something. In his last inning he makes two nice plays at first with no problem. The inning before he does gamely dive trying to snag a double down the line – I guess he got hurt there. But he plays another inning and he never shows any sign of pain or discomfort. Seeing the video just makes me more confused.
Main – no idea if he’ll start today. The AZRL rotation is all guesswork on the calendar.
With Laird gone 4-6 weeks...
We had better get Max consistant at-bats so that he is not just riding the bench.
Unless we are willing to let Bradley play right field (which I am not sure is a good idea), max will only get to start at 1B and spot starts at C.
He will get even less playing time once Blalock is back.(If and when that happens)
About Cruz...
I wonder how much longer management will allow Cruz to keep obliterating AAA pitching. What he is doing is truly extraordinary. Were it not for Boggs, I assume Nelson would already be here.
II Cor. 4:17-18
My feeling...
is that they’ve already gotten all the looks at Cruz they think they need. I think he ends up being a throw-in in some deal later.
"I know you're a bit dense but no, it doesn't. Obviously lying isn't a problem for me."
all the looks they need?
he is having one of the best seasons in minor league baseball. statistically, there is not a weakness in his game, and he has always had a reputation as a strong defensive player. Our outfield consists of a legit superstar in Hamilton, a couple of young guys without proven track records who could ultimately end up platooning in Murphy in Boggs, a solid 4th OF in Byrd, and Bradley, an injury prone player on a one year deal who primarily plays DH. I think a rebuilding team like the Rangers would be wise to give Cruz one more look before throwing him into some deal like an afterthought.
I think Ben is right
They may choose to take another look at him—but only if some other trade makes room. Despite the run he’s on, I won’t cry if he’s dealt and they choose instead to move forward with JMJ and Boggs in addition to Hamilton and Murphy (assuming Bradley goes).
...and curse Sir Sidney Ponson, he was such a stupid git.
the way i see it
we have hamilton manning one OF position for the foreseeable future. we have murphy and boggs eventually settling into a platoon in another. that leaves one more spot open, probably in right. and we have two prime candidates as of right now, JMJ and Nelson Cruz. Let’s give them the opportunity to settle this the second half of the season.
He will get one more look
We have room on the 40 man roster, so if they don’t like what they see, they can designate him and that will be the end of Cruz here because I am certain he would decline an outright.
by FuturePants on Jun 24, 2008 10:39 AM CDT up reply actions
Yeah I don't like that "all the looks they need" argument.
You simply can’t ignore those in AAA, whether he’s flopped in the MLB before or not. He’s gotten his share of looks, yeah. However, parts of his games that needed work in the MLB have been improved, and he we should take one more good look.
Yeah it wasn't really a response to Ben
as much as it was a response to the approach we seem to be taking with Cruz.
I think your right Ben.
Unless there is an OF injury (knock on wood), I just do not see Cruz getting another shot here.
I also believe he is an add-in in a deal for bullpen help.
Cruz
I was just looking at his numbers on MILB.com. WOW!!!
He only has 1 split where his OPS is below 1.000…..in May, his OPS was .967.
Let me have a diablo sandwich, a Dr. Pepper, and make it fast I'm in a God damned hurry!
by LSBUser on Jun 24, 2008 2:24 PM CDT up reply actions
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