Cruz to replace Jason Ellison:

http://trsullivan.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/08/cruz_for_ellison.html

75 words

The Rangers are calling up outfielder Nelson Cruz from Triple A Oklahoma. He'll replace Jason Ellison and is expected to get substantial playing time... He'll be in Kansas City

The Rangers are calling up outfielder Nelson Cruz from Triple A Oklahoma. He'll replace Jason Ellison and is expected to get substantial playing time... He'll be in Kansas City

Created a database with a bunch of info for each minor league in which the Rangers play, including:

5 youngest and oldest Rangers

10 youngest and 5 oldest players in the entire league

Comparisons of average age for every team in each league, and counts of players above and below particular age points.

http://rangers.scottlucas.com/site/2008minorage.htm

A few players have moved (Hunter, Pina) since I updated the database, the there's still food for thought.

I compared Cruz's 2008 to other great AAA seasons by guys aged 26-28 to test the likelihood of him having a decent MLB career:

http://www.rangers.scottlucas.com/archives/2008/07/can_nelson_cruz.html

Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."

The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
Whose beard with age is hoar,
Is gone; and now the Wedding-Guest
Turned from the bridegroom's door.

He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:
A sadder and a wiser man
He rose the morrow morn.

Through three innings, 1 hit (to lead off the game), 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts.  All other outs on grounders.

To hit the character limit, the press release re the MWL pitcher of the week:

Midwest League
Michael Ballard, Clinton
2-0, 1.42 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 12.2 IP, 12 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO
Ballard was lights-out this week, as the Virginia native allowed two runs over 7 2/3 innings in Cedar Rapids on Monday before hurling five shutout frames against Dayton on Sunday. Perhaps most impressively, the 23-year-old did not issue a walk in either contest. In fact, Ballard has not walked a batter since April 17, his second start of the season.

http://tinyurl.com/37egkg

Cards' reliever Josh Hancock died in an auto accident this morning.  No details.

Update: Details -- "St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock was killed early Sunday in an accident on Highway 40 (Interstate 64), just west of Compton Avenue, authorities said. Hancock's Ford Explorer slammed into the rear of a tow truck that was parked in the far left westbound lane shortly after 12:30 a.m. The tow truck driver, who was seated in the vehicle at the time, was unhurt. He told police that his emergency lights were on, and that he honked his horn when he saw the Explorer approaching in his rear view mirror, but that the Exploer didn't slow down or swerve to avoid the collision."

Joe Sheehan posted his rankings of MLB teams up to #11, and Texas still isn't listed.

He's even got Seattle 15th.

11 - det
12 - chw
13 - chc
14 - phi
15 - sea
16 - sfo
17 - stl
18 - min
19 - laa
20 - bal

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Hurley is 38th, Volquez 61st.  That is all.

To meet the character limit, here's Wikipedia on string theory:  String theory is a model of fundamental physics whose building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects called strings, rather than the zero-dimensional point particles that form the basis for the Standard Model of particle physics. The phrase is often used as shorthand for Superstring theory. String theorists are attempting to adjust the Standard Model by removing the assumption in quantum mechanics that particles are point-like.

It's firewalled, so only a synopsis:

Gagne:  sensible
Lofton over Matthews:  also sensible
Padilla signing:  solid
McCarthy trade: not fond of it (too homer-prone)
Sosa and Jamey Wright:  ugh
Quiroz and Chen:  sure, why not
Outfield production:  maybe not so bad
Little Cat:  not a high impact bat
Blalock: needs to step up or Texas will have weak offense

summary:  "weird, disjoined sort of winter... It won't take too many gambles failing to put this club decisively in the basement."

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5853

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_4822447

Well, he gets $3.8 million next year and hit .220/.264/.335 in Coors last season.  What's not to like?

I'll fill the 300-character limit with my opinion of this possible acquisition:

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrggghh!"

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2006/12/kapler_to_retir.html

Is becoming Boston's Sally League manager.  Only 31.  Looked like he was going to be great when he first came to Texas, then he forget how to hit or walk.  Man of a thousand different swings.  

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