Wednesday morning stuff

by Adam J. Morris on Feb 13, 2008 9:02 AM CST in News Comment 11 comments

Evan Grant has a new newsletter up, and those of you who have been asking why a team with a top 5 farm system couldn't trade for Bedard or Santana have an answer now.

A lot of good stuff in there on DFA'ing Armando Galarraga, the battle for the backup outfielder job, and why Ben Broussard was brought to Texas...

And if you haven't gotten enough steroid stuff, Gil LeBreton has a column up on the latest John Rocker brouhaha.

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usa today

Ranger overview going into spring training:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-02-13-480079524_x.htm

by jcAustin on Feb 13, 2008 9:17 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Rocker is only 33?

If I owned a lightsaber, the blade color would be black light, so that I could use it to fight evil and to liven-up parties.

by rooster on Feb 13, 2008 9:58 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Can we sign him to a minor league deal?

Him and Wright can battle out for the AAA / organizational depth role.

LSB : Trolls :: Rangers : 4th OF'ers

by Chase Irwin on Feb 13, 2008 10:57 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Evan's Article

Here's the most signifcant statement he made:

It's a good question. And to answer, I guess I should don my old Rangers apologist hat.

by LBrooks on Feb 13, 2008 10:54 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Evan's newsletter

was 100 times better than that crappie ST preview thay had in the DMN.

I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it. ~Rogers Hornsby

by RangerMad on Feb 13, 2008 2:19 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Thwarted Again

I once again asked why the Rangers had the worst road record last year and if management had any ideas on how to fix this.

Silence.

Grant hasn't answered it, TR hasn't answered it.

I guess that means there is not an answer?

Proud Supporter of the Texas Rangers since 1973

by T Coleman on Feb 13, 2008 4:26 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

There's very little you can do to specifically improve your road record, and there's no point anyway, because your road record doesn't matter. What matters is your overall record, and steps have clearly been taken in that regard.

Glenallen Hill Secrets

by a bebop a rebop on Feb 13, 2008 10:12 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe a stupid question, but not dumb...

The road record contributes to 50% of the overall record. Improve the road record and the overall record is better. Six additional wins on the road last year and the team is .500 for the season. Twenty-five games under .500 is pretty bad. The team last year was not great, but they shouldn't have been that poor on the road.

Was there a preparation problem? Was it the way the games were managed in the late innings? Was it the youth of the team? Was it a coincidence? Was it poor starting pitching? Was it an overworked bullpen? Whatever the answer, it did appear to be at work at home where the team was 13 games over .500.

I don't know...I'm just asking experts that were around the team on the road. Maybe it was one of those statistical anomolies. If so, then that is an acceptable answer and we can look forward to a better season in 2008.

As stats oriented as this site seems to be, I would think that the road record would be an area of interest.

Proud Supporter of the Texas Rangers since 1973

by T Coleman on Feb 13, 2008 10:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

because it's not an interesting stat

You may as well ask why their road record was so good. I think we can all agree they were not a 94-win team last year (which is what you get if you extrapolate their home winning percentage over a 162-game schedule).

Glenallen Hill Secrets

by a bebop a rebop on Feb 14, 2008 1:30 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

You mean you are not the least bit curious...

...as to the beat writers thoughts on why this team was the worst team in MLB on the road in 2007?

I guess I'm the only one.

Proud Supporter of the Texas Rangers since 1973

by T Coleman on Feb 14, 2008 5:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Theory

Crappy teams lose more on the road.

Since 2000 (8 seasons) the Rangers play .540 at home (an 87-win pace) on average. This is exactly at the MLB average (one win less total over 8 years.)

On the road, however, the Rangers play .403 ball, a 65-win clip. This is well below the MLB average 74.5 wins on the road.

Every team plays better at home by a significant margin. The Rangers are just way worse than average on the road, and my guess is that the teams with the poorest overall records over that 8-yr. span would also be significantly worse than average on the road while not so far below at home.

I'll leave it to you to investigate further by comparing other teams' records.

A working class hero is something to be.

by t ball on Feb 14, 2008 11:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs