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Thursday a.m. things

So, yeah, I was planning on doing a post this morning, weighing the pros and cons of calling up Christopher Davis, with Hank Blalock being out a couple more weeks, and trying to figure out what the Rangers would do.

That appears to be moot now.  Evan Grant says Jon Daniels has confirmed Chris Davis will be with the team tonight.

The original plan was for Max Ramirez to play first base tonight.  After a game where he had his first major league hit and first major league homer, it would be tough to not play him today, and the Astros are starting lefty Wandy Rodriguez, so I'm assuming Davis will make his Ranger debut at home tomorrow against the Phillies.

I'm fired up.  I'm hard-pressed to think of a Ranger prospect in recent years whose debut I've more looked forward to.  Well, other than maybe Eric Hurley, who debuted a few weeks ago.  And Maximus's debut, earlier this week, is up there, too.

Mad Max and Luis Mendoza were the stories yesterday, with Max providing a two run homer that was the difference in the game, and Mendoza giving the Rangers three strong innings after Scott Feldman was pulled after 4 innings (and 99 pitches).

Mendoza looks like a different pitcher than the one who was struggling earlier this year with shoulder problems, and gives you a glimpse of what the Rangers like so much about him.  It will be interesting to see if he stays in a long/middle relief role, or if he gets more of a look in the 7th and 8th innings.

In some other promotions that would normally be big news, but are sort of under the radar because of the Christopher Davis news, Jose Vallejo and Ian Gac are among the minor leaguers getting promoted, with Vallejo going to Frisco and Gac going to Bakersfield.  Gac, I think folks know about, but Vallejo has quietly had a real, real nice season for Bakersfield, and is only 21 years old.

Joaquin Benoit's comments make it sound like he's still not fully healthy, which makes me wonder why he isn't heading for the d.l.

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I am THRILLED.

I haven’t gotten anything done at work this morning because I keep checking around to see if this was confirmed or not.

Wish I was going tomorrow night, but our tickets are for Saturday….

"You got a guy coming up there who can’t hit water if he fell out of a boat." - Tom Grieve on Richie Sexson, 5.8.2008
"I’ve been a Rangers fan all my life and I can tell you there’s been plenty of fucking crying in baseball…" - WhipSmart, 6.3.08

by lisa w on Jun 26, 2008 9:59 AM CDT   0 recs

benoit

i really just don’t understand why they don’t put him on the dl. whats the downside? he get’s some rest if he is injured and they can add another bullpen arm that might be of some actual use!

"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg

by rentz on Jun 26, 2008 9:59 AM CDT   0 recs

Davis

Does this effect how long we can keep Chris Davis because we called him up in Late June? Because of his service time and etc?

by Monkey Brain on Jun 26, 2008 10:01 AM CDT   0 recs

No.

Will have no impact on arb or free agency.

by Jamey Newberg on Jun 26, 2008 10:03 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Looks pretty good, huh?

2B Kinsler
SS Young
CF Hamilton
RF Bradley
LF Murphy
DH Ramirez
1B Davis
C Salty
3B Vazquez

When all are healthy of course.

by booyahcaveman on Jun 26, 2008 10:06 AM CDT   0 recs

Swap

I would swap Davis and Murphy in the order but I like the rest.

by baylor on Jun 26, 2008 10:07 AM CDT   0 recs

reply

forgot to hit the reply button above.

by baylor on Jun 26, 2008 10:08 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Who has Chris Davis pictures???

Rangers > Nationals...for now

by RangerMoto on Jun 26, 2008 10:07 AM CDT   0 recs

thanks, oc! I found a casual one

Will the Rangers ever leave +-1 of .500???

by RangerMoto on Jun 26, 2008 2:23 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I was there!

Got his autograph twice.

by Butters on Jun 26, 2008 3:01 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Davis has biggers arms than you

Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing people. -- Ben Stein

by Lucas on Jun 26, 2008 2:28 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

dang

his arms are bigger than my thighs, let alone my arms.

He needs to work on his tan line though

Will the Rangers ever leave +-1 of .500???

by RangerMoto on Jun 26, 2008 3:40 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Promotions

I went to bed about 5 minutes before Butters and Ed posted this, and then I saw that Gac, Vallejo, Kaase, and Osuna had all been promoted, with Der Fliegende Hollander joining Spokane. I can hardly digest all of that.

Plus, my daughter has been called up from Toddler class to Pre-Primary! Her carbo-veggie ratio indicates a need for improvement in plate discipline, but she continues to excel despite being young for her class…

...and curse Sir Sidney Ponson, he was such a stupid git.

by t ball on Jun 26, 2008 10:10 AM CDT   0 recs

Heh

...and curse Sir Sidney Ponson, he was such a stupid git.

by t ball on Jun 26, 2008 10:22 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

My 4 year old

had great plate discipline last night and ate like a horse. That, combined with some sort of stomach bug, created the perfect storm that “stormed” all over her, me, the floor, etc.

Just keep your mask on and umpire the game! - Tom Grieve, 5/25/08

by EssBee on Jun 26, 2008 11:37 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Mad Max

A nice start for Max. It does make add to the drama about who is the future for catching in Arlington. With Teagarden and Max with such high ceilings its hard to imagine that Salty has a future here. I know its early for Salty but so far its much ado about very little from him. If Salty still can’t throw runners out how long does it take to acquire the skill, he’s been making that throw for years now and he looks a long long way from being skillful at it. Which one, or one’s wll be traded…not sure right now who should go but not becoming a Salty fan so far.

Foolish consistency is the hobgobblin of little minds - Emerson

by RangerEddie on Jun 26, 2008 10:11 AM CDT   0 recs

Personally,

I think you have to give salty the catching job at least every 4 out of 5 games to really make a determination on him. Unfortunately, I dont know if we will ever see that. Also, there is no doubt about his arm strength it is just his throwing mechanics and footwork. He has looked better recently, IMO.

by booyahcaveman on Jun 26, 2008 10:15 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

some trades need to be made soon

it will suck for some of these guys to have to go back down when people come off the DL

Rare Gnats Sex

by ab03 on Jun 26, 2008 10:25 AM CDT   0 recs

I think...

this is the wrong time to call up Davis. Obviously i am excited to see him play and think he’ll be a great player, but by doing this we now cut Max Ramirez’s playing time down to very little because he wont be the everyday catcher, or first baseman, and cant DH once Bradley is back in a couple more days. It also screws Cat out of most playing time I would think, which makes it all the less likely that we wont get more than a pack of gum for him at the deadline. I just think that with Hammy, Murphy, Boggs/Byrd as your OF, Bradley as DH, Davis at 1B playing most days, Max (who should get cosistent ABs if he is up) and Cat go to the bench. We need a legit look at Salty and he should be the everyday catcher till Laird is back. Seems like a huge logjam to me. A trade needs to happen real soon.

by erikj07 on Jun 26, 2008 10:27 AM CDT   0 recs

Cat

Did we think we were going to get more than pack of gum for him anyways?

This is the Texas Rangers, professional destroyers of hope, we're talking about. - BAC

by nikpin on Jun 26, 2008 11:03 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

dude he's worth a mid first rounder...

you didnt know?

"Do they know who I am? Do they know my status? Thats what I thought."
-Miles 6/21/08

.501 or bust!

by Jayslick on Jun 26, 2008 11:09 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

who offered a pack of gum?

we’ll take it!!

Iron Mike Tyson works out at my gym.

He's a pretty good boxer.

by LAMuscleFag on Jun 26, 2008 11:14 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Personally, I don't think there is much chance

to do anything other than dump part of his contract. A High to Mid 700 OPS guy who doesn’t play a lick of defense, and can only hit righties is useless. I think we should just eat his contract and move on.

Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes - Shaq

by DJCahill on Jun 26, 2008 1:46 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Max

No offense to the guy and he had a great game last night but I think the best thing for him now would be to go to OKC and play 1B on a regular occasion and catch whenever TT needs a day off. He jumped from AA to the bigs which is a huge leap and although he had a good game last night more time on the farm is absolutely needed. Now we just need to either find a veteran catcher to backup Salty or possibly keep Shelton as strictly a backup catcher which would assure Salty of at least 5-6 days a week behind the plate

Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.

by bigsteve on Jun 26, 2008 11:12 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Could this mean?

Could it be a sign that a trade of either Cat or Bradley is eminent? That would open up the 1B/DH role for Max and Davis to switch back and forth.

by cgolden on Jun 26, 2008 11:22 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Davis' Defense

Any reports on his glove over at first?

by booyahcaveman on Jun 26, 2008 11:24 AM CDT   0 recs

Miles' secret supa dupa inside source told me "mediocre but improving"

Keep in mind he is new to the position…

Don't knock masturbation, it's sex with someone I love .

by Brian Thomas on Jun 26, 2008 11:32 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Ruben Mateo

that was the most anticipated call up for me in a long time…

Stats don't lie

Paul Pierce >> Soft Nowitzki

"The Legend of Rudy continues to grow..." - the other guy on the podcast.

by Longhorn on Jun 26, 2008 11:47 AM CDT   0 recs

Ditto

and I was never so crushed as when his leg got broken.

...and curse Sir Sidney Ponson, he was such a stupid git.

by t ball on Jun 26, 2008 12:51 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Juan Dominguez

I was pumped for his promotion…

by Agreen07 on Jun 26, 2008 12:28 PM CDT   0 recs

You beat me to it

I was going to Say Juan first, followed by Volquez second.

by Taylor on Jun 26, 2008 1:40 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

me

botts. stupid adam.

Rare Gnats Sex

by ab03 on Jun 26, 2008 2:13 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

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