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Good morning. Today is Nolan Ryan’s birthday. Nolan, of course, is responsible for putting the Rangers on the proverbial sports map and I mean that without an ounce of cynicism. Heck, Nolan’d probably make it up on a Texas Mount Rushmore if they made one.
If any of you youngsters didn’t get the chance to see Nolan pitch when he was with Texas, just imagine Max Scherzer out there but he’s basically a grandpa and also Elvis (Presley, not Andrus). It was neat.
Nolan’s latest departure from the Rangers was classically Texas Rangers-bizarre, but there’s no denying Nolan’s place in Rangers lore. He’s a legend for a reason. Happy 70th, Mr. Express.
Jeff Wilson’s Rangers Reaction is back as we wait for either the Rangers or Mike Napoli to blink before this winter-long game of chicken ends badly.
T.R. Sullivan writes that Napoli’s return could be one call away but he offers a rundown of the internal options at 1B in case JD lost the contacts in his phone or something.
Stefan Stevenson sings the praises of underrated, LHB slaying Alex Claudio and how his role might evolve with fellow lefty ‘pen mate Jake Diekman expected to miss time.
David Schoenfield writes about the players on each team who will be a little extra motivated in their contract years in 2017. For the Rangers, that means a couple of guys named Yu Darvish and Jonathan Lucroy.
Jeff Sullivan writes that MLB went light with their gentle-tap-on-the-wrist punishment of the St. Louis Cardinals. Instead, now the Houston Astros get a competitive advantage handed to them from a team that isn’t even in their same league anymore.
Mike Rosenbaum takes a look at the MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospect composition and notes that there’s a whole bunch of outfield prospects but good arms are hard to find these days.
Lastly, Eno Sarris writes that baseball is still the sport where even the best team loses 60 or more times per year. So, *shrug* none of us know anything about anything.
Have a nice day.
