Texas Rangers

By Adam J. Morris Largely a quiet day out there today, as far as Rangers stuff goes... Evan Grant has a story up about Michael Young being among the active leaders in career games without making the playoffs, and Young's reaction to former teammates Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez winning it all this year.

By Adam J. Morris In not-really-Rangers-news, but interesting anyway, Tony Massarotti says the BoSox were in on J.J. Hardy before he was dealt to the Brewers, with the Brewers asking for Clay Buchholz or Daniel Bard for Hardy, and Boston only being willing to part with Michael Bowden.

By Adam J. Morris Clint Hurdle has been hired as the Rangers hitting coach, and Jeff Wilson writes that Hurdle wants to focus on the hitters' approach, rather than on their mechanics. Five Rangers filed for free agency yesterday -- Marlon Byrd, Hank Blalock, Pudge Rodriguez, Eddie Guardado, and Joaqui...

By Adam J. Morris Shave is a former Ranger who was a 5th round pick in 1990, and who came up as a backup middle infielder in 1993 with the Rangers.  Shave didn't make it back up to the majors until 1998, when he spent a little bit of time with the Twins, but after the 1998 season, the Rangers claimed him off waivers...

By Adam J. Morris But that denial notwithstanding, it sounds like Hurdle is the guy...Jeff Wilson writes that three sources have said that Hurdle is the Rangers' choice as hitting coach.  T.R. Sullivan says that club officials say an announcement should be coming in the next day or two.

A month ago, the Texas Rangers scoffed at the notion that it could bring back outfielder Milton Bradley, but now...

By dj-abisalih If there's one thing to take away from back-to-back afternoon games, it is the fact that an earlier start time certainly didn't translate into offense. Following Saturday's 2-0 win on home ice against Edmonton, the Boston Bruins traveled to New York, to take on the Rangers. Unfortunately...

By dj-abisalih Here are the rosters for this afternoon's game between the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. Face-off is scheduled for 1:00 at Madison Square Garden in New York. BOSTON BRUINS (6-5-1, 13 pts.): #6 D Dennis Wideman 1-1-2-2 #16 F Marco Sturm 2-5-7-4 #17 F Milan Lucic 0-3-3-9 (IR – finger) #20 F...

By Adam J. Morris Stuff from earlier this week I missed...Richard Durrett asks if Rangers fans would like to see Milton Bradley back.  I'd be on board with it, assuming you're giving up little in way of talent and only taking on a few million of his remaining contract.  It sounds like, though, the Rangers feel he b...

By derek-felska The Wild lineup tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Martin Havlat, Antti Miettinen, Owen Nolan, Petr Sykora, Andrew Brunette, James Sheppard, Kyle Brodziak, Chuck Kobasew, Derek Boogaard, Brent Burns, Nick Schultz, John Scott, Shane Hnidy, Greg Zanon and Anton Khudobin backed up N...

By Adam J. Morris Greer has also been someone who has been talked about in the past by fans, when the Rangers' managerial job came open a few years back, and then when Ron Washington looked like he might be on the verge of getting fired early in 2008.  For some reason, he seems to be the go-to guy with fans for some...

By grantlovesbaseball(noreply@blogger.com) MVP: Michael Young, TEX (.322 AVG, 22 HR, 68 RBI): Michael Young is the Rangers’ MVP even after missing most of September. If he hadn’t done that, he would’ve gotten 200 hits, possibly 25 home runs, and probably 75 RBI’s. That’s pretty good, but he doesn’t even need that to be the MVP.

By By JEFF Z. KLEIN It has been a long time since a new arrival has received as hostile a reception as Donald Brashear has from Ranger fans. Brashear, a hulking enforcer who was acquired over the summer, was booed last month at a session with season-ticket holders; at his first exhibition game at Madison Squar...

By Adam J. Morris But that was before Josh Hamilton and Chris Davis tanked, before the catchers decided not to hit, and before the weak offense derailed the Rangers 2009 playoffs hopes.  That was before I realized the Rangers need more offense, and aren't really in a position to deal bats away.

By Flashfire Oakland AthleticsSeattle MarinersAdam Kennedy - 3BIchiro Suzuki - RFRajai Davis - CFFranklin Gutierrez - CFRyan Sweeney - RFJose Lopez - 2BKurt Suzuki - CKen Griffey Jr. - DHJack Cust - DHAdrian Beltre - 3BDaric Barton - 1BMike Carp - 1BMark Ellis - 2BBill Hall - LFEric Patterson - LFRob J...

By Adam J. Morris about : Baseball fans and teammates in the dugout cheer as Texas Rangers' Marlon Byrd (22) Ian Kinsler (5) and Craig Gentry (68) walk to the dugout following Kinsler's three run home run off of Tampa Bay Rays' Grant Balfour that scored Gentry and Byrd in the eighth inning of a baseball game,...

By grantlovesbaseball(noreply@blogger.com) TR: Hank Blalock is a free agent at the end of the season. If the Rangers don’t re-sign him, I think that will take care of that issue. Me: Do you think Josh Hamilton should move to one of the corner outfield spots long term? If so, who’s the Rangers’ center fielder of the future?

By Flashfire Last night's game was fun, wasn't it? Good to see them get to Scott Feldman and the bullpen for an easy win after the first five innings went scoreless. As Texas begins to slip back in the wild card race (4.5 behind Boston), their offense has hit the skids. They've been shut out twice in a row and ha...

By emperor nobody Come to think of it, the only guy that I remember ever doing well in the Arlington National Cemetery for Pitchers was Barry Zito, who used to just flog the Rangers whenever we'd play them in TX... but then, we all know what happened to him  *strum*

By grantlovesbaseball(noreply@blogger.com) Last week, at the Rangers Fan Fest, I interviewed Rangers pitcher Doug Mathis. Doug was nice enough to sit with me for about half an hour after he finished signing autographs. Me: What was your first thought when you were called up to the Rangers last year?

By Seth Rorabaugh 0:00: End of period. Rangers 1, Penguins 0. No one on the Rangers has more than one. The Rangers have a 12-8 lead in faceoffs. 0:00: End of period. Rangers 2, Penguins 0. Sjostrom leads the Rangers with three. The Rangers control faceoffs, 25-17. Rozsival leads the Rangers with 16:15.

Alex Burrows had two goals and Vancouver doubled up the New York Rangers, 6-3, at Madison Square Garden.Kyle Wellwood, Ryan Johnson, Pavol Demitra and Daniel Sedin also scored for the Canucks, who are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. Mattias Ohlund collected three assists, while Taylor Pyat...

Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has spent much of his life being slighted and snubbed, but he hauled away one of baseball's biggest prizes Tuesday, winning the American League Most Valuable Player Award."I'm not the biggest guy in the world," said Pedroia, who insists he's 5...

News: The Texas Rangers exercised their $6.2 million option on Hank Blalock for the 2009 season. Rangers pick up first baseman Blalock's $6.2M option for '09 ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers on Friday exercised a $6.2 million option on oft-injured infielder Hank Blalock.

By DAULERIO It wasn't long after Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske with a dirtball slider on Wednesday night that the posts started popping up about the eerie connection between being Deadspin's lead editor and the World Series champion. Fans of the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, l...

In Sports News this Monday: Rudolf Kraj fails to become the first Czech professional world boxing champion after his WBC cruiserweight title fight with Italy’s Giacobbe Fragomeni is halted in the eighth round – Kraj says the referee favoured his opponent; in football, Sparta Prague ge...

Including Charles' junior brother Kyle Artino (6-1, 243 pounds) at the other offensive tackle spot, the Rangers' chief strength is an offensive line that averages 6-0 and 239 pounds. Center Kyle Garrison and guards Joe Rodriguez and Andrew Pietras complete that line.

By Adam J. Morris There's been an ongoing discussion about the Rangers' team defense -- and particularly their infield defense -- this season.  Most recently, Evan Grant has had a couple of blog posts touching on the issue, earlier in the week saying that improving the range of the shortstop will have no ta...

By Jason Parks The Texas Rangers are only going to become a viable contender at the Major League level by developing and promoting talent up through the minor league system. If this is indeed the case, it should relieve Rangers fans to know that not only do we currently possess the best farm system in the hi...

By Joey Matschulat Erm, wait - where’d Millwood go? Oh, right: For C.J. Wilson. • • • • • An official from an American League team, who requested anonymity because his club is not involved, said the Yankees had asked the Texas Rangers about the availability of Gerald Laird to help catch in Posada’s absence.

By Joey Matschulat Is it the grizzled veteran shortstop (Michael Young), Tuesday evening’s real All-Star Game hero with the 15th-inning walk-off sacrifice fly? Perhaps the dynamic center fielder (Josh Hamilton), who gave Yankee Stadium the ultimate sendoff with his unforgettable effort in Monday’s...

By Adam J. Morris It occurred to me yesterday that the Rangers have sucked in day games this season...but then I figured, well, it is probably my imagination.  But no...the Rangers are 5-12 in day games this year.   And Randy Galloway likes Josh Hamilton.  And David Murphy.

The program does not, however, condone the pre-meditated use of a batting helmet as a mound-charging weapon, as Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson employed at the close of MLB’s Week 6 against the Rangers. The guys ask “If there’s room for fighting in baseball, where is it?”

By Joey Matschulat Much has been made of the dreaded vote of confidence offered towards manager Ron Washington by club president Nolan Ryan and general manager Jon Daniels on Saturday - the latter of whom could conceivably (but hopefully won’t) find his own position in jeopardy if the 2008 season continue...

By Adam J. Morris Texas Rangers (80-82, 840 RS, 849 RA). I’m a bit surprised at how good the Rangers look, but it's a function of the outfield upgrades over the offseason on top of the potential for one healthy season from Hank Blalock. If I had to pick a surprise team in the AL, it would be this one; the Rangers cou...

By Joey Matschulat And before anybody freely disregards this latest ailment to befall the Rangers’ pitching staff as “no big deal,” allow me to reference the unfortunate case of Baltimore Orioles left-hander Troy Patton, one of five players acquired from the Houston Astros last December in exchange for...

By Joey Matschulat Jason Davis: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. And finally, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus pegs the Rangers’ resurgent farm system as the third best in all baseball, behind only the Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland Athletics: Weaknesses: Left-handed pitching; outfielders.

By Joey Matschulat …] Thursday, February 28th Game Preview Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (0-0-0) vs. Texas Rangers (1-0-0) Ervin Santana (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Kason Gabbard (0-0, 0.00 ERA) 4:05 PM CST in Tempe, Arizona (Tempe Diablo Stadium) TV: None | Radio: MLB.com Gameday Audio (KLAA 830 AM)

By Joey Matschulat Texas Rangers team owner Tom Hicks finalized a four-year contract with new team president Nolan Ryan on Friday morning; mere moments later, Hicks and Ryan placed the finishing touches on a new two-year contract extension for general manager Jon Daniels.

“The Pitch” puts these questions and more to Lone Star Ball author Adam Morris in an attempt to gauge the root of the Rangers’ inability to reach October. The guys also cover the mystery of Hank Blalock, the difficulty of pitching in Arlington and some trades still in the mix for Texas.

By Joey Matschulat The Cubs are interested in Byrd only if they have to include center fielder Felix Pie in a trade to the Orioles for either Erik Bedard or Brian Roberts. Now Bedard appears headed for the Mariners. The Cubs contacted the Rangers. Right now, there doesn’t seem to be much in the works.

By Joey Matschulat The club also held a variety of Q&A sessions throughout the day, with the docket of speakers including general manager Jon Daniels, manager Ron Washington, hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, shortstop Michael Young and center fielder Josh Hamilton, who undoubtedly had the most enthr...

By Joey Matschulat ● According to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, Jennings is currently slated to slide into the #3 slot of the Rangers’ tentative Opening Day starting rotation, behind Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla but ahead of Brandon McCarthy and Kason Gabbard. Sammy Sosa: Part Deux anybody?

By Joey Matschulat Beyond the reportedly imminent signing of free agent reliever Eddie Guardado, it doesn’t appear as though Jon Daniels and company will be ringing in the new year with another surprise roster move or blockbuster trade. And neither, I’m betting, would Jon Daniels.

By Joey Matschulat As it so happens, outfielder Josh Hamilton may not be the only member of the 2007 Cincinnati Reds to be joining the 2008 Texas Rangers. …] …] Rangers Question Please! TEXAS: A couple of Rangers questions, What is your take on the Hamilton/Volquez trade and what is your take on the state of the...

By Joey Matschulat As the dust continues to settle from Sunday’s surprise acquisition of outfielder Milton Bradley, another free agent target of the Texas Rangers may be on the verge of selecting his next employer. Well, assuming that Akinori Otsuka’s now infamous endorsement of San Diego to Fukudome has...

By Ian Casselberry This game begins with mystery as I'm not exactly sure whether the first name of Texas' starting pitcher is "Edinson" or "Edison."  Yahoo! has "Edison," while MLB.com has "Edinson."  The mother ship probably has it right, don't you think?  Lone Star Ball also has "Edinson," so I'm going to as...

The Diamondbacks lost out on Texas Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira, who reportedly will be shipped to the Atlanta Braves, but they were burning the midnight oil on the eve of todays nonwaiver trade deadline in an effort to perhaps add some muscle for a possible playoff run.

By Adam J. Morris There's been a lot of squawking from some Rangers fans that the Atlanta offer isn't good enough, that Jarrod Saltalamacchia isn't all that and that the Rangers need something better than him as the headliner of a package. As a point of comparison, when Mark Teixeira was 22 (the same age Salt...

By Jose de Jesus Ortiz(joe.conway@chron.com) Audio: Woody Williams on his elbow, his pitch count and the NCAA bracket • • • Astros righthander Ezequiel Astacio has been claimed by the Texas Rangers. He also gave up the game-winning home run in Game 3 of the 2005 World Series against the Chicago White Sox in the 14th inning at Minute Maid P...