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Go American League! You foolishly decided that Ben Zobrist, Torii Hunter, Jesse Crain, and Chris Tillman were somehow more worthy of being at this game than Adrian Beltre and Derek Holland, but I will root for you anyway. Because, as you know, this time it counts.
ESPN Dallas has ranked 31 Rangers at midseason from worst to first. Points of contention from these rankings:
- Colby Lewis ahead of Alexi Ogando
- Geovany Soto ahead of Martin Perez
- Lance Berkman ahead of Jeff Baker
- David Murphy ahead of anyone on any baseball team ever
Drew Davison has a blog post from New York with quotes from the Ranger contingent of Joe Nathan, Nelson Cruz, and Yu Darvish at the All-Star Game festivities.
MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez profiles the Ranger All-Stars and offers this quote from Darvish about making the All-Star team:
"It's good to be here with my teammates. Nelson has always been good to me, and I'm happy he is here with me, But at the same time, Joe Nathan always picks on me, and he's also here on the team, so my happiness has been decreased."
Yu Darvish is fun. Please never crush his beautiful spirit, DFW media.
Davison has a piece on Nathan's second consecutive appearance as an All-Star for the Rangers and how Nathan has left his mark on the game by setting an example for teammates. You know, veteran stuff and such.
T.R. Sullivan writes about Cruz finally staying healthy enough to return to the All-Star Game for the first time since the 2009 season.
The DMN has a report on Nolan Ryan's appearance on KESN-FM radio where Ryan said that Manny Ramirez is potentially an option for the second half. Start packing, Lance.
Richard Durrett has a couple of Trade Target articles on Matt Garza and Alex Rios where he details the Rangers' pursuit of two available players from various Chicagos.
Lastly, with LSB coming down with a strong case of Community Prospect Rankings fever, the weekly DMN's Top Prospect slideshow can help by being the chicken soup and mother's love for your prospect affliction.