A bunch of stuff for you to peruse, while you scan the internets waiting for trade deadline news...
Jerry Crasnick looks at nine deadline deals that he says weren't as advertised. I am linking because there are three Ranger trades included (Carlos Lee, Mark Teixeira, Eric Gagne), but also because I find it weird that Crasnick seems to imply that the Colon/Sizemore deal was viewed as a great deal for Montreal and a bad deal by the Indians at the time, and that the Zambrano/Kazmir trade was ever seen as anything other than the Mets getting hosed.
John Perrotto had a chat session today that included much discussion of the Rangers catchers. Ditto Jim Callis, who also has comments on Elvis Andrus and says he'd pick Teagarden out of the catching options.
Buster Olney re-visits the Teixeira trade from last year:
Maybe Kotchman will take a major step forward in Atlanta, or maybe not. Either way, we are one step closer to tabulating the Braves' final bill on Teixeira. In his one year with the team, the Braves went 77-83, and ranked 13th in runs per game in the big leagues. Meanwhile, the five players they shipped to Texas are making their own journeys:
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the switch-hitting catcher, is hitting .232, and increasingly, there are questions about how much he's going to hit in the big leagues. • Left-hander Matt Harrison is 2-1 with a 7.32 ERA with the Rangers. • Elvis Andrus, a slick-fielding shortstop, is hitting .291 with 43 stolen bases in Double-A. • Lefty Beau Jones has a 2.93 ERA in Class A. • Right-handed pitcher Neftali Feliz is 8-3 with a 2.46 ERA this season and has reached Double-A, and has racked up 127 strikeouts in 102 1/3 innings. Feliz may turn out to have the biggest impact in the majors, and Andrus and Saltalamacchia are poised to have long careers in the big leagues. Time will tell on Harrison and Jones, but as a group, there is the great potential for low-price quality service in the majors, for years to come. So there is no way that the Teixeira deal could be looked at as anything but an enormous bust for the Braves, and an enormous success for the Rangers and general manager Jon Daniels.
Christina Kahrl is underwhelmed by the return Atlanta got for Teixeira. The Oracle thinks it is a good move for the Angels.
John Barten has the latest THT Awards up, and still has Ian Kinsler as the A.L. MVP.
Jeff Sullivan hates Carlos Silva. Watching Silva yesterday, it occurred to me that he'd fit in well in the Ranger bullpen, particularly if we brought Franklyn German back. Silva, German, Warner Madrigal, Eddie Guardado, Frankie Francisco...that would be a beefy bullpen.