Monday Morning Rangers Update

Apparently all it took to get the offense really going was to clinch a postseason berth and put in the B-Squad. The Rangers scored the most runs--while also getting the most hits--in any game that they've played all season and did so with no every day starter, who isn't a platoon guy, in the lineup.

The Yankees came back twice late to beat Boston while the Rays let one slip by them against Seattle to close the A.L. East margin down to a half game. As the Rangers begin to rest folks and get their rotation aligned for the ALDS, it might not be until the final few games of the season before they know which team they will face.

T.R. Sullivan's game story talks about the Rangers coming out and beating Trevor Cahill who has had the Rangers number in his career. He also writes about Mitch Moreland throwing his hat back into the ring in the competition for the lefty 1B option on the playoff roster with a two home run game on Sunday.

Richard Durrett chimes in over at ESPN Dallas about the battle between Moreland and Chris Davis as well with Ron Washington quoted as saying no decisions have been made as of yet.

Evan Grant predicts the Rangers ALDS Roster which includes Chris Davis while excluding Mitch Moreland. He also assumes that Josh Hamilton will be in the lineup come game one while Frank Francisco will not make the roster due to his injury.

Jeff Wilson has an interesting piece about the entire ownership struggle from inception to A.L. West Championship.

On the injury front, Sullivan has an update about Josh Hamilton's recovery from a fractured rib and whether or not he feels he will be healthy in time for the playoffs. From the quotes, it appears we're still in wait-and-see mode.

However, it's not all bad news. Anthony Andro has a blog post up about Frank Francisco throwing from flat ground without any setbacks.

On how the Rangers are trying to maneuver the rotation to set it up for the playoffs, Sullivan writes that Cliff Lee and Tommy Hunter will be skipped in favor of Scott Feldman and Rich Harden in the Seattle series. (Not included in that piece, but noted on MLB.com's game preview, apparently Ron Washington had scheduled to rest Ian Kinsler and Michael Young today but they each asked to be in the lineup so that they could play the first game at home as A.L. West champions. It's really neat to be a Rangers fan right now.)

Grant writes about Michael Young (of course he does) and his day on Saturday as the Rangers clinched their first postseason berth after Michael Young had played over 1,500 games as a Texas Ranger. I'm really happy for Michael Young.

Gil LeBreton has another article up painting the picture of the Rangers A.L. West clinching celebration and then the day after. Included is this gem: "At one point in the frivolity, one of the Rangers' regulars was heard to remark, 'I gotta tell you -- I'm really liking Oakland's chances tomorrow.'"

Wilson collected other quotes from Rangers players during their celebration including Darren Oliver being awesome and saying, "This is a lot of fun, man. I keep it real. I don't put the goggles on. Let it sting."

And finally, just for old time's and comparison's sake, the Dallas Morning News republished their story from when the Rangers clinched the A.L. West title back in 1999.