Social Media Monday

I don't want to run this into the ground, but I feel like it's a decent idea to come back around every month or so and post a reminder in the Clubhouse about some of the various social media outlets that BBTiA (and friends) have a presence on, which is especially relevant now because I'm on the cusp of 3,000 followers on Twitter and once I hit 3,000 I'm switching the website over to Busta Rhymes Time in Arlington:

BBTiA (that is, me) on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/BBTiA

BBTiA on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Baseball-Time-in-Arlington/

Jason Parks on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ProfessorParks

Mike Hindman on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/mjhindman

And, of course, to register to post on the site, you can click over on the left-hand sidebar under the 'Navigation' heading, or you can go here, or you can post through your Google/Twitter/Yahoo handle. Whatever works.

Additionally, I added this page a few days back that shows the top commenters on the website (this only covers comments posted since January 1st; there are tens of thousands more that I haven't converted over into the new system yet), as well as the latest posts and most popular threads. If you're on the list, congratulations, you win nothing!

Today's Ubaldo Jimenez Poll

Piggybacking off this morning's front-page post, here's a new poll. Read the choices carefully. 'Other' is not an option. If you misread the poll and vote wrong and bitch about it, I'll ban you forever:

You Know What This Team Needs?

This is what this team needs:

Why can't the Rangers get a player like this? Is it due to a lack of resources, or does the front office just not care? Bring back Grady Fuson!

On This Day Twelve Days Ago ...

... Kevin Sherrington told us that the Rangers had "lost their edge," and couldn't be "bailed out by a trade again," because "tired, uninspired, sloppy play ... is not the stuff of extended streaks or championship seasons."

I think what we're seeing right now is the equivalent of the Rangers saying "suck it."

"Texas Is Interested In Relievers X, Y, And Z"

Robothal's Sunday afternoon latest:

The Rangers aren’t messing around. They’ve got more money and prospects than most clubs, and they’re scouring the top of the market for bullpen help.

Among their targets, according to major-league sources: The Padres’ two prizes, closer Heath Bell and setup man Mike Adams; Nationals All-Star setup man Tyler Clippard and Athletics closer Andrew Bailey, the 2009 American League Rookie of the Year.

The asking prices for each of the above relievers is high, sources say; the non-waiver deadline is still two weeks away. The Athletics, according to one source, will not trade Bailey unless they receive an “overwhelming” offer. The Nationals are believed to be taking a similar approach with Clippard.

The Padres remain in active discussions with the Phillies, Yankees and other clubs on Bell and Adams, sources say. The Rangers possess an advantage in their talks with the Padres, Athletics and other offensively challenged clubs – they can offer a major-league ready hitter, Triple A first baseman/third baseman Chris Davis.

There's nothing especially revelatory here, beyond the suggestion that the Nationals' asking price on Clippard may be quite a bit greater than what we might have thought ... but, well, there you go.

A Bullet Dodged Is Worth ...

Jim Bowden on Twitter, yesterday:

Vladimir Guerrero has small fracture in right hand which could eradicate the Orioles ability to trade him by the deadline.

Jon Heyman from yesterday's column on the top 40 realistic trade targets in this summer's market:

The Cooperstown-bound Vladdy is still a threat with the bat (seven homers, .279). Luke Scott, a professional hitter with some quirky ideas, was on the block in previous years and stayed put, but he could go this time. Derrek Lee seems like a perennial summer pickup.

This is pretty much academic now, because Guerrero figures to be shelved past the trade deadline, if not indefinitely past that ... but how is a replacement-level hitter who has gone .279/.315/.385 with the bat still any kind of offensive threat? And who would even give up something of minimal value for a guy who has no remaining offensive/defensive utility, even if the O's picked up the entirety of his salary?

Actually, I didn't come into this meaning to disparage the media silliness here -- though it really is quite silly; we can still respect his legend while being honest about what he is right now -- or Guerrero for his sharp age-36 decline. What I did want to reiterate yet again, however is just how fortunate the Rangers were in being able to get what they got out of him last season (he was dreadful in July, August, and October, but played a meaningful role in helping Texas move into the pole position in the first place), and then how doubly fortunate they were that he refused to budge from his demands of big money after the Rangers tried to re-sign him.

Because if Guerrero had decided to bite on a one-year, $3-4 million deal or some such last winter in order to come back to Texas, this roster looks different ... and not for the better, either.

Julio Borbon May Undergo Surgery

But ... how are they going to trade him for Tyler Clippard now? The master plan is falling apart! AHHHHHHHH!

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said surgery is a possibility to "stabilize" outfielder Julio Borbon's left ankle.

"We're still looking at options and may get a second opinion," Daniels said. "But if he does have surgery, we're looking at six to eight weeks."

The ankle is the same one that Borbon fractured while in college at Tennessee, which is why it's more of a concern than just a routine sprain.

In all seriousness, this is a huge bummer on top of a real bummer 18 months for Borbon -- first, he hits so poorly that he loses his major league gig to Endy Chavez and Craig Gentry, and now this. Well, that and he now appears to have been bypassed in the organizational depth chart for good by Leonys Martin, with a lot of buzz being out there that Martin could be of use to the Rangers at the major league level as early as September/October, and win the starting center fielder job outright next spring. 

So, Borbon's days were likely numbered to begin with, but he had finally caught some fire at Round Rock (perhaps just enough to give his trade value a bit of extra 'oomph' -- and make no mistake, he is a player with trade value), and had a decent chance to start over with a new ballclub in the final two months of the regular season. Instead, he'll probably spend the better part of August/September rehabbing, possibly get dealt this winter (depending on how worried teams are about the ankle), but possibly end up starting next spring as the long shot to beat out the seeming franchise center fielder that is Leonys.

Much love, Jules.

Report: Feldman Activated; O'Day Optioned, Martin Perez To AAA

Per Jeff Wilson. Whoa. Additionally, left-hander Zach Phillips has been designated for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster for Feldman.

Curiously, Yoshinori Tateyama gets the benefit of the doubt, as it's the other right-handed sidewinder who ends up being shipped back to Round Rock. I'll be curious to see how long O'Day remains down in AAA-ball.

The bigger development from a long-term perspective, however, is that Martin Perez is now also in Round Rock. The Professor wrote not even a week ago that Perez would "taste Triple-A at some point this season," but it turns out that some point is less than a week after his appearance in the Futures Game. Perez had logged a 3.16 ERA and 83 strikeouts against 36 walks and six home runs in 88.1 innings with Double-A Frisco this season, and just today had been ranked as the 10th-best prospect in all of baseball by ESPN.com's Keith Law, who wrote the following:

His stuff is intact and still slightly ahead of results, but lefties with this kind of velocity and plus changeup are extremely valuable. 

Richard Durrett suggests that the Perez promotion is part of the ripple effect of Feldman rejecting his outright assignment, which would seem to suggest that Perez is now somewhere down there in the pecking order of players who would be summoned to Arlington if the starting pitching depth suddenly become exceptionally thin. That said, this promotion was also very much motivated by performance, and I'll be surprised if the Rangers drop him back to Frisco if he shows that he can hold his own.

Jamey says that Perez will be the youngest player in the Pacific Coast League by a full year.

Scott Feldman: Team Player

This is just awesome:

According to a source, Rangers RHP Scott Feldman cleared outright waivers Wednesday, but, as is his right, rejected an outright assignment to the minor leagues and will be activated tonight.

Feldman, recently went over five years of major league service time, giving him the right to reject an outright assignment and force the club to either activate him or release him and eat the remaining guaranteed money in his contract. Feldman has almost $9 million guaranteed through next year in salary and buyout clauses if his 2013 option is not picked up.

He is likely to go into the Rangers' bullpen as a long reliever. He is most likely to replace RHP Yoshinori Tateyama in the bullpen. Tateyama can be optioned to the minors, creating a space on the 25-man roster. However, the Rangers will have to remove somebody from the 40-man roster in order to make room for him.

And:

Scott Feldman has joined the team in Seattle, flying in from his home in San Francisco on Wednesday after rejecting the Rangers' assignment to Triple A. He will be in the bullpen tonight, according to two sources.

The Rangers had asked Feldman to accept assignment after clearing outright waivers so that he could continue to stay stretched out in case something happened to a member of the rotation. Derek Holland's rotation spot was thought to be at risk until he tossed a shutout just before the All-Star break and earned tonight's start in the second-half opener.

With Tommy Hunter also in the bullpen and Brandon Webb not expected to pitch this season, the Rangers' starting pitching depth is awfully thin. That could prompt them to seek a starter before the trade deadline or have a short leash with Holland.

In fairness, it is absolutely Feldman's perogative to exercise that right. Maybe if we were in the exact same position, we'd do the same thing. Maybe Feldman is full to the brim with confidence and knows he can help this ballclub immediately.

But now, you have the issues of:

(a) probably downgrading the bullpen from Tateyama -- who had struck out 17 and walked just one in 19 innings, and gives off the vibes of being a real asset if he can get the homers to left-handed batters ( who he probably shouldn't be facing in the first place) under control -- to Feldman, who had been struggling in AAA of late; and,

(b) not having another emergency starter stretched out in AAA, as I have my doubts about how prepared Feldman can be for this role when he is logging scattered innings as a long man in the majors.

Clearly, there wasn't an preexisting agreement in place between Feldman and the Rangers after all. Clearly, Feldman doesn't consider the fact that the Rangers are paying him a handsome sum as reason enough to abide by their wishes. And if the second bit is any indication, Feldman forced the Rangers' hands, and they figured that they might as well give him a shot rather than lose him altogether. 

Make no mistake: I want to see Feldman do well. I don't hate Feldman. But if Feldman doesn't do well very quickly right out of the gates, I expect you're going to see people turn on him. If history is any sort of indication, people generally don't respond well to well-paid Rangers players putting themselves before the team. 

The Scott Feldman Mystery

Building on yesterday's Scott Feldman post, we have this from Jeff Wilson on Twitter early this morning:

BTW, source confirms Feldman to be activated Thurs.

So, now, I'm very, very confused. At first I was under the impression that we were talking about Feldman being activated from the disabled list and then immediately outrighted from the 40-man roster as part of the procedural mumbo-jumbo, but now it's beginning to sound as though the Rangers actually are going to go ahead and activate Feldman and put him back on the active roster. Otherwise, why all the talk about "sources" confirming  his activation.

In which case ... what about the talk about Ron Washington saying that he was comfortable with his pitching staff as presently constructed, and about wanting to give Yoshinori Tateyama more time? Did that all just get blown into the ether, as though it never even existed? Or is Feldman still getting axed from the roster, and the beats are just trolling the heck out of everyone? Or is Feldman being activated to take the roster spot of somebody presently on the active roster who's on the verge of being traded?

So many questions. So little time. Such ... vague reporting. I think the beats do a great job in general, and I have tremendous respect for their work, which is why it's a bit uncharacteristic of them to leave us hanging like this in such confusion.

ASG Ratings Hit New Low

Yahoo:

Baseball’s All-Star game has drawn a record-low rating for the second straight year.

The National League’s 5-1 win Tuesday on Fox earned a 6.9 rating and 12 share. That’s down 8 percent from the 7.5/13 in 2010.

Before last year, the previous low was an 8.1/14 in 2005.

Ratings represent the percentage of all households with televisions tuned into a program, and shares represent the percentage of all homes with TVs in use at the time.

But, hey, at least this time it counts.

Uh ... What The Hell?

T.R. Sullivan's latest blog post:

Pitcher Scott Feldman will be activated tomorrow off the disabled list according to sources. The Rangers are still planning that move. There are reports that Feldman has been put on waivers but he will be activated by the Rangers on Thursday.

So ... they placed Feldman on waivers with the intent of outrighting him from the 40-man roster, but they're going to activate him from the disabled list and put him back on the active roster anyway? 

In actuality, there may be some confusion about the exact terminology going on here. I suppose Feldman actually is technically being activated (or removed) from the disabled list, and then immediately being outrighted from the 40-man roster, with the confusion stemming from the fact that when we usually think of a player being "activated," we think of him being taken off the disabled list and being placed back on the active roster.

But if so, isn't Feldman being activated inherent in the outrighting process, and thus not really even noteworthy in the discussion, because the end result of the process -- that is, Feldman being in the minors, and not on the 40-man roster -- is still the same? Have I misread something? Or did the Rangers actually reverse course again? More importantly, does anyone even care?

Have you ever seen a guy with a fake head?