Texas Rangers

By Joey Matschulat On the same day that highly respected industry publication Baseball America released its annual “Best Tools” evaluations for the American League and the National League, an electrifying triumvirate of Texas Rangers prospects managed to do the following:

By Joey Matschulat Multiple local media sources, including Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, are reporting that a Monday afternoon MRI on the injured groin of Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler revealed a debilitating sports hernia, which could require season-ending surgery.

By Joey Matschulat There are presently few players more polarizing contained within the upper ranks of the Texas Rangers organization than the gangly 25-year-old Glendale, California native that is arguably most famous for being “the guy Jon Daniels traded John Danks away for.” …]

By Joey Matschulat Sunday, August 17th Game Preview Tampa Bay Rays (74-48) vs. Texas Rangers (62-62) Scott Kazmir (8-6, 3.22 ERA) vs. Dustin Nippert (1-2, 7.03 ERA) 7:05 PM CST in Arlington, Texas (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington) TV: FSN-HD | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM, XM 180 Rays Rangers Pos. Player Pos. Player CF B.J. Upt...

By Joey Matschulat Dallas Morning News: No walks, no problems for Texas Rangers in win Dallas Morning News: Padilla pushed back again for Texas Rangers The latest calamity to befall the Rangers’ shattered rotation is the unyielding soreness of Vicente Padilla’s chest.

By Jason Parks A: Yes, I think I am. The Rangers are a really good organization to help that happen too. I’m looking forward to it. • • • • • Nicely done, Neil. Curious to hear your thoughts about Neil Ramirez as a prospect - where would you rank him in the Rangers’ system, and what do you think his ceiling is?

By Joey Matschulat Also Vicente Padilla has been pushed back again. He’s now scheduled to pitch Tuesday - if he can make it through a bullpen session tomorrow. If not, then I suspect he’ll be DL bound. Meanwhile Dustin Nippert tomorrow will become the ...

By Joey Matschulat Friday, August 15th Game Preview Tampa Bay Rays (73-47) vs. Texas Rangers (61-61) Matt Garza (9-7, 3.88 ERA) vs. Kevin Millwood (6-6, 5.40 ERA) 7:05 PM CST in Arlington, Texas (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington) TV: FSN-HD | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM, XM 180 Rays Rangers Pos. Player Pos. Player 2B Akinori...

By Joey Matschulat Multiple local media sources, including Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News, are reporting that the Texas Rangers have signed second-round pick Robbie Ross with just hours to go until tonight’s 11:00 p.m. CST signing deadline.

By Joey Matschulat Further Reading: Texas Rangers Draft Primer: A New Chapter (06/05), Rangers 2008 MLB Draft Live Blog (06/05), Texas Rangers Day One Draft Recap: Smoaking Out (06/05), The BTiA Top 25 Prospect Rankings (06/24), Texas Rangers Turn Focus To Draft (08/14)

By Joey Matschulat Quick Hits: Right-hander Kevin Millwood will be activated from the disabled list for Friday’s start, with Thursday evening’s loser Tommy Hunter likely returning to Triple-A Oklahoma as a result…the earliest third baseman Hank Blalock (right shoulder inflammation) will return is p...

By Joey Matschulat Notes: Per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Manager Ron Washington said that he has taken control of Hank Blalock’s rehab from a sore shoulder, and the third baseman won’t be activated from the disabled list until as late as Aug. 22.

By Joey Matschulat ● Baseball Prospectus’s Will Carroll offers the following injury-related nugget on right-hander Vicente Padilla as part of his Thursday morning “Under the Knife” segment: Murphy, the Rangers’ third-round pick in the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft, went 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA and stell...

By Joey Matschulat That development? The implication that first baseman Justin Smoak, the crown jewel of the Texas Rangers’ 2008 amateur draft class, might not ink a professional contract before Friday’s 11:00 p.m. CST signing deadline. “We’re talking, but it’s still a slow pace,” Rangers general manager...

By Joey Matschulat Notes: Multiple local media sources are reporting that in light of Vicente Padilla’s inflamed sternoclavicular joint (which required a cortisone shot to alleviate the ongoing inflammation present), the Rangers will set up their starting ...

By Joey Matschulat “You can’t get to the playoffs like this. Very disappointing. When you have a team down like that — I don’t care if it’s the Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates or Kansas City Royals — coming back the way we did, you have to win that game. It hurts. I don’t know what else to do.”

 MA - Aug 12, 2008 By Joey Matschulat | August 12th, 2008 Vicente Padilla spent the off day Monday in Arlington having an MRI and taking a cortisone injection for a bothersome ...

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8/8/08 game day thread - Lone Star Ball

More: KFFL | John Halpin's Fantasy Sports

By Joey Matschulat Sunday, August 10th Game Preview Texas Rangers (60-58) vs. Baltimore Orioles (56-59) Matt Harrison (3-2, 6.46 ERA) vs. Chris Waters (1-0, 0.00 ERA) 12:35 PM CST in Baltimore, Maryland (Oriole Park at Camden Yards) TV: FSN SW | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM, XM 180 Rangers Orioles Pos. Player Pos. Player 2...

By Joey Matschulat Those three teams, followed by the 2008 Texas Rangers: Houston Astros (2004) - 4.05 ERA, 107 ERA+, 1.345 WHIP Los Angeles Dodgers (2006) - 4.23 ERA, 106 ERA+, 1.381 WHIP Minnesota Twins (2006) - 3.95 ERA, 113 ERA+, 1.283 WHIP Texas Rangers (2008) - 5.27 ERA, 80 ERA+, 1.58 WHIP

By Joey Matschulat Depending on who you choose to believe, Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels may or may not have been prepared to offer 16-year-old Dominican pitching prodigy Michel Inoa a record-shattering signing bonus in excess of $5 million last month. But when the Oakland Athletics swooped i...

By Joey Matschulat Intrigued by the idea of listening to the dulcet tones of my deep North Texas voice? Then you’ve come to the right place. Superstar host Ted Price has uploaded the 10th installment of Rangers Podcast in Arlington, which is of particular relevance to this humble corner of the Texas Rangers b...

By Joey Matschulat Southpaw A.J. Murray (left rotator cuff strain) has been moved to the 60-day disabled list, leaving one spot empty on the 40-man roster so that the Texas Rangers can option the rehabbing Brandon McCarthy (right forearm inflammation) back to the minors once the clock on his 30-day rehab ass...

By Joey Matschulat Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Mussina has Texas Rangers number in Yankees’ 3-0 win The Texas Rangers are mighty proud of the three All-Stars they started Thursday night in the series finale against the Yankees. Dallas Morning News: Texas Rangers’ Murphy will sit for two to four weeks

By Joey Matschulat Thursday, August 7th Game Preview New York Yankees (62-52) vs. Texas Rangers (60-55) Mike Mussina (14-7, 3.44 ERA) vs. Scott Feldman (4-4, 4.97 ERA) 7:05 PM CST in Arlington, Texas (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington) TV: FSN-HD | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM, XM 176 Yankees Rangers Pos. Player Pos. Player C...

Game 113: Yankees at Rangers - mlb-yankees(mvn.com)

Rangers Gameday: 8/4 Vs. NYY - mlb-rangers(mvn.com)

Game 112: Yankees at Rangers (L) - mlb-yankees(mvn.com)

By Joey Matschulat ● The distressing Murphy injury oddly coincides with Ken Rosenthal’s latest FOXSports.com report, which quotes unnamed Major League sources that say San Diego Padres outfielder Brian Giles has been claimed off waivers by an undisclosed team. Why should we care, you ask?

By Joey Matschulat ● Along those same lines, second baseman Ian Kinsler gave Hardline hosts Mike Rhyner and Corby Davidson ten strong minutes of baseball talk on KTCK 1310 AM The Ticket this afternoon: Alex Rodriguez hit that home run. He would play his last game in a Texas uniform less than two months later.

By Joey Matschulat Perhaps it’s the star-studded roster that, with the aid of a nifty trade deadline pickup last week, now boasts perhaps the greatest player in Texas Rangers history. And thus, the stage was set for the latest unforgettable finish in a season full of unforgettable finishes from a truly unfo...

By Joey Matschulat Monday, August 4th Game Preview New York Yankees (61-50) vs. Texas Rangers (58-54) Joba Chamberlain (4-3, 2.24 ERA) vs. Vicente Padilla (12-5, 4.52 ERA) 7:05 PM CST in Arlington, Texas (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington) TV: KDFI-HD | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM, XM 176 Blue Jays Rangers Pos. Player Pos. P...

Rangers Gameday: 8/7 Vs. NYY - mlb-rangers(mvn.com)

Game 113: Yankees at Rangers - mlb-yankees(mvn.com)

Game 112: Yankees at Rangers (L) - mlb-yankees(mvn.com)

By Joey Matschulat Dallas Morning News: Laird homers twice in Texas Rangers’ 8-4 win Dallas Morning News: Guardado gets save for Texas Rangers MLB.com: Rangers pitchers have mixed emotions Dallas Morning News: Texas Rangers depending on homegrown pitching talent

By Joey Matschulat Sunday, August 3rd Game Preview Toronto Blue Jays (55-55) vs. Texas Rangers (57-54) David Purcey (1-1, 8.10 ERA) vs. Luis Mendoza (2-4, 7.34 ERA) 7:05 PM CST in Arlington, Texas (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington) TV: FSN-HD | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM, XM 178 Blue Jays Rangers Pos. Player Pos. Player 2B J...

By Joey Matschulat July 8th, 2005: Down 7-6 going into the bottom of the ninth inning against Toronto Blue Jays closer Miguel Batista, the Texas Rangers miraculously rallied from the brink of failure, tying the game on Alfonso Soriano’s game-tying RBI single up the middle (scoring Hank Blalock) and winni...

By Joey Matschulat Multiple local media sources, including Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, are reporting that the Rangers have fired both Connor and Chiti on the heels of a dramatic Friday evening walk-off victory at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

By Joey Matschulat It became increasingly evident in the days leading up to the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline that the Texas Rangers were not going to be major players in a market dominated by incessant Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira speculation.

By Joey Matschulat ● 3:13 p.m. - All three local beats are reporting that the Rangers did not make a single deal. So, that’s that. ● 2:13 p.m. - Still not the Rangers, but it’s something. From Ken Rosenthal within the last 10 minutes: ● 2:00 p.m. - From Baseball Prospectus’s Derek Jacques:

By Joey Matschulat If there’s one thing we’ve learned about the Texas Rangers over the years, it’s that pitching staff projections are ultimately futile; case in point, just six of the 12 pitchers I projected for the Rangers’ pitching staff this spring still reside on the active roster as of the morning of J...

By Joey Matschulat Five quick things: ● Regarding the failed Hank Blalock cover-up: If you’re Theo Epstein or Brian Cashman or Larry Beinfest or Omar Minaya or Walt Jocketty or Doug Melvin or any other general manager potentially in the market for one of the Texas Rangers’ trade commodities, and you’ve hea...

By Joey Matschulat Both the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram are reporting (here and here, respectively) that Hurley will not make his next start (previously scheduled for Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays) due to a troubling case of right biceps tendinitis. He has not been placed on...

By Joey Matschulat Wednesday, July 30th Game Preview Seattle Mariners (40-66) vs. Texas Rangers (55-52) Miguel Batista (4-11, 6.67 ERA) vs. Vicente Padilla (12-5, 4.56 ERA) 7:05 PM CST in Arlington, Texas (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington) TV: FSN-HD | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM, XM 178 Mariners Rangers Pos. Player Pos....

By Joey Matschulat According to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a Major League source confirmed that the Rangers have inquired into the availability of Kansas City Royals right-hander Zach Greinke. I wonder what could have been the impetus behind that?

By Joey Matschulat If there’s such a thing as too much Texas Rangers news breaking at once, this is what it must feel like: ● Third baseman Hank Blalock has landed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation, and he’s not happy with manager Ron Washington’s erroneous assertion that he was ai...

By Joey Matschulat ● Representatives from the Diamondbacks, Rays and Tigers were in attendance at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Monday evening (Richard Durrett, Dallas Morning News) Between the Casey Blake deal that removed the Dodgers from the equation and this tidbit, it’s looking more likely tha...

By Joey Matschulat Ramon] Vazquez may only have one shot at a big payday for the rest of his playing career, and it’s probably not going to come from the Rangers. And, for that matter, that University of Texas at Arlington alum Ryan Roberts gets the opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream.

By Joey Matschulat Monday, July 28th Game Preview Seattle Mariners (39-65) vs. Texas Rangers (54-51) Felix Hernandez (7-6, 2.95 ERA) vs. Scott Feldman (4-3, 4.80 ERA) 7:05 PM CST in Arlington, Texas (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington) TV: KDFI-HD | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM, XM 178 Mariners Rangers Pos. Player Pos. Playe...

By Joey Matschulat Despite yielding an almost costly passed ball during the Rangers’ close 6-5 defeat at the hands of the Athletics on Sunday, Laird managed to pound three singles and jack his season batting line to .316/.368/.444, arguably the best such statistical performance of his six-year Major League...

By Jason Parks The Skills Showdown Borrowing a page out of the John Sickels playbook, I decided to put two similar prospects head-to-head using the seven skills as the measuring stick.  Of course this wouldn’t be a true Rangers blog unless I also included a general make-up (good face) category as well.  T...

By Joey Matschulat Ladies and gentlemen, meet baseball’s first 100-RBI man of 2008. …] Dallas Morning News: Texas Rangers defeat Oakland, 14-6 Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Rangers notes: Laird will start Sunday Dallas Morning News: Texas Rangers’ Millwood may go on DL

By Joey Matschulat Friday, July 25th Game Preview Texas Rangers (52-50) vs. Oakland Athletics (52-49) Vicente Padilla (11-5, 4.41 ERA) vs. Sean Gallagher (4-4, 4.20 ERA) 9:05 PM CST in Oakland, California (McAfee Coliseum) TV: FSN SW | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM, XM 182 Rangers Athletics Pos. Player Pos. Player 2B Ian K...

By Joey Matschulat Join me, if you will, for an annotated review of Wednesday evening’s incomprehensible rubber match between the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field: 1:08 p.m. - Shortstop Michael Young lofts a 3-2 fastball from rookie left-hander Clayton Richard into the warm, sunny a...

By Joey Matschulat Should Millwood be unable to start on Monday evening against the Seattle Mariners at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Luis Mendoza or Scott Feldman would likely assume his responsibilities. Q: Are the [youth baseball] academies doing what you want them to?

By Joey Matschulat With just over 200 hours remaining until Major League Baseball’s July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, the Texas Rangers have essentially failed to make even a microscopic dent in the mountain of questions that continue to bury their front office personnel alive.

By Joey Matschulat T.R. Sullivan’s latest MLB.com mailbag includes this rather emotionally-charged response to the idea of trading Michael Young, which isn’t economically feasible regardless: What are your thoughts on the Rangers trading Michael Young? Many teams need a quality shortstop (i.e. Dodgers a...

By Joey Matschulat Monday, July 21st Game Preview Texas Rangers (51-48) vs. Chicago White Sox (55-42) Scott Feldman (3-3, 5.03 ERA) vs. Javier Vazquez (7-7, 4.61 ERA) 7:11 PM CST in Chicago, Illinois (U.S. Cellular Field) TV: KDFI | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM, XM 181 Rangers White Sox Pos. Player Pos. Player 2B Ian Kinsler S...

By Joey Matschulat There are but a handful of pitchers in Major League Baseball who possess the rare, energy-sapping quality of consistently being able to make a win feel like a loss. Wilson, to me, has disturbingly evolved into one of those pitchers. Fortunately, the same cannot be said for Mr. Teagarden. From...

By Joey Matschulat Dallas Morning News: A first time for nothing: Texas Rangers shut out by Twins Scout.com: Minor League Mailbag: Part 1 of 3 Dallas Morning News: Texas Rangers’ Teagarden makes big league debut Dallas Morning News: Hot air: Josh Hamilton adds to Texas Rangers’ clout with networks

By Joey Matschulat Jason: The hole the Rangers currently have at third base is only going to be a temporary problem. Young is the Rangers’ third baseman of the future and should probably take over the hot corner for the ‘10 season. Andrus is not yet ready to play at the Major League level, although an argument can...

By Joey Matschulat That exact same principle applies to baseball writers, particularly the true die-hards who do it for little more than the love of the game - and, of course, their beloved team. But first thing’s first: who is the Rangers’ first-half Most Valuable Player?

By Joey Matschulat Five years later, current Houston Astros teammates Miguel Tejada and Lance Berkman engaged in a classic power struggle at Minute Maid Park, swatting baseball after baseball over the railroad tracks and wowing the southeast Texas contingent - as well as the nation and the world at large...

By Joey Matschulat ○ Hank Blalock (carpal tunnel surgery) is still expected to make the first appearance of his new minor league rehab assignment on Monday at Frisco, where he’ll play first base in support of Hurley. ● And finally, both Davis and Ramirez, to nobody’s great surprise, have been selected to Bas...

By Joey Matschulat The sun-baked bleachers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington had not even completely emptied before five Texas Rangers - four players and their undoubtedly excited head trainer, Jamie Reed - began to make their final preparations for the roughly 1,400-mile flight from the Metroplex to bu...