It's hard to not love the Rangers, who lost C. J. Wilson but gained Yu Darvish. There's just about nothing wrong with this team, except they could use a better-hitting first baseman than the one they've got.
From Rob Neyer's column, contemplating which 2011 playoff teams will be back in the playoffs in 2012.
4 months ago
Adam J. Morris
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Saw Neyer on the MLB network the other day...
looked nothing like his photo.
If that makes sense.
"Sometimes you just want to sit back and watch somebody throw 100." - Jeff Passan on Neftali Feliz
"Baseball's all that's real" - JB
and that one 1B isnt healthy...
but the naps/young/moreland combo was okay.. what was our combined OPS from 1B last year between the 3?
all that being said bring me PF. now. today.
"God dammit TAG I swear to God if you keep this "It was a close play" shit up all night I will send you cookies made from my own shit" -River Fenix 8/26/2011
"this is a big reason I decided not to convert to Islam now if it was 72 skanks? Different story, my friend" Bob Loblaw 9/2/2011
by I am Neftali Feliz on Jan 21, 2012 10:11 AM CST reply actions
ain't good enough but Mitch was hurt during part of that....so there's that..
Ventura::Lewin::Greenberg
I bleed Ranger black and blue.
Leonys Martin is no Judy- JD at Newberg Night.
I wonder how pissed off Moreland is getting with everyone saying he's the only piece of crap on this team
Think it’s extra motivation for this season? I hope he takes it his anger on AL pitchers this year.
I really like Moreland and would like to see him break out this season
If we don’t get the Prince of Fielders, that is.
by rockin_rangers on Jan 21, 2012 11:09 AM CST up reply actions
I don't think his motivation level will matter.
Skill will.
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011.
I don't think it will affect his play
I just wonder how it’s affecting his ego right now. He’s getting hammered.
It's very weird to me that I'm suddenly defending Moreland
At the start of last year I thought he was never going to be more than an average 1B, while most others were high on him. Then his early part of the season started to convince me that I might be wrong. Then he got injured.
I guess I don’t think he’ll be as bad as he was, but am no longer sure how good he will end up being…
I also still don’t want to see the Rangers sign Fielder to a long-term deal.
yeah.. mitch has reached his ceiling
"God dammit TAG I swear to God if you keep this "It was a close play" shit up all night I will send you cookies made from my own shit" -River Fenix 8/26/2011
"this is a big reason I decided not to convert to Islam now if it was 72 skanks? Different story, my friend" Bob Loblaw 9/2/2011
by I am Neftali Feliz on Jan 21, 2012 11:28 AM CST up reply actions
not really
you are making a a judgment based on a time period when he was injured. He was great for the first two months.
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
I don't think it's unfair to say that a players motivation level has impacted their level of play before.
I know it’s not tangible, but it could certainly have an impact.
Agreed
But I don’t think it will impact Moreland. Not sure why, but I don’t.
He seems like a good enough guy. Hopefully he’s shrugging it off.
Still wanna see Prince hitting 45 HRs a year at BPiA.
Do you think Young will get more time at 1B,
or did the WS and his defensive gaffes destroy that?
by rockin_rangers on Jan 21, 2012 11:10 AM CST reply actions
Possibly.
I’m sure he will get extensive work at 1B in ST, but man his performance was comparable to Vlad’s in the OF in SF in 2010. Just brutal.
"the PGT isn’t about alerting drunk guys on their mobile as to what the score was." --goET 7-24-11
"Replace Ace? Done. Ace's was too long anyway." --Micah 1-17-12
I think its amazing he has the Phillies right behind the Brewers in order of least likely to return to playoffs.
My list would go:
Rays
Brewers
DBacks
Cardinals
Rangers
Phillies
Tigers
Yankees
The Rays had such a screwy situation that led to their postseason last year, anyway, and the AL East hasn’t gotten any easier for them, probably a little harder, despite Matt Moore.
Tigers have the easiest division to navigate, much like the Rangers last year.
Cardinals have aged talent. Who knows what their bodies have left in them.
Mostly, I just can’t believe Halladay-Lee-Hamels could possibly be just about the least likely to return.
Everybody needs somebody to love... I need Yu, Yu, Yu! I need Yu, Yu, Yu!
I hope I haven't offended the Blues Brothers with this.
Yeah, I think the Brewers, Cardinals and D'backs would be my top 3 least likely to return
I could see a case being made for the Phillies having tougher competition from Atlanta and Washington this year, but I don’t really see them not making the playoffs either.
Marlins?
I hate The Angels so much, it's actually cramping my style. (See RevHaloFans SBN profile page)
by Gay For Feliz on Jan 21, 2012 11:21 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
I think they flop.
I doubt anyone is really scared of Mark Buerhle and what are the odds Reyes puts back to back seasons together of not getting injured.
I have a hard time figuring out what I think about the Cardinals.
Sure, they get Wainwright back, but their batting order is old. Carpenter could have some rough spots. I think it’s almost a certainty Shelby makes his debut this year as a spot start for an injured pitcher. Who knows if he’ll catch fire or what.
Everybody needs somebody to love... I need Yu, Yu, Yu! I need Yu, Yu, Yu!
I hope I haven't offended the Blues Brothers with this.
I think Tony La Russa is as big of a loss to that team as Pujols was
And Beltran helps, but he still has to stay healthy and actually takes playing time away from some of their other decent offensive players.
Does anyone know if Duncan is the pitching coach this year?
I know he was gong to stay but then took a leave because of some situation, maybe wife’s health, I cant recall. Has anything been settled there?
"When I came off the mound the hairs were standing up on my arm. I know there's not much"
/Holland.
He is not
the replacement for Duncan is the same guy who filled in for him last year… whose name I forgot.
"I would have shot myself in the foot to stay in Texas." -- C.J. Wilson, 12/8/2011
NL east is tough.
The only team that definitely won’t compete is the Mets.
I hate The Angels so much, it's actually cramping my style. (See RevHaloFans SBN profile page)
by Gay For Feliz on Jan 21, 2012 11:21 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Braves are good.
Marlins would have to have unexpectedly good seasons from a number of players, which is possible, but not likely.
Everybody needs somebody to love... I need Yu, Yu, Yu! I need Yu, Yu, Yu!
I hope I haven't offended the Blues Brothers with this.
What?
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011.
Kind of an interesting comment
I think CF is the bigger question mark between CF and 1B. With 1B, at least we have Napoli and Young as insurance.
Josey Wales: "And if you think intangibles really do exist, how in the F could you vote Ellsbury as the MVP?"
Adam J. Morris: "If it weren’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college."
I don't think anyone really views Josh as an everyday CF in any good scenario for the team
Whereas they can definitely live with Young and Napoli splitting most of the time at 1B.
Josey Wales: "And if you think intangibles really do exist, how in the F could you vote Ellsbury as the MVP?"
Adam J. Morris: "If it weren’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college."
CF is typically an all-defense, low-offense position
and we have a few options to provide great defense.
craig gentry is a + defender
"God dammit TAG I swear to God if you keep this "It was a close play" shit up all night I will send you cookies made from my own shit" -River Fenix 8/26/2011
"this is a big reason I decided not to convert to Islam now if it was 72 skanks? Different story, my friend" Bob Loblaw 9/2/2011
by I am Neftali Feliz on Jan 21, 2012 12:36 PM CST up reply actions
I don't know that CF is really a question mark, though.
I think we pretty much know what we’re going to get from Craig Gentry, both at the plate and in the field. And I’m plenty satisfied with just slotting him into the ninth spot in our order and having him run down everything in either gap. If we get an OBP of .340 over 550 PAs from Gentry, then we’re golden.
"I have thought a lot about why people get so hostile online, and I have come to believe it is primarily because we live in a society with a hypertrophied sense of justice and an atrophied sense of humility and charity, to put the matter in terms of the classic virtues." --Alan Jacobs
that is basically
a major league ave CF. good luck with that. Gentry is a platoon bat on a playoff club.
but ideally
a fifth OF on a playoff club that already has a league average CF (~740 OPS)
Well
I think I’ll go with the consensus here. All his tools seem to grade out as average to above average so he seems like a safe bet to develop into a major league average CF. At 3m per – in a system without any similar CF prospects in the upper minors – that’s a bargain and fills a critical hole on the team.
I think the overreactions to his hot start and slow finish were just that, overhyping SSS from a player who hadn’t played in an actual game for about 9months. I don’t know how long it will take for him to get it going this year – whether the FO expects him to win the job in ST or not – but I would imagine that he would be ready by 8/1 and offer a nice bump in production at a critical time in the season (without having to trade prospects for it).
The one question I have
is just how well the scouts actually could be familiar with Martin’s game. They just don’t have the same access to be able to cross check him like they would want to, only in international tournaments. But they felt it was enough, and, if i remember correctly, they have a Cuban scout under contract who was familiar with Martin and his family, and saw him in Cuba. It could be that the scout is Cuban American, so he was able to travel to Cuba to watch him play during the 2009 seaon.
There's not a CF on our roster...
Likely to give a .340 OBP over 550 PA.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
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