Tigers Bitten By "The Snake"; Rangers Win Again

Kameron Loe's final pitching line tonight:

7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 0 HR. 15 groundball outs.

And yet another win.

The Rangers offense continues to roll, even without the services of Hank Blalock and Mark Teixeira. Texas scored four times in the 3rd inning against Jeremy Bonderman with plate discipline, some well placed singles, and a little luck. "The Snake" made the 4-1 lead stand up, with Kam once again leaning heavily on his sinker and breaking pitches to dominate Detroit's lineup. Obviously, it worked.

However, the game still hung in the balance going into the top of the 9th inning, with the Rangers nursing a narrow 4-2 lead. Eric Gagne was warming up in preparation for a third consecutive appearance, something that I certainly did not want to see after his struggles on Sunday night.

Thankfully, the bats stepped up yet again, and one Eulogio De La Cruz implosion later, the Rangers had an 8-2 lead. Frankie Francisco made things much more interesting than they needed to be in the bottom of the 9th inning, and Gagne had to start warming up again, but Frankie persevered and Texas managed to hold on for the 8-3 win.

There just aren't enough good things to say about Kam Loe's performance tonight. Consider for a moment that the Tigers are the best offensive team in baseball, with a team batting line of .293/.354/.476 and 454 runs scored, far and away the most runs scored by any team in baseball this year. For Loe to pitch like he did tonight, against such a dangerous collection of hitters, is nothing short of remarkable. We can only hope that he can keep this up.

Willie Eyre will take the mound on Tuesday night opposite Detroit's Nate Robertson, as Eyre makes the first start of his major league career.

Once again, long live "The Snake."

And for that matter, Andy Hawkins too.

Tuesday, June 26th Game Preview

Texas Rangers (31-45) at Detroit Tigers (45-30)

Willie Eyre (2-3, 3.00 ERA) vs. Nate Robertson (4-6, 5.07 ERA)

6:05 PM CST in Detroit, Michigan (Comerica Park)

TV: FSNSW | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM

Monday Afternoon Rangers Notes

A few random notes before tonight's series opener with the Detroit Tigers...

Per Pete Aldrich of the Dallas Morning News, the Rangers have recalled right-hander Scott Feldman from Triple-A Oklahoma to replace Vicente Padilla, who has been added to the 15-day disabled list with the aforementioned sore right triceps muscle. Feldman is 1-2 with a 6.66 ERA, 1.99 ERA and .304 BAA in 25.2 innings this year. Yuck.

Eric Hurley made his AAA debut today against the Pacific Coast League's Omaha Royals. Unfortunately, the results were less than glittering, with Hurley's final pitching line for the day looking like this:

5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR

Jim Byers, the radio voice of the Redhawks, says that the numbers are a bit misleading, thanks to a less than brilliant throw from Joaquin Arias that might have cost Hurley three runs. Much more encouraging is that Byers says Hurley was a "commanding presence" on the mound, with Hurley hitting 92-93 MPH on the radar gun. He threw 97 pitches on the afternoon.

Jason Botts also went 1 for 3 with a single and a walk, and Nelson Cruz went 2 for 4 with an RBI single, which turned out to be the only run that crossed the plate. The Redhawks lost 7-1.

Jamey Newberg has an interesting piece on Eric Gagne this morning, noting that last night was just the 3rd time all year that Gagne has been asked to pitch in back-to-back games. The first time was on April 22nd, when Gagne suffered a hip strain that put him on the disabled list for 18 days. He was dominant in his second such back-to-back appearance on June 8th against Milwaukee, striking out two in a perfect inning.

But last night, Gagne had absolutely nothing. He was hit hard, giving up just the 2nd and 3rd runs he's allowed all year, and threw just 10 of his 20 pitches in the 9th inning for strikes. Don't think for a second that other teams aren't taking note of Gagne's struggles last night, because if he proves incapable of pitching effectively on back-to-back days, it's going to dent his trade value significantly.

Gagne had this to say about his performance last night:

"I just didn't make my pitches. I felt great. I just left some pitches up and walked some guys. It happens."

Meanwhile, C.J. Wilson was a bit more direct:

"I blew it. It's my fault."

Jon Heyman of SI.com suggests that the Orioles might convince Texas to take Daniel Cabrera in a deal for Mark Teixeira, rather than Erik Bedard. Cabrera has immense talent and potential, and when he's on, he's as unhittable as any pitcher in baseball. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen very often with Cabrera, because he's incredibly wild.

Cabrera has cut his walk rate per nine innings from 5.62 BB/9 in 2006 to 4.28 BB/9 in 2007, but his strikeout rate per nine innings has also fallen from 9.55 K/9 to 7.25 K/9. Despite the lower walk rate, his WHIP is still 1.38 for 2007, along with a nice, mediocre 4.98 ERA. Personally, if Cabrera is the best piece the Orioles can offer in a hypothetical Teixeira deal, I'd probably walk away.

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus is holding a chat session this afternoon, with several notes of interest about the Texas farm system. Among other things, Goldstein says that first-round pick Blake Beaven will eventually sign, despite his threats about going to Navarro College, and that he doesn't think Hurley pitching with the Rangers this year would accomplish much.

Pat Andriola of MVN's "Shea Faithful" wonders why the Mets traded away Victor Diaz for Mike Nickeas, who hit .213/.272/.287 in 136 at-bats for Double-A Binghamton this year. He was recently demoted to Single-A St. Lucie. It's certainly doesn't begin to make up for the Chris Young deal, but this has turned out to be a very nice little trade for Texas.

Texas will face Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson, Kenny Rogers and Justin Verlander in their four game series with Detroit this week. Let the fun begin.

As always, any feedback is welcome. Traffic has never been higher here at Baseball Time in Arlington, but comments are rather sparse at the moment. Of course, I'll still keep writing whether or not anybody comments on my work, but I'd love to hear what my readers think.

Heartbreak In Arlington: Rangers Drop Wild Series Finale

You know, it's games like these that make it tough to be a Rangers fan. But for whatever reason, I keep coming back.

After Robinson Tejeda's miserable start, Texas probably didn't deserve to win this game. They were down 7-3 going into the bottom of the 8th inning, after being held in check for seven innings by Houston's Chris Sampson. Tejeda gave up seven runs (five earned) in just 3.2 innings, on five hits and four walks. It was yet another disappointing start for Robinson, who now has a 6.57 ERA on the year.

And in the end, it would be disappointment that reigned supreme in Arlington tonight.

For a while, though, that didn't look to be the case. Astros manager Phil Garner called on Rick White to relieve Sampson in the 8th inning, who promptly gave up a pair of singles to Kenny Lofton and Ian Kinsler. Garner quickly went to Dan Wheeler, who struck out Michael Young, and the rally seemed to be on the verge of dying. But a wild pitch and a Sammy Sosa bloop hit later, the score was 7-5, with Frank Catalanotto coming to the plate as the tying run.

I somewhat jokingly put in "the call" for Cat at this point to a friend I was chatting with online. What happened next floored me, as Catalanotto hit a dramatic two run shot into the lower home run porch to tie the game. As we all know, you simply can't fail after a comeback like this; getting your hopes up with a rally, only to fall just short in the end, hurts more than not rallying at all.

Eric Gagne came in for the 9th inning in a 7-7 game, and right away showed that he had nothing. Hunter Pence laced a double off the left field wall to lead off the inning, and Berkman walked. Carlos Lee hit a deep fly ball to left center field which appeared to be gone judging by Lee's reaction, but Lofton tracked it down in the alley.

With runners on 1st and 3rd and one out, Mark Loretta hit a single to center field that Lofton badly misplayed, allowing Pence and Berkman to score easily. Had Lofton played the ball correctly, Berkman might have been held at 2nd base, and certainly wouldn't have scored.

Gagne eventually got out of the inning, but the Rangers would have to rally a second time if they wanted to win. Marlon Byrd led off the bottom of the 9th with another long home run, which would have been a walkoff blast if Gagne had been as unhittable tonight as he had been all year. Neither Ramon Vazquez or Lofton could reach base, however, and Ian Kinsler was the Rangers' last hope, with Lofton's defensive miscue in the previous half-inning looming very large.

Incredibly, Kinsler clubbed a majestic, two out home run to left field that knotted the game at 9-9. At this point, it just felt like a game the Rangers were destined to win. The little Rangers, winners of four straight and seven out of nine, were going to finish this comeback and add yet another dramatic walkoff win to their repertoire. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

C.J. Wilson came on to begin the 10th inning, and let me be perfectly frank about his performance tonight: he sucked. Bad. Four hits and a walk later, you could forget about any walkoff magic, because Texas was suddenly down three runs. You can only ask the offense to pick up the pitching staff so many times, and Wilson's outing was the knockout blow. Catalanotto hit a double in the bottom of the 10th off reliever Chad Qualls, but that was all the Rangers had left, and they fell tonight 12-9.

Perhaps it's silly to feel so let down by a single game like this, especially when it really means nothing in the long run. But I'm always going to root for the Rangers to win, and in a season like this, I'll take any uplifting moments I can get. Eric Gagne and C.J. Wilson have been pretty much lights out all year, but they both failed miserably tonight, and it cost Texas a chance at a really exciting win. Of course, Tejeda also carries a lot of blame as well.

Ironically enough, Dave Sessions of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has a Sunday piece out praising the recent average pitching by the starting rotation, which has been a nice change from the historically bad pace the rotation had been on. Unfortunately, after Tejeda's work tonight, the rotation ERA for the year is now back up to 6.70, still on pace to break Detroit's 1996 mark of 6.64 as the worst rotation ERA in baseball history.

Brandon McCarthy made his first rehab start since being placed on the disabled list on June 14th with a blister on his right middle finger. McCarthy threw 63 pitches and went 4.1 innings in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader for the Oklahoma Redhawks. He gave up no runs, and surrendered just three hits. He walked nobody, and punched out six. So far, so good. The Rangers want McCarthy to make one more rehab start, which is set for Friday at Double-A Frisco. He'll be on a 75-pitch limit.

Vicente Padilla will not return from the disabled list until after the All-Star break, and will receive 20 to 22 days off, as the break will allow him an extra four or five days of rest for his sore right triceps muscle. If Padilla's situation doesn't improve over the next three weeks, I would expect to see him going under the knife not long after.

John Koronka has been having control issues lately in AAA, and neither Benoit nor Eyre are attractive starting options in the least. Mike Wood is back and healthy for Oklahoma, and gave up just two runs in seven innings on Friday night, so he may be in the mix for Tuesday's start in Detroit.

Tim MacMahon's sarcastic remarks on the Seam Heads DMN blog are starting to get on my nerves. Some folks on Lone Star Ball feel that MacMahon's nothing more than a bit, or that he's just there to serve as a foil to Evan Grant in order to drum up traffic. Others might just call him stupid. Take your pick.

Rest in peace Rod Beck, who was found dead in his Phoenix home at noon on Saturday. Beck, a three time All-Star closer, saved 286 games in his career, and finished his career with a 3.30 ERA. He last pitched in 2004 for the San Diego Padres. Beck was just 38 years old.

Texas begins a frightening 11-game stretch on Monday night against the three best teams in baseball, with four in Detroit, four in Boston and three back at home against Anaheim. We'll see soon enough whether this recent mini-renaissance by the Rangers will continue against much tougher AL competition, or if Texas will come crashing back to earth.

Then again, after tonight's game, they might already have.

Monday, June 25th Game Preview

Texas Rangers (30-45) at Detroit Tigers (45-29)

Kameron Loe (3-6, 6.34 ERA) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (8-0, 4.01 ERA)

6:05 PM CST in Detroit, Michigan (Comerica Park)

TV: FSNSW | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM

NEWSFLASH: Padilla Headed To DL

According to Richad Durrett of the Dallas Morning News, right-hander Vicente Padilla is headed to the 15-day disabled list with a sore right triceps muscle. Durrett also notes that the injury has bothered Padilla since spring training, and that he was reluctant to go on the disabled list.

Meanwhile, Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says that Padilla tried to throw a bullpen session on Sunday, but that pitching coach Mark Connor ended the session after talking with Padilla. Vicente would have made his next start on Tuesday in Detroit, against former Ranger Kenny Rogers. Ron Washington says that Joaquin Benoit, Willie Eyre or John Koronka could make the start in his place.

Needless to say, this isn't a good development for Padilla or the Rangers. It's clear something has been wrong with him since the start of the season, and there's a very real possibility that he's headed for an appointment with Dr. James Andrews in the near future. Tommy John surgery would have Padilla back sometime in mid-2008 as a best case scenario.

Rangers Clinch Silver Boot Over Astros

Well, I can't say I saw this coming.

Jamey Wright outpitched Roy Oswalt on Saturday afternoon, and the Texas Rangers defeated the Houston Astros, 7-2. Not only was it Texas's 4th consecutive win and their 7th win in nine games, but the victory locked up the coveted Silver Boot trophy for the Rangers. Very impressive stuff. I just pray it doesn't come to a screeching halt when Monday's road trip begins in Detroit.

Unfortunately, Jamey Wright's success appears to be more of a fluke than him dominating the Astros lineup. The 32-year-old right hander only gave up two runs on three hits in 5.2 innings, but surrendered a whopping six walks, and hit Mike Lamb with a pitch in the 6th inning. Wright's five strikeouts are an indicator that he at least missed some bats, but generally, you're not going to walk six batters and get off the hook as easily as Wright did on Saturday.

The Rangers lineup went down rather quietly against Oswalt in the first four innings, but came through in the 5th inning with a three run rally to put Texas up 3-1. Houston fought back to make it 3-2 in the 6th inning, and had men on 2nd and 3rd with two outs when manager Ron Washington called in Frankie Francisco to take over for Wright. It turned out to be a perfectly timed managerial move, as Eric Bruntlett flied out to end the threat.

The Astros threatened again in the 7th inning against Francisco, putting men on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. Again, Ron Washington ended up making the right call, bringing in C.J. Wilson who promptly struck out Mike Lamb on three pitches. Texas pieced together a nice four run rally in the 8th inning to seal the deal, cheating Eric Gagne out of yet another save opportunity in the process.

It was yet another impressive home crowd for the Rangers, as the official attendance was 42,315 for Saturday's 2:55 game. According to ESPN.com, Texas is drawing an average of 31,745 at RBiA this year, a nice little increase over last year's average attendance of 29,490 per game. Of course, these numbers may fall as we enter the later summer months, especially when school starts in August.

Kenny Lofton came just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle on Saturday, which would have been the first of his 17-year major league career. He hit a double in the first inning, a triple in the third, and a single in the fifth, but only got a pair of walks in his final two at-bats. Weak.

Lofton's now hitting .289/.375/.408 on the year with 16 SB, and I'm pretty sure he'd be a useful piece for several playoff contending teams. I'm going to really miss Gagne and Lofton, if and when they're dealt; you can criticize Jon Daniels for his trade history, but you can't criticize him for these two signings, because they've been everything that we could have asked for thus far.

Also, do you remember the idea this offseason that Kenny Lofton would provide similar offensive production to the departed Gary Matthews Jr? That's pretty much turned out to be the case; Lofton has the aforementioned .289/.375/.408 line with a .272 EQA, while GMJ is hitting .286/.343/.454 with a .268 EQA.

Dave Sessions on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram blog has a complete list of the 10 longest home runs in RBiA history, which is certainly worth a look. Paul Sorrento's mammoth 491 foot blast in 1999 comes in at #1; I still remember watching the game on TV when he hit that. If I remember correctly, the ball either traveled to the very back of Greene's Hill in dead center field, or completely cleared the hill. That was absolutely ridiculous.

By the way, the home run came off of super spare Mark Clark, whom Joe Siegler reminisced on a few days ago. Remarkably enough, the Rangers won that game 7-6, as they scored a run in the bottom of the 8th in a tied game. I love Retrosheet.

Speaking of spares, Scott Lucas did a nice analysis comparing Sammy Sosa to some former Ranger DHs, such as Phil Nevin, Brad Fullmer and Andres Galarraga. Despite the lovefest for Sammy this year, he's only marginally better statistically than most of the failed bits we've run through the DH spot recently.

Since being optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma on June 5th, Nelson Cruz has hit .375/.475/.917 with 7 HR in 48 AB for the Redhawks. However, with the crowded outfield situation at the major league level, I don't expect Cruz to be recalled anytime soon. Victor Diaz and Marlon Byrd certainly haven't done anything to deserve a demotion; I guess Lofton being traded or Wilkerson being designated for assignment would create room, but whatever.

The Rangers will take on Houston for the final time in 2007 on Sunday night, as they gun for a season-high five wins in a row.

Perhaps something can be salvaged from this season yet?

Sunday, June 24th Game Preview

Houston Astros (31-43) at Texas Rangers (30-44)

Chris Sampson (6-5, 3.70 ERA) vs. Robinson Tejeda (5-7, 6.29 ERA)

7:35 PM CST in Arlington, Texas (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington)

TV: KDFI/My27 | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM

Rangers Roll Astros

For the first time this year, the Rangers are on a roll.

Texas crushed Houston 11-3 tonight for their 3rd win in a row, and their 6th win in eight games. In addition, the Rangers now lead the season series 3-1 over the Astros, and have virtually locked up the prestigious Silver Boot trophy, which goes annually to the winner of the season series. The series tiebreaker for the Silver Boot is run differential, and Texas leads in that department by a ridiculous 33-14 margin.

Well, okay, so it's not really that prestigious, but it's something.

Kevin Millwood put together a second consecutive solid start, giving up three runs on nine hits and no walks in six innings of work. He only struck out two, quite a dropoff from his 10 strikeout performance last Sunday in Cincinnati, but no walks is really nice to see. Millwood gave up a first inning solo shot to Lance Berkman, and gave up two runs on three straight hits to begin the 5th inning, but he pitched very well otherwise.

And tonight, the offense picked up Millwood. After the Astros took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 5th inning, the Rangers responded with eight runs in the bottom half of the frame to put the game on ice. Michael Young (who is now hitting over .290 for the first time this season) began the rally with a leadoff single, and Sammy Sosa followed with his 601st career home run, a ball which just barely carried beyond the outstretched glove of right fielder Luke Scott into the "Bermuda Triangle" wedge in the right field corner.

Marlon Byrd stepped up next, and proceeded to hit the 6th longest home run in RBiA history, a monstrous blast that traveled 449 feet to the back of the visitors' bullpen in left center field. Texas would go on to bat around in the inning, with Brad Wilkerson clubbing a two run homer of his own, Michael Young drawing a bases loaded walk, and Sammy Sosa hitting a two run single to right field for his 3rd and 4th RBIs of the inning.

By the time it was all said and done, Texas led 10-3, and even the Astros had to know they were done for the night.

The Rangers are now 10-9 in June, and their three game winning streak matches a season high, set when they swept Toronto May 4-6. Not only that, but Texas is 7-5 with Mark Teixeira on the disabled list. Now, given Mark's sparkling .302/.405/.554 line on the year, I doubt this is anything more than a total coincidence combined with the fact that Texas is playing some pretty lousy National League teams, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Sammy Sosa is now on pace for one of the most odd seasons, statistically speaking, that I've seen in a long time: ESPN's projected numbers on Sosa have him hitting .247/.307/.473 with 31 HR and 138 RBI in 577 AB this year.

Kevin Sherrington of the DMN has a piece out on Sammy, with Sosa apparently being insulted by the notion of being traded; he wants to finish his career here. I still find it very unlikely he's here next season, and I want to see the Jason Botts era begin as much as the next guy, but I'm going to really miss Sammy when he leaves. I've liked him as a player ever since he was on the Cubs, even through the corking incident and the steroids allegations; if that makes me less of a baseball fan, so be it.

First round draft pick Blake Beaven is reportedly not close to signing with the Rangers, and is threatening to go to Navarro College in Corsicana if a contract can't be reached. This seems like nothing more than a bargaining tactic, and I'd be stunned if Texas didn't come to an agreement with Beaven.

On a related note, Carlos Gomez of The Hardball Times doesn't like Beaven's mechanics, and feels he was a poor choice at pick #17. It's common knowledge that Beaven needs some mechanical adjustments, but Beaven was widely considered a low-mid first round talent coming into the draft, and I don't think I buy into the theory that he was taken too high.

BTiA favorite Matt Kata has been signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates and assigned to their Triple-A affiliate.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal writes that the Tigers are unlikely to trade for either Aki Otsuka or Eric Gagne, and that the Jon Daniels extension "stunned" many in the industry, with some rival executives wondering whether John Hart could assume a greater role in the organization. Don't count on it.

It's been an incredibly strange 24 hours for former A's outfielder Milton Bradley, who was designated for assignment on Thursday by Oakland. After Rosenthal wrote that the Rangers could be a possible destination for Bradley due to the Ron Washington connection, Bradley was traded to the Royals on Friday for relief pitcher Leo Nunez.

Before the trade could consummated, however, the Royals learned that Bradley suffered an oblique strain in his final game with the A's on Wednesday, and voided the deal. This apparently came as news to Oakland, who had no knowledge of the injury when they DFAed him a day later.

Needless to say, this really hurts any trade value he might have, as the A's have 10 days to trade Bradley, try to get him through waivers, or release him. I find it entirely possible he's exaggerating the injury, if he has one at all, in order to gain his free agency and hand pick his next team. One thing is for sure: Billy Beane must be absolutely furious.

Jamey Wright will face off against Roy Oswalt on Saturday.

In other words, that winning streak sure was nice while it lasted.

Saturday, June 23rd Game Preview

Houston Astros (31-42) at Texas Rangers (29-44)

Roy Oswalt (7-4, 3.51 ERA) vs. Jamey Wright (0-1, 10.57 ERA)

2:55 PM CST in Arlington, Texas (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington)

TV: KDFW Ch. 4 | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM

Thursday Night Rangers Wrapup

It's about time.

Frank Catalanotto hit a walkoff single in the bottom of the 9th inning today, and the Texas Rangers won their second consecutive series as they defeated the Chicago Cubs on Thursday afternoon, 6-5. The Rangers have now won 5 out of 7; albeit, those wins have come against the Pirates, Reds and Cubs, but beggars can't be choosers.

Texas led 5-0 after three innings, but the pitching staff couldn't hold the lead. Vicente Padilla struggled once again, giving up four runs in just four innings of work on 10 hits, 3 walks and a HBP. He also struck out five, so I have to believe he's still got life in that arm, but something is obviously not right with him right now. The DMN story on the game has more worrying stuff on Padilla, including a supposed quote from Padilla admitting that his control is not as good as it was last year; of course, he has since denied saying that.

I've been a bit behind on things the last few days, and for the loyal readers still out there, I'd like to offer my apologies. Here's a quick rundown of some events over the last few days, in an effort to get caught up:

• GM Jon Daniels received a one-year contract extension on Wednesday, locking him up through the end of the 2009 season. I've still got my share of doubts about Daniels, but I like what he did in this year's draft, I liked the moves this past offseason, and giving Daniels some additional job security can't hurt his bargaining position at the deadline, either. The Rangers need some organizational stability, and this extension is a step in the right direction. Besides, if Daniels has several more horrific failures like the Chris Young deal, Hicks will fire him anyway, even if it means eating that guaranteed money.
• First round draft pick Michael Main and second round pick Matt West were signed on Tuesday. Out of the remaining unsigned players (Beaven, Borbon, Ramirez and Hunter) in the first and supplemental rounds, I think Texas is likely to sign all of them except for Hunter.
• Rusty Greer was elected to the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame on Thursday, the only member of the 2007 class. Somewhere around here, I have an autographed baseball card of his...
• Eric Hurley has been promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City, after going 7-2 with a 3.25 ERA and .219 BAA. He struck out 76 in 88.2 IP. I don't mind the promotion, but please, please don't rush Hurley. He's unquestionably the top prospect in the organization right now, and the thought of screwing him up ala Edinson Volquez is too much to bear.
• Trade rumors are really beginning to pick up, and we're still 40 days away from the deadline. Not a whole lot worth detailing, other than that Eric Gagne's no-trade list is becoming a bit more clear: the Tigers, Indians and Phillies are not among the 12 teams that Gagne can be traded to without his consent, but the Yankees, Mets and Angels are. Also, the Chicago Sun-Times mentions the Rangers being interested in Jacque Jones, but Texas hardly needs another corner outfielder/DH who can only hit right-handed pitching with Frank Catalanotto on the roster.

With the buzz of Sammy Sosa's 600th home run slightly worn off, Adam Morris addresses the entire Sosa/Botts situation further, making the usual points about Sosa being a below-average DH. I still find it very unlikely that Sosa will be released at any point this year, though.

Despite this nice little hot streak lately, Texas is still a depressing 16 games under .500, and 17.5 games out of first place.

But hey, at least we're getting some walkoff dramatics out of the deal.

Friday, June 22nd Game Preview

Houston Astros (31-41) at Texas Rangers (28-44)

Woody Williams (3-9, 5.50 ERA) vs. Kevin Millwood (3-6, 7.62 ERA)

7:35 PM CST in Arlington, Texas (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington)

TV: FSNSW | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM

Sammy Sosa Hits Home Run #600

Welcome to the 600 Club, Sammy.

Sammy Sosa drilled his 600th career home run tonight, on a 1-2 pitch from Cubs' starter Jason Marquis in the 5th inning. As the ball came off his bat and took off towards the right-center field fence, Sammy did his trademark hop into the air, and he raised his fist triumphantly when the ball landed in the Rangers' bullpen. Akinori Otsuka came up with the baseball, grinning widely as he held the ball up like a trophy.

Let's be honest here: Sammy's not having a real great season. He's hitting just .241/.298/.448, and his defense is barely passable in right field. The Texas Rangers are going nowhere this year, and Sammy's unlikely to return next year. This team needs to move forward with Jason Botts at DH and see what happens, lest we give away another Adrian Gonzalez or Travis Hafner.

With all that being said though, this was an incredibly cool moment. Sammy comes with his share of baggage, but I find it impossible to dislike him. Even though he's not a very good baseball player anymore, I'm glad that Jon Daniels signed him this off-season, even if only for this one moment.

Another thing to consider: if Sosa hadn't been signed and Botts was the everyday DH from the start of the season, he probably would have never implemented the adjustments in his swing which could make him a mainstay in Arlington for years to come.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Sosa will be on this team for at least several more weeks, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's on the Rangers for the rest of the year. After all, he's still a very serviceable lefty masher, and releasing Sosa outright would be a major PR hit, especially among the average casual Ranger fan. I can see a trade, but I have a feeling the Rangers may only deal him to a contender, and he wouldn't bring much of a return, anyway.

These are all concerns for another day, though.

Congratulations, Sammy. You've earned it.

Rangers Win On Father's Day; Trade Winds Blowing In Arlington?

Despite running out one of the worst lineups in recent team history, the Texas Rangers won on Father's Day.

With the backing of 11 runs of support from the offense, Kevin Millwood pitched six decent innings, and picked up his first win since April 13th in Seattle. It was a mixed bag for Kevin on Sunday; he gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in those six innings, including a pair of homers from Adam Dunn. But on the other hand, Millwood struck out 10 Reds, a new season high for any pitcher in the starting rotation.

Perhaps the most encouraging development was that Millwood seemed to get stronger as the game went on, with his fastball still hitting 94 MPH in the 6th inning when he struck out the side. He credits some minor changes in his delivery for his successful start, such as keeping his back straight while lifting his leg instead of arching his back. Millwood also retired 12 of the last 13 batters that he faced. He had his share of hiccups early on, but his outing is certainly something to build off of.

On a related note, ESPN's Jonah Keri thinks Millwood could be an attractive option for a contender closer to the trading deadline. He cites Millwood's health and affordability as two reasons, and names him as a potential bargain ala Bobby Abreu last July.

Let me just get this out of the way right now: I'm not interested in dealing Millwood. Not only would Texas likely have to pay a large chunk of the money remaining on his contract, but trading him now is essentially selling low - and consequently, I doubt Texas would get any type of front-line prospects in return. The Abreu comparison is especially worrying, because as you may recall, the Phillies got little value in return for Abreu.

In addition, who the heck would take his spot in the rotation? It's not like the Rangers have any monster pitching prospects in Oklahoma that are being blocked; Eric Hurley is probably the most advanced pitching prospect in the organization, but he shouldn't get called up before September, and probably won't establish himself in the rotation until sometime in 2008. Does Texas really want to take the risk of rushing Hurley, and possibly ruining him like Edinson Volquez?

Millwood can't be considered an "ace" at this point for Texas, but we all know he's capable of pitching better than he has this year, and I think dealing him right now serves no purpose other than to set the starting pitching situation further backwards. The Rangers made a commitment to Millwood, and they need to ride this thing out further than just a season and a half before making a decision.

Looking at the Texas lineup before Sunday's game, it wasn't hard to buy into the theory that Texas might get shut out. Here's the lineup, complete with each player's batting line for the season coming into the game:

1. Kenny Lofton: .274/.358/.389
2. Jerry Hairston Jr: .254/.316/.388
3. Michael Young: .286/.333/.414
4. Marlon Byrd: .384/.425/.438
5. Frank Catalanotto: .183/.282/.358
6. Adam Melhuse: .250/.333/.281
7. Ramon Vazquez: .278/.321/.472
8. Travis Metcalf: .250/.400/.667
9. Kevin Millwood: .121/.158/.167 (career)

Pretty ugly, right? However, Texas would not lay a goose egg, as the offense scored in six different innings, including three runs in the 1st inning in support of Kevin Millwood, and four more in the 9th to put the game away. It was the 6th time this year that the Rangers scored 10 or more runs, and the first time since May 21st, when Texas beat Minnesota 14-4 in Arlington.

Adam Melhuse was probably the most pleasant surprise on Sunday, scoring 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and two runs scored. He's now 5 for 10 since joining the Rangers, and certainly appears to be a better bet as backup catcher going forward than Chris Stewart. Marlon Byrd also had a nice game, going 2 for 4 with 3 RBI, two runs scored, a walk and a home run, his first in a Rangers uniform.

Jamey Newberg brought up an interesting hypothetical yesterday concerning Marlon Byrd, which goes as follows:

"Texas agrees to terms with outfielder Marlon Byrd on a two-year, $3.5 million contract, with a club option for $3 million in 2010 ($250,000 buyout). The contract includes plate appearance incentives that, if all reached, could increase the two-year guaranteed term to $4 million. The contract erases what would have been Byrd�s two final arbitration years.�

Such a deal would certainly benefit the Rangers if Byrd continues to produce at the clip he is right now, hitting .390/.435/.494 in 77 at-bats for the Rangers this year. However, if Byrd reverts closer to his career .270/.333/.380 line, that's at least $3.75 million guaranteed for a 4th outfielder whose offense can only be considered passable if he's in center field. I love what I'm seeing from Marlon Byrd, but he'll have to keep doing it for me to believe this is more than just an amazing hot streak. Either way, though, I hope the Rangers keep him around for 2008.

C.J. Wilson, Aki Otsuka and Eric Gagne teamed up for three scoreless innings after Millwood departed to preserve the win. The Rangers are now 21-1 when leading after six innings, and have the 5th best bullpen ERA in the American League at 3.67. Of course, they also have the most bullpen innings in the majors.

There's trade rumors flying everywhere concerning the available relievers in the Texas bullpen, but Bill Madden of the NY Daily News mentions another possibility - the Cubs - saying that manager Lou Pinella will heavily push for GM Jim Hendry to deal for Gagne. Matt Murton and Felix Pie's respective stocks seem to have fallen a bit, and there's some other intriguing players in Chicago as well.

Joel Sherman of the NY Post quoted one NL executive in his column yesterday, who says that Jon Daniels is "the most gun-shy GM in baseball." Of course, that quote set off another firey exchange at the DMN blog, where Evan Grant and Tim MacMahon are sniping at each other over the value of draft picks.

Speaking of awkward exchanges, there seemed to be a rare tense moment between radio broadcasters Eric Nadel and Victor Rojas during yesterday's game. Nadel said that the Houston Astros had a right to sit Craig Biggio if he reached 2,999 hits while in Arlington for the series later this week, because Houston fans had a right to see him reach 3,000 hits at home. After several minutes of back-and-forth discussion, Rojas called the idea of sitting Biggio at 2,999 hits "weak" with an obviously annoyed tone in his voice, and Nadel trailed off.

Texas begins a six game homestand tomorrow, with three apiece against the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. Hopefully Sammy Sosa can get his 600th home run out of the way against his old club, because I'm ready for the Jason Botts era to begin.

Jamey Wright's Return Not Enough For Texas

Listed below is Jamey Wright's final pitching line in tonight's 8-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds:

5 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 3 HR

The fact that Jamey Wright is still sparing up this team in mid-June is a testament to the lack of depth and lack of effectiveness of the starting rotation this year. If we're going to basically concede games before they even begin, I'd at least like to see John Koronka out there on the mound instead.

To be fair, Koronka hasn't shown much of anything at the major league level this year either (especially against right-handed hitters), but he's 26, left-handed and has been pitching well lately in Oklahoma (1-0, 2.04 ERA in three June starts). Unfortunately, Wright's probably being kept around on the 25-man roster for two reasons:

1. Koronka can be stashed in Oklahoma since he has options remaining, while Wright would probably declare free agency if he were designated for assignment in an attempt to get him through waivers to AAA. With Mike Wood currently shut down, keeping Wright around gives the Rangers an emergency reserve for the starting rotation in the event of another injury. I hate that things have deteriorated to this point, but I can't argue with the logic here.
2. Mark Connor is probably still convinced he can unlock Jamey Wright's "electric" stuff. This I can argue with. Give me a break.

Richard Durrett of the DMN says Wright was decent and "kept the Rangers in the game," while manager Ron Washington was apparently pleased with Wright's ability to work out of some jams and get through five innings in 88 pitches. I suppose you have to give Wright a certain amount of leeway, considering he hasn't pitched in the majors since April 10th, but it's not like he's very good even when fully healthy.

Texas came back to cut the deficit to 4-3, but a three run blast from David Ross off Frankie Francisco in the 6th inning proved to be the eventual deathblow. There's not much else worth noting offensively, other than that Travis Metcalf picked up his 2nd and 3rd major league hits (both doubles), and Sammy Sosa went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts.

To make room on the 25-man roster for Jamey Wright, the Rangers optioned Wes Littleton to AAA and placed Josh Rupe on the 60-day disabled list, thereby rendering my Freddy Guzman DFA prediction null and void.

Kevin Millwood has made some minor adjustments in his delivery during his last two bullpen sessions, and is working on trying to locate his fastball lower in the strike zone, in the hopes that the rest of his pitches will follow suit.

Vicente Padilla's sore right elbow apparently didn't bother him during Friday night's start, as he threw 102 pitches and yet was throwing in the mid-90's in the 5th inning. You still have to be concerned that his elbow's a ticking time bomb, though.

I forgot to mention this last night, but the bottom of the 9th inning of Friday night's game was one of the more bizarre endings to a baseball game I've seen in a while - and not for the action on the field, either. Thousands of flying insects that Josh Lewin referred to as "mayflies" descended on Great American Ballpark, with hundreds of fans in the upper decks waving their arms wildly to try and drive them off.

Some could be seen flying around at field level, but they weren't a serious enough distraction to affect the players. However, fans in the upper decks could be seen leaving the game early to escape the swarm of insects, despite the fact the Reds were only down one run. Oddly enough, the FSN Ohio crew didn't mention the incident once, nor did they pan to any shots of the squirming spectators.

Former Rangers pitcher Chris Young was involved in a bench clearing brawl Saturday with Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee, after Young drilled Lee in the left arm and knocked him down with a fastball in the 4th inning. As Lee walked to first, he muttered something at Young, Chris responded, and Lee threw a punch that Young ducked out of the way of.

Young retaliated with a punch of his own, which missed, and then Lee and Young simultaneously threw punches at each other, which sort of missed as well. By this time, both San Diego's and Chicago's dugouts had emptied and the two fighters were separated. Young only threw three shutout innings before being ejected, but the Padres still won 1-0, despite Carlos Zambrano pitching a no-hitter into the 8th inning. No word yet on how long the suspensions will be for Lee and Young.

Kevin Millwood will take the hill in Sunday's rubber match, as the two worst teams in baseball fight for the right to be called slightly less rotten than the other.

Sunday, June 17th Game Preview

Texas Rangers (25-43) at Cincinnati Reds (27-42)

Kevin Millwood (2-6, 7.82 ERA) vs. Bronson Arroyo (2-7, 4.98 ERA)

12:15 PM CST in Cincinnati, Ohio (Great American Ballpark)

TV: KDFI/My27 | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM

Sosa Hits #599, Hicks Interview And More

For the first time since April 28th, the Rangers have won consecutive games on the road.

With the aid of Sammy Sosa's 5th inning grand slam, Texas took a lead and managed to hold on to it, narrowly defeating Cincinnati 7-6 on Friday night. Sosa's opposite field blast came on an 0-1 cutter from Matt Belisle that was on the outside corner, but belt high.

As you may have heard by now, it was Sosa's 599th career home run, meaning he only needs to hit one more home run before the Rangers can try to get him out of here. Even after tonight's 2 for 4 effort, Sosa's hitting just .252/.310/.468 on the year. I'm not exactly sure where this ranks league-wise, but suffice it to say Sosa is still a below average DH.

Vicente Padilla was lousy once again, giving up 12 hits and six runs in just five innings of work. He struck out five Reds, but also gave up a pair of home runs, including a two run tape measure shot from Adam Dunn after Sosa's grand slam that reduced the lead to just one run. Thankfully, the bullpen stepped up and delivered four innings of two-hit shutout baseball to preserve the lead. Padilla, somewhat undeservedly, picked up the win to improve to 3-8 on the year.

It's a crying shame that the Rangers haven't been as good this year as we had hoped, because Eric Gagne looks as filthy as any pitcher in the majors right now. His breaking pitches are absolutely sick, his fastball is running into the mid-90's, and it always seems like he has things completely under control, even when allowing a baserunner or two. Gagne now has a 0.53 ERA in 17 innings this year, with a WHIP of 0.88 and 18 strikeouts. Opposing batters have an OPS against Gagne of .446.

Let me put it this way: if I had my choice of any closer in Rangers history to put on the mound with a one run lead in the 9th inning of a critical game, I'd take Gagne over Francisco Cordero or John Wetteland right now, even when Cordero and Wetteland were in their prime with Texas. Then again, none of them can live up to the pristine standards set by former closer, Hideki Irabu.

Jon Heyman of SI.com has an interesting trade note on Gagne:

Turns out Eric Gagne has submitted a list of 12 teams that he can be traded to, and it is believed that just about all of them are teams that are out of the race, have no money or don't need him, so he'll have the control when Texas does decide to deal him. Three logical suitors -- the Tigers, Indians and Phillies -- are believed not to be on the list of teams to which Texas can deal him.

I'm pretty certain that Gagne would be willing to go to one of these contenders closer to the deadline if it meant a shot at pitching in the playoffs, but his no-trade list gives him a lot of leverage here, as well. Of course, I'd love to see Gagne back next season, but he's still an incredibly high risk/high reward pitcher at the end of the day, and I'm not sure the front office will be willing to give him the huge contract that he's probably going to command. Despite his brilliance on the mound, he's already been on the 15-day disabled list twice this year already.

Speaking of the disabled list, Ron Mahay was activated from the DL today after missing an entire month with a strained oblique muscle. He didn't pitch real great during his rehab assignment, so hopefully Ron Washington won't throw him into a close game right off the bat. Scott Feldman was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma to make room on the 25-man roster, after more or less sparing the place up.

Norm Hitzges interviewed Rangers owner Tom Hicks on The Ticket 1310 AM this morning, and the interview could basically be summarized in a few short lines:

1. Jon Daniels' job is safe.
2. Ron Washington's job is safe, although Hicks didn't sound quite as committal about this as he did about Daniels.
3. Hicks has no interest in selling the Rangers.
4. Hicks is convinced that Mark Teixeira and Scott Boras will test the free agent market, but as a nice consolation prize, Tex is hoping he'll sign with Texas. Kind of reminds me of those LendingTree commercials where the guy tells his former bank that they'll have to compete with other banks now to earn his business, but that he'll be "pulling for them" to win.

Perhaps the strangest moment of the interview was when Hicks suddenly became very protective of former GM John Hart, telling Norm that he wished the media would just leave Hart alone for good. Hicks also mentioned that he talks to Hart several times a month in an advisory role, and that he was present for the draft last week. It sounds a bit like Gene Michael's relationship as an advisor to George Steinbrenner, with the only difference being that whole "winning ballgames" thing.

By the way, SoccerAmerica.com published an amusing summary of a Times Online article earlier this week, concerning Tom Hicks and his English soccer club, Liverpool. Tell me if you see anything familiar here:

It may be that the British soccer press has little to talk about now that the domestic and international seasons have ended, but speculation has it that Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is already fed up with American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks for not getting it done on the financial end. The Times says the Liverpool manager is displeased with the club's lack of progress in the summer transfer market, which still less than two weeks old. Liverpool still has yet to spend a dime, while English champion Manchester United has already shelled out some $110 million on new players.

Yep.

And finally, Jamey Wright will get the start tomorrow for the Rangers, with Wes Littleton apparently being the leading candidate to be shipped back to AAA to make room on the 25-man roster. In addition, the Rangers will have to clear space on the 40-man roster, since Wright is currently on the 60-day disabled list. There's no clear cut consensus on who will be designated for assignment, but my guess would be Freddy Guzman, who's hitting .256/.344/.346 for the Redhawks this year.

You would think that with all the trouble the Rangers are going through to add a player to the roster, they'd at least add a good player or something.

Saturday, June 16th Game Preview

Texas Rangers (25-42) at Cincinnati Reds (26-42)

Jamey Wright (0-0, 16.88 ERA) vs. Aaron Harang (6-2, 3.93 ERA)

6:10 PM CST in Cincinnati, Ohio (Great American Ballpark)

TV: KDFI/My27 | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM

Kam Loe Dominates Pirates

If I had told you that I was expecting much at all from Kameron Loe coming into tonight's start, I'd have been lying.

Loe, who had been shipped to Triple-A Oklahoma on Saturday, was a major factor in the Texas Rangers being on pace to have the worst single season starting rotation ERA in baseball history. The not-so-proud owner of a 1-6 record, Loe was ranked near the bottom of the league in the ERA department with a miserable 7.40 next to his name. It became even worse when you took away Loe's 8.1 innings as a reliever; Kameron's ERA as a starter was 7.71, and opposing hitters batted .321 against him.

But tonight, Kam rose above all of those ugly, ugly stats, and pitched perhaps his finest game in a Rangers uniform.

Loe gave Texas eight brilliant shutout innings, allowing just three walks and five hits while striking out seven Pirates, a new career high. His trademark sinker was truly on tonight, and Loe commanded it beautifully, inducing 14 groundball outs. Not only is Kam the first Texas starting pitcher to reach the 8th inning this season, but he did it with just 108 pitches. Just an absolute gem of a performance.

Could Loe's outing tonight perhaps be a precursor to him turning things around this season? It's still far too early to say, but during the FSN postgame show, Loe credited Redhawks pitching coach Andy Hawkins with helping him fix a mechanical issue in his delivery during his brief stint in Oklahoma City. Hawkins said that Loe's arm angle was too low; obviously, adjusting that helped him in tonight's start.

Tonight's game wrapup by Evan Grant in the DMN expands further on this, with the change in arm angle apparently making Loe's slider sharper as well. Loe also chatted with former "All-Star" pitcher Mark Redman about pitching philosophy, with Kameron sounding like he's going to rely more on his breaking pitches in the future.

This all begs a disturbing question, though: where is Mark Connor? What does this say about Connor's job competence if the AAA pitching coach was able to fix a glaring flaw in Loe's delivery in one day, but Connor wasn't able to do it in two months? Tim Cowlishaw may not be pinning any blame on Connor for this pitching staff's struggles, but I'm starting to come around on the idea that it may be time for him to go.

Nice showing by the offense tonight, as Texas pounded out six runs tonight in support of Kam Loe, with five of those against phenom Tom Gorzelanny. That's no small feat in itself, as Gorzelanny has allowed five runs to just one other team this year: the Cincinnati Reds, Texas's next opponent in their six game road trip. Gerald Laird's three run blast in the 7th inning put the Rangers up 5-0, and with the way Loe was pitching, essentially sealed the deal.

Kameron himself contributed nicely to the victory at the plate, going 1 for 2 with a walk and a run scored. Not only is he the first Ranger pitcher to get a base hit since Ricardo Rodriguez on June 12th, 2005, but he's the first Ranger pitcher to cross home plate since Joaquin Benoit on June 19th, 2004. Oddly enough, both of those events happened in Dolphins Stadium against the Florida Marlins.

Big congratulations to Travis Metcalf, who collected his first major league hit and home run with one swing of the bat in the 6th inning.

Loe will make at least one more start while McCarthy is on the disabled list, and if he performs at anywhere near the level that he did tonight, the Rangers are going to be forced to keep him on the big league squad.

I would ordinarily say that this would force Jamey Wright out of the equation, but with Kevin Millwood apparently forgetting how to pitch, Padilla's health being a major question, McCarthy's blisters flaring up, and Robinson Tejeda's struggles, we can probably expect to see more of Jamey Wright than we're going to want to see.

Long live "The Snake."

Friday, June 15th Game Preview

Texas Rangers (24-42) at Cincinnati Reds (26-41)

Matt Belisle (5-4, 4.48 ERA) vs. Vicente Padilla (2-8, 6.28 ERA)

6:10 PM CST in Cincinnati, Ohio (Great American Ballpark)

TV: FSNSW | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM

Dark Days Continue In Texas

Listed below are the Rangers' road records over the past six years:

2002: 30-51

2003: 28-53

2004: 38-43

2005: 35-46

2006: 41-40

2007: 9-24

After another abysmal performance tonight by the Rangers, Texas is on pace to go 22-59 this year on the road. That would eclipse the worst road record on this list, set by the 2003 Rangers, by an entire six games.

The Rangers may be awful, but at least they're respectably mediocre at home. This, on the other hand, is just...I don't know anymore.

The top story of the day is Brandon McCarthy heading back to the disabled list, retroactive to Sunday, after breaking the blister on his right middle finger open again during a throwing session on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Kameron Loe's stint in Oklahoma is proving to be quite short, as he will make McCarthy's scheduled start tomorrow night.

Although it's yet another discouraging development in a season chock full of them, it's best for McCarthy and the team's future for him to be shut down now and come back fully healthy, rather than this becoming a lingering issue (see: Josh Beckett).

The club's issues with their starting pitching don't end there, obviously. Vicente Padilla is still dealing with discomfort in his right elbow, and Adam Morris believes he's headed for Tommy John surgery. Kevin Millwood was bombed by the Pirates on Tuesday night, and he apparently has no idea what he's doing wrong. Kind of makes you wonder where pitching coach Mark Connor is. Also, Mike Wood has been shut down at Triple-A Oklahoma with a sore shoulder.

Evan Grant reports Ron Mahay could return next week from the disabled list, with Travis Metcalf possibly being sent down to make room. Mahay hasn't been particularly great this year, but he could probably bring an average prospect in return from a contending team at the trade deadline.

BTiA favorite Matt Kata has reportedly cleared waivers, and has elected to take his free agency after being designated for assignment last week by the Rangers. Happy trails, Matt.

Jon Heyman of SI.com has a piece out discussing Tom Hicks' disappointment with this year's club, with Heyman dropping hints that Jon Daniels' and Ron Washington's jobs may be in serious jeopardy by the end of this season.

There's a lot of things I could say here, but I'm tired, so I'll leave it at this: I think that firing Daniels and Washington at the end of 2007 (or sooner), and thus uprooting the entire organizational direction once again, would do a lot more damage to the Rangers long-term than riding things out. I think that Hicks needs to wait until at least the end of 2008, and perhaps even a bit longer, before deciding whether he wants to axe Daniels. Washington is a different story, but I'd give him through June or July of 2008.

Major props to Rob Neyer, who mentioned "A Francisco Cordero Story" in his blog entry earlier this week on ESPN Insider. I'm still relatively new to the world of sports journalism, and it means a lot to me for Neyer, one of the most widely respected baseball writers in the game, to acknowledge us here at BTiA.

Unfortunately, I can't heap similar praise on his co-worker, Jeff Bennett, who is the mastermind behind the brand new ESPN Player Ratings. There's a lot of things wrong here, but the folks at Baseball Think Factory have done a much better job of ripping this rating system apart than I can. As one BTF poster pointed out, I think there's a problem with your statistic when it has Shea Hillenbrand (.246/.269/.326) ranked above Mark Buerhle, Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, Ted Lilly and Barry Zito.

Since Saturday's miracle win against Cordero, the Rangers have lost three straight while being outscored 24-12. To quote former NFL head coach Jim Mora, "I just hope we can win a game."

Monday Afternoon Rangers Notes

There's very little out there today on the Rangers, being that it's an off day, so here's a few random notes that are floating around:

Outfielder John Mayberry Jr. has been promoted to AA Frisco, after posting a line of .230/.314/.496 in 244 AB for high-A affiliate Bakersfield this year. The 23-year-old Mayberry is showing some nice pop in his bat, clubbing 16 HR during that same span, but the fact that he's hitting .230 is a serious red flag.

As you may recall, Mayberry was taken by John Hart in the 2005 draft after Mayberry had spent three years at Stanford. Theoretically, a college player with that kind of experience should be polished enough to be somewhat ahead of the curve developmentally. Nice thought, but then we learned that Mayberry would essentially need his entire swing reworked, and that he would require about 1500 minor league at-bats to work all the kinks out. Great!

Well, Mayberry now has 968 official at-bats under his belt in the Rangers organization, and here's the basic state of things: he's a 23-year-old first round "prospect", hitting .230 in A-ball, surrounded by competition that's several years younger than him. I certainly wish Junior the best, and I hope he can still make a meaningful contribution at the big league level for the Rangers somewhere down the line, but things are not looking good right now.

One poster from the Newberg Report forum quips that Mayberry's promotion "wreaks of a last ditch effort" by the Rangers organization to try and get something out of him before having to admit that he's a bust. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but he's certainly not done anything of note lately to earn his promotion; he batted .194/.265/.355 in nine games this month for Bakersfield. Small sample size and all, but the point still stands.

There is one possible silver lining surrounding Mayberry's poor batting average, though: his BABIP, or batting average on balls put into play, is just .241 this year. The Hardball Times writer Chris Constancio notes that the average hitter's BABIP is usually in the .300 to .320 range for most levels of the minor leagues. Keeping this in mind, Mayberry's unusually low BABIP would seem to suggest that he's been quite unlucky at the plate this year. We'll have to see if his fortunes change in Frisco.

By the way, Jacoby Ellsbury, who the Rangers passed on in favor of Mayberry in that 2005 draft, is now at Triple-A Pawtucket for the Red Sox. He was promoted earlier this year after batting .452/.518/.644 in 73 AB for Double-A Portland. His home run power has not exactly filled out yet, but he's still miles ahead of Mayberry right now.

Jean-Jacques Taylor has a column out today for the Dallas Morning News, saying that the Rangers should ride things out with Ron Washington. Despite this team's struggles, I'd have to say that I agree at this point.

Rotoworld is well known for taking humorous pot shots at players, and their latest update on Jamey Wright did not disappoint:

Jamey Wright (shoulder) is expected to come off the disabled list Saturday.

Wright got knocked around for six runs on 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings at Triple-A Sunday, so he's in midseason form.

Ouch.

And finally, T.R. Sullivan has an amusing recap of Dog Night on his blog, including several pictures of his dog, Toby. The official attendance of last night's game was 24,129, but 338 dogs came out to the Ballpark as well. Roaming FSN reporter Jim Knox milked Dog Night for everything it was worth, including doing an awkward dance with an especially large dog, and watching uncomfortably as one woman futilely attempted to make her pit bull do a trick for the TV cameras. It was both entertaining, yet an absolute trainwreck at the same time.

UPDATE: Rangers' GM Jon Daniels just commented on the Mayberry promotion on the Bob and Dan Show on the Ticket 1310 AM. He mentioned wanting to give Mayberry a "new challenge," and when Bob Sturm inquired about his poor batting average, Daniels more or less avoided the question, saying only that he'd like it to be higher.

Rangers Let One Slip Away

I know this is a lost season, but tonight's 9-6 loss to the Brewers is tough to swallow. Especially when you consider how close Texas came to sweeping this series against Milwaukee.

A few random thoughts:

Marlon Byrd did just about everything you can possibly ask for out of him, going 4 for 6 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI, including a stunning game-tying RBI single off closer Francisco Cordero...for the second straight night. Incredible. I'm not totally certain whether Byrd is arbitration eligible after this season, or whether he's a free agent, but I want him back. I love his enthusiasm, I love his fielding, and right now I'm loving his offense too.

On May 3rd, Michael Young was batting just .192. He's all the way up to .284 now, after going 3 for 6 with 3 RBI tonight. I think we can finally say he's back for good.

Sammy Sosa went 0 for 5 tonight with a walk and two strikeouts. His OPS is now under the .750 mark. He hasn't homered since May 16th, off Johan Santana. How much longer can the Rangers wait for his 600th home run before deciding enough is enough? By the way, Sosa/Catalanotto/Kinsler/Wilkerson/Vazquez (batters 4 through 8 in the order) went a combined 0 for 24 tonight. Ridiculous.

Vicente Padilla was hittable to say the least, giving up 11 hits and a walk in his 4.2 innings of work. However, he worked his way out of multiple jams, and with the aid of his five strikeouts, allowed only two runs. It's a start.

The bullpen has certainly been the major strength of the Rangers this year, but they failed tonight. Wes Littleton, C.J. Wilson and Frankie Francisco combined to give up four runs in their combined 2.1 innings of work, and right there is where the Rangers really lost this game.

With two outs and nobody on in the 6th inning, Littleton gave up a relatively harmless single to Ryan Braun. Wilson came on and gave up a single, followed by consecutive HBPs to force in a run, followed by a two run single from Johnny Estrada to make it 5-4 in favor of Milwaukee. Giving up a three run rally in that fashion is just plain ugly.

Ron Washington burned through nearly his entire bullpen just to get to extra innings, leaving Willie Eyre and Scott Feldman as the only two pitchers still available for the 10th inning and beyond. Considering Eyre's resume, you can't ask for much more than what he gave the Rangers; he got Texas through the 10th and 11th innings intact, but the offense couldn't finish the job.

Eyre and the Rangers caught a huge break in the 11th inning, as Tony Gwynn Jr. was called out at home when replays showed that he probably touched the plate before catcher Adam Melhuse made the tag. Eyre's luck ran out in the 12th inning though, as he allowed a three run shot to Geoff Jenkins that essentially sealed the deal.

Ian Kinsler made an inexcusable error to lead off that 12th inning, booting a routine grounder from Ryan Braun which allowed him to reach first base safely. Perhaps Eyre would have blown the game anyway, but Kinsler's error changes the entire outlook of the inning, including Eyre's approach on the mound and the mindset of Milwaukee's hitters. It's certainly reasonable to assume that Kinsler's error had a big hand in losing this ballgame.

Kinsler has now committed 13 errors this year, good for second worst in baseball. I don't know what his problem in the field is, be it a lack of concentration or just poor fundamentals, but it needs to end. Now.

Tomorrow is a travel day for the Rangers, as they embark on a six game road trip - three games apiece in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, starting Tuesday night at 7:05. They'll return home for a six game homestand starting next Tuesday against the Cubs and Astros.

Francisco Cordero must be absolutely ecstatic to be leaving Arlington.