Lone Star Ball

Angels axe Rex Hudler

2009-11-24T21:11:08Z

Angels axe Rex Hudler

Happy birthday, Tommy Dunbar

2009-11-24T20:30:13Z

Happy birthday to Tommy Dunbar, who turns 50 today.

Dunbar was a first round draft pick of the Rangers in the January, 1980 secondary draft, an outfielder who could hit for average but didn't do a whole lot else. He put up an impressive .323/.419/.540 line as a 22 year old in the Texas League, and won the American Association batting title while with Oklahoma City in 1984 with a .337 average.

However, Dunbar never hit in the majors...in 91 games with the Rangers spread over the 1983-85 seasons, Dunbar put up a .231/.305/.298 line. Dunbar bounced around in the minors through the 1991 season, but never made it back to the majors after 1985.

Albert Pujols wins the N.L. MVP Award

2009-11-24T19:07:15Z

Albert Pujols has been announced as the winner of the 2009 N.L. MVP Award.

Pujols was the first place choice on every ballot, and this is his third MVP Award. Only Barry Bonds has won more MVPs than Pujols.

UPDATE -- Full results here. Jeremy Affeldt, Miguel Tejada, and Yadier Molina are among the odder "others receiving votes" recipients.

LSB Pick 'em Update

2009-11-24T18:29:15Z

After the jump...

Rank	Pick Set Name	Total Points	Dropped Points	W-L
1	\m/ Hook'm \m/	679	29	86-60
2	BoNeZ	663	38	79-66
3	daddyrat	660	33	78-68
4	gm_darkplace	656	37	83-61
5	Smoak Some	655	28	80-66
6	losangelesrangerfan	639	23	78-68
7	FELDMEISTER(tyd3311)	639	31	81-62
8	drizzle	636	29	68-78
9	ThemBones	635	15	78-68
10	Bixie Ott Pixies	634	36	78-67
11	jonthefon	634	38	78-68
12	Kibbles and Vick	633	36	75-71
13	RA Dickey's Rusty Trombone	630	33	77-69
14	Dierk's Diggler's	630	24	81-63
15	Smalls	628	33	79-67
16	Doomsday Defense	626	33	78-67
17	Rangermad	625	37	77-68
18	I Pick By Quality of Mascot	622	28	74-72
19	bigsteve	620	29	74-72
20	JDT217	620	25	76-70
21	Kevtron	619	0	80-65
22	ewmvv6	616	22	72-74
23	bspate	615	35	75-70
24	GhettoBear04	614	18	77-69
25	The Aints Will Win!	608	36	73-73
26	Jealous1	607	0	86-58
27	buckets	605	32	83-63
28	A byrd in the hand	603	38	78-67
29	Skeets McGee	601	36	74-72
30	JBImaknee's picks	595	33	80-65
31	Anonymous New Guy	564	14	76-69
32	Two Minute Drillin' Your Mom	558	13	69-77
33	The Notorious AJM	557	0	70-73
34	Sammy Sosa	536	0	71-74
35	Texas Patriots	530	0	71-74
36	jgar's best picks	528	30	72-74
37	Weaselmuffin	525	0	72-71
38	Kudos	478	0	62-81
39	RallyMac	435	0	53-90
40	TxStCA	371	0	47-96
41	Real McCoy	360	0	44-99

Rank	Pick Set Name	Total Points	Dropped Points	W-L
1	willamos2	741	18	89-56
2	3hacks	708	15	89-57
3	ABQ Aces	702	43	86-60
4	rangerfaninva	678	34	85-61
5	awall22	677	42	86-59
6	Panorama	669	29	84-62
7	Rentzaphonic Spree	663	30	82-64
8	Fartbox Burglers	660	53	83-62
9	cmkelly29	655	33	86-60
10	Mike's Leach	654	31	81-64
11	tricer	648	34	79-67
12	coolaid	632	24	77-69
13	TagDon'tTweet	615	0	75-70
14	Nolan's Headlocks	611	31	79-64
15	uthornfan	604	25	78-68
16	¡Viva Sanchez!	603	36	73-73
17	Flash Floodmen	601	32	80-66
18	Fighting Engineers	594	24	77-69
19	alon91's Fighting Neftali's	594	20	72-74
20	A Tila Tequila Night	592	28	76-70
21	beaumonty	584	0	73-70
22	Whatever	581	12	75-70
23	Tiny E's Huge Salt Shaker	570	16	74-70
24	Ryin A	556	31	71-75
25	Bomb Squad	542	0	71-72
26	Give Me Some Money	539	0	68-75
27	Testicular Fortitude	513	0	64-79
28	Agreen07	500	0	63-80
29	dustinvandeman	496	0	55-88
30	Brandon McCarthy's Elbow	476	0	65-78
31	GLWrath	473	0	64-79
32	Parman	450	0	53-90
33	TBD	410	0	58-87

And by popular demand, the college pick 'em standings...

Rank	Pick Set Name	Total Points	W-L
1	Sam in So Cal	2224	195-40
2	BJilly	2216	200-35
3	EpicBoobGirlsaysEAndrusROY	2199	191-44
4	JBImaknee's Owls	2190	193-42
5	hinduplaya	2169	193-42
6	The Notorious AJM	2151	192-43
7	drizzle	2148	185-50
8	slc ranger	2145	184-51
9	Shots in the Dark	2141	192-43
10	chief's picks	2138	189-46
11	Smoak Some	2095	191-44
12	B Team All Stars	2031	177-58
13	never compromise	1985	176-59
14	Outworlder47	1376	123-112
15	ortonius	1327	120-115
16	Diamond Dave	1205	125-110
17	endlessmike	1146	105-130
18	Nightman Cometh	1043	90-145
19	Boomer1	843	76-159

Potential Player of Interest -- Jonny Gomes

2009-11-24T16:30:11Z

The Rangers need a reasonably priced righthanded bat with pop that can DH and maybe fill in at a COF or CIF spot.

And I stumbled last night on an item by Ken Rosenthal that discussed a guy who could be a fit -- Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jonny Gomes.

Gomes is a guy I have always found to be intriguing, but who I finally gave up on last season and ignored...and he went on to have a pretty good season for Cincy:

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Jonny Gomes	98	281	39	75	17	0	20	51	26	85	3	1	.267	.338	.541

Gomes is a lousy defender, and he didn't hit the previous couple of years with Tampa, but he's a righty bat with pop who will draw some walks. And he has a career .274/.369/.517 line against LHPs.

Gomes just turned 29, and he's arbitration-eligible this offseason, so he's not a long-term solution. But as a one year guy who ideally would get 250 PAs, mostly at DH against LHPs, but who you might want 400-500 PAs from if need be, he could be a good fit.

There's apparently talk that Gomes could be non-tendered, which would make him a free agent, but I wonder if it wouldn't be worth the Rangers while to offer some of the team's minor league depth to deal a fringe guy -- a Brennan Garr or Evan Reed or Tim Murphy -- to get Gomes, if they think he's looking at $1.5-2 million in arbitration. And of course, if he were to be non-tendered, I'd hope the Rangers would be interested in him on a cheap one year deal.

Gomes is the type of role player who could be a perfect fit for the Rangers' needs, and I think he's someone who is worth keeping an eye on this offseason.

Tuesday a.m. Rangers stuff

2009-11-24T16:19:07Z

Not much out there today.

Evan Grant has a poll up at the DMN Rangers blog, asking who should be the Rangers' starting centerfielder in 2010.

That's about it.

Other teams interested in Nelson Cruz

2009-11-24T01:35:59Z

More photos » by LM Otero - AP

7 months ago: Texas Ranges Nelson Cruz hits a home run in the second inning of the baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Arlington, Texas, Tuesday, April 14, 2009. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Browse more photos »

According to Ken Rosenthal, "a number of teams" have called the Rangers inquiring about Nelson Cruz, but the Rangers aren't motivated to move him.

Last offseason, I identified Cruz as a guy I would try to use as part of a package to land a top-flight starting pitcher in the 09-10 offseason, figuring that a year of productiveness would get him to the point where it made sense to convert him into something else.

But that was before Josh Hamilton and Chris Davis nose-dived, leaving Cruz as one of the few quality bats in place right now. Last year, I thought a David Murphy/Brandon Boggs platoon in left field, Julio Borbon in center field, and Josh Hamilton in right field would be good, with Justin Smoak and Chris Davis holding down the first base and DH spots. Now, every one of those guys is a question mark, meaning that if you move Cruz, you had better do it intending to bring in at least one more quality bat.

But I do think it is revealing that Cruz is drawing interest from around the league...

Everything you ever wanted to know about Hisanori Takahashi

2009-11-24T00:44:13Z

Everything you ever wanted to know about Hisanori Takahashi

There's some Gary Matthews Jr. here, in that Byrd is a good fourth outfielder who is looking to get...

2009-11-23T22:26:48Z

There's some Gary Matthews Jr. here, in that Byrd is a good fourth outfielder who is looking to get paid like the regular he was in 2009. His counting stats may fool people into thinking he's that guy, but he's mostly a good backup who is past his peak and played more in '09 because he stayed healthy and everyone else didn't. Byrd's power is a park effect: he's slugged .522 at Arlington the last three seasons, .414 elsewhere. Buyer beware. Be-very-ware.

Joe Sheehan on Marlon Byrd.

Omar Vizquel to the ChiSox

2009-11-23T20:58:12Z

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

3 months ago: Texas Rangers' Omar Vizquel celebrates his solo home against the Los Angeles Angels during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, Aug. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Browse more photos »

Omar Vizquel has signed a one year deal for $1.375 million with the Chicago White Sox.

Officially, Vizquel is going to be a backup infielder, but I suspect that part of the appeal of signing with Chicago is that there is a pretty decent chance he'll end up starting for them at some point.

Right now, the ChiSox are talking about Gordon Beckham at second base, Alexei Ramirez at shortstop, and Mark Teahen at third base. Teahen, though, at third base is shaky for a contender, and I imagine Vizquel probably views this situation as one where he's more likely to get regular playing time than he would if he'd come back to Texas.

Joe Mauer named A.L. MVP

2009-11-23T19:11:23Z

Joe Mauer has been named the A.L. MVP for 2009. Back in August, there seemed to be some sentiment that Mark Teixeira was the favorite and that Mauer would be on the outside looking in, but by the time the season ended that seemed to have shifted, and the question was whether Mauer would be a unanimous pick or not.

Mauer was not a unanimous pick -- he got 27 of 28 first place votes, and while Teixeira and Derek Jeter finished second and third, neither of them got the stray first place vote that didn't go to Mauer. Rather, it was Miguel Cabrera who someone put first on their ballot.

Cabrera finished fourth, and there was some talk that he wouldn't appear on some ballots because of the drama surrounding his late-season drunken episode that caused some distractions in the midst of the pennant race.

UPDATE -- Michael Young and Ian Kinsler are in the "others receiving votes" category.

The BBTiA Top 25 Prospect Rankings: Fall 2009 Edition

2009-11-23T14:58:18Z

The BBTiA Top 25 Prospect Rankings: Fall 2009 Edition

Monday morning Rangers things

2009-11-23T14:37:57Z

Largely quiet day today...

T.R. Sullivan talks about the various ownership groups bidding on the Rangers, and says at the end of the day, the winner will be whoever can pay the most money to paid down the Hicks Sports Group debt and make the banks happy.

Richard Durrett asks if folks would be interested in Mike Cameron, and suggests that Cameron isn't as good as Marlon Byrd, which is erroneous...Cameron is the better defender, and last year, anyway, was also the better hitter.

Scott McCoy runs down the list of all the other Rangers before Elvis Andrus who have received Rookie of the Year votes...I had forgotten Cecil Espy got a vote.

Putting Elvis Andrus's Rookie Season in Perspective

2009-11-22T20:00:22Z

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

4 months ago: Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus gets the force out at second of Los Angeles Angels' Kendry Morales after Howie Kendrick hit into a double play during the second inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, July 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Browse more photos »

One of the things we've talked about is how Elvis Andrus was a particularly special player simply because of what he did this year...very few players spend a full season in the major leagues at age 20, as an every day player, and perform like he did.

In an effort to put this in perspective, I went to Baseball Reference and did a search of their database. I asked B-R to list every season since 1901 where a player, age 20 or less, got at least 400 plate appearances in the majors, and was a second baseman or shortstop.

There were only 19 season, which was less than I expected. And two of those seasons were by Robin Yount, so you have a total of 18 players who have done, in terms of playing time, what Elvis did in 2009.

Elvis had the 12th highest OPS+ out of those 19th seasons, just ahead of Gary Sheffield (and yes, for you young 'uns, Sheffield used to be a shortstop). He also finished ahead of Robin Yount's age 20 season.

The guys ahead of him are, in order:

Alex Rodriguez

Arky Vaughan

Roberto Alomar

Edgar Renteria

Travis Jackson

Whitey Witt

Bill Mazeroski

Frankie Gustine

Robin Yount

Alan Trammell

Bobby Doerr

So that is four Hall of Famers, two guys who will be in the Hall once they are eligible (although Robbie is probably not a first ballot guy), a couple of guys who probably deserve to be in the Hall but aren't (Trammell and Doerr), and three guys who went on to be decent, but not great, players.

Think about that for a moment. Think about how exceptional what Elvis Andrus did last year was, and the company it puts him in.

(Incidentally, Alex Rodriguez's age 20 season is probably the greatest age 20 season by any positional player, ever. He had a 160 OPS+ and an OPS of over 1000. No one else on the list had an OPS better than 787. Arky Vaughan, one of the three or four best shortstops of all time, had a 113 OPS+, and no one else was better than 105).

Elvis also had the most steals of anyone on that least, had the 6th highest number of walks, and was tied for the 6th highest number of homers.

Bump it up a year, and look at 21 year old shortstops, and there are only 22 who had a better OPS+ in 400+ PAs than Andrus had in 2009.

And again, you see a lot of HOFers or future HOFers (ARod, Vaughan, Rogers Hornsby, Young, Jackson, Cal Ripken, Joe Tinker, Rabbit Maranville), along with quite a few very, very good players (Trammell, Vern Stephens, Jim Fregosi, Dick Bartell) and guys who had long, solid careers (Frankie Crosetti, Alfredo Griffin, Zoilo Versalles, Donie Bush, Garry Templeton), with just a couple of clunkers (Mike Caruso, Joe Cassidy) mixed in.

Elvis had a special, special season in 2009. I mean, we as Rangers fans, I think, getting to watch him every day, I think have a good sense for how good he is, particularly with the glove...but until I went and looked at the data, I didn't realize how exceptional it was for a middle infielder to be a major league regular this young, and hit as well as he did.

ESPN affiliated blog criticizes ESPN for punishing ESPN writer for criticizing ESPN-affiliated radio station

2009-11-22T18:29:39Z

ESPN affiliated blog criticizes ESPN for punishing ESPN writer for criticizing ESPN-affiliated radio station

Whew. That's a mouthful. Anyway, Fire Brand (formerly an MVN blog, now ESPN-affiliated) takes ESPN to task for suspending Bill Simmons from tweeting for two weeks, because Simmons took "pot shots" at WEEI, which is an ESPN-affiliated radio station.

Sunday a.m. Rangers stuff

2009-11-22T15:53:45Z

Pretty quiet out there in terms of Rangers news, although the hot stove season is heating up...

Chris Bahr of the Sporting News suggests that Hank Blalock could be this year's Bobby Abreu, and argues that Blalock isn't a product of TBIA because he had a better average and OBP on the road last year than at home.

Someone might want to point out to Bahr that this is a one year aberration...for his career, Blalock's home performance was about 50 points better in average, 60 points better in OBP, and 100 points better in slugging.

Phil Rogers makes some predictions as to where various free agents will end up, and has Jim Thome going to the Rangers. Thome isn't my first choice, but I could live with that...

FWST "sports humor columnist" David Thomas offers this:

Budget-limited Rangers general manager Jon Daniels was in the MLB Free Agents store the other day and a salesperson asked if he could be of assistance. "Yeah," Daniels answered, "I’m looking for the bargain bin."

Is this guy new, or has this column been around a while, and I've just missed it?

Roy Halladay won't sign an extension with Toronto

2009-11-22T00:57:18Z

Roy Halladay won't sign an extension with Toronto

Sandy Koufax pitching on MLB Network at 7 p.m.

2009-11-22T00:37:07Z

Sandy Koufax pitching on MLB Network at 7 p.m.

MLB Network about to show Game 7 of the 1965 World Series. Sandy Koufax with a CG SO against the Twins.

Saturday a.m. Rangers things

2009-11-21T16:24:26Z

Michael Young talked yesterday about the possibility of new ownership, and of course, as the E.F. Hutton of the Rangers, it got a fair amount of attention...

Anthony Andro writes that Michael Young wants to see an owner in the mold of Arte Moreno, who will spend to make the team better.

Calvin Watkins has a blog post up at ESPN Dallas on the topic as well.

Evan Grant says he talked to a Rangers official who says the potential three-way deal involving Kevin Millwood leaving and Milton Bradley coming to Texas is "not happening," and says the only way the Rangers would consider Milton Bradley coming back is if it allowed the Rangers to shed a big contract so they could afford to add more pitching.

However...Kevin Millwood is the only significant contract the Rangers have on their books right now, other than Michael Young (who I assume isn't going anywhere). So I'm not sure how adding Bradley could accomplish anything, particularly given that you're not going to give up a significant contract without having to pick up a good chunk of Bradley's deal.

Richard Durrett has a short Q&A with Marlon Byrd, who he talks to about his pending free agency.

Friday afternoon video

2009-11-20T20:45:08Z