I really think Brandon McCarthy is going to be very, very good.
And McCarthy is all of 5 months older than Ranger prospect John Mayberry Jr., who just hit another homer for Frisco today.
Mayberry has the same birthdate -- 12/21/83 -- as fellow 2005 draftee Taylor Teagarden.
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Prospects in the Ranger system older than Brandon McCarthy include Josh Rupe, A.J. Murray, Doug Mathis, Brandon Boggs, Edinson Volquez (by 4 days), Glenn Swanson, Scott Feldman, Kevin Mahar, and Ben Harrison.
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A thought occurred to me today, while listening to Tom and Josh talk about whether Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could have caught that line drive over Chone Figgins head in the 8th, and whether he'd sky-hook the ball in from the outfield...
Why hasn't anyone tried to ever teach Dirk the sky hook? You'd have a 7 footer with a great outside shot and an unstoppable low-post move...
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Adrian Gonzalez has sort of stopped hitting. Before his 2 for 4 outing today, Gonzalez had been 3 for his last 41, and 5 for his last 60, with a .258/.332/.458 line on the season.
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A couple of days ago, it occurred to me that it seemed like Michael Young had fouled off an incredible number of 2-0 pitches this season.
I decided to look up the count result data on Young (thank you, Baseball Reference and Sean Forman), and it is remarkable...
Young has a .143/.359/.143 line this season after going 2-0, including a .273/.250/.273 line when putting the ball in play at 2-0.
As a point of comparison, Young had a .290/.471/.613 line after going 2-0 last year, including a .417/.400/1.042 line putting the ball in play at 2-0.
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Another bad game on Monday, incidentally, and Michael Young's OPS will drop below 700 on the season.
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A question for those who are saying that Tom Hicks should go ahead and sign Blake Beavan right now for above-slot money, even though he's not really an above-slot money talent...if the Rangers do that, do you think there's a chance in hell any Rangers 2008 first round draft pick will sign with the team before August 15 for slot money?
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As I'm typing this, an ad for the DVDs of "Get Smart" just came on. When I was a kid, one of my first crushes was on Agent 99...she was a hottie.
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Roy Oswalt told the Houston Chronicle he'd consider waiving his no-trade clause, particularly if the Astros are going into rebuilding mode. I have to wonder what the Rangers would be willing to part with to get him here...