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October 2008
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Playoffs won't be too painful for Rangers fans Kevin Millwood: Not as bad as you thought he was? Change the Rangers need (Alt title: Tom Hicks must vote for Obama) Frisco named top minor league team by Baseball America FFG: Fall Instructional League FFG: Q & A with pitching coordinator Rick Adair FFG: Rangers Minor League Notes You spent a fortune on pitching. And how's that working out for you? Recent Comments
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October 7, 2008
At least a high-profile former Ranger won't haunt you folks this October now that John Danks, Mark Teixeira and Alfonso Soriano's teams are all done. (Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena doesn't really count, right?) Tex put up pretty impressive stats (.467 avg., .550 OBP, 4 R) in the Angels' series against the Red Sox, but his time in Anaheim ended without a series win. Of course, watching Tex win probably wouldn't be too painful for Rangers fans anyway, since the trade with the Braves looks like it'll provide a big part of the foundation for the Rangers' next playoff team. I don't get the sense that you folks really give a flip about Soriano. Sure, the Rangers really have nothing to show for the centerpiece of the A-Rod return, but it's not like Soriano was going to stick around these parts anyway. His career playoff average is hovering just above the Mendoza Line after his 1-for-14 showing while the Cubs got swept. Danks, of course, is a much different deal. No Texan should root against a humble lefty from the Lone Star State, but his success sure does sting the told-ya-so Rangers crowd that's been raising heck since the day he was traded to the White Sox. The 23-year-old capping an outstanding season with eight scoreless innings in the loser-goes-home game against the Twins and solid start in the Sox's only playoff win sure won't hush the critics.  Comments (11) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Playoffs won't be too painful for Rangers fans" is tagged: Alfonso Soriano , John Danks , Mark Teixeira
Regarding Kevin Millwood, these are the 2008 numbers that stick out in really large print : 9, 5.07, .312 and 168.2 (See how I did that there?). Or as we like to call then, wins, ERA, opponents batting average and innings pitched. What they say about his performance as the team's supposed top starter, well, they aren't very printable. They are nasty, naughty things that you have probably yelled at your TV (if your kids weren't in the room). But I'm here to tell you, that according to at least one important statistical index, Millwood wasn't as bad as you would think. In fact, he was the most effective Rangers starter if you believe in Fielding-Independent-Average. Now, without increasing our bandwidth significantly, I can't explain the full formula for FIP, but what you should know is it tries to eliminate everything out of a pitchers control. It puts more emphasis on strikeouts as well as walks and home runs allowed. What it tries to eliminate are the plays that should have been made behind a pitcher that didn't get made. Things that get charged as hits that with a different group of fielders might have been outs. It's not perfect, but it is another tool. I'm sure there are some who you can explain this or DIPS (Defensive-independent-pitching stats, which is a similar concept with a different formula) better to me or to the general reading public. Comments (16) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Kevin Millwood: Not as bad as you thought he was?" has no entry tags.
I don't want to get all Maverick-y here (we'll leave that to the Maverick-y beat writers on the Maverick-y blog). But thanks to substantial late night research and too much CNN on the campaign trail, I've gotten to the heart of the deciding issue for any fence-sitting Rangers fans when it comes to presidential votes: You must vote for Barack Obama. Here's why: The Rangers are a bad, bad, bad team with a Republican in the White House. They are actually pretty good when a Democrat takes over. There have been six elected presidents since the Rangers moved to Texas (Gerald Ford was not elected, so his years will get rolled into the Nixon years). So, if you are going to be at the town hall meeting tonight and you get to the microphone with your Rangers ballcap on, you might want to ask the candidates how they plan to bail the Rangers out. Here's how the overall picture shakes out: Under Republicans, the Rangers are 1857-2123 (.466). Sure they may get to visit the White House a lot more than actual champions do, but .466 is pretty stinky. It would be about a 75-win per season average. Under the Dems, the Rangers are 633-597 (.515). They also have captured all three of their AL West division titles under a Democratic administration. So, it's clear George W. Bush may have been a pretty good executive while he was running the team, but he did them no favors when he took over the whole country. After the jump, the pres-by-pres breakdown: Comments (17) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Change the Rangers need (Alt title: Tom Hicks must vote for Obama)" has no entry tags. October 6, 2008
It says something for the Rangers minor league system and the coaches at Frisco that the team stayed competitive despite players coming and going throughout the season. Here's the official release from the team: The Frisco RoughRiders were named the Minor League Team of the Year by Baseball America for the 'Riders' accomplishments over the 2008 campaign. Frisco led all of Double-A with 184 stolen bases on the season and was among the Texas League leaders in batting average (.277), home runs (129), runs (758), doubles (274), and triples (36). The RoughRiders finished the regular season with an 84-56 record, winning both the First and Second Half Championship in the Texas League for the first time in franchise history. Despite falling one game shy of the Texas League Championship, Frisco had one of the best seasons in all of Minor League Baseball led by first year Manager Scott Little. "This past season was a lot of fun because of the caliber of players on our roster," said RoughRiders General Manager & President Scott Sonju. "It is great for our fans to watch these players in Frisco before they ascend to the Major Leagues with the Rangers." Frisco had over 60 different players wear a RoughRiders uniform this season, including 14 players that suited up for both the Rangers and 'Riders. Baseball America also recognized pitchers Neftali Feliz and Derek Holland as 2008 All-Stars for their performance in 2008. Comments (3) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Frisco named top minor league team by Baseball America" has no entry tags. Ken Davidoff wrote yesterday that Ron Washington is a manager on the "hot seat" in 2009. His reasoning: "Nolan Ryan won't tolerate much more mediocrity." First of all, we can all agree with Davidoff's comment. Ryan certainly won't tolerate mediocrity. But by keeping general manager Jon Daniels and Washington, isn't Ryan sending the signal that 2009 is another building year? If that's true, then 2009 can't be a win-at-all-costs-or-you're-out season for Washington, can it? If this club is pointing toward 2010, which it should be, then Washington has to manage 2009 as if he's getting the club to 2010. What does that mean? It means seeing what young players can do in a variety of situations. Certainly, Washington is managing to win games. But he also has to manage to see if a few players are viable pieces for the puzzle in 2010. Yes, it seems the Rangers are "trying to answer questions for next season" every year. But the reality is there is hope for a competitive team in 2010 if players can stay healthy (apparently a big if) and if the club finds out if certain guys can play (Taylor Teagarden, young rotation guys, etc.). So if Washington is managing for 2010, then he shouldn't have the "manage for your job" label for 2009. That doesn't mean Washington is the manager for 2010. It wouldn't shock me either way if Washington was here or somewhere else coaching in 2010. But Washington (and Ryan) need to treat this season as if he will be back and in a position to contend in 2010. I'm not saying give up on 2009 completely. Some teams start winning ahead of schedule. The Rangers could stay healthy, get hot and you never know what the other teams in the division might do. But if the team is pointed toward 2010, should Washington be on the hot seat in 2009? Is that fair? Does it matter if it's fair? How would you treat the manager spot the next few seasons? Comments (47) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Rangers talk: Ron Washington" has no entry tags. |
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I wasn’t happy about the Soriano deal f
What happened to the Millwood that was
What will be painful is if Tampa Bay ma
What's the Rangers record with a woman
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Carlos Peña!!!
Hicks gets no credit for the Stars and
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