What’s with all the Kevin Millwood love?

As I rolled through ESPN.com the other day, I saw a link to a video about AL West offseason activity. Of course, being the dutiful Rangers fan I am, I checked it out. It was a 3 Up, 3 Down segment with Buster Olney. Okay, I thought, this should have some positive Rangers vibes in it, right? Wrong.

The three up: Cliff Lee to Seattle, Ben Sheets to Oakland, Chone Figgins to Seattle.

The three down: John Lackey leaving the Angels, Kevin Millwood leaving the Rangers and Russell Branyan leaving Seattle.

My jaw almost hit the desk.

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Keep the Faith

Bill Simmons’ weekly column on Friday delved into the most tortured fan bases. Number one? Some team from the North Side of Chicago.

The Rangers were unable to make an appearance because of a clause he had disqualifying teams who lived in warm-weather cities. Which is probably fair.

But on this humble website, we have no such clause. (I think, although I’d have to check with Matt on that one.)

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An Open Letter to Bud Selig Regarding Tom Hicks

Dear Bud,

You are probably not extremely familiar with the inner workings of the Texas Rangers and the ownership situation that has yet to be sorted out. Then again, maybe you are. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there.

What is here and there and everywhere for me and the other rabid Texas Rangers fans (however many of us there are), at least, is the ongoing sale of the team. Tonight (January 15, 2010) was the deadline for the ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan to have an agreement done to take control of the team. However, that deadline has come and gone. All sources around the team are reporting that the team is still under the control of Tom Hicks.

I am begging you Mr. Selig. Please do not let Tom Hicks maintain control of this team. I have no wish to stand in the way of Tom Hicks’ personal ambitions in any other matters. But on this issue I will not budge. If you truly care about the competitiveness of Major League Baseball and its fans, you will not allow Tom Hicks to remain as owner of the Texas Rangers.

Ten years ago, I don’t believe the fans of the Texas Rangers would have ever considered this a possibility. Our beloved Rangers had just finished capturing their third division title in four years. You remember that, don’t you? How Juan Gonzalez and Will Clark and Roger Pavlik and Ken Hill helped lead a team to the playoffs that had no distinguishable history for 35 years as a franchise? How Pudge Rodriguez became a legendary figure in Texas and will always be cheered?

Tom Hicks injected money into our franchise. Unfortunately he spent that on all the wrong people. Now he is so deep in debt that our team, in the #6 media market in the country, has a payroll hovering around 23rd. To me, that is simply unacceptable. I don’t believe the Rangers will ever have a payroll approaching that of the highest 5, but I think that a $90 million payroll is a reasonable request in this market.

Dallas is a winners town. Always has been. Always will be. Yes the Cowboys are the biggest draw, but a consistently fine product on the field that competes for playoff spots more often than not will be successful in Arlington, Texas. Tom Hicks understands this. He understands that the Texas Rangers are on the precipice of having the best team in franchise history.

Keep in mind, Mr. Selig, that this franchise is about to embark upon its 50th season in the American League. And never has this franchise won a playoff series. Only once has it even won a playoff game.

Tom Hicks knows he is sitting on a cash cow. This is a young, exciting team that will become a contender if it is nurtured properly with an appropriate amount of financial flexibility in order to make transactions that will lead them to the franchise’s first ever playoff series victory and hopefully World Series championship.

But none of that can happen with Hicks in control. If this ownership situation drags through the season, he has a chance to do irreparable damage to the franchise. Irreparable.

I’m sorry to bring up painful memories for you, but does that description sound vaguely familiar to you? The Montreal Expos were the same way back in 2003. You said it was a “conflict of interest” to call up players for the team at the September 1 roster expansion date, despite the team being tied for the Wild Card lead on August 29. No owner could be found, and the team would leave after 2004.

What if Tom Hicks doesn’t sell this team? Will you and MLB take it over? Believe me, I’m not questioning the system. I’m questioning the man that makes the system necessary. It makes me nervous that Hicks wants to keep this team. Honestly. I’m nervous that the longer Hicks holds on to the team, the possibility rises that the Texas Rangers will not be in Texas much longer.

Please help me calm my nerves. I can’t speak for the other Rangers fans out there as to whether they have the same nerves, but I’m sure they join in my refrain:

Don’t Let Tom Hicks Own The Rangers Anymore.

Please.

Sincerely,

Cody Dunlap

Hey what are the Rangers up to?

I am terrified.

Terrified that if I write anything about the Dallas Cowboys, I’ll jinx them. Do I think they can beat the Eagles? Yes. I believe they can. I also believe the Eagles could easily return the favor of last week’s game. So I will not write anything until that game is over.

But the Texas Rangers – now that is a topic I can wrap my head around. If there’s anything that’s been the beacon of breaking news in the Dallas winter, it’s been the Rangers. I mean, just look at all the news!!!

Just kidding.

But let’s just give a brief update since we last saw our favorite denizens of the AL West:

Marlon Byrd and Pudge Rodriguez signed elsewhere.

Kevin Millwood was traded for Chris Ray and enough cash (barely) for Tom Hicks to pay his water bill.

Rich Harden signed here, then signed with Seattle, then signed here.

Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan are leading the charge to wrestle the team away from Tom Hicks.

They almost traded for Mike Lowell. But it turned out his thumb didn’t really work.

We signed Darren Oliver. No, not dug up. Signed.

And…that’s about it.

The Mariners got Cliff Lee. That’s no good. But not to worry, Rangers fans. Casey Kotchman is now their first baseman. I think our pitchers can handle him.

Somehow, we’ve accumulated a horde of candidates for our starting rotation.

Feldman, Harden, McCarthy, Hunter, Holland, Feliz, Nippert, Harrison, Moscoso and even C.J. Wilson will get chances to make the rotation out of spring training.

The bullpen could go either way. There is a lot of talent, but so far not really the results to back that up. Guys like Pedro Strop and Warner Madrigal are going to be important for this team. Conversely, a bullpen fortified with Francisco, Oliver, Wilson and Feliz is going to be tough to hit. Add in long relievers like Mathis and Nippert, and that bullpen looks like one of the best on paper.

Jon Daniels is on record as saying that the team will break camp with the best 25 players on the team. Clearly there will be competition in spring training, considering there are 19 pitchers on the 40 man roster who have seen major league hitters. Battles for spots in the spring can only be good for the team as a whole.

The offense hasn’t seen a lot of upgrades so far, but Ranger-killer Vlad Guerrero is still available, along with Jermaine Dye. Another month will probably pass before those two guys are signed, but one of them will probably end up in Texas in 2010. What the offense really needs is a bounce-back year from Hamilton and Kinsler (Davis and C improvements would be appreciated as well).

This team has a very good chance to challenge for the AL West title next year, assuming good health (a large assumption, I know, but every team is hoping for health at this point.)

42 days until pitchers and catchers.

So are the Rangers better?

(For the sake of this post, we’re going to assume that Mike Lowell is now a Texas Ranger with Boston picking up $9 million of the tab)

A fair inquiry for any Texas Rangers fan. Do the acquisitions of Chris Ray, Ben Snyder, Mike Lowell and Rich Harden make this team better than it was three days ago?

I believe the answer is yes. Are there drawbacks to these acquisitions? Absolutely. There are drawbacks to just about all trades.

But these moves, if they all go through, make the Rangers a better team.

Find out why after the jump. Read more

The “Bleak” State of Dallas Sports?

“All of your teams…kinda suck.”

A familiar refrain I hear uttered here in Cutler-world, referring to the curious state of Dallas sports.

There are worse places for sports fans right now (Sorry Buffalo. I know you’re going to have a ton of sympathy for a Dallas fan complaining about his team’s misfortunes.). That much I grant you.

But where exactly can we, the humble Dallas Sports Fans, look to for optimism in these gray days?

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Eulogy for a Dream.

It has taken me far too long to sit down and write this post.

Perhaps I was simply too saddened from the recent lifeless play, maybe it was that whole little time crunch called “college”, but it has been simply too long since I’ve written about the local nine.

The 2009 season for the Texas Rangers will not end with a playoff berth, as many hoped it would. It will not end with 90 wins, as many thought it would (including myself) just three short weeks ago. Hopefully it will end with more than 86 wins (today’s number of victories).

This post is not meant to complain about what happened. That particular post may come, or it may not. What happened, quickly, is that a young team simply fell apart down the stretch. Two of its better hitters got hurt, but the pitching began to wear down as well. In short, they just couldn’t get it done.

But so many good things happened this year.

We witnessed the debut of the newest great shortstop in baseball. No Jerod. I would never trade Elvis Andrus for Gordon Beckham.

We saw what happens when the Texas Rangers have a little thing called pitching. Get another year of learning for Scott Feldman, Tommy Hunter, Derek Holland, Neftali Feliz…you get the picture.

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Texas Rangers Report – September 29 2009

THE RANGERS REPORT – September 29

As the Texas Rangers’ sportsbook hopes to make the World Series die out, so does the Rangers Report for 2009. This week marks the final installment until next spring. Don’t worry; we’ll still keep tabs on the Rangers’ offseason in our Dallas Sports Roundup starting next week. For now, let’s catch up with Texas in detail one more time.

Current record: 85-71
AL West rank: 2
World Series odds: 5,000 to 1

THE LINEUP

Spending most of September without Josh Hamilton and Michael Young really hurt the Rangers and is perhaps the primary reason why they’re one loss or Red Sox win away from being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Josh Hamilton returned over the weekend to drive in five runs in two games but re-aggravated the pinched nerve in his back and is no sure bet to play again this season. Michael Young returned from a hamstring injury and gingerly banged out two hits on Monday night.

A bright spot: Marlon Byrd. He hit .320 with three homers and 11 RBI last week to earn AL Player of the Week Honors and quietly leads the Rangers with 89 RBI.

THE ROTATION

To say the wheels have fallen off for Tommy Hunter may be an understatement. The surprising rookie has struggled mightily over the last month and a half, seeing his ERA rise from 2.26 to 4.10 over his last 10 starts as teams face him for the second or third time. Thanks to solid run support, he’s 3-2 this month, but he has a 6.55 ERA during that span.

Fellow rookie and blue chipper Derek Holland continues to scuffle; he’s allowed 13 homers in his last 10 starts.

THE BULLPEN

As could be expected for any rookie, Neftali Feliz’s luster is wearing off late in the season. His velocity has dipped form 100 MPH to approximately 95, though pitching coach Mike Maddux doesn’t see any mechanical flaw or change that can explain the decline.

A week ago, we were discussing Frank Francisco’s job security in the closer role going forward. It seemed safe then but I’m betting management will have a tough time shaking Sunday’s four-run blown save out of its mind for the time being.

OVERALL OUTLOOK

The Rangers are almost in coast mode, as they would need to win out and see Boston lose out to make the playoffs. That means they’ll start looking to 2010 – and with great optimism. If Texas can add a veteran arm in the rotation and bullpen to spell the youngsters next season, it could seriously contend among other top MLB picks.

THE RANGERS REPORT – September 22 2009

NFL Week 3 matchups look more tempting every week for Dallas Sports fans, as the book is pretty much closed on the Texas Rangers’ season. Even though a playoff berth is highly unlikely now – the Rangers are seven games back of Boston – 2009 was a success for Texas, as some good young arms finally emerged to complement the big bats. Lets’ catch up with our boys.

Current record: 82-67
AL West rank: 2
World Series odds: 200 to 1

THE LINEUP

It’s tough for Texas to stay in the playoff hunt when two of its key contributors are sitting out September. Josh Hamilton is on the verge of being shut down for the year with a pinched nerve in his back. After an MVP-caliber 2008, Hamilton looks like he’ll finish 2009 with a .270 average, 10 homers and 49 RBI in 326 at-bats. The numbers are disappointing but the Rangers hope he can carry his strong August, in which he hit .342, into next season.

Michael Young remains shelved and his career year is on hold. Overall, the Rangers can hang their hat on Nelson Cruz this season. The RBI total isn’t there but he’s shown legit big-league power with 32 homers so far this year.

THE ROTATION

In his win Monday night – just his second since July 20 – Kevin Millwood surpassed the 180-inning mark for the year, triggering a vesting option in his contract that will give him $12 million next season. Thanks to the emergence of Scott Feldman and Tommy Hunter and the promise flashed by Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz, the Rangers may wish they hadn’t structured Millwood’s deal that way.

THE BULLPEN

Like the Cowboys’ Week 3 NFL betting line now that Marion Barber is out, Neftali Feliz looks shaky of late. The flamethrowing rookie is finally allowing runs and may simply be tiring from his first Major-League work. Perhaps the Rangers will shut him down for the season.

Frank Francisco has a good shot to remain Texas’ closer next season. He’s saved 23 of 27 games, struck out 50 batters in 45.2 innings and held opponents to a .215 average. He’s a legit stopper.

OVERALL OUTLOOK

The Rangers are inching toward “nothing left to play for” territory and I’m betting management may shut down several of their young arms as they prepare for the winter. Chins up, Rangers – better times lie ahead.

How to fix the Rangers’ ownership situation

A lot has been made, both here and on other websites, about the situation regarding the Rangers’ finances. A couple of reports have the Rangers operating as normal, with no help from MLB other than the $15 million “line of credit” Tom Hicks asked for in June.

Another report, which surfaced in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this weekend, stated that the Rangers have been taken over by Major League Baseball. Tom Hicks has continuously denied this point, although he might just be covering his tracks or in denial if that is, in fact, the awful truth. The last team to be under the operation of Major League Baseball was the Montreal Expos, who were operated by MLB from the winter of 2001 until the middle of 2006 – after they had moved to Washington and become the Nationals.

First of all, I don’t think the club is going to move. It’s highly unlikely, considering there doesn’t seem to be a market that could support the Rangers the way this market could. I believe that the D-FW market can be one of the best, but there are a variety of problems that need to be solved before that can happen.

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