THE RANGERS REPORT – June 30

Looking at current baseball lines, it’s a tough time to be a Rangers fan of late. The odds keep shifting further and further against Texas as the losses pile up and the Angels’ lead in the West widens. Is there reason for optimism or is the skid a sign of things to come?

Season record: 40-35
AL West rank: 2
Current MLB odds to win World Series: 18 to 1

THE LINEUP

Hard to believe the “potent” Rangers offense is now dead last in the American League with a .220 team average and .288 on-base percentage. The Rangers have no choice but to make some tweaks, and that’s what’s happening this week. First off, manager Ron Washington sat struggling slugger Nelson Cruz down for a mental break. After a blistering start, Cruz is hitting just .179 in June. Texas filled his spot in the order by calling up speedy prospect Julio Borbon, who has 19 steals at Class-AAA this season. I’m betting management sees the moves as temporary, especially since Josh Hamilton has started his rehab assignment and should be back in the lineup soon.

THE ROTATION

Vicente Padilla had started to find  himself but, as luck would have it, imploded at the worst possible time: against the division rival Angels. Los Angeles torched him for 10 hits, five runs and two homers in five innings Monday night. If Padilla can’t get the job done for the Rangers, is there any chance they keep Tommy Hunter in the rotation instead when Matt Harrison returns from (another) DL stint? The rookie Hunter hasn’t looked out of place in his first two starts of the season, allowing two and three runs. Then again, Harrison may be gone for a while anyway, as his arm tingling requires further examination. Oh well, at least Kevin Millwood continues to pitch out of his mind. The Rangers will need him against the Angels on Wednesday.

THE BULLPEN

The Rangers have to settle with less than perfection from Frank Francisco after all; he finally blew a save last week when Miguel Montero singled off him in the bottom of the 12th to win the game for Arizona. The problem may simply be rust, as the loss to the D-Backs was Francisco’s first and only save opportunity since the Rangers activated him from the DL on June 20.

OVERALL OUTLOOK

The Rangers have to keep pressure on the wound, as the bleeding shows no signs of stopping. They’re in danger of sliding to third in the West this week if they don’t’ start hitting. Perhaps Josh Hamilton’s upcoming return will breathe life back into the lineup. Until then, MLB predictions look bleak for Texas.

Minor League baseball game surpasses 50 total runs

33-18. This was the score of a professional baseball game yesterday (that didn’t even involve the Rangers!). No, not a major league game, but a professional game nonetheless. Yesterday (June 28) the Lake Elsinore Storm defeated the High Desert Mavericks 33-18 in a nine-inning game that lasted more than four hours. The inning-by-inning score (screen shot courtesy of milb.com) is shown below.

A rundown of the Cal League accomplishments in this game:

Record for total runs scored in a game (51)

Record for most hits by one team in a game (32)

Longest game by time (4 hrs, 10 min)

Record for team RBI in one game (31)

Longest hitting streak (36 games, set by High Desert’s James McOwen, breaking the previous record shared by the Rangers’ Chris Davis)

Tied record for most runs scored by one player in a game (7, by Lake Elsinore’s Matt Clark)

In all, six records were either broken or tied, but believe it or not, Lake Elsinore did not set the league record for most runs by one team in a game. They were one short.

Other highlights:

Clark went 5-6, hitting two homers and driving in five runs, falling a double short of the cycle.

Seven Storm players had at least three RBI’s, and every Storm player who batted scored at least once.

High Desert was forced to give up their designated hitter when their starting catcher was inserted as a pitcher in the 9th.

Incredible.

Impressions from last night’s Rangers loss

Having been a Rangers fan for my entire life, I’ve seen quite a bit of bad baseball. Most of us Rangers fans have, if you’ve been a serious Rangers fan for some period of time. But last night…woof. Easily the worst offensive performance I’ve ever seen. (Which the numbers back up – first one-hitter ever pitched against the Rangers at the Ballpark) Just absolutely brutal. But it wasn’t even close to some of the worst games I’ve seen, as Tommy Hunter had a fine start, limiting the Padres to 2 runs in 6.1 innings.

I guess that’s what made last night so tough. The Rangers have never had the consistent quality pitching they’ve gotten this year. Especially here in the month of June, there have been a bunch of winnable games that the Rangers lost because of the offense, not because of the pitching.

So what to do? Well…there are a few options.

Option #1 – Go young.

Bring up a bunch of young guys from the minors, cut loose some veterans, and just roll with the young guys and see if they can make things better. Get rid of Blalock, Jones, Guardado and Willie Eyre. Bring up Julio Borbon, A.J. Murray and Neftali Feliz. Install Borbon (.298/.365/.387) as the everyday center fielder and make him the Rangers’ version of Jacoby Ellsbury. Let Murray (1.40 ERA) be your left-handed specialist (or LOOGY). Start Feliz out in the bullpen like Derek Holland and keep Tommy Hunter in the rotation. Once Josh Hamilton comes back within a week, install him as the DH and play him occasionally in left or right field when somebody needs a day off. Keep the infield the same until Justin Smoak proves he is ready for a call-up.

Option #2 – Ride out the slump.

Don’t change a thing. Continue to play Blalock and/or Jones every day. Keep the lineup exactly the same. Hope all the hitters fix what they’re doing wrong and hope the pitching stays the same and just remember the good times of this season and hope they come back. Josh Hamilton will be back within a week or so, and the offense will get better because things can’t get worse.

Option #3 – Make a trade.

I don’t think that this team would trade for a pitcher. At least, I hope not. Rangers GM Jon Daniels seems to be content to have the Rangers take their lumps with young starters such as Holland and Hunter. Brandon McCarthy and Matt Harrison are on the DL, but Kevin Millwood and Scott Feldman have been dependable, and Vicente Padilla seems to be dependable after the Rangers placed him on waivers. A pitching trade would probably end up hurting this team more than helping it, especially in the long run.

A trade for a hitter, surprisingly, seems to be what the Rangers are more linked to right now than anything. Two hitters that have come up more than anyone, oddly enough, are Washington Nationals. Oft-injured 1B Nick Johnson and OF Josh Willingham are two hitters that have been listed as potential trade targets because they are having (relatively) decent seasons and have good on-base percentages (Willingham .399, Johnson .410, both of which would be the best mark for a Rangers hitter by a significant margin). Willingham has always been a pretty solid hitter – two seasons of 20+ HR, career OBP of .365, career slugging of .478 – but I’m not sure he would really be that much of an upgrade over what the Rangers have (especially defensively) to warrant giving anything up for him. And Nick Johnson isn’t going to do anything but block the development of our younger players.

Personally, I think the team should try and ride out the slump. The team has, according to Tennessee media relations, called up outfielder Julio Borbon today (probably sending down SP Tommy Hunter), but I really think that the team has been a victim of some poor luck with their hitting over the past month. The Rangers BABIP (batting average with balls in play) this month has been .261, which is worst in baseball. (League average is around .290-.300.) If a few more balls in play fall for hits, the Rangers might have had a totally different month, record-wise. No need for doom and gloom. Yet.

Photo courtesy everyjoe.com via Newscom

Why the Rangers must sweep the Padres

After two close wins over Arizona, the Rangers have bumped their record up to 39-32 on the year. While it has been a bit of a struggle in June with only a 9-12 record, the Rangers have a very good chance to even up that monthly record this weekend at home against the woeful San Diego Padres.

San Diego enters tonight’s game with a 31-40 record and -78 run differential. Only the Nationals have a worse run differential in the major leagues this year. And while the Padres have been relatively good at home (21-15), they are 10-25 on the road. The team’s two best pitchers entering the season – Jake Peavy and Chris Young – are both out with injuries and will miss the series. Padres OF Brian Giles will also miss the series with an injury.

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Party at the Arch: 2009 MLB All-Star Game Schedule and Tickets

While the Rangers try and break out of their offensive funk, we thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the schedule for the Midsummer Classic – the 2009 MLB All-Star Game. The Rangers have had quite a presence in the game since the infamous tie in 2002, with four games being prominently affected by Ranger exploits.

Check after the jump for the 2009 MLB All-Star Game schedule and tickets.

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The Dallas Mavericks 2009 Draft “haul”

As somebody who watched a lot of Big Ten basketball this year, consider me thankful that the Mavs did not end up keeping B.J. Mullens. While I don’t know him personally, the amount of time I spent watching him left me the opposite of impressed. To put it nicely.

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Busy Offseasons For Texas NBA Teams

The NBA season has been finished for about and you would think people would be more interested in Wimbledon odds, since tennis’ preeminent Grand Slam is underway or Super Bowl odds, since the season is rapidly approaching, but all of the water cooler chatter has been regarding the NBA offseason.

The Texas teams are right in the thick of things, including the San Antonio Spurs, who pulled off a blockbuster trade on Tuesday.

The San Antonio Spurs shipped off some spare parts in the form of Fabricio Oberto, Kurt Thomas and Bruce Bowen to the Milwaukee Bucks to get Richard Jefferson.

Jefferson fills a huge void for the Spurs in so many ways, which should make them a real threat once again in the Western Conference. I’m betting management was thrilled with the deal considering they didn’t have to trade away any of their core.

For starters, the Spurs do get a starter in return for three bench players. Jefferson will add a legit 20-point scorer to go with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, who is off a career year.

While the Spurs first moves have made their Southwest Division cohorts kind of nervous, the other teams don’t figure to stand pat.

The Dallas Mavericks have been linked to Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Anderson Varejao, are in the thick of a lot of rumors. Reports indicate that they tried to ship out Josh Howard for the fifth pick overall but the Washington Wizards were not interested. The Mavs have also been linked to Shaquille O’Neal, although he isn’t exactly a team priority. A player the Mavericks are more likely to move is Jerry Stackhouse.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks have already made before the start of the draft, shipping off the 22nd pick in the draft to Portland. The Trail Blazers traded three picks to move up two spots and now own the Mavs 22nd pick. Meanwhile, the Mavs moved back two spots to No. 24 and received Portland No. 56 pick and another second-rounder in 2010.

Apparently the Trail Blazers are interesting in international player Omri Casspi and were worried that the Sacramento Kings might take him with the 23rd pick in the draft.

As sports wagering experts know, the draft is a hectic time when teams reshape themselves. Keep an eye on Thursday to see what else the three Texas teams pull off.

Ready For Some Football? Dallas Cowboys 2009 Preseason Schedule and Tickets

There seems to be a different vibe surrounding the Dallas Cowboys in 2009, most of which comes from the brand new Cowboys Stadium, set to open up this fall. The first chance for Cowboys fans to see their team in their new home comes August 21, when the ‘Boys host the Tennessee Titans, but the Dallas Cowboys 2009 preseason schedule opens up August 14 in Oakland against the Raiders.

Here’s a look at the entire Dallas Cowboys 2009 preseason schedule.

Dallas Cowboys 2009 Preseason Schedule and Tickets

Date	Opponent	Time	TV	Cowboys Preseason Tickets
August 13	@Oakland	9 p.m.	CBS 11/KTVT	Buy Cowboys Preseason Tickets
August 21	v. Tennessee	7 p.m.	Fox 4 (National)	Buy Cowboys Preseason Tickets
August 29	v. San Francisco	7 p.m.	CBS 11/KTVT	Buy Cowboys Preseason Tickets
September 4	@Minnesota	7 p.m.	CBS 11/KTVT	Buy Cowboys Preseason Tickets

The seemingly yearly journey to Mount Davis kicks off the first of four contests Romo, Wade and the gang will use to gauge their talents for the upcoming campaign. FOX picks up the national broadcast of the Titans game in order to show off the new digs, and a couple of common preseason foes in San Francisco and Minnesota wrap up what has already been an interesting offseason.

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Mavs trade draft pick

According to ESPN’s Chad Ford, the Mavericks have traded the 22nd pick in tomorrow’s NBA draft to the Portland Trail Blazers for the 24th and 56th picks this year along with Portland’s worst second round pick in 2010.

The Mavericks were rumored to be looking to trade up to the 5th pick, but they were outdone by the Minnesota Timberwolves, who traded for that pick today.

With Jason Kidd not getting any younger, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Mavericks go after a point guard in the draft, but drafting a big man wouldn’t necessarily be out of the question.

As of right now, these two picks the Mavs just traded for are the only two picks they have in tomorrow night’s draft.

Confederations Cup Championship Preview: United States vs. Brazil/South Africa

With their remarkable 2-0 victory over FIFA #1 Spain still fresh, the United States will take to the pitch in South Africa on Sunday looking for its first ever FIFA Confederations Cup title. The Yanks will take on the winner of the Brazil-South Africa match (set for Thursday) in a game no one expected the U.S. to be in.

If I had to bet on the opponent, I would say Brazil, but I didn’t think there was too much of a chance the U.S. would be celebrating after today’s match either.

DETAILS:

Who: United States vs. Brazil/South Africa

What: FIFA Confederations Cup Final

When: 1:30 pm Central time (ESPN)

Where: Johannesburg, South Africa

Besides being the first final for the United States in the Confederations Cup, this is also the first final ever for the U.S. in any FIFA competition ever. Heading into the match, Spain was the top-ranked team in the world in FIFA’s rankings. The United States sat 14th.

The first two games of the tournament saw Head Coach Bob Bradley’s U.S. team post two lackluster efforts – losing 3-1 to 2006 World Cup Champion Italy and 3-0 to world power Brazil. But a 3-0 U.S. win over Egypt on Sunday along with a 3-0 Brazil win over Italy got the U.S. into the semifinals where they posted a two goal victory.

Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey each scored goals and goalkeeper Tim Howard made several key saves to key the win.

The game on Sunday will be played in South Africa’s capital city of Johannesburg, as the host nation of South Africa is looking to upset power Brazil and create what would surely be one of the unlikeliest finals anyone could have imagined at the start of the tournament.

If the U.S. has any hope of winning, they will have to do so without midfielder Michael Bradley, who was sent off in the 87th minute due to a red card.  Another key will be the defense, which was bolstered by the return of defender Carlos Bocanegra from an injured hamstring.

All of the defenders had a strong game along with Bocanegra. Jonathan Spector has been a stalwart at right back, starting every game in the tournament. Jay DeMerit and Ricardo Clark also turned in strong performances against the Spaniards.

The U.S. did not have many chances against Spain, but Altidore’s goal in the 27th minute set the tone. A similar play will be needed in the next game for the Americans if they hope to pull off another victory.

Hopefully the final will be an exciting one, as the effort against Spain from the U.S. came somewhat out of nowhere after some inconsistent international results. With strong defense and opportunities that can be turned into goals, the United States could be looking at flying home from Johannesburg with a first place trophy.

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