Friday a.m. Rangers stuff

I said that he had been a black hole in the lineup. And he had. I also said that Prince Fielder is much better.

Don’t believe I said any of that other stuff.

all I remember hearing about is his horrible luck, his line drive rate and his BABIP. The only legit knock I’ve heard is that he struggles vs lefties, and so far that has been the case.

…because the Rangers people made a point of telling him to make that clear.

He had that pretty good game against Cowart, and the Braves reportedly had some interest. Those two anecdotes don’t seem to be enough to justify such a premium pick, and I think Galloway or anyone else is completely justified to question picking him that high, especially with Josh Sale still on the board, apparently willing to sign for slot.

how you take a team seriously when they field an entirely left handed hitting outfield against a lefty.

with cruz out for another week, you really have to push Vlad now. When Cruz comes back strong you can sit him…… but all that means is that he should play saturday and sit sunday.

or, try a cludge lineup on Saturday with:

Elvis SS
Young LF
Kins 2b
Hamilton CF
Ramirez C
Murphy RF
Arias 1B
Blanco 3B
Pitcher

Seattle did NOT lay down and die for us…they beat us in a game!

having a manager that consistently out wins his pythags.

When the season winds down and every game means so much a tough loss may hurt a young team like the rangers more than a veteran team like the Angels.

Its one of those intangibles that stats can’t measure

Since they’re not a team that ‘knows how to win’.

At least, that’s what I imagine these jokers were saying in 2008.

a fucking thing. JJT was told to write something about the Rangers. So last night while he was taking a shit it hit him. It hit him like a garbage truck flying down a back alley with a barely educated alcholic at the wheel. He looked up from staring at the grout joints of the tile on his bathroom floor and said:

 “That’s it!”
“The Rangers will lose because….wait for it….the Angels “Know how to win”.
“God dammit JJT, you’re a fucking genius.”

that would win out…Wash would have to be epically bad if it was close down the stretch

if scioscia was 3-4 above average and Wash was 2-3 below.

then why does Washington try to make every game, regardless of who is winning, a close game? Every bunt, stolen base, etc. is an attempt to make it more likely your team wins a 1 run game as opposed to winning or losing by 3-4 runs.

This is the first I’d seen on a limit of initial offers per year.
I did a google search, and found it. Wasn’t on a big site. The big guys are still just going with “30”.

So, the penalty on scholarships has two parts.
75 max (aka, the 10 per year that they keep calling 30).
15 new each year.

Looking at recruiting sites, my 20 estimate isn’t bad for a typical class. It’s somewhere between 1/4 and 1/5th of the total of 85. If everyone went full out to a 5th year senior, you’d end up with an average recruiting class of 17.

2011 – Start with 85, loose 20, add 10 to get to 75.
2012 – 75 minus 20, plus 15 = 70
2013 – 70 minus 20, plus 15 = 65
At this point, they can go with 25 in their recruiting class until they get back to 85.

So, they lost 10 recruits in 2011, and 5 each in ’12, & ’13. Total of 20 lost recruits. They can get that number down if they push more guys to be 5th year seniors.

And to go back to my starting pitcher being rested analogy… In 2014, ‘15, ’16… they’re going to be off the bowl ban and have extra scholarships to offer as they push back up to the 85 max.

but at the same time it’s a big step down for USC compared to what, 6 straight years before last season?

and then come sign with the Texas Rangers in December.

LOVE it.

…it’s pitches he’s taking (many called 3rd strikes), and his swing and misses. It’s like he is just not seeing the ball well right now at all.

I’d rather they have it than not have it, even if swept.,

Which is exactly why nobody should get their hopes up about this team’s chances in the postseason, IMO, lest the feat of winning the division get overlooked.

Just making the playoffs by itself may not be enough after we make the playoffs 1 or 2 or 3 years and are one and done. Right now, I’d be ecstatic about limping in and being one and done.

I’ve managed to rile up the great Adam J this morning.

I am as excited about our chances of making the postseason as anyone, and I agree that our fanbase NEEDS playoff baseball. We’ve been waiting for a payoff for too long.

But as a Mavericks fan, I’ve been through a full decade of failed playoff runs, with all but two or three of those years pretty much knowing our fate was a relatively quick exit. I don’t think the attitude of our fans should be “aw shucks, I’m just happy we’re winning some ballgames.” It should be “let’s become the next Tampa Bay Rays and give ourselves a legit shot to win it all.” I don’t think I’m wrong in wanting that.

And even happier to see the team make some moves that would provide some incremental improvement this year.

You don’t build a team specifically to win the World Series or a playoff series, you just go about building the best team you can from year to year with an eye towards increasing your odds.

And the Rangers need to be in the playoffs so people can experience Elvis Andrus like we experience Elvis Andrus.

fares better in overuse than Pitcher B who has always been a middle amount of innings reliever?

and profressional…

all joking aside, isn’t a minor league start considered “professional?”

making fun of your English. Which I never do, must be a Friday…must be itching to get out of here

but between him and Cruz, I think we’ll get at least one healthy productive player.