Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Like every other team in the AL West, the Rangers are a straight-up .500 ballclub. That's why there are just four games separating first and last place in that division. For their part, the Rangers have by far the best run differential of the bunch and stand just a half game behind the first-place A's.
The three-game series set to start tonight will finish their season set with the Yankees. Back in May, the Yankees swept a three-game set in Texas, then split a four-game set with the Rangers in the Bronx thank in large part to one of the wildest games the Yankees have played in recent memory. That adds up to a 5-2 advantage in the season series for the New Yorkers. Now, if the Rangers are a truely .500 team, they'll catch fire and sweep the Yanks here to even the season series, then punt their ensuing three-game set against the Royals, leading to much rending of garments among the Bronx Banter readership.
For the more enlightened members of that group, win or lose a highlight of this series should be that we're getting our first look at rookie Ian Kinsler (.304/.370/.492) who, along with Jose Lopez and the still MIA Robinson Cano, gives the AL an exciting crop of young second basemen.
Tonight Randy Johnson takes on Kevin Millwood. Both veterans have been headed in the right direction of late after rough starts to their seasons, though both also suffered a pre-All-Star break hicup. As is becoming a tradition in my pregame posts for Johnson's starts, here's Randy's combined line in his last three starts: 22 2/3 IP, 18 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 3 HR, 1 BB, 22 K.
Texas Rangers
2006 Record: 51-48 (.515)
2006 Pythagorean Record: 52-47 (.523)
Manager: Buck Showalter
General Manager: Jon Daniels
Home Ballpark (2005 Park Factors): Bankcom Arlingtonia (104/103)
Who's Replacing Whom?
Current Roster
1B – Mark Teixeira (S)
2B – Ian Kinsler (R)
SS – Michael Young (R)
3B – Hank Blalock (L)
C – Rod Barajas (R)
RF – Kevin Mench (R)
CF – Gary Matthews Jr. (S)
LF – Brad Wilkerson (L)
DH – Mark DeRosa (R)
Bench:
R – Jerry Hairston, Jr. (UT)
S – Freddy Guzman (OF)
R – Gerald Laird (C)
Rotation:
R – Kevin Millwood
L – John Rheinecker
R – John Wasdin
L – John Koronka
R – Vincente Padilla
Bullpen:
R – Akinori Otsuka
R – Francisco Cordero
R – Joaquin Benoit
R – Rick Bauer
L – Ron Mahay
L – C.J. Wilson
R – Bryan Corey
R – Wes Littleton
15-day DL: R – Kameron Loe
60-day DL: R – Adam Eaton
Restricted List: R – Omar Beltre
Typical Lineup
S – Gary Matthews Jr. (CF)
R – Ian Kinsler (2B)
R – Michael Young (SS)
S – Mark Teixeira (1B)
L – Hank Blalock (3B)
R – Mark DeRosa (2B)
R – Kevin Mench (RF)
L – Brad Wilkerson (LF)
R – Rod Barajas (C)
Or maybe they'll be too busy coverint the Sori to ChiSox deal.
I am excited to see Ian Kinsler - does that mean I'm enlightened? ;)
Melky Cabrera LF
Derek Jeter SS
Jason Giambi 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jorge Posada C
Bernie Williams DH
Aaron Guiel RF
Miguel Cairo 2B
Bubba Crosby CF
...or...
...the thunderous booing will make his head literally explode.
Either scenario would make for an interesting evening.
The White Sox are serious. They want to repeat, and they're trading up a storm. They just got Sandy Alomar from the Dodgers and Mike MacDougal from the Royals. No official announcement on Soriano yet, but I bet it's soon.
All that said, if Garland, Vazquez, and Garcia keep stinking up the joint, it won't matter what their bats do.
I'm hoping A-Rod goes on a nice tear here, and that Unit doesn't feel the effects of his 129-pitch game. I'm afraid that's a pipe dream, unfortunately.
As for their pitching. Once in the playoffs, Ozzie won't pull a Joe Torre and send out number 4 and 5 starters to cost you games if they aren't pitching well. If I am a White Sox fan, I love the move.
At least this should put Yankee trade talks to rest.
How about Manny throwing his bat, sliding into balls and missing the Beltre bounce off the wall? Not to mention looky-loo HR's. Arod has a blip on the radar. We could be suffering with Manny, don't worry be happy.
A-Rod 5-11, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K, 1 BB, 1 GIDP
Giambi 5-9, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 K
Guiel 1-2, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Cairo 1-2, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Crosby 1-3, 1 RBI
Jeter 4-17, 1 2B, 2 K
Melky 1-5, 1 K
Posada 1-8, 6 K, 1 BB
Bernie 1-11, 2 K, 1 BB, 1 CS, 1 GIDP
He's getting treatment, and if it loosens up, he may play tonight.
Damon CF
Jeter SS
Giambi 1B
A-Rod 3B
Posada C
Bernie DH
Guiel RF
Melky LF
Cairo 2B
Go Yanks!!
That sounds like something that would happen to Pavano...
I propose George just build codos at the stadium with free car service into the city.
Hey, did you guys read up on the approval on the new stadium. Am I the only one who is torn over the destruction of the two public parks, or should Yankees trump all?
I heard that as well. I am just a little suspicious--as I am of all corporate promises--that the parks will actually be constructed. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that they are not moving the team out of the Bronx, I just hope it works out for all concerned.
10 Times Sutcliffe for some reason mentions Jason Varitek and how he is the heart and soul of the Red Sawx.
14,143 Times the ESPN guys say A-Rod doesn't hit in the clutch, is a Nazi, is the next Chuck Knoblock, A-Rod eats babies, Oritz is a HOFer and the greatest hitter of our generation, "Jonathan" Papelbitch is the greatest closer in the world.
3 Times Rick Sutcliffe passes out.
4 Times A-Rod hits a Home-Run.
30 Times they analyze A-Rod's swing if he doesn't hit a HR in an at-bat.
99 Times Sutcliffe generally blows the Red Sawx, forgetting he's covering a Yankees game.
42 I love when people act like A-Rod's doing an acceptable job and people just ignore it.
Such lofty standards.
At this point I actually think you're rooting for him to fail so you can claim he's performing "unacceptably".
Are you kidding me? ESPN give Jeter a web gem, lol, seriously come on.
WTF!!! that's an ejection. fastball to the head.
Yea, but it looks like Torre is going to bring Beam up, instead of Smith, based on nothing more than handedness. I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it.
Now can we take advantage of that error? Let's see. You're right Moose, we shouldn't compare this team to the 1996-2000 teams, those teams capitalized on other team's mistakes.
Some speculate they are trying to preserve Smith's trade value by keeping him in Columbus.
That would be a silly trade. For who? The only way you trade Smith is if we can package Hughes with him and another prospect, and grab Hamels AND Abreu from Philly. If they let Smith go for some Craig Wilson, Sanders type, I'll be very dissapointed. Thank goodness the Pirates hate dealing with us.
Go figure...
More runs, we need more runs...
He is the right place with the right weather to hit the HR.
Now, does Alex get an RBI on this?
Way to stay positive.
My God that sucked, we could've blown this out...
Yanks numbers w/ runners in scoring position and less than 2 outs just went down.
Sincerely,
Mr. Half Empty
Hell, with this squad, I'll take any home run we can get.
Note: As Singleton just stated: Last Yankee cycle was Tony Fernandez in '95, and before that — Murcer.
Re: Guiel
See, that is why you platoon Guiel against righties.
Paul O'Neill is right. Being a young (or even not so young) player on the Yankees is like being a contestant on American Idol. Do well, and you get one more try. But if you go 0 for 4 the next night, you're back on the bench again.
Beltre and Rolen are the only guys who make that play.
I am still impressed that Cal Ripken Jr.'s son is not named Cal. That is more impressive to me than the streak.
That really is preposterous if they said that. The execution on that play was flawless on everyone's part. The guy beat the throw plain and simple.
Look rsmith, runners still dive into first, they're not the sharpest tools in Kirk Reuter's woodshed.
Viva La Chavez! Capitalism has created ESPN. I hate FOX, but you can get just as much information from a 1/2 Hour episode of FSN Sports Desk than you can get from an hour of SportsCenter.
I am just wondering how much more milleage ESPN is going to try to bleed by exploiting that autistic basketball player.
Jete is definitely gimping around. I hope it doesn't keep him out of the lineup.
No Chance! Everyone outside NY hates the guy.
You know Jeter. He always says he's fine.
I thought it was an aww-able moment (yes, I'm a sap).
Anyway, I hope he isn't hurt.
Oh, and despite the Jeter montage shown, I think Melky or Johnson are the players of the game.
As far as I'm concerned, Liriano is the MVP this far. IfMinnesota can overtake the SOX, hell, either of the SOX's, then you have to give it to either him or Mauer. Anyone else would be shameful.
I saw this quoted somewhere today, but I don't know how to verify it. I also don't know if that is the better than RCAA or whateverness.
http://baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=9653
Papi
Papelbon
Hafner
Mauer
Thome
Wells
Dye
Verlander
Liriano
Santana
Of course, things may change quite a bit in the next 2 months.
I don't think he's hurt. Probably just Jeter being Manny.
Way f--king kidding, of course.
My guess is he tweaked his back avoiding that pitch toward his head, but he'll be ok.
That would have been a double if Bernie were in RF.
Randy is feeling the heat.. is there a way to artificially control the heat at the stadium in October??
Stein.. go for it..
Turned on the TV an inning ago to be greeted by a graphic comparing "New York third basemen". What that has to do with a Yankees-Rangers game is beyond me.
He is just a stud this year. I give it to him or Liriano.
I am of the mind that just because the DH is in place, it doesn't necessarily follow that they should be considered for all awards, especially those given for all around play. This includes MVP and the Hall of Fame as far as I'm concerned.
Play, play well, pound the ball. But as a DH you are a hitter, not a baseball player, just live with the great pay day and stop whining. If you let Edgar Martinez and Papi in, you sure as hell better let Gossage in.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14015396/
The MELKY WAY!
And I'm surprised Bubba got a hit against Wilson. That guy is murder on lefties.
{298] Now that he is only throwing one inning like he always wanted, What is his problem now?
it maybe 2 yrs back.. some brawl..
btw i dont think theres been one this yr
alex was only 2/5
he had a K
and he made an off-balance.. no zip throw.. U KNOW
u wud know if they were winning or have a rally..
his HR calls for oppn calls.. is like some noise from the well.. so low..
http://tinyurl.com/lzzws
Jeter seems to have tweaked his back or something, so I'm not surprised Joe wanted to rest him.
Very tight WC right now.
i think it on Fox.. i was in Cleveland at that time..
ESPN postgame was just asking about A-Rod's body language. Its so laughable how much they want to milk this story. I'm waiting for them to ask if A-Rod passed a note in history about which girl he has a crush on.
(AP) -- First, Ozzie Guillen threw a towel. Later, he slammed a water bottle.
Why?
Because Texas Rangers starter Vicente Padilla hit a batter, again. And because Jon Garland badly missed Ian Kinsler the next inning.
-- Looks like the media darling is at it again
Glad that Arod is gradually realizing that he doesn't have to always be 100% to help the team. His 80% or maybe even less is still way better than most MLB players.
http://tinyurl.com/8qn8r
The link is under the photo: "Guillen's HBP starts scrum." It's from when he was with Detroit last year. As the announcers put it, in awe, "you don't want any part of Big Kyle."
Still it seems intriguing the possibility of getting Abreu... that would make this lineup OBP completely insane.
I lost count. ;-)
Big Hurt up, 2 on, 0 out...
Geez...everywhere I go there's an ARod piece and someone commenting. It's tiring already.
377 Accept it, already. A-Rod brought AIDS to North America, has Saddam's WMD stashed in his Boston townhouse (the one he bought from Nomar), and controls what Yankees games are broadcast on Extra Innings. Dude is evil. How can you root for him?
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