Monday morning Rangers stuff

I agree that Feldman is the odd man out once folks start returning from injury, but when all you have pushing him is Harrison, there isn’t much point pulling a lefty out of the pen.

along with fake cortisone shots, etc.

god I hate saying that.

Ron needs to d a better job of managing his starts. It sure seems like Scott is passable through 5IP but can’t get through the 6th without further damage.

Looks like Treanor has gained some weight and gotten a tan since I’ve been gone

We will be in full collapse mode.

Are we still supposed to vote for him as the ‘write in’ ASG player?

I hope it doesn’t include Feldman… Maybe I’m naive, but I was encouraged by Jamey’s note on Harden this morning. If we don’t get a deal done, give me

Lewis
CJ
Hunter
Harden
Holland

Molina was supposed to make Feldman a better pitcher?

Feldman has lost about 3-4 mph from his fastball…..

and

He doesn’t have any idea where his bread and butter pitch (sinker) is going..

amirite?

Scary man, scary.

Guerrero is also the career leader in batting average (.379), on-base percentage (.438) and slugging percentage (.659) at Rangers Ballpark among players with at least 80 games here.

His numbers at RBiA thus far:

.362 .400 .609

I ended up finally looking at them today, and it seems the fans mostly did a good job, while the managers were just awful.

Still, there aren’t that many issues I have with the roster, it’s just the problems are big. Why is Infante there? Why?!

Why isn’t Matusz or Markakis representing the Orioles? One is an awsome young player, the other an established star, and both are better than Wiginton.

Howard over Votto has been mocked a lot, it seems. Good. That’s just idiotic.

And all of the relievers selected have good arguments as All Stars, but there shouldn’t be five relievers. More starters should go, they’re more valuable and bigger stars. And one of those starters maybe should have been Colby Lewis.

Kevin Youkilis is also more deserving than Michael Young. I’ll probably vote for MY because I want him there, but I shouldn’t have to decide between being a homer here or voting for someone clearly more deserving. Youkilis should have been selected, and MY should be on the final vote with other people who are borderline All Stars and close together in performance, so I could vote for him with a clear conscience.

Gil L. of the Star Telegram made an excellent point, that basically the heat is not a reason Texas could lose the Western division. His point is largely that the starting staff needs to perform consistently and if they don’t, that would be the reason the Rangers would lose. While agreeing in part with what he is saying, Feldman’s last couple of starts have been disappointing; the Rangers also blew a lead on Friday night from the Bullpen.

Still, for me the biggest bit of idiocy heard amongst so-called baseball experts is the Texas heat wearing out the Rangers. While I think that may have been true when the team played in Arlington Stadium, and there was nothing like sitting in the left field bleachers in 100+ degree heat, in the new stadium there are plenty of places where players may escape the heat. First of all there is a lot of spillover air conditioning in the dugout that makes it much cooler than it was at Arlington Stadium. Secondly, there is plenty of room to go cool off in the runway areas behind the dugout underneath the stadium. If you have never taken a tour of the Ballpark at Arlington (have they changed the name again), you ought to see that warm-up area and batting areas in totally air conditioned comfort.

So right now the worst the Ranger players have to do is experience 10-20 minutes in the field, unless Tommy Hunter happens to have a three pitch inning, and then you are back in the dugout cooling down. Now I suppose an old school Texas area baseball player could tell stories about playing baseball in the Texas summer in weather so hot you could hear the grass dying, but that would be like my parents telling me that had to walk so many miles to school in blizzards. I just don’t think the heat is a realistic excuse in Texas any more.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, and who knows who else won’t be talking about the Texas Heat at the all star telecast. The over under may be five times, and I’ll be tempted to yell at the television just like I do at managers when umpires make terrible calls and they don’t play the game under protest.