for the rest of the year? All the young players worth getting excited about are already in the line up. Maybe Ron will let Borbon play CF.

It’s sad to go down with a whimper before the home crowd, but the Rangers had a good run and gave us some good times. Pitching was better than expected, maybe better than could be sustained through September. The hitting was bizarrely erratic — it seems like at times we hit like the 1926 Yankees and other times we morphed into 2009 Astros.

After watching almost every game, I am at a loss as to what went wrong … but I bet Omar Vizquel could tell us.

I haven’t quite put the fork in them yet. I have taken it out of the wrapped up napkin, but that is all. If we sweep this weekend, however unlikely, we will be closer. I don’t know why, but I still think they can pull off a few w’s in a row and inch back. I am saving the fork until after Friday, then Saturday, and then Sunday.

Rangers have 17 to play

Division
Angels (17 to play) – 12

Wild Card
Red Sox (18 to play) – 12

It is kind of hard to blame that, given the injuries to Young, who is I guess the leader of the clubhouse, and the marginalization of Jones and Blalock. For “on the field” leaders, who is there? Pudge, who just showed up a few weeks ago, and Vizquel, who is probably happier sitting on the bench than playing 3b everyday?

I think that it is just an effect of having your two offensive centerpieces injured and your so-called ace pitching like dog meat (and probably openly freaking out about his option, which can’t make anyone happy).

Buster Olney just reported Aaron Crow has agreed to a contract with the #Royals. A MLB deal worth 3-4 million.

We’ve gone 1-5 on this homestand when the poor weather started.

Shouldn’t Wash’s leadership also come into question? I mean the popular refrain from his supporters is always, “the team plays hard for him”. Haven’t seen that when the games meant the most.

I don’t have much hope for making the playoffs but until both Boston and LAA magic numbers are zero I have a little bit

look at the Jankees by comparo:

from Deadspin: “there are seven Yankees with .850+ OPSes and at least 20 HR. And Jeter’s not even one of them!”

the offense shit the bed, and the normally competent pitching finally wore out. The Cleveland breakout was the last hurrah for the offense. They shot their load and now all they want to do is snuggle.

Does this stretch of games seal Rudy’s fate with the club?

It’s really sad that this season – yet again without a post-season trip – has been considered successful, but I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about the Rangers. Then again, I can’t remember the last time I bitched about how anemic our offense was, either.

We should have a better team next year, provided Hicks doesn’t f it up…

…when I was able to watch the rest of the game it was at a restaurant with the sound turned down. How did our TV boys sell this offensive shutdown?

Irrespective of standings, earning postseason play, or differences both directions in preseason or midseason expectations. I think there are several reasons why I’m in a pause mood about the Rangers right now.

1. All the pitching uncertainty. Whatever I thought about the starters early on has mostly been wrong, at least in part. And what I thought about the youngsters called up has been both better and worse than expected. The pen has been both uncharacteristically good in intervals, and like most bullpens, has had some dramatic failures. So going from 2009 to 2010 is going to keep me focused on what mode the team will be in. Will it be do everything to win now, or will it need to be sustain the development and take your lumps as they come?
2. I need to stop slotting position players into stereotypes of themselves. A 30/30 Kinsler could turn out to be a lesser asset to the team than a .390 ONP Kinsler (that’s just an example, tainted by current view). Hamilton has become an enigma to me. I don’t know if he’s extra vulnerable to disabling hurts, or cannot maintain his psychological war against “Josh Past” and endure the long baseball season, or what. I’m curious to see if Byrd is under the lens of disposal value (picks) or retention value. I wonder if Young can stay as good as he is and continue to make every effort to exceed expectations, especially at his defensive position (and I really don’t worry about the bat but he’s going into ten years of efforts to excel and his body may not be as reliable as that of a younger MY). And there are an assortment of players about which one has to ask, “Is he an is what he is, or an issn’t what is is yet?” That would include both catchers, Davis, Murphy, and Boggs.
3. Finding it very very hard to know what to expect from prospects moved to the big club. Borbon, Andrus both exceed some expectations and my instinct says they have to be out there every day (with a few rest days in the 162), but I’m not sure our field manager won’t still go with individual trust or perception of experience in any case other than Elvis, who has proved himself to whomever is looking.
4. Finally, field management. I’m not angry that Wash doesn’t choose position starters on the same basis I would, and I’m only mildly irritated about his apparent failure to take things like splits into account. But dammit, he’s the manager. Underperformance in the batters’ boxc has reared its’ head way too much, and it is his job to call his coaches to task if their duties are not paying back Ranger performance. Yeah I know it’s finally up to the players. But unseen to the fans, Wash should have (and may actually have!) endorsed the work Pettis has done, and privately crucified Rudy on a weekly basis. I like Wash. I don’t care about any 9th Ward vocabulary. I do care that he may not be teough enough in organizational terms (at times with specific players and all the time with his direct subordinates). I guess within a year we’ll see.

So one more thing. I hope I didn’t preordain anything to the baseball gods with a season prediction of 87-75 which could be their 2009 record. These guys as a mix are better than that. Really.

watching a kid catch 2 foul balls from Hamilton four pitches apart. That still blows my mind.

Too hard, they look like they are pressing at times, and that to me is what causes mistakes like swinging on a 3-0 count, base running errors, etc. They’re trying too hard to make things happen. I don’t think the team is rolling over and playing dead, they’re just not playing well. I don’t think that equals not playing hard. It’s not like the entire team has stopped trying, or just jogs to first base.

The batters are pressing, the defense is regressing a tiny bit, perhaps as well as pressing, some key pitchers are slumping…

None of this has much to do with manager, coaches, GM, etc. It’s a young team and a team with little experience playing meaningful games at this time of year.

10 years from now, people will probably forget how close we actually were to winning this division in 2009. The Angels were beatable. And we actually BEAT THEM! 9-3 so far? I could blame a lot of things. But I blame these things most of all:

1. Owner Hicks – He was a distraction all year long. Our franchise actually played out the plot point from baseball movie. We became the Indians. Meanwhile, the very low payroll should have offered excellent flexibility. Not this year, thanks to “Double Down on Soccer” Hicks. Hicks failed the organization in a way that ownership rarely does. He’s the opposite of the Angels ownership.

2. Ryan’s Pitch Count Plan – I guess it helped some, but it seemed to hurt Millwood most of all and we really needed him to set the pace and lead the way. He was obviously out-of-gas. Will anyone remember this in a few years? Probably not.

3. The Fans – Yes, they were somewhat absent. Wanna know why? This is the worst RECESSION in three generations. Why blow your cash on something that’s theoretically free on television? Otherwise, I was surprised how vocal and electric many games in 2009 seemed to be.

My 2 cents anyway.

It’s been a nice run..

we’ve had a great year. I feel good about the future.

however, this is depressing. I seriously thought we could get to the postseason this year

actually hurt the Rangers this year AND next by allowing Millwood to burn himself out AND reach his 180 IP?

If only Wash had pulled him a bit earlier…

Millwood
Feldman
Hunter
Holland
Feliz