I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the ALCS to begin.
However, as Anthony Andro writes, the Rangers will continue to rest up and play the waiting game. (And no, we're not talking Hungry Hungry Hippos.) The Yankees and Tigers will play tonight for the privilege of playing the defending American League Champions.
Richard Durrett confirms what we assumed, C.J. Wilson is officially slated to start Game 1 of the ALCS on Saturday.
T.R. Sullivan reports that past C.J., the Rangers will wait to decide the rest of their starting rotation. Presumably this means they're waiting to see who wins tonight to determine if they still want to avoid Colby Lewis starting at home. Sullivan did confirm that Alexi Ogando will continue pitching out of the bullpen.
Durrett has some ALCS roster notes. Specifically, he writes that the Rangers are once again considering going with a 12 man pitching staff.
Behind the DMN paywall, Gerry Fraley writes that the Rangers will use their ALDS experience to show that they won't be afraid when facing high-quality pitching.
Lyle Spencer once again lavishes praise on a player the Angels could have had this season but elected to acquire Vernon Wells instead. This time, it's Adrian Beltre.
Some guy named Mike Henderson finds time to offer no congratulations to Beltre because, as he writes, Beltre let Seattle down. Henderson:
The third baseman has now sent the Texas Rangers to the AL Championship series. It's easy to quantify how his play tanked at the plate and in the field while with the Seattle Mariners, but is there any explanation?
Yes. He didn't tank in the field. He was a great third baseman for the Seattle Mariners. As for the plate? It's called Safeco Field.
Sullivan has a piece on how much Jon Daniels loves his manager.
Jeff Wilson writes about the "special feeling" of the being perennial contenders that Daniels and the Rangers have built.
Randy Galloway commends the Rangers' ownership for getting behind the signing of "baseball's best signing of the entire 2010 free agency period."
Drew Davison has several notes including how the Rangers' pitching staff might shape up for the ALCS, how the Rangers are a different team than the one that lost season series to the Tigers and Yankees, an update on Mike Napoli after getting trucked on Tuesday, and other ALCS preparation tidbits.
Louie Horvath gives us an update on Eric Nadel's candidacy for the 2012 Ford C. Frick Award.