13-3 record as of 4/22/2012! We are first in the division by 5.5 games from Oakland. We are first in all of baseball! Way to go Rangers!

Not a lot to say this week besides the Rangers are amazing. Their starting pitching is phenomenal, their bullpen, when needed, is excellent, defense is great. Their bats could pick it up a bit, as we have had most of our games won by just a run or two, and our bats really are better than that. 

The big news of the week is that Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez is retiring tomorrow in a ceremony before the game. He will be pitching the first pitch. He debuted with the Texas Rangers in 1991, and played his last game last year. In almost all of his seasons he hit above a .300 batting average, as was a great catcher. He actually picked off runners stealing 2nd 46.1% of the time!! He will for sure go down in the Rangers Hall of Fame. We will have to see about the baseball HOF. He has been linked to Steroids by Jose Canseco, but never by the Baseball Commissioner's League. For more on Pudge, visit the following link. 

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez and his career

This week the Rangers played the Mariners at home in which the won went 3-1. This is expected as Seattle isn't so awesome. It just helped make us better in our division. 

Then they went to play the Twins in a ballpark where they have a losing record since the park opened two years ago. I've never liked watching them play in that park, because they never do well. It's a pitchers park, and the Rangers are hitters....were hitters. Now that we can pitch, they swept and went 3-0. 

Then they went to Detroit to play in Comerica and against the Comerica curse. They second game was postponed to rain, and played a double header Saturday. The only game I really questioned was the second game of Verlander (one of the best pitchers in baseball), and Feliz (3rd game ever pitched.) On baseball that games goes to Verlander easy. What is impressive is that while the Rangers did lose, We had two on in the 9th with one out and one run behind. We had a chance to win that game, we just didn't. I've never been so OK with losing. We won in extra innings today to make up for it, making our record 3-1 over the series. 

Next Up: 3 games against the Yankees, a day off, and then 3 games against Tampa Bay all at home. Look for Hamilton and Young to continue to be part of the top 5 hitters in baseball, which the Rangers as a pitching team being number 2 overall. Exciting stuff going into the end of April!!

1st place AL West: 8-2

Sorry there are no pictures or video. No time.


8-2 record as of 4/15/2012! We are first in the division by 2 games and 4.5 up from LA! We are second in all of baseball! Way to go Rangers to start the year off.


DARVISH
Is the first pitcher since 1910 to win his Major League debut despite giving up four runs in the first inning.


Well, we've all seen him now, twice. Sigh. He doesn't look as special as we hoped, but he says he is still adjusting to American baseball. He's gone 5 innings both games and had mediocre stuff. His first inning of MLB baseball features Yu going 42 pitches! That's roughly 4 innings worth of pitching! If you were curious before his start what his pitching looked like, you certainly had a chance to watch it for awhile once he began. He settled in after that, and we actually needed up winning after him giving up five in the first two innings, thanks to some AMAZING defense, especially by Andrus and Kinsler who have made some incredible diving catches. 
He pitched again yesterday, and was better, but his command was still all over the place. He ended up walking 3 in the sixth before Robbie Ross came in to get us out of the inning.


The quote below was said by a scout before his first start.... While I believe it is true, we will have to wait to see if his pitching can develop into the speciality the scouts have seen. 


[It's] easy to see that Darvish is a special pitcher, one capable of missing a lot of major league quality bats right out of the chute. He showed two types of fastballs (four-seamer, two-seamer, two types of curveballs (66 mph and 78-80 mph), a slider, a cutter, a straight-changeup, and a splitter. He showed the ability to miss barrels with all of them, even when his overall command was good but not great. His delivery is very clean and repeatable, so the command is going to be there. The stuff is electric and explosive, and with his preternatural ability to manipulate the baseball, can show multiple varieties of each pitch, changing the speed and shape at will. It’s really an incredible experience to see the ball come out of his hand and move around as it nears the zone. I’ve never seen anything like it. This is going to be fun.


Kinsler
His contract has been extended until 2017. It is a 5 year $75 million deal. It is the highest average paid out for a 2nd baseman. However that is not spread evenly over the 5 years. The Rangers will pay out  Kinsler $13M in '13, $16M in 2014 and 2015, $14M in 2016 and $11M in 2017. Option for 2018 is $10M with a $5M buyout. 
I didn't used to be a huge Kinsler fan, but the last two years have changed my mind. He's especially gotten off to a great start this year, and actually was 7th in the AL MVP voting last year. He is an overlooked player however. 


1. He doesn't have a high batting average. He has a .276 lifetime so the number doesn't stand out as great.


2. Kinsler is a solid five tool player. He is a good overall player. However he isn't fantastic at any one thing that makes him stand out. 


3. He has had injuries throughout his career which as kept his at bats low. 


For me, Kinsler is a rare player that is getting better the older he gets. Let's hope it says that way. I think this was a great deal the Rangers shouldn't regret to help lock in some of the key players they have. Since Hamilton most likely won't be with the team next year, the concern with Kinsler's health, and new prospects coming up, the Rangers have the ability to even move him into left field in the next couple years. 




Robbie Ross
Is amazing! For someone who was supposed to go to AA this year, since he hasn't pitched above high A, he has earned his spot and proven he belongs on the Rangers this year. He's gone into two stressful innings 2 days in a row and gotten us out of both. So excited for him!




Have a great Week 2 baseball world!

We've Only Just Begun

I haven't written in about a month. One because spring training was completely uneventful, and two spring training was uneventful.

Basically two things to look at here. The Kinsler Contract, and the centerfield/left field dilemma.

The Kinsler Contract
It has been said a deal was/is in the works prior to opening day. 6 years/$14 million was offered. Kinsler wants 6 years/$16 million. When you are making that much, how big of a deal is $2 million really?? He says he is willing to consider a deal being made even though the season has started, but I wouldn't expect one unless it happens by this weekend. He does have a $10 million option for next year, so he will be around at least that long, most likely longer. As it's been said before, with all the big names going on to free agency and commanding ridiculous millions, it sets the tone for what players expect these days. Kinsler isn't any different.

Is he worth it? Yes. He is one of the best 2nd baseman today in my opinion, and he has certainly played like it through spring training and the first 3 games of the season. I'm going to go ahead and call another 30/30 season for him.

Hamilton/Gentry Centerfield/Left Field Debacle 
Quite frankly I"m tired of hearing about it, talking about it, reading about it, and writing about it. Really we don't have a good answer and we aren't going to. The final decision after spring training was that Bourbon has no defense anymore AND no bat. They sent him to the minors and he'll be the in the next trade, where I"m sure he'll go on to do wonderful these he just couldn't do here for some other team. Hamilton was chosen as center and Murphy at left. Go Murph, first year not being the fourth outfielder...but is it? Washington has said that he is willing to put Hamilton in center 100 games, but on game one he moves Hamilton into left and put Gentry into Center after Murphy proceeds to show poor defense in the 6th. To me this says that if Washington is willing to move Hamilton so easily to left, than doesn't that say that he truly believes Gentry has the better defense. Yes Hamilton has the bat, but a Hamilton/Gentry combo is much better. When trades are done in July this is the first thing that will be traded for.

Another thought to ponder: With Hamilton probably being gone next year does it make sense to move Kinsler to left to allow Juckerson Profar (who is considered to be the next best shortstop and #2 on our prospect list) to 2nd while Elvis is still here? Profar should be ready for the big leagues by 2013.

Other Notes
-We are off and running. As I write this we are 1-1 with the Angels losing today, and Rangers winning in the 6th!
-I am no longer friends with Joe Nathan as he let a homer go to the one guy in the Chicago line up without a hit for the season during a tied game in the 9th to lose the game. I was there. Nathan is not my friend.
-If you have not seen the marlins outfield fountain/dolphin/flamingo thing (you tube link attached) and have a way to see a Marlins game on TV please do! When a marlin hits a home run this is what it does!

Happy Baseball Week Everyone!