OT: I wish the Rangers would quit teasing me

[HornedFrog Purple]

I have to unwillingly give credit to Buck Showalter. :rolleyes:

June through August when the heat really kicks in is when they traditionally start fading, but they have held their own thus far.

Oh if Michael Young isn't an All-Star, it is a travesty.

Chan Ho, please don't come back. Thanks.

[Ksyrup]

They're a great story. If they weren't in the same division as Oakland and Anaheim, I'd say they should take a run at winning now by adding a good starting pitcher. And maybe they still should, but I hope they don't have to give up one of the offensive pieces to do so.

If it means keeping the core intact, I'd just compete with what they have this year, be happy with the progress, and add more pitching for next year. This team seems different than the Royals, although what happened this year after last year's promising run has got to be in the back of Hart's mind, in terms of wanting to take a shot at winning now.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Really they don't need a frontline starter. Well they always do but they might be able to get another guy who can eat up some innings because the bullpen has been pretty good.

Right now they got two guys who consistantly eat up innings in Rogers and Drese. If they could get another arm that keeps them in games and lowers the bullpen load that wouldn't be bad. They wouldn't have to give up any of their young offense to do that.

The other sore spot has been a cleanup hitter. Fulmer hasn't been that good. Who would have thunk that the Rangers of all teams needed a cleanup hitter?

They just have to get out of this Chan Ho nightmare contract and collect some insurance money off him or something.

[Chief Rum]

Really they don't need a frontline starter. Well they always do but they might be able to get another guy who can eat up some innings because the bullpen has been pretty good.

Right now they got two guys who consistantly eat up innings in Rogers and Drese. If they could get another arm that keeps them in games and lowers the bullpen load that wouldn't be bad. They wouldn't have to give up any of their young offense to do that.

The other sore spot has been a cleanup hitter. Fulmer hasn't been that good. Who would have thunk that the Rangers of all teams needed a cleanup hitter?

They just have to get out of this Chan Ho nightmare contract and collect some insurance money off him or something.

I think your Fullmer problem will be taken care of when Laird heals up. Gotta put Barajas somewhere.

The Rangers continue to impress. At this stage you have to consider it a legit three-team race.

I was disappointed in my Angels, as we blew a great chance to make some headway in this last Oaklnad series. Unfortunately, we blew the last two games after taking the first two. :(

CR

[HornedFrog Purple]

I think Rudy Jaramillo could teach a 3 legged dog to hit.

I have absolutely no explanation for the offensive onslaught that has become Rod Barajas.

[IMetTrentGreen]

1. this is not a legit three team race. there is no way in hell the starters keep not sucking and the bullpen stays this great. its a long season, and as much as i like this team, they won't be there in the end

2. i called this anaheim thing before the season. they had a bunch of shiny new parts that were wither overrated (colon) or unneeded (vlad). their outfield was already so good that vlad, as good as he is, really didn't add as much as, say, arod would have. devanon needed a shot, got it, did great, now he's headed for the bench. that money could have been put to better use, like finding a first baseman who doesn't totally blow, or a middle infielder who can hit, or a third baseman to follow glaus's inevitable injury. figgins can't keep this up. more power to him if he can, but its unlikely. the starting pitching was always overrated, but everyone seemed to expect a lot from a lot of inconsistent guys. the fact that you expected much was your bad

[IMetTrentGreen]

oh and fullmer will come around. he has enough patience and power, and talent, to stick with him for the time being

[Francis_Cole]

rangers doing well at the moment.. and chan ho park is struggling in the rookie league.
Maybe those two go toogether ;)

[SirFozzie]

You know Francis, when I saw you had posted here, I half expected you to say something about the Rangers that play in the SPL.. y'know Glasgow Rangers? :)

[dawgfan]

So those who watch the Rangers on a regular basis, how much credit do you give to Orel Hershiser for the relative success of the pitching staff?

[HornedFrog Purple]

Good question, but I don't have an answer. I mean he was here last season too and the pitching was atrocious. Maybe more experience at being a pitching coach and being more familiar with some of the pitchers still here has helped a lot.

He did have some doing in getting John Thomson pitching pretty well last season.

In the local paper the pitchers love him for what that's worth.

[JeeberD]

Ah, the time has come for the Astros to have another embarassing showing against the Rangers. Damn Silver Boot...

[Chief Rum]

i called this anaheim thing before the season. they had a bunch of shiny new parts that were wither overrated (colon) or unneeded (vlad). their outfield was already so good that vlad, as good as he is, really didn't add as much as, say, arod would have. devanon needed a shot, got it, did great, now he's headed for the bench. that money could have been put to better use, like finding a first baseman who doesn't totally blow, or a middle infielder who can hit, or a third baseman to follow glaus's inevitable injury. figgins can't keep this up. more power to him if he can, but its unlikely. the starting pitching was always overrated, but everyone seemed to expect a lot from a lot of inconsistent guys. the fact that you expected much was your bad

You do realize that as recently as 2-3 weeeks ago, this team that made so many bad decisions in the offseason, according to you, had the best record in baseball, right? And that they have suffered more injuries than pretty mucha nyone in baseball? And despite an offensive slump and dealing with those injuries, they are still just 2.5 back of those surprising Rangers?

Salmon is a shell of himself. If you don't know that Vlad has been a huge part of this team's success, then you haven't been paying attention to baseball at all since you made your bold prediction in spring training. BTW, that Guillen guy seems to be pretty good, too. What do ya know? Another offseason acquisition! Musta been another baddie, eh?

DaVanon is a terrific player. But if you tell me you expected him to do this prior to the season, I'm gonna call you bull shit big time. If any team in the majors went into this season with DaVanon projected to start, and expected to contend for a title, they would have been laughed at from every publication in the country, and you know it.

As for Figgins, you must not actually watch any games he is in. Or do any research either. You see, he did this in extended time last year, too. And he did it in the minors, too. Really, there is no reason at this point to think he's suddenly going to start sucking.

Could the Angels have put a better bat at 1B than Erstad? Probably. They went after Palmeiro, but he ended up signing with the O's. Thems the breaks--I'm not going to fault the team for bringing in a superstar like Vlad, just because he doesn't play first base. Actually, that's amazing, now that I think of it. Considering how good he has been, you have to be the first person I have ever seen bad mouth that move. Unbelievable. What a dumbass.

The Angels can't be perfect in their offseaosn moves, but I think they wil still be fine in the long run. The guy who will be playing in Erstad's place (Robb Quinlan) is a decent enough little-known player as well, a guy who dominated at AAA much like Figgins did. And with our top prospects in Casey Kotchman and Dallas McPherson at first and third, respectively, it doesn't make a whole lotta sense to throw many at these positions, don't you think? It's not like we're the Yankees, no matter how rich our new owner is.

The Rangers are blessed with a great-hitting middle infield. Don't let it get to your head. No one else in baseball has a middle infield like that, and I'm not going to hold the Angels accountable for not having studs like Soriano and Young at 2B and SS. Eckstein, when healthy, has been very good leading off this season, and Kennedy doesn't provide much with the bat, but has turned himself into a very good gloveman, which is the sort of thing you need when one of your top pitchers is a left-handed finesse pitcher like Washburn.

I'm not going to say the Angels have terrific starting pitching. I knew fromt he very beginning we had some very inconsistent players. But if you think COlon is going to keep a 5+ ERA all season, you're smoking crack. Do some research and look at what the guy has done in the past, eh? Same with Washburn--hasn't had an ERA higher than 4.32 (or whatever it was last season) in the past five seasons. Escobar is pitching great, and Lackey has been brilliant of late. Oh, yeah, Escobar? ANother offseason acquisition. Another dumbass move, eh? Heck, we have too many starting pitchers--Sele and Ortiz are staging an in-season battle for the right to throw every fifth day, and both are pitching well.

And none of this even talks about the best bullpen in baseball, which covers up for a lot of problems.

Talk to me in September, IMTG. I wait, I forgot. When the Angels are contending for the playoffs, you will conveniently be nowhere to be found to take your luimps. Kinda like after Texas loses to Oklahoma, eh?

See you in September, dumbass.

CR

P.S. To all good Texas fans like HFP, my apologies for above, but you really do have a total asswipe for a fellow Rangers fan there.

[Chief Rum]

Dola,

Watching the Angels-Dodgers game...just saw Vlad hit it deep, followed by a two-run homer by Guillen, all in the first inning. Yeah, those were some horrible moves there. :rolleyes:

CR

[Easy Mac]

You think the Rangers are bad... wait until you meet the Mounties... they're the real cockteases.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Tonight was the perfect example of the new anti-Rangers. After their bullpen throws 11 innings yesterday, Kenny Rogers turns around and throws a complete game 3-hitter. Unbelievable.

[JeeberD]

Bleh... :(

[HornedFrog Purple]

Well it was a fun couple of months.

I am glad they didn't try to get any of the pitchers in the trade market, it was a complete sellers market and they would have vastly overpaid. They would need 2 of those pitchers just to make a competitive rotation.

But there is bad news on the horizon. Grady Fuson is leaving the organization which is terrible and hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo is testing the market after the season. He wanted $500,000 and the idiot Hart says "I've never paid a coach $500,000" so he offered $400,000. Jaramillo replied he will test the waters.

Jaramillo is regarded as one of the best hitting coaches in baseball by his peers. He needs to be here.

And the worst news is John Hart is staying.

[IMetTrentGreen]

scott erickson to the rescue

i knew fuckin hicks would screw this up

[IMetTrentGreen]

not to mention that now between arod and soriano they will pay them both a combined 20+ million. should ahve just kept arod dammit

[Crapshoot]

of course they should have kept A-rod- but its much more acceptable to slander the star after you tried to deal him, and wax about the "team" doing better without him, and him not "being a winner"... essentialy, given the choice of the best SS since Arky Vaughan/Honus Wagner or a Juan Samuel redux for what will end up being a $7 million difference (not to mention the huge media deal Hicks signed after acquiring A-rod), one would take the HOF.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Ok Soriano hasn't been the greatest 2nd baseman but he is a little better than Juan Samuel. He has come over here with a good attitude and played hard.

Hicks is the one who let the Yankees screw him.

All that noise about how A-rod is not a winner is all Buck's doing. It's been documented everywhere he has been if he doesn't like you for whatever reason he messes with the player. He doesn't like Kevin Mench and it is painfully obvious.

The funniest thing is Hicks said the cutting of future payroll and his new media deal gives his team "financial flexability". And he is letting one of the best hitting coaches in the game test the market over $100,000? Yeah right.

[sterlingice]

All that noise about how A-rod is not a winner is all Buck's doing. It's been documented everywhere he has been if he doesn't like you for whatever reason he messes with the player. He doesn't like Kevin Mench and it is painfully obvious.
We keep hearing rumors that Baird loves him here in KC (Mench, tho I'm sure he'd also love to have A-Rod). Say, you think Hart is enough of sucker to send him here for nothing (y'know Brian Anderson and the like)?

SI