With the win last night, the Rangers have clinched third place. Yay!
They need one win in their final two games to guarantee they won't have a losing record. Yay!
Yeah, this has been a pretty blah, disappointing season.
And in my neck of the woods, the Cards won last night, while the Astros lost, meaning that St. Louis is now up a game and a half on Houston, and up two in the loss column. So their playoff hopes got a lot dimmer last night...
Of course, the big story in Rangerland is what is looking more and more like Buck's imminent departure. Kat O'Brien has a piece on Hicks' comments yesterday, as does Evan Grant, who notes that Hicks' tone regarding Showalter has changed since his last interview on the subject a couple of weeks ago. T.R. Sullivan, on the other hand, downplays the possibility of Showalter getting axed, and emphasizes that the fact that Showalter's situation is being reviewed "doesn't necessarily mean a change will be made."
On non-Buck stuff, the Chicago Tribune's Cubs beat writer has a Q&A up, that includes this prediction on a current (and about to be former) Ranger:
Paul, what is the one move you think the Cubs will make prior to next year, either via trade or signing? --Gary Goins, Cincinnati
Carlos Lee, left field. He'd be crazy to go anywhere else.
Not sure why Lee would be "crazy to go anywhere else," unless Paul's corporate overlords are planning on moneywhipping him.
And in the Seattle P-I, there's an item about GMJ's pending free agency, which include some quotes that suggest he'd be interested in signing with Seattle after the season.
Michael Young set a Ranger record with his 51st double of the season last night, and Rod Barajas probably made his final start as a Ranger, with Miguel Ojeda and Gerald Laird likely to each start one of the final two games.
And Vicente Padilla hit 200 innings and 15 wins on the year.