Texas Rangers

 TX - Nov 12, 2008 The Rangers could have moved someone to the 60 day dl to make room for Strop in September, even if the roster was full then, I believe. ... The 40-man roster situation Dallas Morning News all 2 news articles

 TX - Nov 11, 2008 The M's could use a left fielder to replace Raul Ibanez, and the Rangers have outfielders to spare. So maybe David Murphy as part of the deal. ...

By Adam J. Morris The Rangers have exercised their 2009 option on Hank Blalock.

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 TX - Nov 6, 2008 The Rangers had a decent showing in the MVP balloting, and had someone finish in the top 10 in the ROY balloting (although it wasn't David Murphy, ...

By Adam J. Morris Still, and Laird plus something else for Bonderman deal would be attractive, depending on what the something else is, and adding Bonderman might make the Rangers more willing to part with Vicente Padilla or Kevin Millwood.

By Adam J. Morris T.R. Sullivan says the Rangers are still waiting on Mike Maddux before they name a pitching coach.  He also says the Rangers have gotten trade interest from the Mariners and the Giants vis-a-vis Hank Blalock.  Both could use a first baseman, but neither seems likely to give up much for Blalock.

By Adam J. Morris In the middle of the 1975 season, he was dealt to Cleveland as part of a package that brought future Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry to Texas, and after several years in Pittsburgh (where he started two World Series games in 1979 and got a ring, and where he finished 3rd in the Cy Young balloting th...

By Adam J. Morris Cast your vote... Poll Who was the Rangers 2008 MVP? Josh Hamilton Milton Bradley Ian Kinsler Michael Young David Murphy Chris Davis Marlon Byrd Gerald Laird Frankie Francisco Jamey Wright Vicente Padilla Sidney Ponson

By Adam J. Morris Mike Berardino has a story out today about the Marlins' payroll situation, which includes this Rangers relevant part: Late-blooming John Baker is the starting catcher unless a better option comes along. That could depend on the Rangers' expected pursuit of Olsen, for whom they might be...

By Adam J. Morris says the Rangers will likely ask Michael Young to move to third base but not until 2010 at the earliest, and fields a multitude of other questions, including swatting down a suggestion that the Rangers bring Blake Beavan up for a start in 2009...

By Adam J. Morris BTB has a post up that looks at the FIP+ of each A.L. West team.  What jumps out at you about the Rangers is that Kevin Millwood was better last year (in terms of FIP+) than you would probably expect, and Harrison, Hurley, Feldman, and Padilla were worse.

By Adam J. Morris John Danks Mark Teixeira Francisco Cordero The Danks thing has been beat to death.  Francisco Cordero was signed after last season as a free agent by the Reds, and I don't remember a whole lot of clamoring for folks to bring him back.  And I don't think anyone is asking for a do-over on the Mark T...

By Adam J. Morris If I was Channel 4, I'd talk to the Cowboys about filming today's walk- through at Texas Stadium and broadcast that instead of the World Series. I mean, why should I, as a baseball fan, care whether or not the World Series gets good ratings?

By Adam J. Morris The Maddux situation, it appears, is in limbo until Doug Melvin hires a manager, who will (one would assume) have a major say in whether or not Maddux is given permission to talk to the Rangers.  If the new manager wants to keep Maddux, he likely won't be given permission.  If the new manager ha...

By DerekSTheRed I'm sure AJM is devastated by this news. As I'm sure most of us expected, Peavy will not be coming to pitch for the Rangers.  Once again, the Rangers are cock blocked by a no-trade clause.  Can the other MLB teams do themselves a favor and stop giving those out to their ace pitchers?  Thanks.

By Adam J. Morris Best draft in MLB! On the strength of 1b Justin Smoak’s (1st Rd.) surprising slide to Texas in the first round, the Rangers willingness to spend the money to keep LHP Robbie Ross (2d Rd.) away from his commitment to the University of ...

By Adam J. Morris The Rangers have brought former front office p.r. guy John Blake back into the organization as EVP -- Communications. My recollection is that he was one of the people axed by either John Hart or Mike Cramer during one of their periodic purges, and Nolan Ryan, it sounds like, was instrumenta...

By Adam J. Morris Also pretty good is Mike Hindman's Q&A with Jon Daniels this morning at the DMN Rangers blog...too much good stuff to try to excerpt, so be sure to read the whole thing... Jeff Wilson says the new coaches -- Jackie Moore and Dave Anderson -- are expected to help improve the team's defense.

By Adam J. Morris This is getting scary.  I'm ready for miles to proclaim that the 2009 Rangers suck, Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton have peaked, Brandon McCarthy will never be any good, Feliz and Holland are the new Kurt Miller and Hector Fajardo, and Chris Davis strikes out too much to be effective.

By laxtonto MLB.com is doing their  MLB team  minor league reviews with the Rangers being released today. They cover the Rangers Players of the year with the preseason and current picks, and the some of the major movers in the minor league system. They also have a 2007 draft recap as well. LINK

By benmor78 It's a testament to the type of season the Rangers had to take a look at the community projections for this year... a list that included Botts, Jennings, and human medical curiosities Brandon McCarthy and Hank Blalock.  In a season that seemed like, eventually, the Rangers' marketing depart...

By Adam J. Morris The Rangers being similar to the Rays?  Kevin Sherrington says that's crap: Both benefit from veteran minds onsite: Nolan Ryan with the Rangers; for the Rays, former Houston Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker as well as Don Zimmer, baseball's resident leprechaun.

By Adam J. Morris Back in the day, Smith was a 30 year old journeyman who the Rangers had in their system after having signed him as a minor league free agent.  Doug Melvin flipped him, in the summer of 2000, to Florida in a three-way deal that brought Dave Martinez to the Rangers (Texas was still sort of in the pl...

By Adam J. Morris Peavy's N.L. ranking in ERA+: 2004 -- 2nd 2005 -- 9th 2007 -- 1st 2008 -- 9th 2004 -- 5th 2005 -- 2nd 2006 -- 3rd 2007 -- 1st 2008 -- 12th 2004 -- 7th 2005 -- 3rd 2006 -- 6th 2007 -- 3rd 2008 -- 10th You are talking about the type of top-of-the-rotation ace that the Rangers have been seeking for forever.

Related articles from Dallas Morning News.

By Adam J. Morris Jeff Wilson has an article up on the strides made by the Rangers in improving their farm system and developing a strong pipeline of talent coming up through the minors, with some quotes from guys like Rick Adair and Scott Servais about what the Rangers are trying to do.

By Adam J. Morris But this is a place where I think the Nolan Ryan factor could come in to play.  If the Rangers had a strong offer on the table, such that the Padres were willing to let the Rangers have contact with Peavy to discuss waiving the no-trade, don't you think that having Ryan pitch Peavy on coming to Te...

By zywica Badler profiles the seven teenagers on whom the Rangers spent at least $100,000. I think that my favorite is still Edwin Escobar: Escobar is a 6-foot-2 lefthander with an 86-90 mph fastball that has touched 92 mph. A relative of Angels righthander Kelvin Escobar and Brewers shortstop Alci...

By shroomer But that's really when push is going to come to shove for Texas. They just have to start turning this talent into Major League wins. In 2009, you've got to show them making progress. And then in 2010, 2011, if Texas is not winning at the Major League level, then you have to really start asking if yo...

By Adam J. Morris The Rangers are also one of the few teams that have the heavy-duty prospects necessary to get a deal done. And as a sweetener, the Rangers could also offer the Padres their choice of Cruz, Mayberry or Murphy.  Because realistically, I think the "overwhelming package" described by Sheehan m...

By Adam J. Morris 1)  Who hit the first homer of the season for the Rangers?  Michael Young 2)  Who hit the last homer of the season for the Rangers?  Chris Davis 5)  Who led the Rangers in doubles?  Kinsler 7)  Josh Hamilton led the team in RBIs.  Who was second?  Young

By Adam J. Morris Along with the interviews that were mentioned yesterday, Jon Daniels says that he's asked permission to talk to Dave Wallace and Mike Maddux, although permission hasn't been granted yet.  He says he hopes to have a staff in place by next week.

By Adam J. Morris Ex-MLB pitcher Kevin Foster, who appeared in a handful of games in 2001 for the Rangers after spending most of his career in the N.L., died this past weekend of cancer at the age of 39.

By Adam J. Morris 5)  Who led the Rangers in doubles? 6)  Who led the Rangers in triples? 7)  Josh Hamilton led the team in RBIs.  Who was second? 10)  Padilla, Feldman and Millwood were the top three Rangers pitchers in innings pitched.  Who was 4th? 11)  Name the 5 Rangers with double-digit GIDP totals.

By zywica I added the combined column and re-sorted by that. These numbers are skewed, of course, by who has picked high and had extra picks, but they should be. And I guess it's also just nice to see that the Yankees and Red Sox aren't outspending everyone in the draft despite picking low and that the Mar...

By Adam J. Morris • Texas outfielder Julio Borbon has great bat control and should make a ton of contact, and he covers a ton of ground in center. His plate discipline isn't great, however, and he has at best a 40 arm, which is a little light for a center fielder. • More great moments in player discipline: Texas th...

By Adam J. Morris But in any case, the bad team defense probably cost the Rangers 6-7 wins last year (at least, THT has the Rangers at 67 runs below average defensively), which is pretty substantial.  Meanwhile, the "You're the G.M. -- Rangers edition" discussion over at Minor League Ball got 169 comments.  Ch...

By Adam J. Morris A couple of things of note...first of all, Grant talks about how Ryan is still a rancher.  One of the things that the folks who insist that Ryan is the real g.m., that Jon Daniels can't make any moves except whatever Ryan tells him to do, seem to be overlooking is that Ryan has other business interest...

By Adam J. Morris The improvement by the Rays between 2007 and 2008 has been in the area of run prevention.  The 2007 Rays allowed 944 runs...the worst total in baseball (worse, even, than the 2007 Rangers).  The 2008 Rays allowed 671 runs. The 2008 Rays had a BABIP of .280, the lowest in the A.L.

By Adam J. Morris The Rangers, of course, are included, and there is lots to feel good about, according to Goldstein.  His conclusion: Outlook: They have committed ownership, a nice young talent base, a loaded minor league system, an excellent recent track record in the draft and with their internationa...

By Adam J. Morris Keith Law addressed this same question in a chat session this week: Too (Legit): How many runs allowed do you think Texas would improve by if they moved Michael Young to 3B and got a good defensive shortstop -- someone like Adam Everett -- to hold down the fort for a year or two until Elvis Andr...

By Adam J. Morris Jackie Moore says he hasn't been contacted by the Rangers about a job on their coaching staff, despite rumors that he's a hot candidate for the job.  He's currently one of the Astro coaches. Jeff Wilson says that Jon Daniels will be conducting interviews next week, and that he has not contact...

By Adam J. Morris Jeff Wilson has some more notes up from Instructs, including some comments about Justin Smoak and Neftali Feliz, who appear to be announcing their presence with authority. The Rangers beat the Dodgers 4-1 behind more solid pitching from what appears to be an endless pool of talent.

By Adam J. Morris So, thanks to all who participated in the "guess what number I'm thinking of" contest yesterday... I thought about various numbers that had Rangers meaning, or something else like "42," but feared those would be too obvious. So I decided to nerd it up and picked "pi to the e." Which is 22.4591577...

By Adam J. Morris Jim Callis: I'd take Bowden over any of those guys. That said, if I'm the Rangers, I determine who my best catcher is, keep him and trade a couple of the others. I think their best catcher is Teagarden, so I wouldn't deal him. Jim Callis: Sure, just not sure the Royals will trade him.

By Adam J. Morris Who do you believe will start the most games at catcher for the Rangers next year? Cast your vote... Poll Who will start the most games at catcher for the Rangers in 2009? Gerald Laird Max Ramirez Jarrod Saltalamacchia Taylor Teagarden

By Adam J. Morris Jeff Wilson has a blog post up at the S-T about today's Instructional League game, focusing on Neftali Feliz, who threw 2 scoreless innings... Wilson says Feliz is working on his fastball command and wants to break camp with the Rangers in 2009... Some other notes, as well, to check out...

By Adam J. Morris And Bush, of course, ended up using his role with the Rangers as a springboard for running for governor of Texas, which he then used as a platform to run for President in 2000. So...thanks to Jerry Reinsdorf leading the charge to sink Gaylord's bid to buy the Rangers, we have been stuck with 8 year...

By Adam J. Morris Some discussion of Thomas Diamond, Eric Hurley and Matt Harrison, among others, along with responding to a question of whether Milton Bradley going to Arizona for Micah Owings would have been a good deal by opining that the Rangers were better off keeping Bradley (although it seems high...

By Adam J. Morris I've seen a lot of revisionist thinking in the last week regarding the Rangers' trade of the new White Sox ace, John Danks, a deal that two years later has left Texas with almost no return in exchange for one of the 10 best starters in the American League this year. This line of thinking complet...

By Adam J. Morris The San Francisco Examiner talks about the possibility of the Giants dealing for Hank Blalock to play third base.  The Giants have supposedly had interest in Blalock for some time, although I don't know that anyone should really count on Blalock as a third baseman from now on, and I can't im...

By Adam J. Morris And Joe Sheehan led off his column at BP yesterday this way: The Brandon McCarthy-for-John Danks trade was largely considered a win for the Rangers at the time. McCarthy, a stat-head favorite for his ability to prevent walks, was seen as the kind of strike-throwing machine who would anc...

By Adam J. Morris I've had a hard time putting into coherent words my concern about Nolan taking control of the pitching situation with the Rangers, and now I don't think I have to... Over at the DMN blog, Hindman analyzes many of Tom Hicks' comments from yesterday, and while I don't agree with everything Mike s...

By Adam J. Morris In the wake of Tom Hicks' latest declarations, we now have a definitive list of who, in the Ranger, organization, is untouchable. But that's the lesson Hicks has apparently taken from the John Danks/Brandon McCarthy trade...pitchers taken in the first round are untouchable.

By Adam J. Morris Tom Hicks speaks: Hicks is counting on Ryan, the Hall of Famer hired as club president in January, taking charge of the organization's overall pitching program so it will finally lead to success at the Major League level. The Rangers were last in the Major Leagues in pitching this season, a...

By Adam J. Morris If you could swing a deal to land Hardy, then I think you can bring back either Milton Bradley or Blalock to DH, roll with Josh Hamilton in center until Julio Borbon is ready and the Murphy/Byrd/Cruz combo in the outfield corners.  You've got one area where you are probably weak defensively -...

By Adam J. Morris A nice win yesterday, and the Rangers are now just 4.5 games out in the wild card race.  They are, however, 4th in the wild card race -- trailing Minnesota, the BoSox, and the Yankees -- and are just a half-game up on Detroit, which makes actually winning the wild card a lot harder.  BP puts the Ran...

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.

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 Adam J. Morris Jim Reeves has a column up on Jon Daniels, with some interesting quotes: The S-T also has some notes up, including German Duran's top 5 Fort Worth restaurants, and a mention from a Ranger official about watching Josh Hamilton take B.P.

By Adam J. Morris The rotation is hard to say...Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Edinson Volquez, and Brandon McCarthy all have the ability to be above average major league starters, but I'd be hard-pressed to say that any of them is much better than a 50/50 bet to be an above-average starting pitcher next ye...

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...