New DMN newsletter up

by Adam J. Morris on Sep 24, 2008 10:38 AM CDT

Evan Grant has a new Rangers newsletter up...

There's a question carping about the Rangers giving up on Carlos Pena, which amused me a bit, and a sarcastic question about what young pitcher Jon Daniels is going to give away this offseason, among other things...

Anyway, good stuff...check it out...

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WOW!!

A question from Uncertain, Tx. I didn’t there were any Rangers fans among the 150 or so people who live there since I moved away.

"Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states" - Barack Obama

by LSBUser on Sep 24, 2008 10:59 AM CDT reply actions

So

You weren’t sure, or you were un…something.

Tommy!

by brettgardner on Sep 24, 2008 11:46 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

Patience

It’s a great relief to read that the organization is indeed going to exercise patience. What we’re seeing with the Josey Wales types is the testing of that patience, the dark before the dawn. I’m glad the organization isn’t listening to the fire everyone and start all over crowd.

In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.

by t ball on Sep 24, 2008 11:59 AM CDT reply actions

Josey Wales

…is going to have a hemmorhage, I think. The news that JD will be back has put that guy over the edge.

by FuturePants on Sep 24, 2008 12:58 PM CDT up reply actions

The problem with ragging on Josey Wales

is that Josey Wales has had this thing pegged with sick accuracy since 2003.

Any other questions?

"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."

by Josey Wales on Sep 24, 2008 10:47 PM CDT up reply actions

Like when you said

Mark Teixeira is definitely in the Hall of Fame? That was some sick something.

"Oh well, McCain is pretty communist anyway,... we can be 70% communist with McCain,"-Sharky

by DJCahill on Sep 25, 2008 4:45 AM CDT up reply actions

Check with me on Tex going to the HOF

in twenty years, Cahill.

"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."

by Josey Wales on Sep 25, 2008 7:17 AM CDT up reply actions

Patience

My patience has been growing thin ever since the end of the 1999 season when TommBoy had Melvin blow the championship team up.

I’m sorry, but in this day and age it doesn’t take 10 years to put a winner on the field.

I am totally done with hearing that JonBoy is going to be back. Just another year of incompetent crap from people who don’t have a clue to what they are doing, but work really cheap.

Lbrooks

by LBrooks on Sep 24, 2008 1:02 PM CDT reply actions

so its jd’s fault the team hasnt been a winner in 10years? hart is completely blameless i’m sure, and the owner is a saint and has nothing to do with it.

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

by rentz on Sep 24, 2008 1:15 PM CDT up reply actions

LBrooks

I’m pretty sure he likes Hart and Hicks even less than he likes Daniels.

by Adam J. Morris on Sep 24, 2008 2:21 PM CDT up reply actions

LBrooks

I cannot read his posts without thinking of Foster Brooks. I just imagine him speaking his posts as that character.

In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.

by t ball on Sep 24, 2008 3:17 PM CDT up reply actions

I always

Heard him as Brooks from Shawshank.

by brettgardner on Sep 24, 2008 4:35 PM CDT up reply actions

+1 MM

"Asphalt me, ben. Asphalt me good and hard." - brettgardner

by inactive lsb user on Sep 24, 2008 4:38 PM CDT up reply actions

Much too sympathetic

a characterization.

In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.

by t ball on Sep 24, 2008 5:15 PM CDT up reply actions

im not really sure

what we need to ‘find out’ about metcalf. it seems pretty clear what kind of player he is going to be, and though i think he has some value as a backup/defensive specialist, i dont think he really merits inclusion in our long-term plans.

by Smoakin in the Boys Room on Sep 24, 2008 3:10 PM CDT reply actions

I tend to agree with that...

…there is little to make me believe he is ever going to be a useful everyday player in the bigs.

Physician: Primum non nocere

Batter: First, make no out

by Chad Crudup on Sep 24, 2008 3:47 PM CDT up reply actions

Not sure...

Travis Metcalf started showing something last year in Frisco when he hit .280/.345/.475. When Hank Blalock got hurt, Metcalf hit .255/.307/.435 for the big league team, which is solid for someone forced into duty coming up from Double-A. I don’t have any idea why his numbers were so awful in Oklahoma in his 18 games there in 2007 though (.148/.232/.197).

But Metcalf came to Spring Training this year and got off to a real hot start (.412/.444/.824) until he suffered a hamstring injury that required surgery.

His numbers at Oklahoma weren’t pretty for the season, but it should be noted that he improved throughout the year. Metcalf’s numbers for RedHawks in the 48 games he played before the league’s All-Star Break were .231/.263/.341. In the 23 games he played in Triple-A after that All-Star Break his numbers were .301/.371/.434. In Oklahoma’s playoff run, Metcalf hit an uneven .182/.282/.485 (6-for-33, 2B, 3 HR’s, 4 BB, HPB, SF).

I’d just hate to see the Rangers lose Metcalf, watch Blalock get hurt next year (or have Blalock leave as a free agent after doing well in 2009), and then watch Metcalf show a little more plate discipline and play Gold Glove-caliber defense while hitting 25 HR’s for the next five years with another team (a team that might be paying Metcalf less total than the Rangers paid to Ben Broussard this year).

I'm tired of the suspense. Why won't they just tell us what they mean by "male enhancement?"

by YourNameHere on Sep 24, 2008 5:18 PM CDT up reply actions

If Metcalf

gets enough at bats to hit 25 HRs for any team I’ll eat my hat. Metcalf is not the kind of guy that’s likely to bite you in the ass if you lose him.

In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.

by t ball on Sep 24, 2008 5:20 PM CDT up reply actions

Seems Like...

It seems like a player who could be among the best defenders at his position and has now hit 11 home runs in 242 plate appearances would be a very good candidate to come back and haunt you.

Remember that Travis Metcalf’s injury kept him out of games until the middle of May. He seems to be improving throughout the year. And, if I’m doing my math right, Travis Metcalf has hit .277/.327/.702 for the Rangers since August 1st. Sure that’s only 52 plate appearances (again, if I’m doing my math right), but if people are buying into Nelson Cruz, then I think Metcalf at least deserves some consideration

I'm tired of the suspense. Why won't they just tell us what they mean by "male enhancement?"

by YourNameHere on Sep 24, 2008 5:53 PM CDT up reply actions

11 HRs, whoop-de-do

the rest of his offensive production has been nothing to admire, and his minor league numbers do not inspire confidence. If the Rangers decide to jettison Blalock I wouldn’t be averse to using Metcalf as a stopgap at 3B while you await Andrus and move Young over a year from now, moving Davis back to 1B where he belongs. But to count on Metcalf as any more than that — or to worry about him blossoming somewhere else is kind of silly.

Metcalf is much less likely to keep hitting like that than Cruz is. Cruz has years of crushing minor league pitching to his credit, and all 3 of his slash line numbers look good, as opposed to just one being freakishly (and unsustainably) high.

In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.

by t ball on Sep 24, 2008 6:09 PM CDT up reply actions

Last week...

You, last week, on Michael Young:

“Sure, I think there’s a decent chance he can hit something like .300/.350/.425 over the next 2 to 3 years, but that’s still a terrible contract.”

http://www.lonestarball.com/2008/9/18/617085/michael-young-injury-situa#8842987

I’m not saying it’s a given, but I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Travis Metcalf being able to put up an OBP 30-50 points higher than that while playing top-tier defense if he were starting.

I'm tired of the suspense. Why won't they just tell us what they mean by "male enhancement?"

by YourNameHere on Sep 24, 2008 6:53 PM CDT up reply actions

Not sure what your point is

Are you saying Metcalf can put up an OBP 30-50 points higher than Young? And anyway, I’m not certain that Metcalf’s defense is “top notch”, though it’s better than Davis or Blalock over there for sure.

I just see nothing in Metcalf’s overall numbers, major and minor, to cause so much worry about losing him. Cruz is a much better bet to be adequate at the plate than Metcalf, and it’s much easier to find someone with Metcalf’s ceiling than that of Cruz or Blalock. And if Blalock has a hot first half he has a lot more value in trade than Metcalf.

In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.

by t ball on Sep 24, 2008 7:01 PM CDT up reply actions

Unlike Nelson Cruz...

…Metcalf doesn’t have a minor league track record of hitting well.

by Adam J. Morris on Sep 24, 2008 6:30 PM CDT up reply actions

Not a given...

No, I don’t think it’s a given that Travis Metcalf will be a quality major leaguer, but if Nelson Cruz is getting the green light, then I think that Metcalf should be given some consideration.

Metcalf’s minor league numbers (.258/.328/.428, see more at http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/M/Travis-Metcalf.shtml) definitely fall far short of Cruz’s (.298/.370/.539, see more at http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/Nelson-Cruz-1.shtml), but keep in mind that part (NOT ALL) of that is caused by the fact that Cruz has been hammering Triple-A hitting for the last two years, which is almost exactly how much older Cruz is than Metcalf.

And Metcalf has had some very positive showings in the Minor Leagues: see Spokane in 2004; Bakersfield in 2005; Frisco in 2007.

And the one thing that Metcalf didn’t have going into the year that Cruz did was an extended record showing an inability to hit in the Major Leagues. Before the year, Cruz had a Major League line of .231/.282/.385 in 442 at-bats.

I'm tired of the suspense. Why won't they just tell us what they mean by "male enhancement?"

by YourNameHere on Sep 24, 2008 7:18 PM CDT up reply actions

Metcalf

He reminds me a lot of Steve Buechele- great defense, will pop some homers, but will struggle to hit above .250.

"I dont care to debate with a troll." - Sharky

by RCCook on Sep 25, 2008 6:49 AM CDT up reply actions

I've always liked Metcalf

Not sure why. I hadn’t thought about a comparison to Boo. Maybe that’s it though. My vote would be let Hank go, Metcalf at 3rd for a year until you move MY over there and then flip Metcalf for some “magic beans” that Josey used to be so fond of making fun of.

by BEW on Sep 25, 2008 7:42 AM CDT up reply actions

Seems a better plan to me

than signing Blalock and moving Davis’ rusty skillet to 3B. I’d probably rather see a real shortstop though instead of “shortstop” MY.

"Oh well, McCain is pretty communist anyway,... we can be 70% communist with McCain,"-Sharky

by DJCahill on Sep 25, 2008 8:12 AM CDT up reply actions

Well...

The question about what young pitcher JD will give away this off season hopefully has a answer.

Luis Mendoza. DFA him to get him off the 40. If he clears then great stick him at AAA all year, if not, good luck to ya Luis.

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates

by slc ranger on Sep 24, 2008 6:34 PM CDT reply actions

Mendoza

And as soon as he goes 7 innings of shutout ball with some other team we will have a whole slew of fanposts and comments saying boy blunder doesn’t know what he is doing.

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 Sep 24, 2008 8:49 PM CDT up reply actions