McCarthy-ism

Jan Hubbard of the FWST has an article out about Brandon McCarthy's confidence and how low The Ballpark ranks as a launching pad for home runs. The Rangers' home ranks 13th in the majors for home runs allowed, jet stream and all. Obviously, our bats lacked some of the punch of teams of previous years, but it goes to show that the men swinging the lumber have more to do with it than our summer air. Link.

What the Foulke?

Probably the one pitcher in the league coming of major arm problems that the Rangers haven't signed is calling it quits after feeling substantial pain in his elbow. I think the Indians were really going to need him after a disappointing 2006. Olney reported this. Link.

John Danks Article

Mark Gonzales of ChicagoSports.com has an article up about the White Sox young pitching, including John Danks. I wish John all the luck in the world, but I'm excited about McCarthy. Here's what he had to say: "It's time to start proving I'm good enough to be on a big-league club, even if it's not right out of camp,' said Danks, 21. 'I'll go to Triple-A and pitch my [rear] off and put the pressure on them." I think we all agree. Link.

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times has a similar article. Link.

Ranger Prospect Grades

John Sickels does a good job evaluating some of the Ranger's top prospects. Check out the comments ofr the ones he left off the list. Overall, I give him a solid B. Link.

Baseball Etc.: Texas Rangers 2007 Outlook

Baseball Etc.: Texas Rangers 2007 Outlook

Check out the debate on this Ranger's prediction. 72 - 90. Wow!

Ranger Radio and TV - Spring

Joe Siegler of rangerfans.com has posted the radio and television schedule for the spring. Check out his page. Really cool stuff. Latest entry catches up with former Ranger prospect Colby Lewis. Chasing pitching castoffs could be a full-time job.

Peter Pan Recalled

Sounded like sports news until I realized my peanut butter is tainted. What am I supposed to do with it? Can't take it back. Tom Thumb will say I bought it at Kroger and Kroger will send me to the Minyards closing in Lakewood. Another sad story all together. I just want some PB and J on a cold day. Someone needs to pay.

Ellis Rochelson, sports writer for the The Brown Daily Herald (sounds like a sports writer for The Brown Daily Herald) has Gerald Laird as the catcher most-likely to have a break out season. Rochelson expouses (how's that for a Brown word?):

"Now that Rod Barajas is out of town, Laird has the catching job all to himself. Last year in a platoon role, he hit .296 with seven home runs in only 243 at-bats. With the security of a starting job and the pleasure of hitting in homer-friendly Ameriquest Field, Laird should approach 20 home runs in '07. Laird turns 28 this year - the magical age of breakout seasons - and can be found in the last round of most fantasy drafts. He may have one of the ugliest names in baseball - second only to Dan Uggla - but the guy can hit." Link.

But I'm not sure Rochelson did his research mlb.com isn't so high on Laird as a fantasy pick. They argue that he is the 21st best catcher in the majors and justify that placement with Laird's .191 avg. and no home runs or rbi's in 68 September at bats. They do think he is capable of .290/15/65. I'd be happy with that, but if he picks it up against righties, I'm more inclined to side with my boy from Brown. Besides, mbl.com has been screwing me around about setting up my blog in their site. I wouldn't invest any money in an account with them. The customer service is incompetent. I wonder if Selig is linked in some way...

Yahoo! West Preview

Tim Brown of Yahoo!Sports offers a tour of the AL West Division. Not much new here about our Rangers but he does a good job sizing up the competition. He plays it safe and doesn't offer any predictions, but he put the Rangers last in the article. Not sure if that means anything other than T comes after s, but...Link.

Spring Training Preview

Evan Grant keeps pumping out more baseball info. This time he highlights some of the best and worst signings during the off-season. He also offers a few team previews. Baseball is definitely a talking sport, but I wish they'd get to playing soon.

Blow Hard in Arlington

Jim Reeves of the FWST write about a study done on the effects of wind in the Ballpark, but acknowledges that little , if any, will be done based on the accumulated data.

Jeff Cogen, Rangers team president, is willing to wait until new construction around the park is completed before considering major change.

I'm tired of the wind and heat being reasons on why top tier pitchers sign elsewhere. Sorry folks, mother nature doesn't deserve the blame. They don't sign here because we don't win and have never won. Seriously, who is inking all the big arms? They're few and far between and most of the money is spent by teams who don't win the World Series. We're doing it correctly right now. Solid money on good pitching and developing a steadfast bullpen. Washington will get the most out of the everyday players, and it looks like we've got some depth. Let Zito go to San Fran, we won't miss that $100 million dollars.

Happy Bobby Valentine's Day

Nothing says Happy Valentines Day like a Bobby V Worldwide Baller Jersey. Seriously, Bobby Valentine has his own blog and links to his own clothing line. So here's to you, Mr. Sneak Back into the Dugout in a Groucho Marx Mask, Happy Valentine's Day.

Jon Daniels and Gagne

Jan Hubbard of the FWST writes about some of Daniels deals since becoming the Rangers GM. Nothing groundbreaking here, but I think things will go better without the influence of Buck Showalter.

So far, so good with Eric Gagne. Evan Grant reports in the DMN that Gagne threw from a mound and the session went well. Not a good sign when we are concerned with pitching health the first day of reporting. Guess he's like the rest of us, day to day.

For those of you who heard Ron Washington on The Ticket yesterday have got to be as pumped up as I am. He's just so crazy it might just work.

Statistics Galore

John Donovan of SI.com has an article about John Forman, the creator of baseball-reference.com. Check out the article and the site. Beware of the addictive power of statistic searching. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Caribbean Cruz

Nelson Cruz is hitting .277 with 4 home runs and 13 rbi in 65 at bats during his Caribbean stint. He's picked it up for the Dominican Republic over the last few days. He'll be one of the keys to a big Ranger turn around. Check out this link for box scores, stats, and video.

Juan Gone, but Coming Back?

Looks like Gonzo wants to make a comeback so he can hit 500 homeruns. Not to win a championship or help a team get over the hump, Gonzo's got goals and this time they're personal. Not sure he's a risk I'd be willing to take. Check out what he's done in the 2007 Caribbean Series. Link. Picture by Tony Dejak/AP.

5 is Alive

The race for the fifth spot in the rotation will be fierce. Evan Grant does a good job breaking down the candidates.

John Rheinecker

'06: Rangers, 4-6, 5.86 ERA 70 2/3 innings

John Koronka

'06: Rangers, 7-7, 5.69 ERA, 125 innings

Kameron Loe

'06: Rangers, 3-6, 5.86 ERA, 78 1/3 innings

Edinson Volquez

'06: Rangers, 1-6, 7.29 ERA, 33 1/3 innings

Josh Rupe

'06: Rangers, 0-1, 3.41 ERA, 29 innings

Jamey Wright

'06: Giants, 6-10, 5.19 ERA, 156 innings

Bruce Chen*

'06: Orioles, 0-7, 6.93 ERA, 98 2/3 innings