Still there...

The Rangers haven't had much to talk about lately. Or at least, nothing that I feel that is worth spreading around or that I have a good take on. However, last night Joey Gallo finished his AA campaign the way he began it, with a massive home run:

Posted by: Ben at 07:42 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 56 words, total size 1 kb.

Best news I've heard in days...

"While not ruling the staff ace out for the season, Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said Sunday that Yu Darvish won't return to the rotation until he's free of symptoms of inflammation in his right elbow.

The right-hander has missed three starts during his ongoing stint on the 15-day disabled list and will not make the first leg of a 10-day road trip the Rangers begin Monday in Seattle. Darvish's status for next weekend's visit to Houston is uncertain.

"He's really in the same spot, again," Daniels said. "No. 1 factor here is get the medical staff and have Yu completely symptom-free, completely clear MRI. I just think it doesn't make a lot of sense of letting him get back out there if there is any added risk. That's the position we're taking, and we'd all love to see him back out there for a variety of different reasons. We're not going to take any chances, that's my call, the organization's call. There is too much to lose for 2015 to risk an injury."

On ESPN. The minor controversy was kicked off by Dallas-Fort Worth sports writers extensively questioning the seriousness of the injury and Darvish's commitment to the team in a press conference with Manager Ron Washington. Washington appeared to agree with the press at that time, stating that inflammation was a common injury and he expected players to play through and not miss games over such a minor and common issue. Current ESPN Rangers beat-writer Calvin Watkins took his cue from these statement and wrote a scathing article about Darvish last week. (Washington later "clarified" his statements, and blamed the press attitude at the time.)

The controversy has fueled the belief amongst a significant minority of Rangers fans that Darvish, like Josh Hamilton, is a prima donna who doesn't give a full effort at all times and uses minor injuries to take himself out of games. Hamilton was notably unable to caché his status as one of the best hitters in the game into leverage with the fans after a lackluster stretch run in 2011, and it appears a large number of fans are unwilling to accept Yu's status as one of the five best pitchers in Major League Baseball as a mitigating factor, or even a reason, to be guarded about injuries. In this regard, at least, Josh Hamilton had a pretty good point when he said that the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth area is a "football town".

UPDATE:  Calvin Watkins wrote another column ripping into Darvish and demonstrating that he has no idea how the Disabled List works.  Thankfully, we're finally seeing some push back from better-informed journalists, like Craig Calcaterra with NBC's Hardball Talk.  Also, I'm very impressed by the results of an admittedly non-scientific survey at Lonestar Ball that shows 97% of readers favor shutting Darvish down for the year rather than risking and injury that would impact 2015.

The world is a bit better place than I thought. 

UPDATE:  Jeff Passan becomes the latest writer to take fans and other journalists to task over the bitching about Yu Darvish:

The Texas Rangers are almost certain to shut down Yu Darvish for the season, because that’s what a smart team would do, and the Rangers are no dummies. They don’t cater to the whims of a manager who after all these years doesn’t care to acquaint himself with the intricacies of arm injuries, and they don’t kowtow to media members looking for some bright light in this Alaska winter of a season, and they certainly don’t put at risk one of the most valuable assets in baseball to salvage some sliver of a year long ago lost.

The fact that this is even an issue in 2014 – in a year that has seen pitcher after young, dynamic pitcher wake up from an anesthetic slumber with a scar on his elbow – speaks to the willful ignorance that still pervades certain factions of baseball.

Posted by: Ben at 09:06 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 666 words, total size 6 kb.

La de da de de...(LANGUAGE WARNING)

Shin-soo Choo out for elbow surgery. Bone spur. Plus, he can now heal his horribly sprained ankle that's been a problem since late APRIL.

Posted by: Ben at 05:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 30 words, total size 1 kb.

Rehab from rehab...

Derek Holland, rehabbing from knee surgery, has been scratched from his latest rehab start because of back spasms.

Posted by: Ben at 03:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 21 words, total size 1 kb.

Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnnn...

Fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

UPDATE:  He's not dead, yet.

Posted by: Ben at 06:21 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 14 words, total size 1 kb.

Come to Texas, get injured...

The Texas Rangers picked up Mike Carp on waivers from the Boston Red Sox like, three days ago. Yesterday was his first game, as a pinch-hitter; tonight was his first start.

Mike Carp exits game with tight groin.

Posted by: Ben at 08:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 43 words, total size 1 kb.

RE: Cliff Lee makes sense for the Rangers *now*...

Posted by: Ben at 07:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 120 words, total size 1 kb.

Informative trade deadline...

UPDATED for DETROIT and Tampa Bay

This has been one of the most interesting trade deadlines in years, and it's not over yet it's over now (except for waiver deals).  What we know:

Oakland is going balls-to-the-wall to get a championship this year.  Their latest moves to acquire Lester, Gomes and Fuld while trading away Milone, Cespedas and a draft pick, plus earlier trades where they gave up money(!) and other minor leaguers, show that Oakland is willing to degrade their ability to compete as early as next year and for probably a few years after in order to get a championship.  Unfortunately, I think there are at least three team that can beat them, two of which are in the American League.

Boston seems to be focused on another rebuild, which means (at least right now) they're not planning on competing next year.  Looks like the Sox are planning to focus on near-ready prospects, however; which means they're leaving the possibility open of spending big in the off-season and charging hard next year.

That seems to be Texas's plan as well, although Rangers' GM Daniels has been clear from the start that Texas plans to be in the playoffs again next year.  To that end, Darvish and Beltre are supposedly completely off-the-table for all but the most extreme offers.  However, we haven't heard many rumors of Texas being in on controllable pitching, with Lester, Lackey and Hammels all going to contenders.  Not necessarily surprising; really...Texas may be holding their cards for waiver-wire trades (Lee) or off-season deals.  Texas has coveted James Shields and David Price for years, and Shields will be a free-agent this year.  Price may still be a bridge too far, but a rotation of Darvish, Lee (thou shalt not covet; see one post up), Shields and Holland would be, umm, potent.

New York is schizophrenic.

UPDATE:  LAAAAACAAA is going all-out too; they're just not run nearly as well as other clubs.  The Angels have literally NOTHING left on the farm, so if they don't make it this year, you have to think it's a slow slide down.

Also, Seattle thinks it's all in, but clearly the Mariners are still a poorly run organization with no clear structure or goal other than "win somehow".

What's Detroit doing?  Does anyone know?  UPDATE:  Oh, yeah; they're still trying to fix that closer thing.  You would think they would do more.  UPDATE:  Detroit has made a deal for Tampa Bay Ace David Price.  That should put Detroit over Oakland pretty easily in my book.  However, the details of the deal so far don't make a lot of sense.  Right now TB is getting Drew Smyly from Detroit and Nick Franklin from Seattle, while Austin Jackson goes from Detroit to Seattle.  Smyly is a good but not great pitcher (under team control five more years) but Franklin is on the edge of being a busted prospect (although he is under control for six more years, so there's time).  Unless there's more to this deal than has been discussed (like, millions of dollars) this really seems to be a *lot* less for Price than people figured.  A young, team controlled middle-of-the-rotation starter and a nigh-busted outfield prospect.

I don't get it.

UPDATE:  I'm gonna call this now, officially.  There *must* be some kind of behind-the-scenes deals going on between TB and Detroit, because Smyly and Franklin for Price DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.  Even if the argument is that Tampa sees a lot more value in Smyly and/or Franklin than other teams YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT, you don't pay extra on principle.  Pundits are putting the best spin on this move that they can, but it's clear that no one knows what to make of this trade.  If what's been said is all there is, either Price has some SERIOUS injury concerns that were disclosed to Detroit, or Tampa Bay, one of the smartest clubs in baseball, just bombed a deal horribly.  At least ten other clubs could have and would have put together a better package than Franklin and Smyly.

I really get the feeling that baseball writers are trying to find the golden ticket in this deal, because Tampa Bay isn't this stupid.  But unless there's a back-room deal going on, this is a BAD trade for Tampa Bay.  And I bet there are a lot of pissed-off GMs out there right now wanting to know why their package of super-prospects was turned down in favor of a light-hitting outfielder and a back-end starter.

UPDATE AGAIN:  TB is also getting class A shortstop Willy Adames in the deal.  Consensus seems to be he's not a top 100 prospect, *yet*; but has speed, bat and power with good defense.  So moving Franklin back to the infield gives them a good-defending 2B, although, like Zobrist, SS is a bit of challenge.  And then Adames is a high-value shortstop-in-waiting.  At least that's the hope.  If Adames really projects that high, then the deal works, I think.

Posted by: Ben at 11:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 836 words, total size 5 kb.

He's good with the bat...

UPDATED with new video!

Posted by: Ben at 12:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 9 words, total size 1 kb.

Hall of Fame addresses problems...

...by cutting a circle in the floor under the problem.

Recent Hall of Fame ballots have primarily centered around players who were snubbed or overlooked by the writers for various reasons that were about to be removed from the ballot.

Critics of the Hall of Fame have been asking for a clarification of certain qualification rules (namely, the moral and ethical conditions that have led some writers to refuse to vote for steroid and other PED users, while wife-beaters, illegal drug abusers and other criminals still warrant a vote).  The HoF has responded by knocking five years of eligibility off of the Hall of Fame ballot, so we won't have to argue about qualifications for nearly as long.

"Dear Ford,

I keep finding damage-causing foreign particulates in the Motorcraft oil you recommend for my Explorer.  What other oil can I use to avoid this problem?

Sincerely,

A Loyal Ford Customer"

"Dear Loyal Ford Customer,

We recommend you keep using Motorcraft oil, but maybe change it more often so that less damage can occur.

Hope that solves your problem,

Ford."

Posted by: Ben at 12:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 184 words, total size 1 kb.

Darvish, Tommy John and culture...

A major reason DFW sports writers don't like Yu Darvish is that he won't talk to them.  He has a built-in excuse to not communicate with the press (the trouble he has with English, which may or may not actually be a significant issue), but when you're a superstar of Darvish's caliber, sports writers are going to insist on trying to get the standard spam expected of players to contribute to column inches.

Darvish shrugs this off, but a complicating factor is that he's quite talky with Japanese media.  In fact, he'll say things to the Japanese press that English-speaking players won't, such as being critical of American pitchers' training regimes.  The most fascinating part of this exchange to me is the Japanese press repeatedly trying to link Tommy John injuries to inferior cultural beliefs and traditions, while Darvish maintains the injuries are functions of

• Selecting for velocity over conditioning and endurance in training
• Workload, especially concerning frequency of pitching days.

The workload argument is probably the most accurate, although it probably can't be proven in any way other than to try it (the six-man rotation, that is).  There is still the counter-intuitive evidence that the frequency of Tommy John surgeries has been on the rise as individual pitcher workload decreased.  The possible explanation is that injuries that were never diagnosed or repaired in past decades are being attended now that we have the technology and will to address them.

Personally I think the sudden increase the last couple of years is mainly do to MLB outlawing and severely punishing human growth hormone as a PED.  Used properly HGH is extremely useful in maintaining health, and I think a lot of people were finally scared off of it the last year or two.

Another interesting note is that Darvish mentions that adding a sixth starting pitcher would depress salaries for starting pitchers overall.  Which is absolutely correct and a clear indication that the players union will be against the move.

Finally, something that we've had some minor rumblings about for a while:  Darvish explicitly states that the new Rawlings balls appear to be of very poor quality.  Of everything Darvish said, expect this claim to go the furthest, because now that he's said it others will step in, especially press who decide to push the slippery baseballs as the reason for Tommy John surgeries.  And since Rawlings isn't represented by the players union or an owner, MLB will take them to task.

Posted by: Ben at 09:18 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 417 words, total size 3 kb.

Lost Soto...

Nick Martinez has been activated from the disabled list, and Geovany Soto has been placed back on the disabled list.

This is Soto's second trip to the DL this year; he was activated from his first stay at the end of last week.

Soto started the year by having surgery performed to fix some damage to one of his feet; delaying his attendance at Spring Training in Suprise, AZ this past spring.  After one half-game, it was clear that he was hurt, and a few days rest turned into a torn meniscus.

After being activated from the recovery from the the surgery to repair the meniscus, Soto was arrested in DFW for possession of marijuana.

With Soto's activation, the Rangers were carrying four catchers on the 25 man roster, although Arencibia has been playing 1B rather than catching.

So thank goodness that problem is resolved.

%&$#.

Posted by: Ben at 03:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 148 words, total size 1 kb.

How important is a first round pick?

This important:


Image from SBNation.

Analysis:  Those 2nd round picks are guys that probably should have or could have gone in the 1st round.  1st round picks tend to be players with one or more incredible "tools", the fundamental skills of playing baseball.  The ability to hit the ball frequently and consistently, the ability to hit for power, quickness and fielding ability, speed and arm strength.  The two hit tools can get a player drafted in the 1st round on their own if they're good enough, but usually a player has to have a couple of these tools in complementary combinations, ranked highly enough, to warrant a #1 pick.  There are usually only a dozen high school or college players like this every year, and several of those will be borderline.

After the sure-fire high-quality tool players are gone, clubs usually turn to highly athletic players with excellent work ethic and preferably good attitudes.  These are the guys who are most likely to develop into a major-league-ready player.  There are a lot of high school and college players that could be perceived in that way, and they usually draft in the order of least flaws/best tools downward.  However, it's not unusual for a guy with excellent drive and work ethic but low-quality tools to work his way up.  Notably, former Ranger 2nd baseman Ian Kinsler was a 15th round draft pick who wasn't particular noted for any outstanding skill, but worked up to be an all-star 2B with a good hit tool, moderate power, very good defense and good baserunning abilities.

UPDATE:  Something I forgot to mention.  The 1st Round/2nd Round thing?  That directly illustrates why the "supplemental 1st round pick" a team gets if they lose a free agent is valued so highly.  Offering a free agent a qualifying offer is basically WAR insurance.

Posted by: Ben at 01:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 312 words, total size 2 kb.

The only Rangers highlight...

Posted by: Ben at 08:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 43 words, total size 1 kb.

A buyer's market...

With the Rangers floundering, a lot has been said about whether the team needs to sell and/or trade off enough players to compete next year, or get rid of everyone with a big contract and go into full rebuilding mode and look to complete in 2016 or 2017.  I really don't  understand that second argument; Texas has something like 10 - 15 WAR on the disabled list and another 3 - 4 playing hurt (and my own pet peeve that all the rest is being mis-managed).

It's pretty clear, I think, that the Rangers are going to compete in 2015 (unless, according to my own belief, they still have Ron Washington, in which case they'll finish around .500 and Washington will finally be gone.)  And that means that the Rangers are going to be looking to acquire pitching this year.

That's right.  The Texas Rangers are going to be buyers, not sellers.  At least regarding certain positions, mainly pitching.  They have an outfielder that can be replaced internally (maybe two, actually).  Texas also seems to believe firmly in the idea of building bullpens out of leftovers (by which I mean, DFAs and AAAA players) so they'll likely have several bullpen pieces they're willing to dump.  The Rangers also have a buttload of cash that they've saved on salaries this year, and extra revenue starting next year.

Incidentally, Newberg is saying much the same thing:

I would not rule out the idea that Texas jumps into the mix on the"buyer’s” end of a July deal. I would hope, if David Price or Giancarlo Stanton is open for discussion, and you can probably throw another few names of elite impact players with club control beyond 2014 in there too, that Texas gets involved even if that’s a bit unconventional for a club not positioned to win this year.

For one thing, the Rangers are able to part with a core piece at the big league level, something that a contender would obviously be reluctant to do in July and that could appeal to the seller. Which ties back into the first point.

And Texas has plenty of depth in prospects to tack on as well.

I don't see Stanton going anywhere yet, because Miami has made it clear that they want an unprecedented load of prospects for the slugger.  Especially pitching.  Which means Stanton doesn't become a Ranger until Miami decides they can't afford him.  (And honestly, I'm not 100% convinced that Stanton is worth what he's probably going to get.)

But Texas is going to be very much involved in top-level free-agent pitchers, especially the summer rentals that are about to start jumping to playoff-hopeful teams.  This time next year Samardzija may be coming off his tenth win for Texas.

And that's going to piss a lot of people off.

Posted by: Ben at 10:53 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 472 words, total size 3 kb.